Does Anybody Here Remember Johnny Lindh?

"Clemency for John Walker Lindh would open up to public scrutiny an outrageous injustice that high officials in the Bush administration deliberately perpetrated on an American citizen after the 9/11 attacks," argues Michael Teitelman — Obama and the Boy in the Metal Box.

"Lindh was locked away and forgotten, but he is a critical figure in the degradation of the rule of law after 9/11," the author wirtes. "As the very first detainee in Bush’s wars, he was a sign, little understood at the time, of what was to come, and a pristine example of how constitutional rights fare in the hands of cynical political leadership amidst societal hysteria and paranoia."

Mr. Teitelman condedes, however, "Clemency for Lindh would be a bold, controversial act, which may not be in Obama’s chemistry."