The value of the Net - a free speech triumph

Even working in an environment where news is everywhere, I didn't even know Sami Al-Arian was on trial until Claire Wolfe posted a link to the L.A. Times story about his acquittal.

Outside the Tampa courthouse, Al-Arian's wife, Nahla, said she was "ecstatic."

"My husband is an outspoken Palestinian activist who loved this country, believed in the system, and the system did not fail him," she said. ...

Added David Cole, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington: "They say the Patriot Act allows them to connect the dots. But they failed to make the most important connection, which was to tie Mr. Al-Arian to some violent or criminal act.

"It should make the government rethink its reliance on these very broad theories of guilt by association," he said.

The system is broken, but it occasionally produces justice. And even though this triumph of the free speech rights (whatever you think of that speech itself) is being downplayed by most of the media, the word is out there to be found. You can't stop the signal. Cause for a small celebration.