Barack Obama: “I do think that President Sarkozy's election here in France indicates the degree to which the West generally is at its…”

The full weight of the federal government is being brought down on a law-abiding elected official because she has dared to criticize the president.

I’m going to insist that we can do better than we’re doing right now.

Because if this becomes the new normal, there’s no reason to believe it will stop with her — or that future presidents, in either party, won’t do the same.

It is a basic principle of American democracy that the government can’t selectively target individuals simply because of their political beliefs or what they say.