We've got an important one today, you know, for a change, because our system of justice is in jeopardy.

And we have Daniel Lithwick from Slate with us, who is a great writer on jurisprudence, and Ian Basson from

Head of Project Democracy, which measures democracy, not just around the world, but here in the

United States. And that's what this crisis is about. On Thursday, Judge Amy Berman-Jackson

sentenced Roger Stone to 40 months in prison

for lying to Congress and witness tampering, and she couldn't have been more straightforward

and eloquent, so I'm just going to quote her. At trial, the defense appropriately questioned

Randy Credico's credibility and Rick Gates

credibility but it was largely Stone's own emails and his own texts that

proved the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt so what did the defense say to the

jury on his behalf so what so? Of all the circumstances in this case,

that may be the most pernicious. The truth still exists. The truth still matters.

Roger Stone's insistence that it doesn't, his belligerence, his pride in his own lies, are a threat to our most

fundamental institutions to the very foundation of our democracy. And if it goes unpunished,

it will not be a victory for one party or another. Everyone loses because everyone depends on

the representatives they elect

to make the right decisions on a myriad of issues, many of which are politically charged,

but many of which aren't based on the facts. Everyone depends on our elected representatives to protect our elections from foreign interference based on the facts.

No one knows where the threat is going to come from next time or whose side they're going to be on,

and for that reason, the dismay and disgust at the defendant's belligerence

should transcend party. The dismay and disgust at the attempts by others to defend his

actions as just business as usual in our polarized climate should transcend party. The dismay and disgust with any attempts to interfere with

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