Sedition is usually a BS charge, no question. If you're in the military, say, you don't have full First Amendment rights anymore. Whether you should or not is a separate question. Personally, I don't believe the feds or a state government should get to curtail your Constitutional rights after you're released from prison, even -- the idea of ex-prisoners not being allowed to vote is retardedly un-American -- so I think I'm pretty liberal on this issue. But there are still special cases.
Of course, when they first nab people, they often chalk up a ridiculous list of Things We Might Charge Them With that later gets whittled down to something more manageable. Often still retarded, but usually less so.
I dunno about Yoo. From everything I've heard, although there's doubtless much I haven't, he seems to
(A) Have a legitimate I Was Just Doing My Job defense. These are pretty rare. But he was a legal expert asked to see if the law allowed XYZ. His job was to make the case, period, and it's probably a good idea for legal experts to be allowed to do that job if that's what they're asked to do. The blame bounces back upward when it gets to him, I think.
(B) Have been selected as a scapegoat by his superiors because they're pretty sure he can defend himself on these charges. The superiors, again, are the ones who really suck fascist dick.
(C) Have not actually argued in favor of using torture. Near as I've been able to tell, he's never recommended it, said it was a good idea, said it was a useful technique, or said he was in favor of it. They asked him to make a legal case, and he did, and it's either really professional or fairly disturbing that he hasn't expressed a personal and moral opinion about it.
I also think the legal case is basically bullshit and loophole sophistry at best, but that's another issue. Yoo might be a dick; I can't tell. But I don't think anyone should focus on him so long as Bush, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, et al, are walking around instead of in court, if not in prison.
