A chilling reminder of the rule of law’s fragility

Our State Bar's President, Tom Basting, cites Shakespeare's Henry VI [Part II, Act IV, Scene II] in connection with martial law in Pakistan, concluding

I will share my sense of outrage over these sad developments in Pakistan with my elected representatives. But even as I do so I know this is an insufficient response. As President of the State Bar of Wisconsin, which represents the aspirations of over 22,000 lawyers, I propose that all of us pledge to keep the rule of law (and the lawyers) alive and well so the beacon of democracy can continue to shine across America and around the world.

Update: The Economist reported on Lawyers against the general

Almost all of those detained belong to the tiny, politically active portion of Pakistani society that tends to be arrested in such times. Monstrous as this is, they can usually find friends to help them wriggle out of trouble—unlike the hapless poor. In a typical scene, in front of the Supreme Court in Islamabad, a small crowd of slogan-chanting lawyers, including several well-groomed women wearing expensive sunglasses, took turns to get bundled into the back of a police van. From there they flashed victory salutes to assembled photographers. It will take more than this to trouble the general [General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president] and his spies.