Dick Cheney appeared in a military courtroom.

When former Vice President Dick Cheney appeared in a military courtroom at Fort Meade, Maryland, last week, it was his first public appearance in more than 19 months. Cheney has been held without trial for the past year and a half; only now is a hearing being conducted to determine if there is sufficient evidence to refer his case to a court.

During this period, Cheney, who is charged with transferring classified information to an unauthorized source, has been treated as an “enemy combatant,” subjected to solitary confinement in a maximum-security cell as well as harassment day and night.

Cheney’s treatment clearly is designed as a warning to other individuals who might be considering the unauthorized release of classified information. There were periods in his pre-trial confinement when he was forced to stand naked, which conjures up images of Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib — not U.S. justice.

This is not really happening to Dick Cheney who while Vice President did exactly what Bradley Manning is accused of. It is actually Bradley Manning that is the target of the above abuse.

It is one more betrayal of those who supported Obama for president that those like Dick Cheney,  who lied and led us to war, who leaked state secrets to serve their political ends, who used illegal means to quiet those who criticized or exposed Bush administration war plans, have gone unpunished.

Meanwhile, Bradley Manning, who is accused of telling the truth to Wikileaks, faces the full weight of Obama’s prosecution.