There are many sides to the cracking community, and the nefarious side of it is just as "legit" as the law-abiding side. They've been at it just as long and many of them are just as skilled as their legal counterparts. Note that when I say "legit" I'm not condoning their actions, I just recognize that they are a part of our history, and that many of them are good at what they do.

Sure, there are things that Anonymous and Lulzsec have done that weren't very impressive (like the DDoS attacks) but at times both groups have pulled of some pretty impressive stuff.

Practical jokes conducted via technology have a long and storied history in the hacker community, its disingenuous to act like Lulzsec's continuation of this tradition somehow maligns everyone else's reputation.

Also, unless you can prove that he was just a mouthpiece, there isn't really any way that you can argue his sentence was excessive when he only spent 37 days in prison. Sabu became an FBI informant, and I bet that even with his deal, he's going to end up getting anywhere from several years to a few decades when he's finally sentenced.