Liz Cheney is a Dirty Dirty tramp

When I first read about Liz Cheney's campaign against lawyers working (pro bono) for terror suspects being held at Guantanamo, I wanted to throw my computer through the window. But instead I just let out a Chekhovian sigh and went on with my day more than just a little sadder than I was before. I wish I'd had my blog at the time- I might have beat Jon Stewart to talking about the issue. But luckily, we have great Americans like Mr. Stewart who can speak eloquently to raise awareness on important, weighty questions (and often the baselessness, and ignorance behind accusations) like this.

Here's an article to bring you up to speed:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/us/politics/10lawyers.html

You know that when the Republicans are split on something, it must be monstrously controversial.

And here are links to Jon Stewart's interview with Marc Thiessen. Beware, it's long (about 30 minutes). Part 3 is particularly infuriating. But what I love about these interviews is that you actually can really get into the meat of a debate when you go on for over about 20 minutes. That doesn't make it any less maddening.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-march-9-2010/exclusive---marc-thiessen-extended-interview-pt--1
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-march-9-2010/exclusive---marc-thiessen-extended-interview-pt--2
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-march-9-2010/exclusive---marc-thiessen-extended-interview-pt--3

Did anyone think that Jon Stewart was in the wrong for "steamrolling" Marc Thiessen? I think his point was basically made, and anyway, it was ridiculous and (as Jon so pointedly repeated) hypothetical. Other opinions?

The title of this post is "Liz Cheney is a Dirty Dirty Tramp," and I have no problem saying that because it is just as well-reasoned and logical a deduction as her accusation that being a lawyer for a terrorist equates you to being a terrorist supporter. By that logic, anyone who defends anyone accused of a crime should be read as a supporter of the crime itself.

Jon Stewart posed the question to Marc Thiessen, "If someone spends their time defending accused pedophiles, should they then be read as a supporter of pedophilia in general?" The response was, "If someone spends all their free time defending pedophiles then, yes, I think questions are raised." (Or something thereabouts)

Madness. Marc Thiessen and Liz Cheney have no right to question the motives of someone defending the accused. Maybe he or she truly believes that the person they are defending is innocent. Perhaps the lawyer simply has a natural propensity towards defending those that have no other means of support. Isn't that the entire allure of being a public defender- the nobility of aiding those who have no other source of help available to them?

And by the way, the careers of these lawyers cannot help but be harmed when they take on these almost certainly losing cases. They are, in essence, sacrificing themselves for a principal on which our legal rights are based.

But I am glad for one thing in this, and that is that Liz Cheney has finally found a way to make herself prominent enough for decent, sane people to realize that she is full of crap. Not to toot my own horn, but I had already endured some minor bleeding from the ears whenever she came onto This Week with George Stephanopoulos to spout whatever Republican talking point the situation demanded.

By now, you've figured out that I'm a Democrat, but, frankly, I have quite a bit of respect for many elements of the Republican platform. I think there is a place for honest debate and disagreement between the two parties, but what I have no patience for is someone (like Liz Cheney) whose mission is to promote a party rather than work for the betterment of the country. To Liz Cheney, the Republicans will be better than the Democrats No Matter What. But guess what, nobody can be right 100% of the time, not even Ronald Reagan.

To simplify:
Calling these lawyers the Al Qaeda 7: Wrong
Liz Cheney: Dirty Tramp (I've removed one of the dirties since I just ate and am feeling better about the world)
Marc Thiessen: Get over it, you lost to Jon Stewart
Republicans: Right some of the time.
Democrats: Right some of the time.
Talking points: Boring and wrong (or at least not fully true) almost all of the time.
Honest Debate: Rare except on Charlie Rose and the Daily Show