February 10, 2005
The New Left
Is pretty much the same as the old left...
A lawyer accused of smuggling messages out from an imprisoned terrorist was found guilty of conspiracy and materially aiding terrorists, in a small window into both the hubris of lawyers, and the left.
First, we need to discern between liberalism and leftism. There is a notable distinction. Liberalism means different things to different people - while GWB is not a liberal in the vernacular sense, his statements about individual liberty and freedom are classically liberal. Senator Ted "Gin Bottle" Kennedy is a liberal in the vernacular meaning. Which brings us to leftism. Not all liberals are leftists. Leftists are those you see at ANSWER rallies, wearing Che Guevara shirts, consistently equating Israel with Nazi Germany, bemoaning capitalism. You'll see Ted Kennedy do none of these.
So, now that we know the difference, let's first examine the hubris of the legal profession. Self important and self-aggrandizing, these self-proclaimed avatars of liberty and justice don't have to play by the same ruleset the rest of us do - because they helped create them. Let's hear their own words:
"You can't tell the lawyers how to do their job. You've got to let them operate. And I will fight on. I'm not giving up. I know I committed no crime. I know what I did was right."
How did this lady pass the bar? You DID commit a crime, a jury just found you GUILTY. And we can't tell a lawyer how to do their job? Actually, I'm pretty sure we CAN do that too. Where does she get the idea that lawyers are above the law?
But not all is lost...
However, Peter Margulies, a law professor at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island who conducted a panel on lawyers and terrorism at the American Association of Law Schools' recent annual meeting, called the verdict reasonable."I think lawyers need to be advocates, but they don't need to be accomplices," he said. "I think the evidence suggested that Lynne Stewart had crossed the line."
This is the kind of thoughtful reasoning that is missing from too much of the legal profession. We are no great fans of the adversarial system - we have a legal system, not a justice system - but the advocacy model requires knowing where the line between acting in interest, and aiding and abetting, is.
Of course, this brings us to the hubris of the left - where anything is justified in the pursuit of their noble aims. The normal justification requires an appeal to an altruism, use of a bogeyman, and a justification of any action based on the ends justifying the means. Let's watch...
Stewart also accused the Bush administration of targeting activist lawyers for defending unpopular clients, calling herself a "poster girl for John Ashcroft and his Patriot Act."
Well thank goodness for them! Note the bogeyman, who can be Ashcroft, Karl Rove, Bush, Cheney, Halliburton, FOX News, Mattel, Coors Brewery, anyone convenient. A better poster girl for the Patriot Act we cannot imagine. Here's the kicker:
Stewart repeatedly declared her innocence during the trial, maintaining she was unfairly targeted by overeager prosecutors. She testified on her own behalf as well, saying she believed violence was sometimes necessary to rid society of evil -- even in America."To rid ourselves of the entrenched, voracious type of capitalism that is in this country that perpetuates sexism and racism, I don't think that can come nonviolently," she said.
Ladies and gentlemen - the new left. It's the same as the old left, just without the agitprop support from the Soviet Union. Leftism is neatly wrapped up here - violence to overthrow capitalism justified by appeals to a greater good. The "break some eggs to make an omelette" justification.
Folks, when you see anti-war protests - it's these people. People who commit to overt and covert support of violence to overthrow what they've singularly decided is an unjust system of oppression. What they cannot do at the ballot box, they seek to do through violence.
Hey, that sort of sounds like terrorism...
UPDATE: Thoughts at Powerline from lawyers not on the dark side here.
Posted by MEC2 at February 10, 2005 07:25 PM