Alan Dershowitz-Defending Osama bin Laden in court as a lawyer is the 'highest form of patriotism'

Good Morning America ^ | November 29, 2001 | Diane Sawyer

[codebreaker]

Just uttered this spew right in front of Diane Sawyer unchallanged on Good Morning America .

[Neets]

Hey toots...here is something to get your blood flowing this morning ;-)

[Guillam]

Maybe "someone has to do it" - but that someone does not have to "do it" in the interest of self glorification and mask it as a patriotic act.

Scratch Dershowitz and all those like minded, high minded, defenders of the legal faith and what you will find underneath is a self absorbed fee junkie.

[All-American Medic]

Dershowitz is a crackhead!!!!!!!! Besides I dont think Bin Laden would take to kindly to a Jewish lawyer defending him.

[catonsville]

"Would he do the same for Hitler"

Yes, he has already said he would have defended Hitler. Derschowitz is pumping his newest, most worthless book. The man is a fool.

[imperator2]

The WTC bombers were happy to have Jewish lawyers. It didn't help them. Sure gave the lawyers new Jag XKR's.

[Doctor Stochastic]

The purpose of the defence is not to prove innocence nor even to get the client off. The purpose it to make the government prove (under the rules of evidence) that the defendent is guilty. (None of this precludes using Military Tribunals in place of civilian courts.) In the long run, the procedures are more important that the result. It is not enough that justice be done; justice must be seen to be done.

Outcome-based judicial proceedings are no more valid as outcome-based education.

[lavaroise]

This guy is the typical unrepentant liberal whose lack of repent and arrogance is just way too close to terrorist rhetoric. He understates clearly a Jihad.

[Elihu Burritt]

The moral of the story is that it takes guts to defend someone who is obviously wrong, but somebody has to do it, because if no one does it, our legal system would be lacking due process.

It is true that our legal system is often a legitimate embarrassment in a number of ways, but public cases, even of Mafia Dons have positive values. For one, it becomes a public forum for the presentation of a lot of dirty laundry, and often that laundry has been soiled by both sides. This will always benefit the public. Just as Mafia Dons can't exist without friends in the system, neither could Bin Laden. If nothing else, an exposition of the drug relationships around Bin Laden wouldn't hurt John Q Public one bit. Neither would a public exposition of the role played in this by the Carter and Reagan administrations. Sweeping these things may well be the real motives behind Bush's secret tribunal games, and the key to promoting more of such things in the future. Given the billions blown in Afghanistan and the blowback from it, it is inexcusable not to publicly air the dirty linen.

[lavaroise]

Scratch Dershowitz and all those like minded, high minded, defenders of the legal faith

Intelligent people earned their intelligence through stubborness. It hence is no accident that they transfer this stubborness in their ideology and never repent. In fact humanism which tells that man has unlimited potential in goodness is another way of saying no one should ever repent to intelligent people, they are never wrong. It is tyranny, and those people live and breath tyranny. They are a public nuisance and danger to the world.

[1 FELLOW FREEPER]

"Lawyers sure are patriotic when it come to stealing money."
Yeah, Dershowitz is just out to do all the good he can, isn't he............at $500.00 an hour!!

[The Wizard]

these same people who would shoot him on sight

[fallclassicus]

Nowhere does it say that the defendent has a blank check to charge the American public whatever the heck they want. I think that defense cost should be strickly limited, and obtained from any assests the defendents or their organizations have. I am not willing to pay taxes to enrich lawyers

Impersonator; Does this mean that you also believe that there should be a mandatory cap on the funds that the state should spend to investigate and prosecute a crime or even a war? Should there be a cap on the cost of food and housing and medicine. Very socialist in your thinking.

[Montfort]

I'll bet John Adams did not pocket a large fee from the taxpayers for the repesentation.

[Celtjew Libertarian]

Yes, he has already said he would have defended Hitler.

He's a liar. Anyone remember John Demjanjuk, who was deported to Israel and charged with being the Nazi prison guard, "Ivan the Terrible"? Dershowitz went balistic when the guy claimed he wasn't Ivan the Terrible and continued to explode, when Pat Buchanan supported Demjanjuk's claim. Guess what? In the end, the Israeli supreme court cleared Demjanjuk.

If Dershowitz got that upset about a person, accused of being a Nazi, defending himself on the basis of mistaken identity, does anyone take seriously the claim that he would defend Hitler?

No, I take that back. Dershowitz would defend Hitler, if it gave him a chance to say nasty things about the U.S.

[DManA]

I understand and I agree.

As to this comment - . It is not enough that justice be done; justice must be seen to be done.>

Do you think a secret military tribunal will jeopardize this goal?

[exmarine]

Dershowitz is an arrogant blowhard. His intellect is highly over-rated. I'd love to get this guy into a debate over relativism - I would rip him to pieces. I can't believe anyone listens to this guy. If this is the best legal mind our nation has to offer, we may as well write off our legal system as a lost cause.

[exmarine]

Any form of patriotism that does not include religion and morality as its foundation is is not patriotism. I invite Dershowitz (and any other liberal nazi) to read George Washington's farewell address where he outlines this very principle.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Maybe, maybe not. The Nuremberg Trials were generally seen as being fairly run. Secret trials in Secret Courts with Secret Evidence are a problem.

[imperator2]

Fall-on-ur-assicus. Dont bother me if you are going to call me names.

[cake_crumb]

Gee, is it a coincidence that the trial lawyers are against military tribunals?
BTW
Highest form of patriotism to whom? Al-Qaeda??