Justice Department Fiddles, Too

Proving that hypocrisy isn't exclusive to Bush, Rummy, Cheney, and the rest of the inner circle, Lynne Stewart was convicted of supposedly aiding and abetting Omar Abdel-Rahman. What Ms. Stewart DID was offer her services as a competent defense attorney to Rahman, who was convicted of various charges involving plots to bomb buildings and/or tunnels.

Unpopular defendants, like it or not, need lawyers too--otherwise, you might as well close down the courts and substitute, oh, lynching or divine right of kings (the latter seems to be Bush's program, see below). By convicting Stewart, the message is that quality, aggressive criminal defense is no longer tolerated. In other countries, that would imply that the halls of justice had turned into kangaroo court.

There's more at TalkLeft.

However, in the spirit of IOKIYAR*, aiding and abetting terrorists is not only ok, you can get promoted if you're sufficiently passive in the face of over fifty specific threats that mention Al Qaeda--and it even bolsters your case for advancement if you lie about your inability to understand plain English, in this case, a memorandum arguing that immediate strategies be implemented to counter the threat of that organization.

*IOKIYAR=It's OK If You're A Republican