on monday night, janeane garofalo did a wonderful interview with noted defense attorney gerald b. lefcourt on the majority report. c.i. of the common ills sent me some notes on that and will be posting a section from it tonight but passed it on so i could salute since i'm keeping track of who is showing real guts and bravery.
utlizing c.i.'s notes and listening to the episode at the air america archive (i was on a valentine's date monday night so i missed the majority report), i'll provide a summary.
lefcourt explained that he thinks 1 of the reasons for indicting lynne stewart to being with was that after the passage of the patriot act, john ashcroft announces that he now has the right to tape attornies and clients discussing their cases in confidence. there was an outcry from the senate which was: we just gave you your wishlist and you didn't put that on it. and attornies and the american bar association were outraged by this new 'policy' - an administrative rule change.
under pressure, suddenly john ashcroft announces his charges of lynne stewart for terrorism. she was the scalp mad dog john wanted to waive around to justify his policy change (one that goes against our basic concepts of law). he was trying to use her to prove that there was a threat to the national security.
lawsuits were in the pipeline to have this declared unconstitutional (which it is) so mad dog john personally announces the indictment against lynne stewart "to say, 'you see why we need this?'"
they charged her with aiding terrorists. and they rest their weak claim on their belief that her work as a lawyer was done.
so, let me ask readers, if that's what the government believes, why did they allow her to continue to visit him. if she wasn't there as a lawyer, she was there as some sort of a friend and in that case, they could have easily prevented her from visiting. they didn't do that because she was there as a lawyer and they know that and people better wake up and see that too.
so by the government's view, lynne stewart wasn't a lawyer, she was a part of the sheik's terrorist organization.
as janeane pointed out there was nothing that tied her to terrorist activities on american soil and nothing to tie her to further violence on foreign soil. this is all about a press release.
lefcourt made a point to emphasize that the "u.s. has often exchanged prisoenrs with other governments, particularly in the spy era.' this goes to the interview stewart had with laura flanders this weekend where she explained that without media attention, the man had no visibility and therefore no use in a trade.
this is about the attorney-client privilege.
she's charged and convicted of speaking to the press.
that's a summary. when reading over c.i.'s notes, i was surprised that sam seder's name didn't pop up often. then i listened to the interview.
sam, here's a tip, when talking about a serious issue (1 you weren't so sure of, as you said prior to the interview), the issues involved are a little more important than hearing yet again how you went to law school and dropped out.
pee wee herman might say 'i never get tired of that story' but i do.
and i'll also note that a crew was in the studio at the start of monday's show. they were doing a 'where are they now' taping to add a bonus feature to the larry sanders show dvd set that will be coming out.
if you don't know, janeane played paula on that show. if you don't know, and sam appears not to, sam was never on the larry sanders show.
i say that coz he couldn't shut the fuck up. over and over he cut off janeane and seemed to be amping it up for the cameras. janeane couldn't get a complete sentence out. and at 1 point when janeane's attempting to explain why they are talking about jeff gannon, sam cuts her off yet again to go into a 'let me explain why this is news' spiel. uh, sam, the people taping - they weren't there for you.
he attempts to dominate any time a woman speaks and some day some woman will call him on it. but he was useless during the interview. janeane had a conversation with lefcourt. sam acted as though he was sitting on the couch of the johnny carson show.
so let me salute janeane and let me salute lefcourt as well. brave, amazing people who grasp the issues and don't publicly waffle the way sam did.
in other news: this just in, nbc's lisa myers is still useless and still fat.
uber fat chick lisa myers is on nightly news right now delivering a report on contractors in iraq. 'contractors who committ crimes can be prosecuted under u.s. law,' myers just said. 'even good contractors sometimes used tactics that can turn iraqis against the u.s.' lisa myers emerging from the local peter piper's where she's spent 4 hours scaring the little kids away from the pizza buffet to deliver the white wash that the hostilities iraqis feel towards us may be the fault of contractors who can be filed under the 'few bad apples' heading apparently. hey big gal, this was news a looooooooooooooonnnnnnngggggggggggg time ago. finally emerging from your feeing trough, you've discovered the story that every 1 else has been covering but not only have you added nothing to it, you've also turned it into a white wash. you've schilled for the administration, lisa, now hurry off to the candy store.
