Letters to the Editor
-
Correcting my earlier post -- she was drafted
From the article:
"In May 1975, Washington County prosecutor Mahlon Gibson called Rodham, who had taken over the law clinic months earlier, to tell her she'd been appointed to represent a hard-drinking factory worker named Thomas Alfred Taylor, who had requested a female attorney."
Hillary was required to defend the guy -- it is something that could be done to any Arkansas lawyer. To everyone who is complaining -- we have an adversarial legal system. That is what the public have chose, not the lawyers. The public think this is great compared to say the French system, with an investigating magistrate. In such a system defense counsel is required to challenge every challengeable aspect of the prosecutions case.
Hillary did what she was supposed to do. Evidence was thrown out -- not to use the hackneyed phrase "on a technicality" but because something about how the evidence was collected undermined its reliability in court. Rape cases are nasty -- I know people who have had to defend such cases on appointment -- who also prosecuted. the main witness is always the victim. In an adversarial system that is the person whose credibility will be at stake.
What everyone here criticizing her would have liked is for her to put on a lousy defense ... to have decided that she would do a bad job and let the guy go to jail. And you know, they want that to happen in murder cases, which is why public defenders in Texas are underfunded, why there are so many wrongful convictions.
Face it, she did what she had given her oath to do when she was sworn in as a member of the Arkansas Bar, she did her duty when she was drafted to defend this guy. It is to her credit. It is also to the permanent discredit of those who criticize her -- may you be denied a lawyer, and your kids, the next time you need one.
-
Does this count as a cheap shot?
I doubt this will get reported in the War Room, as Koppelman seems to have a decidely pro-Clinton bent, but...
CLINTON STAFFERS CIRCULATE 'DRESSED' OBAMA
Mon Feb 25 2008 06:51:00 ET
With a week to go until the Texas and Ohio primaries, stressed Clinton staffers circulated a photo over the weekend of a "dressed" Barack Obama.
The photo, taken in 2006, shows the Democrat frontrunner fitted as a Somali Elder, during his visit to Wajir, a rural area in northeastern Kenya.
The senator was on a five-country tour of Africa.
"Wouldn't we be seeing this on the cover of every magazine if it were HRC?" questioned one campaign staffer, in an email obtained by the DRUDGE REPORT.
In December, the campaign asked one of its volunteer county coordinators in Iowa to step down after the person forwarded an e-mail falsely stating that Barack Obama is a Muslim.
Obama campaign manager David Plouffe quickly accused the Clinton campaign Monday of 'shameful offensive fear-mongering' for circulating the snap.
Clinton campaign manager Maggie Williams responds: "If Barack Obama's campaign wants to suggest that a photo of him wearing traditional Somali clothing is divisive, they should be ashamed."
Developing...
Other leaders have worn local costumes
http://www.drudgereport.com/flashoa.htm
-
When did Newsday become a tabloid?
I've seen less biased articles in the New York Post. Obama is "poised to make history" and he "tried to help residents of the city's forgotten neighborhoods build a better life". Meanwhile, Clinton was defending child rapists. The article would have been just as offensive without the ad for Obama in the first few paragraphs, but that does turn the knife a bit.
What the article does not seem to deal with is whether Clinton was right. Sixth grade girls are as capable of lying as anybody else. The writer even admits much later in the story (almost at the end) that the victim was not being consistent in her version of events. And that the reason for the plea deal was that the mother of the victim didn't want her to testify in open court. Of course, this is long after the writer makes the case that Clinton used her training in child development to manipulate the facts to protect a pedophile.
-
@nkennedy
Why did this stupid letter get a star?
I'm always amused when someone says they might "switch who they're voting for" because of some shady treatment a candidate is getting from the media or some other group. By that standard, we'd all be switching all the time. And that is a truly stupid reason to vote for or against any candidate.
Yes, Drudge (who I think started this latest thing, or atleast spread it) has it in for the Clintons, and MSNBC seems to have a fetish over them. But the Clintons' play up the whole "media bias" angle so much that -- just like the republicans who do the same thing -- they get better treatment in a lot of instances because the media is afraid of seeming "anti-Clinton." So quit whining already.
Yeah, this is a totally unfair smear. Just like the photo of Obama this morning on Drudge was an unfair attempt to smear. Just like the NyTimes bizarre story on McCain was an unfair smear. Should we all switch sides in protest? shall we make this musical chairs?
-
A "hit piece"??
I dunno. I'm a Hillary supporter, and I thought the piece was remarkably balanced. I was expecting a hit piece when I saw it cited on the blog of a fervent Obama supporter and Clinton detractor, but I was surprised when I actually read the article to find it so even-handed.
In fact, I could almost imagine it was written as a preemptive defense against an anticipated onslaught of hit pieces about this case that would focus exclusively on how Hillary had viciously attacked the poor victim, ignoring the other side of the story entirely.
I thought the piece made an excellent case for what Hillary did in a difficult and ugly situation obviously not of her choosing.
Swift Loris
-
moral responsibility?
"Anonymous" bravely (and anonymously) asks:
"While a less-aggressive defense would have breached her professional responsibilities, the substantive question is, what was her moral responsibility?"
Her moral responsibility was to do her duty as defense counsel. It was the job of the prosecutor to advocate for the state. If defense does the job of the state, then we do not have a fair legal system.
Sorry, but this is not a big moral dilemma.