By Linda Chavez"Liz Cheney has stirred up a hornet's nest. The former vice president's daughter now runs a group called Keep America Safe, which last week released a video questioning the "values" of Obama Justice Department lawyers who once represented clients detained at Guantanamo for terrorist activities. Cheney's group claims that Attorney General Holder has hired nine such lawyers, including the principal deputy solicitor general, Neal Katyal, but has refused to identify most of them. "Who are these government officials ... whose values do they share?" the group asks. Now, Cheney is being accused of McCarthyism and even some conservatives are criticizing her.
The main line of attack against Cheney rests on the principle that everyone accused of a crime has the right to legal representation. The critics say it's unfair to tar lawyers with their clients' crimes if the system is to work properly. Even a child molester deserves competent defense, and few would accuse the lawyers who represented such men of sharing their clients' values. Fair enough — as far as it goes. But leaving aside for the moment the gaping hole in this argument — namely, that Guantanamo holds enemy combatants, not common criminals — the analogy still doesn't work."
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