From: Travis Subject: Obama Selects Taliban Lawyer For Justice Dept. Date: Monday, January 26, 2009,
http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/01/26/obama-selects-taliban-lawyer-for-justice-dept/ *Obama Selects Taliban Lawyer For Justice Dept.* *Joshua Sharp*** <http://brighthall.aol.com/bloggers/joshua-sharp/> Posted: Jan 26th 2009 7:02AM Filed under: *Politics* <http://brighthall.aol.com/category/politics/>, *USC * <http://brighthall.aol.com/category/usc/> President Obama, who as a candidate was accused of "pallin' around with" former domestic terrorist *William Ayers*<http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F02E1DE1438F932A2575AC0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all>and *other controversial figures*<http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-video29-2008oct29,0,5458024.story>, has selected the "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh's defense attorney for a key Justice Department post. Tony West, a San Francisco-based lawyer who worked in the Clinton Administration's Justice Department, has been nominated for an assistant attorney general position overseeing Justice's Civil Division. He also, conveniently enough, helped raise $65 million for Obama in California as a state finance co-chair during the campaign. Not a bad down payment. West is undoubtedly a talented attorney, negotiating a guilty plea for Lindh on reduced charges and helping the ex-Taliban fighter avoid the death penalty or a lifetime jail sentence (Hurray!). And, like Ayers, West *doesn't regret his past*<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/25/MN4T15GIQ2.DTL>-- even "said it was the kind of work he believed in," Bob Egelko writes in the San Francisco Chronicle. But his nomination could brew another fight on Capitol Hill, should Senate Republicans *locate their **cajones*<http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mark-finkelstein/2009/01/21/norah-odonnell-have-republicans-lost-their-cojones> . President Obama and his supporters have been trying to characterize Obama's more controversial appointments as a demonstration of his commitment to pragmatism despite political risks: *Raytheon lobbyist*<http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/01/24/obama-bans-all-lobbyists-except-ones-he-likes/>for deputy defense secretary? "He obviously needed and wanted this man," Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) *says*<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/us/politics/25agenda.html?ref=politics> . Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State, *shady donations*<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/washington/04clinton.html?hp>and all? It's a Lincoln-esque "Team of Rivals." Rahm "Rahmbo" Emanuel for chief of staff, a man known for his aggressive partisan tendencies? Obama calls him "'the whole package' of political acumen, policy chops and pragmatism," according to the *New York Times*<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/us/politics/25emanuel.html?pagewanted=2&ref=todayspaper> . Political spin aside, surely Obama could have found a less toxic choice than a Taliban fighter's lawyer; maybe someone who defended *the other guy*<http://www.e2cweb.com/images_art/american%20flag.jpg> ? . -- *~@):~{> --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
