Yoo Hoo.... It's the Constitution, Stupid!
The Washington Post has an extensive profile of the right wing's favorite lawyer, John Yoo.
Yoo, whose appeal to right wing idealogues and proto-facists, is undismayed that his pro-torture, screw the Constitution, the President is God, approach to the law would create so much controversy. One doesn't have to look far into Yoo's past to find where this fatal flaw in his character developed.
"Coming of age in an anti-communist household, Yoo said, he associated strong opposition to communist rule with the Republican Party and was himself "attracted to Reagan's message." What he liked most in conservatism was "the grounding in reason and reasonableness."
How many real, honest conservations has Ronald Reagan destroyed?
firedoglake takes Yoo to task for his failings as a real lawyer.
"Unfortunately for Mr. Yoo, he fails on multiple counts. Not the least of which because he failed to follow the cardinal rule of lawyering: present all sides of the issue, not just the ones your client wants to hear -- because it is the bad news that can be the most important thing in decision-making in any enterprise."
[...]
You do not adequately serve your client by telling him only those things he wants to hear. Period. The most important function you can have as an attorney is to tell your client all the things he does not want to hear -- for the sole reason that he must hear them in order to make a fully informed decision. To do less is to fail at your job.
Another cardinal sin is to believe that your argument is the only right one. One of the first things you learn as a litigator is that there is always another side. Always, always, always. And you must give due consideration to every side of an issue to adequately do your job. A true believer makes for an emotional argument, but not for a clear-headed, well-reasoned, intellectual argument in most cases."
[...]
"It is the President who makes the key decisions, and who is responsible for the ramifications of them. But John Yoo, who grew up in a rabidly anti-Communist household with parents who escaped Korea when he was but a baby should have known better.
Totalitarian government, in whatever guise, is not a friend of liberty. Just because what you are saying makes the Preznit happy because he gets to do what he wants, it doesn't mean it's good for him. Or the rest of the country, for that matter. Shame on Yoo, and every other enabler and excuse-maker for these actions."
It appears that the most effective way to curry favor with President Bush is to only tell him what he wants to hear. John Yoo, certainly did a good job at that.
Yoo, whose appeal to right wing idealogues and proto-facists, is undismayed that his pro-torture, screw the Constitution, the President is God, approach to the law would create so much controversy. One doesn't have to look far into Yoo's past to find where this fatal flaw in his character developed.
"Coming of age in an anti-communist household, Yoo said, he associated strong opposition to communist rule with the Republican Party and was himself "attracted to Reagan's message." What he liked most in conservatism was "the grounding in reason and reasonableness."
How many real, honest conservations has Ronald Reagan destroyed?
firedoglake takes Yoo to task for his failings as a real lawyer.
"Unfortunately for Mr. Yoo, he fails on multiple counts. Not the least of which because he failed to follow the cardinal rule of lawyering: present all sides of the issue, not just the ones your client wants to hear -- because it is the bad news that can be the most important thing in decision-making in any enterprise."
[...]
You do not adequately serve your client by telling him only those things he wants to hear. Period. The most important function you can have as an attorney is to tell your client all the things he does not want to hear -- for the sole reason that he must hear them in order to make a fully informed decision. To do less is to fail at your job.
Another cardinal sin is to believe that your argument is the only right one. One of the first things you learn as a litigator is that there is always another side. Always, always, always. And you must give due consideration to every side of an issue to adequately do your job. A true believer makes for an emotional argument, but not for a clear-headed, well-reasoned, intellectual argument in most cases."
[...]
"It is the President who makes the key decisions, and who is responsible for the ramifications of them. But John Yoo, who grew up in a rabidly anti-Communist household with parents who escaped Korea when he was but a baby should have known better.
Totalitarian government, in whatever guise, is not a friend of liberty. Just because what you are saying makes the Preznit happy because he gets to do what he wants, it doesn't mean it's good for him. Or the rest of the country, for that matter. Shame on Yoo, and every other enabler and excuse-maker for these actions."
It appears that the most effective way to curry favor with President Bush is to only tell him what he wants to hear. John Yoo, certainly did a good job at that.
posted by RJB at 10:05 AM
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