Cheneyism: The New American McCarthyism

How do you push a neoconservative political agenda? How do you undermine and discredit those who do not share your political views? How do you make a name for yourself in Washington?

Senator Joseph McCarthy’s formula was to call into question the patriotism and loyalty of his political opponents and malign them as jeopardizing America’s integrity and national security. Now, Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, is following suit.

Over the past week, Cheney’s conservative group, Keep America Safe, has launched a McCarthyite smear campaign against the lawyers serving in the Obama Justice Department who did legal work on behalf of terror suspects. The group has put out a controversial new advertisement that lashes out against the seven Obama Justice Department attorneys who previously represented, or advocated on behalf of, detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. Eerily reminiscent to the 2004 Swift Boat campaign against Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, the ad brands the DOJ lawyers as the “Al Qaeda Seven” –- although the detainees they defended were not necessarily associated with al Qaeda –- and asks in sinister tones, “Whose values do they share?”

Seriously, Liz Cheney? Whose values do they share?

Truthfully, I grappled with whether or not to write this post, knowing that doing so might imply that Cheney’s position represents a legitimate argument worthy of public debate. It is not. Compiling a dossier on Justice Department lawyers and sullying the character of these individuals is mere neo-McCarthyism cloaked in the language of national security and safety. Cheney’s attempt to score cheap political points by questioning the integrity of these lawyers and equating them with al Qaeda terrorists must be dismissed outright.

If it were up to Keep America Safe, America would keep GITMO open, utilize waterboarding and aggressive interrogation, try detainees in military tribunals, and boost defense spending on nuclear weapons. Thankfully, not everyone agrees. Cheney’s ad has aroused intense anger among legal experts and pundits. Most notably, a group of 19 Republicans -– that’s right, Republicans –- have condemned the ad as a “shameful series of attacks ... both unjust to the individuals in question and destructive of any attempt to build lasting mechanisms for counterterrorism adjudications.”

Even Senator Lindsey Graham and right-wing lawyer Kenneth Starr joined the chorus of conservatives condemning the ad. Graham admirably wrote, “This system of justice that we're so proud of in America requires the unpopular to have an advocate and every time a defense lawyer fights to make the government do their job, that defense lawyer has made us all safer.”

When you are a Republican being attacked by Lindsey Graham and Kenneth Star, you know that you represent a fringe movement operating at the political margins. If only Graham also believed that the unpopular should be put on trial and represented by defense lawyers in civilian courts.

Most Americans understand that McCarthyism was a shameful and sinister chapter in American history. Claiming to find Communist conspiracies in every walk of American life, McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) conducted modern-day witch hunts against those who held dissenting opinions to their own. Unfortunately, the far right wing of the Republican Party represented by Cheney have again embraced McCarthy’s reprehensible tactics.

In representing Guantanamo detainees, Justice Department lawyers have defended the U.S. constitution by ensuring that even those charged with heinous acts have the right to make their case heard in court. It is this principle that lies at the heart of American democracy and represents the bedrock upon which our nation was founded. Constitutional rights apply to unpopular people too, and American history is filled with examples in which patriotic lawyers have defended the most dangerous criminals.

Most rational people understand that it is wrong to identify lawyers with the views of a client. In representing Guantanamo detainees, JOD lawyers were in no way advocating for terrorism or expressing disloyalty to this country. Quite the contrary, in upholding the rule of law and holding the government accountable to standards of justice, equality, and democracy, the Guantanamo lawyers are serving as loyal and patriotic soldiers in the fight against terrorism.

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