The Smear of the Day

The New York Times ran an extensive article today to smear Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. The thrust of the article is that Gillibrand is an evil person because as a lawyer, she worked to defend tobacco companies.

This just bullshit. One of the guiding principles of the American legal system, in both civil and criminal systems, is that everybody gets to hire the best lawyers they can. If you prosecute someone, they get to defend themselves vigorously; the party bringing the action has to prove their case, regardless of how venal the defendant is alleged to be.

The New York Times is propagating the same old bullshit of "those people are evil and some must be their lawyers." This is an attack, not only on Senator Gillibrand, but on the entire legal system. The New York Times is basically advocating mob justice; there is no real difference between that article and a lynch mob's attitude of "we don't need no trial, we know he done it."

So here is my hope: If the two reporters who wrote that putrid piece, Raymond Hernandez and David Kocieniewski or if their editors are ever arrested or sued, I hope that no lawyer takes their call.