First off, thanks for this blog. I read it frequently and get a lot from it. I consider myself, as you do, to be a hawkish liberal Jew. I give no quarter to those who aid terrorists and believe that their crimes should be publicized and punished. However, I disagree strongly with your view of Stewart. She was precisely what you say she wasn't, a "useful idiot of the left".

Stewart's transmission of political instructions from her notorious client, the evil murderer Sheik Rahman, to his minions in Egypt is inexcusable. Stewart's crime should be evident to everyone. But, by using the term "fatwa" you may be unintentionally inflating her actions. The "fatwas" (I hate even using that horrible term -- these aren't rulings by religious judges as the term literally means -- they're the ravings of fanatics) that Stewart transmitted were apparently political in nature and not the sort of death sentence "fatwa" of the sort we're familiar with from the Rushdie case. That act by an attorney, transmitting political instructions from a foreign terrorist defendant to his terrorist comrades, is rightly considered a serious crime. Stewart was a damned fool to do it. However, she was not accused of transmitting any directions to commit violent acts of any kind. Moreover, she did not act out of support for her client's political views, but out of a distorted sense that she was protecting his right to free speech.

Stewart knew that what she did was a crime. She attempted to conceal it, so her awareness of her own culpability is evident. She deserves to be punished. Here's where she stands now: she's been disbarred, disgraced, and sentenced to 2 1/2 years in the federal pen. She's an elderly woman who's undergone treatment for breast cancer and is uncertain of that treatment's success. It is unlikely that she will ever have the health or energy, not to mention the desire, to ever commit another crime. Let those of us who are vigilant against terrorism save our ammo for the real terrorists. We have bigger fish to fry than delusional, elderly leftist attorneys.

One more thing: I hope that this case doesn't dissuade non-delusional attorneys from defending those accused of terrorist acts. That may sound crazy, but without the right to a fair trial including legal counsel, our system of criminal justice would be an exercise in putting a nice face on injustice. Even a Rahman deserves a legal defense. In the future, however, let his "fatwas" stay where they belong: in solitary confinement.