(Untitled)

[fuxd]

Those of you in the city should check out "Terror's Advocate ("L'avocat de la Terreur") at the IFC. It's an incredibly ambitious documentary about the infamous Jacques Verges, the lawyer-maverick who has defended everyone from Carlos the Jackal to Milosevic to Klaus Barbie. He was set to defend Hussein and some of his cabinet too before the mob got

Comments

[thelosthoplite]

Wow, a man who makes a somewhat witty comeback equating Bush to Hitler, how edgy!

[fuxd]

you've got no idea how genuinely provocative this guy's personality and career are

[thelosthoplite]

I'm actually interested by the rest of what you said, but despite Bush's arguable status as a war criminal, I find comparing him to the man who exterminated 10 million intentionally to be tired and juvenile at best.

[fuxd]

The comparison made between Bush and Hitler in the quote has little to do with their actions. In context (of the film, and of the quote itself: "if he plead guilty") Verges is getting at a much more interesting point -- that Bush is, in some sense, even more reprehensible than Hitler. That is, insofar as society has not forced Bush into a court room, the travesty of the Bush administration overshadows that of Hitler: Bush's manipulation of the public (and the public's acquiescence) is what trial would bring to light -- that's what motivates Verges as a controversial defense attorney. Neither the Americans nor the Baathists wanted Verges to defend Hussein: the Baathists knew that Verges only defends those who are guilty, and the Americans knew that Verges only defends guilty people whose trial--if done right--could bring further injustice to light (like the US's supplying Hussein with weapons used for genocide: we had Hussein hanged on petty charges to have little facts like these covered up

[thelosthoplite]

Moralizing? Your comment is more moralistic than mine. Superficial? Now you're just giving me a hard time. Regardless, I want to see the movie, so I will.

[nostalgebraist]

Even if Verges is only making that limited point about Hilter and Bush, it isn't implicit in the quote itself. Without context, I took the quote to mean that Bush was all-around more indefensible (legally, morally, or both) than Hitler. So I think the way you've isolated it was misleading.

[fuxd]

you're totally right, I just wanted to be a dick to him

[thelosthoplite]

And a hypocrite too.