America was turned on its collective head on September 11th and is apparently still upside down. Do you remember the “American Taliban,” John Walker Lindh? If the answer to that question is yes, do you remember what a pariah he was considered after his capture? Ok, if you answered yes to that question, try to imagine Lindh’s Defense Attorney in 2001 becoming the number 3 at the Department of Justice.

Via Judicial Watch:

In a scary development, a major Obama fundraiser who defended a convicted al Qaeda terrorist will become the third highest ranking official at the Department of Justice (DOJ), which, ironically, is charged with defending the interests of the United States.

Northern California lawyer Tony West has been named Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, making him the No. 3 guy at the agency. In 2009 West, who helped Obama raise tens of millions of dollars as finance co-chairman of his first presidential campaign, was appointed to help run the DOJ’s civil division which represents the government, Congress and presidential cabinet officers and handles cases dealing with significant policy issues.

In a glowing press release, West’s boss (Eric Holder) apparently didn’t find it relevant or admirable to include West’s work in defending Lindh:

Conveniently omitted in the press release is that West represented convicted al Qaeda terrorist John Walker Lindh, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence. Lindh was captured in Afghanistan in 2001 while fighting against the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance as a member of the Taliban army. He actually pleaded guilty to aiding the Taliban and carrying explosives while fighting U.S. troops in the region.

Holder also knows a thing or two about defending terrorists. After all, he was a senior partner in a prestigious Washington D.C. law firm (Covington & Burling) that represented more than a dozen Yemeni terrorists held at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay Cuba. While Holder was a senior partner the firm employed a number of radical attorneys to provide the Islamic extremists with thousands of hours of free legal representation, according to a news report.

The left often seems to be privately proud of that which rational people find deplorable and outwardly proud of ideals it rarely has any intention of aspiring to.

I can’t imagine why West wouldn’t be proud of defending a traitor to his country. Being assigned the case as a public defender is one thing but being an attorney who gleefully defended Lindh is something else entirely.

h/t Weasel Zippers