Over the years, I have traveled throughout the far west—recreationally and professionally. My itinerary has included Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Arizona and states along the nation’s west coast where I once lived. But I have never crossed a state line or landed at an airport identified as being in  Wyoming. Nor do I know anyone claiming to be from Wyoming. I’ve seen photographs of  the Grand Teton mountain range and other landmarks that are supposedly located in Wyoming. And history books allege Wyoming was admitted as the 44th state to the union. Therefore, I assume it really exists, especially since my wife, Annette, claims to have seen Wyoming with her own baby blue eyes. And I know she would never tell me a lie.

My doubts about the existence of Wyoming, particularly as being part of the United States, stems from years of listening and reading about the rants of former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter, Liz. Come to think of it, I’ve never seen Mr. Cheney’s birth certificate. Could it be…..? Nah, he and Liz probably just live in ignorance of basic rights guaranteed by our country, as do many others, unfortunately. In the Cheney”s Wyoming world, torture is okay and legal representation of suspected terrorists is not okay.

Indeed, Liz Cheney is co-chairman of an organization called, “Keep America Safe.” Its most recent cause in keeping America safe from lawyers, who have the audacity to represent terrorists before tribunals and/or in criminal trials. In her zeal, she has outed group of Justice Department lawyers described  euphemistically as the ”al-Qaeda seven” because they once defended suspected terrorists. In the narrow minds of Liz and her cohorts, protecting the rights of defendants apparently makes the attorneys traitors. 

Could it be that she is not stupid as she seems—that her smear tactics amount to gutter politics in an effort to damage the Obama Administration? Would she stoop that low in the face of criticism leveled at her by arch conservative friends, who are lawyers or former officials in the Bush Administration. No doubt, Liz’s daddy gave her lessons in how to fight dirty. He is a master at allowing politics to overshadow conscience and morality.

Although I occasionally covered national politics during my ten-year CNN tenure, I am quick to acknowledge that my Washington ”inside-the-belt” wisdom is limited. Nevertheless, in the course of my 30-year investigative reporting career, I associated with a lot of criminal defense lawyers. They sometimes represented defendants accused of heinous crimes, ranging from drug smuggling to vicious killings to organized crime racketeering to murderous dictatorships. The obligations of these attorneys were to protect the rights of the accused. Legal advocacy does not translate into advocacy of crimes, whether it is defending terrorists or shoplifters.

For several years, criminal defense lawyer and political activist Camille Gravel, served as  legal counsel to Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards. I was a longtime acquaintance, though we were never close. The Alexandria resident was among the most respected political figures in the state as evidenced by the eulogies that followed his death five years ago. While working for ABC Close Up in 1981, I happened to run into Camille at a convention of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in Alberquerque, New Mexico. I was then living in Boston and working out of New York City, so I was only vaguely aware of what was going on in my adopted home state. When our conversation turned to the subject of Governor Edwards and legal problems he faced. I joking asked, “Can’t you keep him out of trouble, Camille?”

The answer is one that defines the role of legal advocates. “My job, John, is to explain the law to the Governor. Or for that matter, anyone I represent. If I defend client against criminal charges, my obligation to protect their rights to a fair trial.”

I don’t know how the law works in Wyoming. Most likely, the same as in the other 49 states. However, it must be different in the state of the minds of the Cheneys and other wing-nuts willing to reliquish the principles on which our country is built. Syndicated Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson used the term, “McCarthyism,” this week in describing Liz Cheney’s outing of Justice Department lawyers as being disloyal in their defense of the rights of suspected terrorists.

I think Robinson was being too fair to her.