Biffmotron posted:

Can't let this thread go this far without noting that before he was Too Online, Greenwald was an actual lawyer, where he took up important free speech cases like the rights of Matthew Hale, just some dude who rebranded his National Socialist White Americans Party as the World Church of the Creator, and then was linked to a bunch of hate crimes. Greenwald's attitude was that a racist spree shooting by WCOC second-in-command Ben Smith was just some random crime, and linking Hale's dedicated rhetoric and organization for white supremacy to these murders by one of his underlings was guilt by association.

And you know, even Nazis should have lawyers, and those lawyers should do their duty to their clients. But I think we can also look askance at lawyers who are proud of their work defending Nazis.

David Neiwert has a more detailed account of the whole story at his blog as a journalist who was covering these events as they happened, and who ran in similar late 00s net circles at Greenwald.

EDIT: To be more specific, a defense attorney has the duty to prove that their client is not guilty of specific charges, and that the prosecution's case is insufficient. Arguing that Nazi propaganda is a vital First Amendment issue, and people calling out Nazis in America are engaging in guilt by association smears, is a choice that you don't need to make, and shows exactly what that lawyer thinks of Nazis and the Constitution. Greenwald has been fash for a long time.