I've never subscribed to the intrinsic evilness of lawyers. Thanks to television, I know they can be skinny and quirky (Ally McBeal), sexy and serious (the practice), or older and quirky (Boston Legal). I know that they are the "Order" part of Law & Order. But some of my best friends are lawyers. So I dismiss the generalizations and think of it as just a profession.
So if you can, picture yourself a lawyer. Perhaps an idealist-type of lawyer, who believes in innocent until proven guilty, and burden of proof, and all those great American ideals. Perhaps you're the kind of lawyer who would join a public defender's office and fight for the rights of the accused, never asking their clients' guilt or innocence, just mounting the best defense they can. You get the usual dregs of society--petty theft, assault, B&E--and you know you're part of a system, doing your part to ensure fair trials and the greater good.
And then, one day, your old college buddy calls you. He's in serious trouble with the law. Serious trouble. And he wants you to represent him. So you do. Because you're both from Lambda Kappa Omega or whatever. So you agree.
Oh yeah, and you're in Iraq, and there's no due process, and your buddy/defense client is Saddam Hussein. Hopefully, you've put your affairs in order, because likelihood is that someday during the trial, ten masked gunmen are going to burst into your office, kidnap you and then leave your murdered body outside a neighborhood mosque for the authorities to discover.
It's possible, given the rumored friendship between these two men, that this lawyer actually was full-on, Wolfram and Hart evil. But in any case, this news definitely decides it. At the top of the list of jobs I don't want (right in front of "David Spade's Assistant" and "actuary") goes "Saddam Hussein's Defense Lawyer."
And I hope that doesn't disappoint any of you.