WASHINGTON — In a city more choreographed than Tinseltown, genuine sparks of anger rarely fly.
In the grand, cavernous hearing rooms of the US Senate, decorum almost always reigns supreme. The marble walls are shined to sparkle and the dark wood paneling polished to a rich luster.
People do not speak out of turn.
But decorum could not hold yesterday. Not when we are talking about how to execute real, unblinking justice on the animals that plotted the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Tempers flared, people shouted, voices quavered as Attorney General Eric Holder tried explaining to the Senate Judiciary Committee why he decided to hold the terror trial of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed in Manhattan.
Before unleashing his own withering interrogation of the attorney general, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) removed his suit jacket and hung it on the back of his chair.
He began by noting the primary reason Holder gave for wanting to try Mohammed in federal court was to ensure the best chance at successfully prosecuting him.
“How could you be more likely to get a conviction in federal court when Khalid Sheik Mohammed has already asked to plead guilty before a military commission and be executed?” Kyl asked with Perry Mason precision.
As he set the trap, survivors and family members of those killed on 9/11 seated in the hearing room began jeering the attorney general.
Usually measured and unflappable, the always nerdy Holder became defiant.
Mohammed “will not select the prosecution venue,” he snapped. “I will — and I have.”
Holder shocked the room when he revealed he had not even discussed the matter with President Obama.
“This affects national security, our foreign policy and our war fighters, and the president of the United States was AWOL on this decision,” Debra Burlingame, whose brother piloted the plane that 9/11 terrorists crashed into the Pentagon, fumed outside the hearing room.
“I would say the person who is cowering from Khalid Sheik Mohammed is Barack Obama.”