Dems portray 9/11 trials as NYC's justice

As conservatives slam the administration for giving the 9/11 plotters criminal trials, Democrats have tried to re-frame the debate by portraying trials in New York as the city's shot at justice for the World Trade Center attacks.

Consider Rep. Anthony Weiner's (D-N.Y.) comments on Morning Joe today:

"If you want to have an international trial in The Hague, I'm going to find that a lot less satisfying than having this guy face his accusers, have the accusers get a chance come in and say what this mean, have a jury of New Yorkers say, 'You're going to be put to death, pal.' That, to me, is the way you mete out justice in this type of a thing."

Weiner then joked that an acquittal for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed might be the best justice of all--street justice.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll be let off and he'll have to wander into Brooklyn or Queens," he quipped, suggesting KSM wouldn't get very far.

Portraying New York trials as a shot at vengeance for the city gives Democrats an emotional argument to counter Republican attacks.

Attorney General Eric Holder, for example, tapped into the same argument when he announced his decision on Friday.

"They will be brought to New York to answer for their alleged crimes in a courthouse just blocks from where the twin towers once stood," he said. 

And the Congressman representing Ground Zero, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) heralded Holder's decision as a shot at justice for Manhattan.

"New York is not afraid of terrorists, we want to confront them, we want to bring them to justice, and we want to hold them accountable for their despicable actions," he said in a statement.