Notebook: Moussaoui Own Worst Enemy

Beverley Lumpkin: By Taking Stand, Moussaoui Undercut Lawyer's Best Efforts

(CBS)  Zerkin did his best to show through some of Moussaoui's past filings (handwritten pleadings such as one titled in huge block letters "God Curse the Queen/Little Bitch of Buckingham") that he's crazy, and his client continued to counter with crazy-like-a-fox retorts such as maybe it was a little "exaggerated," or "propaganda."

He kept throwing the fault back on his lawyers because Zerkin is a Jew and MacMahon an (alleged) racist, and they wouldn't allow him to have a Muslim lawyer. Zerkin, however, made clear the only attorney acceptable to Moussaoui would not have been granted a security clearance by the government.

It was also brought out that Moussaoui had met with prosecution experts on mental health, but not those retained by his own defense.

At last Zerkin asks Moussaoui why he hates America and Americans. The defendant went into a long ramble about the history of the past 1,427 years and how the Jewish state is the "missing star in the American flag." Once he and his Islamic brothers take over this country, they will "exterminate" Jewish-Americans but Christians will be OK as long as they don't fight the Muslims.

Chief prosecutor Rob Spencer brilliantly earned his salary during his cross-examination, first eliciting Moussaoui's fervent declaration that his earlier damaging testimony had been truthful, and then attacking his defense.

"For them it's cheap. They couldn't think outside the box, couldn't think any other strategy." He added, for the American people, broadly speaking, for anybody to fly into a building means he must be crazy. "But it's not based on any craziness, but on our religion."

Spencer asked if he'd do it again tomorrow if he could, and Moussaoui answered, "on the 12th, the 13th, the 14th, the 15th ...."

Moussaoui managed to declare in passing that Oklahoma City bomber Tim McVeigh was "the greatest American," because he wanted to strike the government.

He proceeded to tie his own noose tighter, as he denigrated the pain of the victim witnesses. The commander who testified? "Pathetic ... I was regretful that he didn't die." A military woman who sobbed on the stand remembering the deaths of her colleagues? "Disgusting." You were happy about the attacks on the Pentagon? "Make my day." You were happy about every death? "No regret, no remorse." More pain for the United States? "Like we say, no pain, no gain."

There was one issue on which Moussaoui testified that could give the jury pause, and consider whether he might genuinely be delusional — his seemingly sincere belief that George W. Bush will release him before the end of his term.

This he declared several times as his ultimate dream; he will be released because he has testified truthfully. He made clear that he doesn't believe his ultimate fate is up to this jury. No matter what happens in this court, he's confident that President Bush will announce his release within the next couple of years.