Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Shoot Him In the Head?


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I've said here, before, that the Bad Lawyer Blawg does not concern itself with the "Big Story," the interest, here, is to talk about . . . well, the sorts of things that most people experience as they navigate the law or read law stories.  But this bit of Cable news grabbed me, and I actually think it illustrates one of the larger themes: demagoguery and it's distortion of the Rule of Law. 

The thing about the Rule of Law, it exists because it governs our own worse impulses, including our impulses to act hastily, vengefully, and reactionary.  Thank God.  For instance, we were told that Guantanamo Bay held the "worst of the worst." And yet, when those "screaming liberals" the US Military actually conducted evidentiary inquiry many of those "worst" turned out to be actually innocent of any invovlement in jihad, or war against American and our allies.  So "shoot him in the head" what does that mean, exactly what? 

You know what it means.  It means walk away from the very thing that makes America different than most other places in the world. 

2 comments:

  1. No kidding, Zoe. This sort of thing is pretty revolting--his doughy, angry visage. That my friend is the face of a lot of the politics in the US, these days.

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  2. I'm English, but I lived in America until I was 11 and went to school there. At the start of every school day we use to say a pledge:

    "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

    Which bit of "justice for all" does this guy not understand? And he probably considers himself a patriot.

    I learned some important values in my American schooling, values I still hold dear. It saddens me when I see Americans who don't understand those values, or want to throw them away.

    Those values not only make America different from many other places in the world, they are also what made and make America great.

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