Okay. Once again, I'm confused about the way "justice" works in this country.
Yesterday, all the news channels are telling me about the arrest of the Illinois governor on a variety of charges, including the attempted sale of Obama's Senate seat. Whoa! That's some big law-breaking! The more I hear about this guy, the more the term "scumbag" seems to apply. Yeah yeah, innocent until proven guilty, but the transcripts make it pretty clear, this guy will gladly let poor, sick kids fund his campaigns, and he thinks Obama is a mother-bleeper for expecting the Gov to fill his seat for nothing more than appreciation...Innocent, perhaps. Scumbag, abso-bleeping-lutely.
So what gets me is this: the man got out of jail on $4500 bail. WHAT??! Blagojevich has been under investigation for years, he got busted pretty matter-of-factly, the evidence is stunningly clear...and he gets to walk out of jail, after an immediate hearing, for less than the cost of a used KIA?? What the hell is that? 2 months ago, Alex got arrested on literally MADE-UP CHARGES, laws that don't even exist, he's got no criminal record, has never been under investigation for anything, and his bail was set at $24,000! Not only that, but he had to spend a night in jail while his bail was "processed" (whatever that means), then he had to wait 6 weeks for a hearing, at which point the judge confirmed that all the charges against him were bogus, and we STILL haven't gotten the bail money back. What. The. BLEEP!!!
We hear a lot in this country about how the law favors the wealthy and screws the poor. It seems the law also favors the bigwigs and screws the nobodies. (I bet if I shot myself in the thigh in a nightclub, I'd be released straight to the slammer post-surgery.) I've never been in trouble with the law (lucky for me). Heck, I haven't even been in the back of a police car since I was 19 (they were just giving me a ride home, Mom, I swear). And I've got law enforcement in the family. My uncle, my cousin, my grandfather. These are all good men. And yet, I do have a mistrust of law enforcement. The face of law enforcement is, of course, the police, and I get nervous when cops are nearby. Even though I'm not speeding or jaywalking or soliciting money for sex, I get this nervous flutter in my belly, like they'll find something I'm doing that's questionable. It's similar to how dogs sense fear and then go on the attack; I get the same feeling around cops, like they can sniff out my nervousness and therefore assume that I've done something wrong. Whatever, I've never been in trouble with the law. And now that I'm older and breaking fewer laws (I didn't say I shouldn't have been in trouble with the law), I'm starting to think it's not the cops I should be afraid of but the lawmakers. The cops are there to enforce the laws, but the laws....well, the laws don't make any sense! To know that I can be arrested, at any time, for any reason, whether I've broken a law or not, and that the arresting officer will suffer no penalty if it's proven that I broke no laws, well, that's some serious bull bleep. (I found the reading of the bleeped-out Blago transcripts to be highly amusing and wanted to bleeping share the humor.) And in order to have it proven that no laws were broken, I'd need to hire a lawyer, which costs a whole lot of bleeping money, a good 3-4 months salary for the average American worker, none of which will be reimbursed if the charges are found to be bogus. Again, what the bleeping BLEEP??! One of the first questions Alex asked his lawyer was, "If it turns out that I got arrested on made-up charges, can I counter-sue to get my lawyer fees paid off?" Nope. Not even a little bit. The law is there to protect the law, not the innocent.
I'm pissed off. I've been angry about this whole legal ordeal Alex & I have found ourselves in for 2 months now, but to see this bleeping scumbag Governor (who had a 13% approval rating BEFORE he got arrested) get in and out of jail, with hearing, with bail set at what I'd imagine his yearly haircare comes out to, all within a matter of hours... well, now I'm pissed. Where are the laws that give me the benefit of the doubt? Where are the laws that let poor people be reimbursed for wrongful imprisonment? Where the bleep is the bleeping godbleeped JUSTICE??
And while we're at it, WHERE THE BLEEP IS MY BAILOUT?
1 comment:
GREAT post, Meg. I completely agree. Justice is BIZARRE and you point out something that is really scary--I think so many of us just take it for granted that we are protected and safe and entitled to all these rights and safety and all it takes is one brush with being wrongfully confused or caught up in the "justice" system to reveal how much the "justice" system really lacks "justice." I love your comparison of the feeling you get around cops to how you feel around dogs...when I am driving (its been a while) and I see a police car I get the same feeling!!!
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