The Next One about Justice

Sonofabitch.

Three months and not a word from this guy. If you were waiting, I'm sorry. If you weren't, well, I can't blame you. I mean, shit, it's been three months after all. What could possibly be the deal? As I sit shirtless waiting for Left 4 Dead 2 to update via my not-quite-instantaneous-enough broadband so I can slay zombie bitches alongside my exquisite wife, I regain perspective and instead of watching gun reviews and contemporary American philosophy videos by #Nutnfancy (albeit a worthy pastime), I aim my sights a bit higher toward self-actualization and rambling rants and complaints... That is - I blog.

Jusssstice...

When last I left you, we were talking assassination, and as we rekindle the relationship, I have an overarching idea pertaining to where I'd like this entry to go, but who knows?

I have to start with the not-surprisingly polarizing event of the Casey Anthony trial. I say polarizing but I don't know if there's anyone on the other side of the outrage. People whose opinions and thoughts I value highest seem to have been completely swept away by the molasses-thick melodrama surrounding this case. For-profit news media loves this case. These days, with beautiful High-def footage, multitudes of cutthroat journalists and prerequisite instant access, it's so easy to give the grisly details (do I get a prize for being the one-millionth asshole to enumerate them all in their full heartbreaking glory?) and then nudge the masses to sniff around to the closest suspect with a checkered past. Now we just kick back and watch the marvelously-predictable horde blow the too-recently settled dust off the torches and pitchforks, tar, feathers, nooses, shambling toward the town square.

Now I might make a guess as to what you're thinking: "You're a naive douchebag, of course she killed her daughter..."

This article is not entitled "The One about Casey Anthony Being Innocent." It's about something much larger than any single person could ever even aspire to be. As Americans, we have been blessed with the foresight of our forefathers. Thank goodness they had it in spades. They based our justice system on the idea that we are innocent until proven guilty. If those twelve jurors had convicted that woman of anything other than lying to police and abysmal parenting, the system isn't worth the paper it was written on. We live our daily lives knowing that if we have not committed a crime, then there shall be NO FEAR of being pulled out of our houses and wrongfully imprisoned, let alone executed. The Animals said "Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood..." Now, whether she is guilty or not, we have the obligation to carry out due process. This case was rushed to trial and it was built on circumstantial evidence. Those people who were (and are still) screaming for the blood of Casey Anthony have obviously lost touch with and are taking for granted the idea that although they are not on trial, they are reaping the benefits of American Justice every single day. On any given calendar square, they can drive down the street to their church that is protected by the state, no matter how backwards their rituals may be. They are allowed to assemble and protest literally any thing they feel is wrong or unjust. They can do this because they know that as long as they follow the law, they should fear no reprisal from the state.

If we convicted Casey Anthony, we re-initiate the sloping march back down the muddy path to the mass hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials and countless other instances of infamy. We live in a country that was founded on the idea of pure justice. That we should inevitably let some of the guilty go free so that the innocent will NEVER be imprisoned - that is the choice our founders made on our behalf, and I could never be more thankful for it. I am absolutely grateful for the ability to write this message in dissent. I have to admit that it is with some reticence I will compose, finish, and publish this post - and for what? For fear of persecution! But even now, I am emboldened with the sense that, No!, I can write this. The first amendment protects my right to write. I am innocent in my thoughts and deeds thus far, and I will continue. I dissent! God Damnit, I dissent. I digress.

I am struggling. With so many things, I am struggling. I feel as though the for-profit news media and inevitably 'outraged' pundits and Laura Ingrahams are taking our idea of justice from us and replacing it with the idea of revenge.

Imagine a beautiful, massive, heavy jewel that is polished yet dull, it is perfect; appearing new and nascent, but is aeons old. The translucent stone sits in a stories-deep, brightly-lit circular vault on a simple pedestal clearly built to support and cradle such a precious thing. A vault that exudes such silent reverence that inside of which no decent man would dare tread. The vault is our collective mind, the pedestal our individual intellect, the jewel - Justice. As a nation, we protect the idea of justice, and as individual jurors, we hold up the virtue of Justice.

As each American generation grows old and withers, the next is more complacent knowing there are bandits and wolves inside the vault. Corporate news media has always been pacing outside our sacred vaults, and started tiptoeing in some time ago. I feel they are stomping ever more loudly toward our jewel, brazen in their belief that we have already forgotten our most precious treasure. That they would seek to supplant Justice with the black brick of Revenge is self-evident. We (read: humans) held trials at Nuremburg and executions in Abbottabad. What changed? What the fuck changed?

In the timeless words of Robert Plant (inspired by Memphis Minnie in 1929), "If it keeps on rainin', the levee's gonna break." The rain is pouring on us from every angle, in the form of clever and divisive political and social commentary meant to divide and weaken our resolve and our principles as a nation.

Let's open up a spillway or two hundred and erase the legions of assholes that would attempt to steal the glimmering beauty of Justice! If this trend continues, I pray to whomever will listen that the good and decent people in America will soon awake with such a wrath that there will be scant a figure or mob who could stand in the way of such a virtuous ideal. That is the time when we should be blowing the thick dust off our torches and pitchforks.

Whew.

Well, a 40-minute software update has long-since passed. It's important for you to know that after writing this, I'm still able to grab a virtual shotgun and blast zombie bastards till the cows come home. I'm a normal dude. These are the thoughts that rattle in my brain. I appreciate very deeply that you've read my shit. Please just think (and comment). That's it!

Music fueling me as I wrote:

The Animals

Rush

Led Zeppelin

Punch Brothers

Jurassic 5

Flogging Molly

Aphex Twin

The One About Justice

This blog will be filled with melodrama.

So I was out dancing in the street Sunday night until I found out that the United States had authorized and successfully carried out a kill-op intended to eliminate Osama bin Laden.

I am on the brink of losing my faith. Not in religion, but in something harder for me to pin down. I am losing my faith in America. Up until this point, I thought I knew what a stranglehold the media (all 5 of them - TimeWarner, newscorp, disney, GE, and viacom) had on Americans, but I had no idea.

If you have read my earlier posts (I know it's been since September since I've posted) you may find that I am completely idealistic when it comes to this country, a hopeless romantic. I believe in the tenets that are the foundation of the leadership of our nation. Justice, honesty, the common good, freedom. There's been no sign of any of them in any recognizable form over the past three days.

"Justice has been done..." - From the mouths of experts and pundits and officials, from Geraldo Rivera to the President, I keep hearing about Justice and what an excellent job SEAL Team 6 did serving it. Now don't get me wrong. SEALs are bad dudes. They aren't heroes, they're fucking superheroes. THE Batman can suck nuts compared to these fools and their capabilities. However, it wasn't SEALs who designed and greenlighted this op, and it's not the SEALs trying to sell it to us, either.

I really am astonished each time I hear a talking head on TV and Talk Radio ( lol ) set up their current "open discussion" about whether we as Americans have the right to view photos and video of the body or whether we can now say "the war on terror is over" or whether we.... blah blah blah bullshit that doesn't matter AT ALL blah blah... I'm astonished when those discussions are set up with the line "Justice was served, don't get me wrong, I just wanna see the body, ya know? I mean, am I right guys? So we can get a little more justice outta this whole thing..."

Osama bin Laden. Not a sentence, I know, but that's how I said it. "Osama... bin... Laden..." We did not achieve Justice. Justice was not served. I heard a wet-eyed man sitting across from George Stephanopoulos (I don't pay for cable so we had to watch ABC's coverage on Sunday night... blech...) say "There is no court in the world, no court is high enough that could have brought that man to justice." And so the broadcast moved on. What message did we all take away from that? What message has been lying underneath the "National Discussion" around this? I'll tell you - it's this:

Only American bullets can serve pure Justice.

Our notion of Justice in this country is being perverted on such a level that is astonishing to me. Jon Stewart on the Daily Show could barely contain his giddiness (which I actually found surprising, but it helped me understand something, and it also spurred me to write this entry). THE DIFFERENCE between John Stewart and every other entity I've had the displeasure of hearing report "the news" is that John Stewart actually had the humility and the foresight to say the following: "I suppose I should be expressing some ambivalence about the targeted killing of another human being, and yet, uh, no. I just want details..." and "I am way too close to this whole episode to be rational about this in any way shape or form." At the close of the show he said "Tonight's program, uh, pure id. We will temper it over time." Hearing those statements helped me understand the mentality of those who actually were close to 9-11. I guess I have to recognize that "the death" does bring closure to many affected people, and I can appreciate that. However, we as a culture must be vigilant in recognizing the difference between closure and Justice. We must also be vigilant (since we were responsible in carrying out the mission) in recognizing the difference between Justice and revenge.

"In taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy; but in passing it over, he is superior" - Sir Francis Bacon

Of course there was more in the planning and construction of this operation than I can probably ever imagine. Here is my problem with it: Reuters reported an official statement made which confirmed "...there was no desire to try to capture bin Laden alive..." (Yes it was reported on Huffpost but come on, they sold out their liberal bias a long time ago) WHY? Not even an attempt?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/02/osama-bin-laden-dead-kill_n_856211.html

Why the fuck is no one asking this question? Were we so worried that he'd get away we might have to spend another hour or two (on top of 10 years) tracking him through suburb streets? SEAL Team 6 are the deadliest bastards on the entire planet. WHY NOT EVEN SPIN IT to say it was an 'attempted' capture mission?!

Look, even a sham trial would have portrayed Americans like we're not all bloodthirsty barbarians. Either way, he's still kicking at the end of a rope. What I really think, though, is that the images of us dancing in the streets and celebrating waving flags and chanting U-S-A over and over again - those images weren't meant for Al Qaeda management. Those images were meant for Americans. Everyday people like you and me. Media and politics (don't even pretend that the two aren't in bed on both sides) want us to believe (really, internally believe) that the WHOLE WORLD is dancing around like the drunk Sigma Chi (that's a fraternity if you didn't pick up on it) douchebags climbing trees and stoplights in DC and Times Square. We weren't. I wasn't. Were you? Or were you sitting quietly watching the news, trying to understand the implications of what had just happened?

I know I'm running long and I think that the feedback from this post will determine if I continue the thought in another post. But just bear with me for a couple more things.

Please don't let the media tell you how you feel about this. Just turn off your little glowing rectangular media-boxes and think about what is happening in the world, how you're personally being portrayed, and if you agree with it.

Also, yes, I know blogging like this allows me to anonymously (not really) lambaste those things and people I hate most, which is nice for someone so non-confrontational he has a hard time sending back poorly-cooked food at restaurants. We are a nation of followers. When we see looped "LIVE" video (and it was looped, you better believe it) of anonymous Americans crowding the streets where "the police tried to stop it, but America has to have this moment..." we immediately start to feel like that's the reaction all across the US. It wasn't.

I haven't heard a single person bring up Osama bin Laden at work, and I live in Baton Rouge, LA. The place (my job, not Baton Rouge) is filled to the brim with conservative hard-liners. And yet, it's like it never even happened. No one I know personally (actually maybe one person) is "excited" or "elated" that we rushed in and capped bin Laden's ass. Are people afraid to talk about it? Are they embarrassed? Ashamed? Too happy for words? I don't know, but when we lose our ability to discuss national issues like this within our own social circles, the only input is from corporate media, Liberal and Conservative. If we don't come up with a national voice of our own, through community, the talking heads become our voice. That's bullshit.

Don't let someone else do your thinking for you. That's bullshit, too.

That's all, lovesies!