Football as a shield against criminal prosecution

A county sheriff “accused of shielding [a] popular football program from a more rigorous investigation” reminds me of how a doctor I knew got away with various sex crimes because local officials and my boss looked the other way because his son was a star on the high school football team. I described that injustice in a long article in which I also mentioned how Laura Bush killed someone but escaped justice.

These examples are fundamentally at odds with the rule of law, which stipulates that all people are equally subject to the law. Our leaders and other well-connected people often think they are above the law. As Mrs. Bush proved, you can even kill and get away with it if people who enforce the law think favorably of you. However, when laws are unevenly applied, it increases contempt for our criminal justice system and our government, which just loves this double standard giving people in power the power to selectively enforce laws and thereby shield their friends while crushing their enemies.

The views expressed on this page may or may not reflect my current opinions, nor do they necessarily represent my past ones. After reading a slice of what I wrote in my various websites and books, you may conclude that I am a liberal Democrat or a conservative Republican. Wrong; there is a better alternative. Just as the primary benefit from debate classes results when students present and defend opinions contrary to their own, I use a similar strategy as a creative writing tool to expand my brainpower—and yours. Mystified? Stay tuned for an explanation. PS: The wheels in your head are already turning a bit faster, aren't they?

“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald

Reference: Imagining dialogue can boost critical thinking: Excerpt: “Examining an issue as a debate or dialogue between two sides helps people apply deeper, more sophisticated reasoning …”

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