Justice. We are very intent on seeking justice. In criminal cases, we seek justice. In civil cases, we seek justice. In political cases or disputes, we seek justice.
But we want justice only as we define it. And that means it’s justice if our side wins.
That’s not a weakness or unexpected in human behavior. But it does give us a heaping helping of hypocrisy.
What do we want? To win. Also, to have others recognize that our position is the right one and the only “just” one. Then, we can identify everybody contrary to our position as unreasonable, stupid, unjust, and our enemies. It’s comfortable to have friends. But it is oh-so-more enriching to have enemies. Your friend may turn on you. If you already have decided that someone is your enemy, you are free to ignore them, curse them, and go home feeling all tingly that you are in the right.
Our system is fixed against justice. A judge’s belief in what is “right” affects justice a lot more than any jury’s verdict. Usually, the judge is right. But I have to remember, that is a value judgment based on my personal beliefs. Most judges I know are honorable and RIGHT. But it’s possible that I’m wrong and I either don’t know it or I’m not willing to acknowledge that.
There’s what I'm arguing: The willingness to make room in your mind that you might be wrong.
We attack public opinion, which, after all, is where juries come from. We want them to adopt our beliefs. A substantial number are neither traditionally conservative nor liberal and they are particularly rich targets. After all, if we can get them on our side, we have done them a favor. It’s like a religious conversion to the truth. Or whatever we accept as our truth. After all, everybody else is wrong.
Trial lawyers are taught to attempt to sway the opinions of a jury from the jury selection. And we’re trained pretty well. That’s what makes a winning trial lawyer in a close case.
Everybody attempts to sway the opinions of the public. FoxNews, CNN, the New York Times, and some staggering number of others want to show everyone The Way to Think. They lure them in and then give them oodles of confirmation-bias-talking-points so that they can become agents of belief modification.
Those who want to sway beliefs are not bad Americans. They are just human Americans.
Oh, I know, that anybody who does not believe as you do is a bad American. Sorry. My bad. Everybody believes in their own righteousness and justice.
The impeachment is the same old story. Had the House of Representatives voted at the very start, it would have voted to impeach Pres. Trump. The vote would have been the same as the end vote, within three votes one way or the other. The “jurors” in any political culture have already decided what they already truly believe. The House voted accordingly. Confirmation bias was a huge joke on both sides. It wasn’t a debate; it was performance art.
If the Senate were to vote today, they would vote the same as they will a month from now. It is unlikely that anybody will call for a Senate vote now. For other than three (or so) senators, nobody is going to change their already-made-up minds. We could give every senator a polygraph and we would find that they sincerely believe what they have already decided. But the TV cameras will be on, and every senator wants an opportunity to piously explain how they have reached a totally fair opinion.
We will all love to piously explain our views. Hell, I love it. But when I do, I try to remember – often unsuccessfully - that I might be wrong.
So sally on, Congress. Sally on Democrats, Republicans, Independents-in-name-only, the press, the deep state, the shallow state, the neither-deep-nor-shallow state. Jesus, Odin and the Great Pumpkin are rooting for you. After all, you’re right.
Mizpah.
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