With Liberty and Justice … for All?
In any medium used for Lady Justice, be it painting, drawing, statue, etc., she is depicted with a blindfold, sometimes without eyes, to denote that justice is blind. It does not matter who you are, what you look like, what your name is, your standing in the community, your race, your gender, your physical ability or lack thereof, when you stand in front of Justice she does not see any of it. The only thing that matters is the fact of the case. At least it was so in this country once upon a time, sadly it is no longer true.
Right now the country is hip-deep in the George Zimmerman trial, he has been charged with the second-degree murder of Trayvon Martin. When the incident occurred, almost from the moment it was made a nationally public event it has been portrayed as a crime of race, even to the point of the use of what I found to be an unusual description for Zimmerman, he is a “white Hispanic,” the obvious emphasis on white. Black celebrities were making all manner of public statements condemning Zimmerman, one NBA team dressed out in hoodies, their manner of support for what they decided was no more than a racist murder. Even President Obama threw his weight behind the notion, claiming “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.” As the weeks of investigation of the incident progressed, it was becoming clear that rather than a murder based on race, the death of Martin was due to physical circumstance. After reading the arrest warrant, noted legal expert, Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz opined it to be “not only thin but irresponsible.” He believed the arrest to be politically motivated, and considering the fact that the Chief of Police for Sanford at the time, Bill Lee, lost his job because the evidence did not support the demand from city officials to have Zimmerman charged and arrested, it seems Professor Dershowitz was not too far off the mark. As I write this, both the prosecution and defense have made their closing arguments, the country must now wait for the ultimate outcome. But there have been threats of nationwide rioting, even murder should Mr. Zimmerman be acquitted of what has become, in my opinion, a figurative three-ring circus complete with a high-wire act. Justice is supposed to be blind but in this case, it seems more that blinders have been worn by too many involved.
This case not the only one of note wherein Justice had her blindfold removed. The Justice Department’s operation called Fast and Furious, a program of walking guns into Mexico to put them into the hands of the drug cartels on the notion their usage would result in more Americans being pushed to the anti-Amendment II side of politics. This operation resulted in the death of one U.S. Border Patrol agent, Brian Terry, and dozens of Mexican citizens. When before Congressional committee to answer questions regarding this operation, Attorney General Eric Holder was not honest in his testimony, resulting in the first U.S. AG being charged with contempt of Congress. But as we know, nothing whatever was done, the District Attorney for D.C. decided he would not act on it, denying Congress its due power. Mr. Holder also invoked Executive Privilege in refusing to answer some of the questions from Congress which means the president had to have some knowledge of the Fast and Furious program, because only conversations with the president may be protected by the assertion of Executive Privilege. This tiny tidbit seems to have been missed by most in the media, knowingly or not; Mr. Holder continues to serve in his capacity and to date, nothing has been done re: holding anyone accountable for the death of Agent Terry and the others. As Professor Dershowitz saw with the Zimmerman case, I see such as politically motivated as well. Sometimes things are as plain as the nose on your face, or the blindfold removed from the face of Lady Justice, as may be.
