Parallel

Law enforcement professionals have a wall that seperates them from their fellow man. A sucessful investigation of a crime is one that results in the arrest and conviction of the guilty.

So that means that the only thing that matters is evidence. Stuff that will convince the judge or jury that this guy did this crime beyond a reasonable doubt. The detectives can speculate all they want, but if they don’t have something to back it up then they leave it outside the door when they walk into a courtroom. If they don’t then they’ll probably lose the case and their credibility will be questioned the next time they come in front of the judge. What’s worse is that the perp will walk and go on to commit more crimes.

Of course, it’s an imperfect world. Sometimes a whole case is built on speculation, and sometimes someone is convicted when they shouldn’t be. We rightly see this as a miscarriage of justice, an instance when our society violates the very principles which make up its foundation. It’s where we all agree that the system breaks down.

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Kerry the Equivocator

Ann Althouse’s account of John Kerry’s recent appearance on “Meet the Press” is devastating. I’m very glad Kerry didn’t win the election. I don’t agree with Bush on every issue but I almost always know where he stands, and I know that he is able to make big and difficult decisions in a timely way. Kerry, by contrast, equivocates on seemingly everything. Even now, with no election at stake, it’s impossible to pin him down on the war. (I know he’s against it but what would he do? He’s never made that clear.) That the Democratic leadership saw Kerry’s habitual equivocating as a clever tactic to triangulate votes, rather than as evidence of character flaws that should disqualify him from high executive office, does not inspire confidence either.

“Give Me a Lever and a Place to Stand and I’ll Move the World”

The title of this post is attributed to Archimedes, a Greek genius whose amazing colossal brain not only devised new advances in mathematics and the sciences, but also invented defenses to protect his nation.

The quote concerns the lever, a simple device that everyone will recognize at once. In one context the quote can be taken to be nothing more than hyperbole concerning a common application of physics. But there’s something about it that always gets my heart to quicken just a little bit.

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How Fast They Learn

Iraq the Model begins with a joyous “The People have won” and continues in celebration. In the midst is an anecdote that shows the value of disinterestedness – a portent of what’s to come (and must come in a democracry):

The first thing we saw this morning on our way to the voting center was a convoy of the Iraqi army vehicles patrolling the street, the soldiers were cheering the people marching towards their voting centers then one of the soldiers chanted “vote for Allawi” less than a hundred meters, the convoy stopped and the captain in charge yelled at the soldier who did that and said:

“You’re a member of the military institution and you have absolutely no right to support any political entity or interfere with the people’s choice. This is Iraq’s army, not Allawi’s”.

This was a good sign indeed and the young officer’s statement was met by applause from the people on the street.

We don’t always remember how in modern times, the importance of the wall between the military and the political is as important in many countries as the wall between church and state. The Iraqis have learned – what they don’t want has taught them what they do.