In my last post I told the story of the man who treated a person in a way that reflected who he was (as a gentleman), without any judgement of the type of person she was, and how that helps me in my quest to define and live The Good Life. But that same message writ large has implications for our society as well.
In an excellent movie Cathy and I saw a while ago, Bridge of Spies (which is based on a true story), Tom Hanks plays James B. Donovan, an attorney who agreed to defend a cold war era spy when most other attorneys refused. Against enormous public pressure, Hanks’ character argues that his client should not be given the death penalty. Donovan’s argument reflects the message from our story above: that this spy (Rudolf Abel) should be spared the death penalty not because what he was charged with doing (which was never really in question) wasn’t bad, but because of the type of people we are as a nation. It wasn’t the main point of the film, but I think it made a strong case that we as a people need to rise above petty desires for revenge or punishment and reflect the principles enshrined in our Constitution. (Side note: Donovan was successful in getting the death penalty taken off the table, although I think the real reason was his secondary argument, which was that we may need a bargaining chip at some point in the future if one of our spies is caught in the USSR. This actually came about some years later when Abel was exchanged for Gary Powers, the U2 pilot captured and convicted of spying after being shot down over Russia.)
On a broader scale, it brings to my mind the men who continue to be held in Guantanamo Bay without being charged with any crimes, allowed a jury trial or even due process. I am not suggesting these are innocents unjustly held, although the evidence against at least some of them is spotty at best; instead I am talking about what it says about us as a nation. Do we believe in the Rule of Law? Do we hold our Constitution as the highest law of the land? If so, it is clear that our Constitution grants EVERYONE (yes, even enemy combatants and terrorists) certain rights, including the right to a “speedy trial, by a jury of their peers.” Our system is predicated upon the belief that it is better to let 10 guilty people go free rather than to convict one innocent person of a crime they didn’t commit. Like it or not, that’s the basis, and in my humble opinion, it’s one of the things that makes this a great country. Now mind you, I am NOT advocating that these guys be released to go back to the Middle East and start blowing things up; nothing could be further from the truth. But our Constitution guarantees “the right to a speedy trial.” Charge them with a crime, try them and let out our wonderful system take its course.
And lest that become a cliché, I think it is useful to look around us in the world and realize just how special this country is. Right now, Turkey’s fundamentalist-leaning government has survived a coup; president Erdogan has purged thousands upon thousands of his political enemies, including virtually all university presidents and academics he viewed as “less than ideologically pure.”
Bring that thought home and consider it in light of our recent fear-fest of a Republican National Convention. Speaker after red-faced speaker told us how bad things are here in the US, how far we’ve fallen as a country, how we’re going to hell in a handbasket and how only (ONLY!!) Donald Trump can save us. It staggers (and immensely depresses) me how many people buy into the hatred and fear-mongering that Trump has been spewing during his entire campaign.
What a freak show. I can only hope and pray that that idiot gets the shellacking he richly deserves in November.
About BigBill
Stats: Married male boomer.
Hobbies: Hiking, woodworking, reading, philosophy, good conversation.
Who do we want to be as a society?
In my last post I told the story of the man who treated a person in a way that reflected who he was (as a gentleman), without any judgement of the type of person she was, and how that helps me in my quest to define and live The Good Life. But that same message writ large has implications for our society as well.
In an excellent movie Cathy and I saw a while ago, Bridge of Spies (which is based on a true story), Tom Hanks plays James B. Donovan, an attorney who agreed to defend a cold war era spy when most other attorneys refused. Against enormous public pressure, Hanks’ character argues that his client should not be given the death penalty. Donovan’s argument reflects the message from our story above: that this spy (Rudolf Abel) should be spared the death penalty not because what he was charged with doing (which was never really in question) wasn’t bad, but because of the type of people we are as a nation. It wasn’t the main point of the film, but I think it made a strong case that we as a people need to rise above petty desires for revenge or punishment and reflect the principles enshrined in our Constitution. (Side note: Donovan was successful in getting the death penalty taken off the table, although I think the real reason was his secondary argument, which was that we may need a bargaining chip at some point in the future if one of our spies is caught in the USSR. This actually came about some years later when Abel was exchanged for Gary Powers, the U2 pilot captured and convicted of spying after being shot down over Russia.)
On a broader scale, it brings to my mind the men who continue to be held in Guantanamo Bay without being charged with any crimes, allowed a jury trial or even due process. I am not suggesting these are innocents unjustly held, although the evidence against at least some of them is spotty at best; instead I am talking about what it says about us as a nation. Do we believe in the Rule of Law? Do we hold our Constitution as the highest law of the land? If so, it is clear that our Constitution grants EVERYONE (yes, even enemy combatants and terrorists) certain rights, including the right to a “speedy trial, by a jury of their peers.” Our system is predicated upon the belief that it is better to let 10 guilty people go free rather than to convict one innocent person of a crime they didn’t commit. Like it or not, that’s the basis, and in my humble opinion, it’s one of the things that makes this a great country. Now mind you, I am NOT advocating that these guys be released to go back to the Middle East and start blowing things up; nothing could be further from the truth. But our Constitution guarantees “the right to a speedy trial.” Charge them with a crime, try them and let out our wonderful system take its course.
And lest that become a cliché, I think it is useful to look around us in the world and realize just how special this country is. Right now, Turkey’s fundamentalist-leaning government has survived a coup; president Erdogan has purged thousands upon thousands of his political enemies, including virtually all university presidents and academics he viewed as “less than ideologically pure.”
Bring that thought home and consider it in light of our recent fear-fest of a Republican National Convention. Speaker after red-faced speaker told us how bad things are here in the US, how far we’ve fallen as a country, how we’re going to hell in a handbasket and how only (ONLY!!) Donald Trump can save us. It staggers (and immensely depresses) me how many people buy into the hatred and fear-mongering that Trump has been spewing during his entire campaign.
What a freak show. I can only hope and pray that that idiot gets the shellacking he richly deserves in November.
About BigBill
Stats: Married male boomer. Hobbies: Hiking, woodworking, reading, philosophy, good conversation.