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Jury Duty Is Not Fun
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
And neither is military service. Or paying our taxes. But ordinary people do these things because they feel a sense of obligation- they do it because they know they are supposed to, that it is their jobs. Right now I am performing jury duty, which despite all the inconvenience, I am willing to do. Would I rather be in Florida? Sure (Well, not right now, of course). Heck, I'd rather be at work! But most people don't just duck out. They try and postpone the day of reckoning, but when the time comes they do the right thing.
Which is what is so appalling about George Bush. He ducks out on military service and lies about it (here). This is a perfectly legitimate political issue: it is something he is ducking now. In the same vein, he may have covered up connections between 9/11 and the Saudis (here). This is a man without any sense of moral obligation, or even a surface familiarity with honesty. What I want to know is, where are all the Republicans who bashed Clinton when he was "disgracing the White House"? Whatever happened to setting a moral example?
On the other hand, there are other rumors that we should lay off of until we know more. He may have done coke in his 40's at Camp David while Poppy was President (see here), and there are even rumors he is still drinking or is on anti-depressants. If true, these would all be very damaging. But I think we need to be very, very careful how we throw these accusations around. Otherwise we are no better than Republicans.
Oh, and as for jury duty, all I have to say is that there are a lot of bad lawyers out there, and a lot of jurors who aren't as stupid as they seem to think we are.
