PLEASE NOTE: The Reality TV World Message Boards are filled with desperate
attention-seekers pretending to be one big happy PG/PG13-rated family. Don't
be fooled. Trying to get everyone to agree with you is like herding cats,
but intolerance for other viewpoints is NOT welcome and respect for other
posters IS required at all times. Jump in and play, and you'll soon find out
how easy it is to fit in, but save your drama for your mama. All members are
encouraged to read the
complete guidelines.
As entertainment critic Roger
Ebert once said, "If you disagree with something I write, tell me so, argue
with me, correct me--but don't tell me to shut up. That's not the American way."
'Andrew Johnson, the first U.S. president to be impeached, was impeached for firing his Secretary of War Edwin Stanton in violation of the constitutionally spurious Tenure of Office Act. He wasn't so much impeached for violating the act, as the act was designed so that he would violate it. Congress had had enough of him trying to block their Reconstruction programs and devised the Tenure of Office Act specifically so that they could impeach Johnson for violating it. This was because while Johnson was a pain in the rear politically, he hadn't done anything illegal. As one critic of Johnson said, "You can't impeach someone for general cussedness."'
Which leads into one of my favorite lines in fiction. "The verdict is guilty. The sentence is death. Let the trial begin."
Unfortunately, that line has been paraphrased out in actual courtrooms more times than anyone should ever care to count. There is a Real Life section on this trope. It is an extensive one. It will depress you until you're a tiny puddle of hatred towards humanity in the toes of your own shoes and if you're wearing open-toed heels or sandals, that's the end.
In fiction, kangaroo courts get things moving or demonstrate just how bad the system is. They can even have a dark humor to them: I recently spotted a very old James Garner western -- well, a few minutes of it -- where the two defendants had their trial in their jail cell. The prosecution said they had witnesses, the defense attorney withdrew the Not Guilty plea on behalf of his clients, the judge sentenced them to hang, and they all closed the cell door again. Total time of trial: less than one minute. But at least they got one, right?
In real life...
...North Korea. And a grandchildren growing up in a prison camp because her grandfather said something within earshot of police.
If she asks a guard why, her own grandchildren may never see the other side of the fence.
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p l a c e h o l d e r t e x t g o e s h e r e - p l a c e h o l d e r t e x t g o e s h e r e - p l a c e h o l d e r t e x t g o e s h e r e -
p l a c e h o l d e r t e x t g o e s h e r e - p l a c e h o l d e r t e x t g o e s h e r e - p l a c e h o l d e r t e x t g o e s h e r e -
p l a c e h o l d e r t e x t g o e s h e r e - p l a c e h o l d e r t e x t g o e s h e r e - p l a c e h o l d e r t e x t g o e s h e r e -