JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG

WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL RICHARD E GERSTEIN JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG. THIS BLOG IS DEDICATED TO JUSTICE BUILDING RUMOR, HUMOR, AND A DISCUSSION ABOUT AND BETWEEN THE JUDGES, LAWYERS AND THE DEDICATED SUPPORT STAFF, CLERKS, COURT REPORTERS, AND CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS WHO LABOR IN THE WORLD OF MIAMI'S CRIMINAL JUSTICE. POST YOUR COMMENTS, OR SEND RUMPOLE A PRIVATE EMAIL AT HOWARDROARK21@GMAIL.COM. Winner of the prestigious Cushing Left Anterior Descending Artery Award.

Friday, October 03, 2008

THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC AND SARAH PALIN


Governor Palin had a high school flashback when she repeatedly referred to the Commanding General in Afghanistan as "General McClellan".  General McClellan, as history buffs will remember,  was the commander of the Army of Potomac who promised President Lincoln so much, and to Lincoln's frustration, did so little, during the opening year of the Civil War.


(not currently leading forces in Afghanistan. Often mistaken for the current General leading US forces in Afghanistan.)

The commander of the Army units in Afghanistan is General McKiernan. Confusing McClellan and McKiernan is  what happens when you have a high school education and you try and stuff a bunch of approved lines and responses in a brain not fit for pinochle.  If you taped the debate, watch when the moderator asks Palin about under what circumstances she would authorize the use of nuclear weapons. A moment of terror crosses Palin's face as she realizes she has not been briefed on this question. My goodness she will have to think for herself!!!   Palin then she responds not to the question asked, but with the information she was spoon fed about nuclear weapon proliferation. It was the only answer she had been given to memorize,  so she just stuffed it into an answer about a topic she otherwise knows nothing about. 

(Currently leading us forces in Afghanistan.  Often mistaken by mental midgets for the leader of the Army of the Potomac in 1861)

It's a fair question. After seeing her fearful and non-responsive response, can anyone feel safe with her a heart beat away from the presidency?  Of course we all feel better that Palin believes global warming has causes other than human- made carbon emissions.  From a woman who does not believe in evolution (and would ban the teaching of evolution from schools given half a chance) we can take comfort that her study of global warming leads her to conclude that  polar bears can benefit from losing a few extra pounds by swimming hundreds of miles because their homes on the ice floes have all melted. Yup- a warmer globe and more cardiovascularly  fit polar bears.


There's something fishy going on in Federal Prisons. 
And it's mackerel. Click and read


Word on the street is that the government is sweating the federal re-trial of the drug king pin. The jury hung the first time 7-5 for acquittal and in the second trial before Judge Jordan things are going worse for the feds. Billy Barzee and Joel Denaro for the defense. 

Our favourite federal blogger kept em out 8 days (count em- ocho) but alas it was not enough as the government prevailed before Judge Middlebrooks in West Palm Beach. It was a multi-defendant case and they all went down.


Final thought on jurors and penalties:
We get the last word on juries and penalties. You can argue back and forth about what should be done and the theory of a jury making a decision only on the facts.  However what the Joe Cool case makes very clear is what we who try cases have always known- jurors compromise and they do so, many times, based on what they think are less serious charges. Jurors find defendants guilty in compromise verdicts when they do not believe the government's proof was beyond a reasonable doubt. They did it in the Joe Cool case and no matter how much you theorize and pontificate that is what they do, and we believe that is the clearest indication yet that this wondrous justice system of ours is broken. 

Get your suicide picks in. NFL Sunday picks week 5 for Sunday. Fins at home versus the Bolts (Chargers.) 




9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hear Palin stated that Nathan Bedford Forrest is leading a battalion of Air Cavalry troops into the northern Kashmir, based upon a confidential informant's information on the exact location of Bin Laden.

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

THE VERDICT IS IN .....

ORENTHAL JAMES SIMPSON goes down on all 12 counts as the jury finds him Guilty 12 times over.

He faces anywhere from 15 years up to Life in prison.

Captain Out ...

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

Simpson remanded into custody without bond - sentencing set for December 5, 2008.

The Kidnapping charge carries a minimum of 15 years in prison. Simpson is 61 years old.

Cap Out ...

Anonymous said...

On the juice verdict.

The odd thing is that the jury deliberates for 13 hours and this verdict comes down on the 13th anniversary of the acquittal of his double murder trial.

Another interesting thing is that, he is found guilty of a count involving kidnapping but factually, does that fit the crime?

Anonymous said...

I would not let Yale Galanter handle a speeding ticket.

Anonymous said...

Those of us from small town America (not too many in this blog audience, I would imagine) recognize Sarah Palin as a very common type in small town society, namely, the town nut. The town nut is garrulous, gregarious, usually female (male town nuts are generally more dangerous and, therefore, given another designation, such as "town psycho" see, i.e., Boo Radley), and always eccentric.

In my town, this person was a woman named Gracie Burch who came from a huge family of Burches and clearly lived most of her life in her old run-down car. She had a house but had devoted most of the property to raising a huge hatch of rabbits in the back yard.

My own Aunt Sarah ("Sallie") was the town nut in her North Florida town: one of her claims to fame was a ten-year pro se lawsuit that she had filed against a local mechanic who had not repaired her old Rambler to her satisfaction. Aunt Sallie sent letters to 60 minutes, the Florida Governor, President Carter, and anyone else she thought might be interested in this dispute.

Sarah Palin, with her moose-hunting escapads, her disfunctional family, her fundamentalist religous beliefs, and her undeniable social skills is certainly somebody who fits into this group. The only difference is that she has somehow become mayor of her town, governor of her state, and, now possibly, president of the United States.

Gracie Burch and Aunt Sallie were friendly enough and seemingly harmless, but I certainly wouldn't want either one becoming mayor of the town, Governor of the State, or Vice-President of the United States. The reason that we have a seemingly endless presidential primary process is to keep town nuts from getting anywhere near the White House. The only reason that Sarah Palin is in this position is because John McCain is a little nuts himself. I'm not Barck Obama's biggest fan but I will vote for him to restore some degree of sanity to government.

Anonymous said...

Palin's goof pales next to Biden saying he and Obama wanted NATO to go into Lebanon after France and the US kicked Hezbollah out in 2006. We and France invaded Lebaanon?!? Yeah, right, in some alternative universe.

Either he's an idiot or a liar, but clearly not fit to be VP - and he's the experienced one on his ticket!

Anonymous said...

at least O>J. didnt have to pay alot of $ for his defense. galanter does these types of cases for the publicity. although I have a feeling that the juice had to pay a small fee for this case.

Anonymous said...

You're the idiot, Rumpole, who doesn't know when he voted for Ronald Reagan the first time. Duh.