Thursday, June 16, 2005

What the Hell is Wrong With Reasonable Doubt?

I am tired and cranky, and I know I will live to regret this. But would somebody please explain to me why, on the one hand, Michael Jackson is acquitted because the jury adhered to the standards of "reasonable doubt" as instructed by the court, and everybody just silently shakes their heads in (reluctant and somber) agreement, but nobody seems to question the same formulation when it comes to saving a life not in the perview of the criminal justice system.
To wit:

"The movement to say, 'You've got to have Tom DeLay act as a third-party surrogate witness before you can have medical treatment stopped' seemed to be irrefutably silenced by the autopsy report," Dr. Caplan said.


You have got to be kidding me. Talk about friggin' hindsight and a damned slick smile. If reasonable doubt can protect child molestors from the penal system, why can't that same standard be applied to those who favor the continuation of life in the absence of proof beyond a reasonable doubt?

Got doubt???

I do.

Out.

8 comments:

spd rdr said...

I knew I should have gone to bed.

Anonymous said...

[Note to self: I will not mention Dr. Frist in this post. I will not mention Dr. Frist in this post.I will not mention Dr. Frist in this post.]

I'm with you Cass. I know better than to tangle with Tired and Cranky...I'll wait for their cousins, Happy and Bashful, to return. Heck, I'll even put up a welcome sign for Sneezy.

Pile On® said...

Wow spd, you have them all intimidated, runnin' scared.

Heh. I'll tangle with your tired sorry a**, but I happen to agree on this one, but keep trying.

KJ said...

But spd, child molesters are higher on the Left's list of protected class of people than Catholic women who might have, but might not have, been abused and are now brain damaged. I'm not sure why, but they are.

Anonymous said...

Runnin' scared, Pile? Nah. More like cautious...what with that poisonous apple incident and all. Besides, among the septet, I do have my favorites, and I didn't see him here today:)

With apologies to Mr. Disney:
The seven dwarfs go to the Vatican. The Pope answers the door, and says, "Dopey, my son, what can I do for you?"
Dopey says, "Excuse me, Your Excellency, but are there any dwarf nuns in Rome?"
The Pope smiles and answers, "No Dopey, there are no dwarf nuns in Rome."
In the background, the Pope can see that a few of the other dwarfs are giggling.
Dopey then says, "Your Holiness, are there any dwarf nuns in Italy?"
The Pope looks impatiently at Dopey and answers, "No Dopey, there are no dwarf nuns in Italy."
By now, the rest of the dwarfs begin laughing out loud.
Dopey presses on, "Mr. Pope, are there any dwarf nuns in all of Europe?"
The Pope sighs, "Dopey, there are NO DWARF NUNS ANYWHERE in the world."
With that answer, the other dwarfs start howling, jumping up and down, chanting, "Dopey screwed a penguin! Dopey screwed a penguin."

*runnin' scared--and away--this time*

I guess you'll be putting this down on my permanent record. Huh, Spd?

spd rdr said...

It's "spd," madam, not "Spd." I have eschewed capitals in solidarity with my long suffering bretheren.

Anonymous said...

And which dwarf are you?

portia said...

Thanks for clearing that up, dick [note: there are no capitals in that word, either]. Oh, and by the way, it's Madam to you:-)