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Justice 101
Shall We Rant?
Subtitle:
Being a Vanity Page for the Sole Purpose of Airing Opinionated Arguments Upon the Condition of the Known
Physical World and Beyond
March 1999 By Ann Hathor-
Dearest Reader:
Once upon a time, not so very long ago at all, there was a woman who had her own ideas, opinions, positions, and trigger points (even though that simply just wasn't done)
. She was a woman who enjoyed intelligent conversations on the political, legal and sociological realities of the day. A real freak. This woman, let us call her "Ms. Hathor," had a little cottage industry where she sat at the computer day in and day out, working her fingers to the nub, doing word processing for those who, for whatever reason, were not self processors.
(To this day she still helps people process.)
The majority of her clients were Duke University law students. On the whole they were a decent
enough group of guys. Maybe just a teensy weensy bit over critical. A little trouble truly gauging their importance in the world perhaps. Hmmm, they *did* have very aggressive responses to the word "no". Come to think of it they were not inclined to care a whit for anyone else's needs, schedules, responsibilities or obstacles but their own. But considering that as a rule each was a "daddy's money" child who was also exploring the eternal frat brotherhood
(you know, those bands of paddle carrying, blazer wearing, funny hand shaking, most sacred of all secret societies : the order of the eternal "it's not what you know, it's who you know" super drunks)
, they were really cool happening guys.
Our heroine and her beloved mate would often run into these law students at Friday happy hours at a local sports bar. Ms Hathor loved to converse and, not being a shy sort, often introduced herself and
initiated a conversation. Ms Hathor was tolerated because she alone could be counted upon to be working into the wee morning hours and could perhaps be persuaded to type an emergency class assignment mock brief that
was due in two hours or less. ( Ms. Hathor has often been a very good sport. Which reminds me of a George Carlin routine. But I digress.)
The lady was known to be somewhat opinionated her own self, and her position was almost inevitably in contradiction to the opinions of these law students. The law students had their firmly ingrained
over inflated sense of self. Ms Hathor had a mean streak as wide as the Mississippi and as sharp as the bite of a mischievous teething baby on the delicate nipple of life.
(You mothers know*EXACTLY* what I mean).
From her love of history and politics and her variety of acquaintances in numerous walks of life, Ms Hathor had made observations that the Duke Law students were pretty much totally unable to
comprehend. Oblivious might be the better word. Ms Hathor truly believed that the laws in this country were never intended to benefit those who were less able to protect themselves and that it was then, was now, and
would forever be exclusively in favor of the rich white male. (Duke Law students weren't sure where there was supposed to be a problem here).
Ms Hathor would argue that when the nation was founded the Farmer BillyBobs of our country had their hands full managing the truck farm and trying to keep the lawyers-turned-legislators from
taxing their whiskey (which every history buff knows was their main method of moving
grain crops to market for profit since any other method resulted in near 100% spoilage. See History 101, The Whiskey Rebellion) . Then periodically the BillyBobs would have to have a rebellion about taxation without representation (which as you recall drove the Boston boys positively insane when the British did it; however them doing it thought was of as "necessity"). Those pesky rebellions got a lot of the BillyBobs and ZebBob and BobbieBobs killed. Thus a regular hardworking, salt of the earth ZebBob simply did not have time to study law, much less move up to the next rank of Most Exalted Supreme Maker of Law and Grand High Poopah. Nor did your basic BobbieBob type usually have enough dough-re-me to provide his sons with such an education.
(You can FORGET the daughters, they weren't even allowed into the education equation if you recall. Or the blacks. Or the ... but I digress.)
Ergo, et tu, e pluribus unum, non compus mentos, yada yada yada, etc., the laws were written by those whose daddies could afford to send them to law school in order to learn how to write laws that
would benefit said daddy and said daddy's very dearest and most cherished few hundred business contacts. Theirs was the noble and singular goal of making the world a better place for the people who could afford a
better place in the world. I doubt very seriously that a morning ever arrived where the first entry in their day book read: make some laws that will bring joy to the hearts of the little people.
This pattern became known as "the family line" whereby once the son became the daddy he took his rightful place and financed his own son's law education so that son, too, could carry on
the tradition of taking care of daddy. (Those who didn't try to poison their fathers for the inheritance). Law was not "justice":
justice being a rare commodity limited only to those who had established a power network and claimed position securely within. Law was what the OTHER people had to follow so that one's position in the world could be just a little bit brighter.
(You have to admit it was a good scam.) Look at it this way. When you need money you immediately think of going to the bank for a loan. Right? But there's no way the bank is going to loan you money if you
actually *NEED* money. Loaning money to people who need loans is very very very bad business. It is equally naive to go to the justice system when you need justice. If you actually *NEED* justice then you obviously
aren't one of the people whose forbears have paid their dues in the elite society that gets to dictate the meaning of justice and dispense it accordingly.
( what's good for the family line is good for the nation). Look for justice when you are not one of the self ordained Justice League of America and
you are most definitely not going to walk out with a new justice Visa and a signed justice line of credit. It ain't gonna happen.
Our heroine could argue the point well enough so that many a Duke law student admitted that perhaps at one time that was how life really was. But their position, as Duke University Law students, was
that the law was the law was the law was the law and would remain the law until changed. Don't hold your breath. Eat your cheerios little girl and dream of the day you'll have the power to buy justice. You'll never
have the power to take control of the law away from those who hold it tightly in the vaults of their own well connected network.
The law students did not see a problem.
That was Ms Hathor's very favorite moment in the discussion, for
our dear feisty Ms Hathor would at this point maintain that if the law was not designed to protect women and children (who were, as we all know, nothing more than chattel to those who held power), then instead of protecting and defending the weakest and most preyed upon the law was, in truth, designed to aid and abet the predators of women and children. Therefore, it stands to reason that the laws of the United States of America and the entire judicial system of the same is in reality the enemy of our country's women and children. The question now becomes why in the name of gawd should women and children in a so called democracy be bound to obey laws that did not in any way offer them justice, security, protection, or peace but instead made them sitting ducks? Quack this.
It was always at this point in our conversations when the (usually) wealthy white male law student would get cocky and confrontational. Invariably the next statement would be "oh yeah? Well
even if that is so you have no choice so what's the point of this conversation anyway?
If you or your child are harmed you go through the system just like everybody else and you take what is dished out. So shut up and go get me a beer."
Ms. Hathor always loved the next few moments of these
versations, for that was when she could raise panic in the eyes of the cocky and self absorbed. Ms Hathor would announce: "Oh Hell no I don't. If someone hurts my child then I am guaranteed that she will
not know justice unless I am the one who delivers it. And trust me, I AM a woman who recognizes justice when she sees it and I AM willing to do what it takes to achieve a satisfying and just conclusion.What the
world greatly needs is more and better sopranos in the International Physical and Emotional Rapists Choir. The Lord helps those who help themselves and by the way, did you know there is a sale on hollow points at
WalMart this week?" You have never seen true fear until you see that blessed moment of comprehension cross a Duke law student's eyes.
Fifteen years later I,
I mean Ms Hathor, have yet to see any changes in the law of the land that creates an atmosphere of protection for the nation's children or their primary caretakers. In fact, the exact opposite is true. The new norm in child custody cases is that now children are being awarded to fathers, even those who have been proven as abusive, because the fathers' have more earning power hence more money
(the ole quality of life loophole)
and dammit paying child support bothers the living hell out of every self absorbed selfish "but then I can't buy a boat" whining little thoughtless weasel who's ever tried to avoid it.
And pray tell, when is the last time you saw a woman win in any civil court case? You've got to think back a little way huh? I know there's available data on the ratio of favorable court decisions
divided into
male and female categories out there. I'll look it up for you. Face it, women and children are not of any concern to the court system of this nation. Nor are they truly important to any established political system. Humans take care of that which is important to us. If you don't believe me, watch a golfer put his clubs back in the bag at the end of the game. Those wands are spit polished and tucked snugly away into sweet little stockings. There are golf clubs living in this country that are warmer than some of our children. For some unknown reason, children rarely seem to be able to raise the money it takes to buy justice. It's a mystery ain't it? Our children are in an unparalleled time of crisis but when it comes to actual action for the greater good our children might as well ask for tickets for a trip to Jupiter. I'm sure everyone reading this can recite with me the Judicial and Congressional systems' creed: "Connected Men and Wealthier Men first" If there's room, then the women who feed off of these men get a seat in the lifeboat. The rest of us, mothers, children, outsider males, women in general, ethnics, etc. get to float alongside on a piece of rotted timber.
Now dear Reader, you may be asking what legal bug crawled up my ass and died. Well this very day Ms Hathor faced the federal judicial system and of course
she lost. The issue was bankruptcy. The trophy was a 5 year old van, the last birthday gift from my dying husband and my lifeline in a world totally devoid of adequate public transportation. Despite affidavits from medical professionals stating the physical need for the vehicle, and although I am a handicapped, widowed, single mother, volunteer, ordained minister, accepted candidate for the guardian ad litem program, and owner of a struggling cottage industry that demands decent transportation the federal judicial system decided I was a bad bad girl for allowing myself to be taken to the cleaners by a con man and my punishment would be to find myself confined within the boundaries of my own home. Or, I could buy it back for over a thousand dollars above the professional appraisal. In the language of dollar signs, we're talking chump change here. Unless of course you are bankrupt. And we're talking about a system where a great percentage of the seized assets go straight into the wallet of the "representative of the court;" a fact that is apparently not common knowledge. That's an interesting little tidbit of information isn't it? So, because I could not meet the justice system's regular daily allowance of chump change the result is that myself, my child, the children so desperately in need of the guardian ad litem program as well as people counting on me for employment have all been given the bum's rush. The lives, health, and well being of human beings can NEVER be more important than the dollars that fill a lawmaker's pocket or the sense of power that feeds the judicial system by their drinking of our life's blood. Justice? For women and children? Yehrite. There never has been and if we leave it up to those who study the law so that they can make the law to support those who have made the law before them .. there will *NEVER* be justice in this country for women and children.
Guess what. It can happen to you too. I got screwed by a murderous con man and the "Justice" system simply did the wipe up for him. Your sin might be to have made the mistake of accepting
employment in a company that decides to down size. Perhaps you've made the mistake of owning property in an area that the connected ones decide would be be of benefit to them and their business associates.
One accident, or health set back, or work stoppage, or the dire sin of being exploited by someone who hasn't been okayed to do so legally, and you too can have your health jeopardized, your life's work totally discounted, and the children you love tossed aside like rags for the gratification of the power base. The alternative is to recognize that the laws of this country never for one moment had you or your child's well being in mind and then pick up your brain washed I-am-so-powerless ass and start doing something about it. Unless women stop taking this shit and fight back like the mother tigers we each and every one are at heart, we will *NEVER* know justice in this country. It's time to band together to stop the practice of judicially ordained legal pedophilia and emotional rape. Ladies, it's our children we're talking about as well as ourselves. IT'S THE CHILDREN STUPID!!! "THEY" aren't going to do one thing for our children or ourselves unless there's a kickback to their pockets. Don't you think it's time you deserved a little Justice?
~~Hathor~~~
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