Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Could I Be A Trump Juror?

It may be obvious to all who have followed me that I'd be rejected. However, I'm of two minds on the subject. 

Why? First, I've been at various times a Republican, a Democrat, and an Independent. All those varying choices have been based on a core value system, where I'm still me but the parties have realigned about certain values which came to the fore at various times. My values are not based, therefore, on party lines but on the values - or most of them - that I was raised on by my parents and the humanistic - not theological - ones of the church I was raised in. Feel free to think of that as picking and choosing among the Ten Commandments.

When I say most of my values, I'll give you examples of the exceptions. Mom raised me to be obedient, period. Granted, I was a very independent child, a handful for someone coming out of the recession and with other issues. Today, I follow the laws, with the occasional slipping of vehicular speed into something over the speed limit, a reason I have come to depend on cruise control. If a person says I should/must act in a certain way, I'll personally evaluate the what and why and make my own decision. In terms of religion, my values stem from the humanistic ones universal in most religions, involving honesty, fairness, kindness, integrity, and love. (Yes, it's a process.)  I don't take a Sabbath day. I'm agnostic, so I not only don't worship one god, I don't worship any, including graven images. (Give me a golden calf and I'll promptly sell it for the monetary value, and thank you.) If you insist on any particular theology being the only one in the whole world, the requirement for a certain narrow belief required to enter a heaven which has arisen from the fantasies of living people who've never been there, with or without 76 virgins being part of the package (BORING!),or a limit of 140 people being "raptured", something nowhere written in approved religious scripture, pardon me while I struggle to be polite and not ridicule you. I may well fail to be polite. As far as "end times" is concerned, yes, I believe we're fast approaching those, not for theological reasons but because we have so seriously overpopulated and polluted this planet that too many tipping points have already been passed. We as humans, along with many other life forms, are approaching extinction. In many millions of years, the planet will recover to the point that new life forms will arise. They will mostly be different than this planet holds now, i.e., they won't be us. 

Cockroaches, maybe. I hear they are pretty tough.

But in general, in judging any person or action, I would do my best to be fair and hear all the evidence presented before making a decision. I pride myself on that. No person is a single thing, all good or all bad. Onlookers often judge an action from their own experiences. Is stealing food still worthy of prison when one's children can't eat? Is it different when done as a game or challenge, proof of one's skills at theft, or as a way towards personal enrichment? Can I believe what person A says? Or should I believe person B who claims the opposite? Can this particular evidence be manipulated, or misinterpreted? Are prejudices like race a factor or a coincidence... this time? These questions are why we need juries. With that mindset going in, I believe I could be a fair juror in general.

Donald Trump is a different case. First, there is hardly a person in this country who has no opinion of him. I'm not sure we could even find a jury based only on that. So can we find a jury of people who can set aside their existing opinions and examine the evidence, treat him as Mr. Anybody, and judge the evidence? Can we find jurors who don't fear the lunacy of some of his followers who take his denigration of somebody as an excuse to intimidate them or cause harm to them? He continually defies gag orders meant to protect people who oppose him in any way, so one must know that going in, accept it, look past it to the evidence being presented, and judge his actions fairly and courageously, even knowing his followers threaten harm to your loved ones as well. Could you try to be completely fair if finally chosen, or would you be weighing the possible harm to, say, your child, your mother, your spouse?

Yesterday 96 Americans were grilled as potential jurors and not one was seated. Imagine that in any other trial. Remember, you can self-select as being unfair, and simply walk  out. How many days will it take to select a jury?

Would you, like me, hope to never be put in that position, fascinating as such a case might be to hear all the way through without the editing of the press? 

Would you serve anyway if chosen?

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