The Basic Truth

This painting troubles me. It has something to say about the motivations of the people in the Scruggs Matter, all of the people, and at every stage and aspect. From the desire to win, the desire to capture, the desire to escape punishment by helping the prosecutors inflict punishment on others, the desire for fame and professional approval, the desire to be a part of treachery. When one thinks of it, one is hard-pressed to find real proof of the assurance of a single laudable motive at work in the hearts of any one of the players in this sordid drama -- Dick Scruggs, Steve Balducci, Joey Langston, Edward Peters, Bobby DeLaughter, Judge Henry Lackey, Judge Biggers, the whole lot.

We like to think there are good guys and bad guys, but I wonder. I wonder if in the heart of things, in the heart of all of the people who played a part, there is not something pervasive and sad, something corrupt. We will only know if the heart of each is honest and dares to express the subtlety of human motivations. Were he to do so, it would be up to each of us to understand, to express grace and forgiveness if it is in our power to forgive.

More Treachery in Mississippi

News is coming from Mississippi telling of the efforts of Joey Langston to help the U.S. Attorney in his efforts regarding the Judge Bobby Delaughter influence matter. Seems Langston and Steve Balducci were engaged in some effort to influence Judge Delaughter using his old friend and mentor Edward Peters. Peters apparently got $1 million. Langston and Balducci pled guilty to some relatively minor charges. Now they are helping the U.S. Attorney gain new indictments against Dick Scruggs, the lawyer, Langston and Balducci were working for.

The matter is a real sorry mess. But, the truly frightening thing for me is this: The legal system uses treachery to gain indictments and convictions. What is the treachery here? It is the apparent fact that Langston using his involvement and perhaps instigation of a wrong of judicial influence and bribery to put his friend and client in jail. The common excuse for this is that government has to make bargains with the devil to bring other devils to justice. This is commonly accepted within our system of "justice."

The principles at work are expressed by the aphorisms used -- law is not about justice, it is war and in war there are no principles, you can only get the bad guy by using the same techniques bad guys use, the guy the government is going after is really a "bad guy," and he deserves no fairness, life is tough, get over it, -- and so it goes.

The real principle at work is this -- the end justifies the means.

So where do we go when this principle reaches into every part of our civilization, our culture. Our culture becomes one based only on the principle of expediency as determined by those in power from time to time.

Do we have to become evil in order to control evil?