Let’s hear it for Sam and Martha.
You see a lot in the news lately about people who break the law but escape punishment. Big guys in various government departments. Celebrities. Politicians. People who bribe politicians for pardons. Pols who take the money and grant the pardons.
Of course Hillary and Bill top the list in more than one category.
When some folks see such news they shift into rant mode. “Looks at what these people get away with!”
I tend to think of the Sams and Marthas of this world. Regular folks. Modest income. Run a small business. Go to church. Help in the community. Send kids off to war.
Sam’s brother argued with the IRS over a tax matter. Ditched some documents he should have held. IRS bolted his business. Froze his bank accounts. Fined him big time. No trial. No hearing. Just punishment.
Sam and Martha’s boy rose to high rank in the U.S. Army. Made them proud. Then he mishandled a classified document. Army court-martialed him. Busted his rank. Branded him with a dishonorable discharge. Ruined any shot he had for a decent civilian job.
Their daughter worked her way into a great job in the federal government. Someone caught her using her personal email for government business. She got demoted. Stain on her record.
Martha’s brother used poor judgment. Failed to strengthen a dam on his farm. It leaked manure into a stream. EPA fined him so much it put him out of farming.
Ask Sam and Martha if we apply justice fairly in this country. Their son risked his life in war. To defend this nation. Including its guarantee of equal justice. That is, that he and his kind would be treated the same as the mucky-mucks.
But that is not the way it is around here, is it? Poor sods take it in the neck in this country while the elite get off. For the same or similar crimes.
You read that more than a few people in the IRS did some nasty stuff against citizens. You read that negligence of some top guys at the VA caused vets to die unnecessarily. You read about the stupidity of some EPA guys. Their screw-ups devastated a river. You read how top bureaucrats destroyed thousands of documents. Unlawfully. Documents requested by judges.
You read that nobody got fingered. Nobody got demoted. Nobody got fired. Success has a thousand parents. Scandal is an orphan. Culprits vaporize into anonymity.
And you know of endless shenanigans of politicians. Especially Bill and Hillary.
Beyond this, you know something else that Sam and Martha know. You know all of these people will escape punishment. You know that if any of them do get caught their pals within the system will help them out. They will sideline investigations. They will call off the prosecutors. They will issue the pardons.
Sam and Martha know the scales of justice are not evenly balanced. They know a few slugs of lead weigh down their side of the scales. They know Madame Justice is actually blind. As she is supposed to be. But she is only blind to the elite. She winks at them.
Equal justice under the law. The Sams and Marthas know this is one of this nation’s most lofty ideals. They know we are a long way from achieving it. Just ask them.
From Tom…as in Morgan.
You can write to Tom at tomasinmorgan@yahoo.com.