OK, I was thinking about this thread while I was eating my thai chile. It originally started as a rather flippant remark in response to John' suggestion that we shoot spies. I gave Wen Ho Lee as an example of an accused spy who was apparently innocent. Since then Bill has been arguing erm, something, and I am letting this thread get to my blood pressure. I really hate when I hear condescension coming from someone who can't be bothered to check facts before making smug pronouncements.
Your arguments are slightly different. You are right that ignorance of the law is not an excuse. That is probably not what happened in the Wen Ho Lee case, but ok. That case was intended to be an example of disproportionate penalties and one where the court system did not work. But there is a deeper question here, which is how can you possibly prevent anyone from ever thinking you have done something wrong, which seems to be what you are saying. Some people just see wrongdoing everywhere. I have been reported to Child Protective Services for owning a computer (Florida) and for having a job (New Mexico). The scary thing is that both times the agencies investigated, though the cases were quickly closed. The answer to this is *not* to not work because some people think you should stay home with your children and *not* to not own a computer because some people think the internet is evil. You cannot possibly proactively imagine all of the idiotic things people can dream up in the way of accusations. So if you are saying that he should have considered the possiblity that someone would accuse him of being a spy, I respectfully disagree. You cannot live your life on the basis of trying to never be accused of something. Dana On Mon, 16 Jun 2003 13:52:56 -0400, Nick McClure <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > That is why we have a court system. > > If animal control gets there and says there is nothing wrong, then the > neighbor will just have to deal with it. > > Ignorance of the law/rule is no excuse; you have a responsibility prior > to > doing something to verify that what you plan to do follows the rules. > > The courts have ruled on this time and time again, just because you > didn't > know it was illegal doesn't mean your are not responsible for it. > > If you are underpaying on your social security, the government has a way > to > get things back where they are supposed to be. If your company didn't > withhold the correct amount, they will work out a way for you to pay it > to > them. If the company withheld the correct amount, but didn't send it in, > then you show proof of this, and they will go after the company. > > They are not going to arrest you because your math was wrong, they will > audit you, and all parties can work things out. Remember, if you are > underpaying on you social security, you are hurting every American, if > you > cheat on your taxes, you are hurting every American. > > What about those really archaic laws? Those murder laws are pretty old; > maybe I can just ignore them. If there is a law on the books you need to > follow the law or accept the consequences, you can try to get the law > changed, or abolished, but until then, it is still a law. > > Obedience of the law is not asked, it is expected. > >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Dana Tierney [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >> Sent: Monday, June 16, 2003 1:30 PM >> To: CF-Community >> Subject: Re: A good american >> >> hmm. And what if the dog is not being abused but your neighbor feels no >> dog >> should ever be left outside? And what about the people on this list who >> have apparently been underpaying their Social Security taxes without >> realizing it? You have to imagine that something is a rule to not break >> it, >> or that someone might think you are doing somethng wrong and report it. >> What about all those really archaic laws? I think you guys are >> stretching. >> >> Dana > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?forumid=5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?method=subscribe&forumid=5 Get the mailserver that powers this list at http://www.coolfusion.com Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
