The Truth is not Admissable?

I don't get it. I have never gotten it.

It seems to me that the courts were established for two reasons: 1) to get to the truth of a matter, and 2) to adjudicate based on the established truth. Officers of the court, meaning the judge and attorneys representing both parties, should be aligned in the pursuit of truth. The law itself should be wrapped around this same concept, of getting to the truth and then metering out rewards and punishments based on the facts. The parties who come to court should both be looking for an outcome based on truth. Can we all agree on that?

If so, then why do we have laws regarding "inadmissable evidence"? How can the truth ever not be admissable, if one of the legal system's purposes is to establish the truth? And of course, the thing that I am pondering is Illinois Governor Rod Blogojevich's intent to fight being impeached. He was caught with his hand in the cookie jar, as evidenced by the wiretaps we all heard on national television and radio. Wasn't that your voice, sir? But his outrageous defense is that the wiretaps were not legally obtained, and therefore the evidence is not admissable. WHO CARES, MR. GOVERNOR? It's not like you didn't say what you said! We heard it!

So why would a legal system not allow the truth to be admissable? I understand the need to protect innocents, but that's not the case here. No one needed protection, the system wasn't out to get anyone and everyone, there was no witch hunt, no widespread fishnet for any little thing that might pop up. A guilty man was caught doing the very thing the wiretaps were put in place to capture.

We just want the truth to be considered by any intelligent person, jury, congressional body, or other competent jursidiction. Shame on any officer of the court who is not dedicated to the same ideal.

Mr. Governor, save yourself further embarassment and save the taxpayers some money. Give us all a Christmas present by resigning.

No, Moroni

Occasionally when I read the scriptures the personality of the writer really comes through, and when that happens I feel a greater understanding of the subject being discussed. I was studying the book of Ether this past week, and in chapter 12, Moroni, the great editor of The Book of Mormon, interjects his personal fears regarding how the things he is engraving onto metal plates will be received, by a future generation. He laments "Lord, the Gentiles will mock at these things, because of our weakness in writing.... (T)hou hast made us that we could write but little, because of the awkwardness of our hands. (W)hen we write we behold our weakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words; and I fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at our words."

Moroni, you wrote to us as if we were present, having seen our generations in vision. And now, I write back to you as if you are present. Your fears may have been realized when some few read your words and mocked them, but those who did so were uneducated, uninformed, and uninspired. As I read your writings, I find them to be incredible. The more I study them, the more impressed I am at how accurate, how consistent with other scriptures, and how inspired and inspiring they are. You helped author the book characterized by a living prophet as "the most correct of any book on earth"! In my 35 years of studying it, I have never found a single mistake--not one inconsistency, and not a single conflict with anything I know to be true. I concluded long ago that anyone who would mock your writings in The Book of Mormon would also mock the Savior himself. You did your job, and you did it with inspiration, enduring all the hardships we can now only imagine, as your people battled themselves to extinction. Mock your writings? No, Moroni, we humbly thank you, I thank you, a true prophet of God, to whom we acknowledge a great debt, you who brought so much to this latter-day generation.

Sorry to Disappoint You

So I'm sure by now you all know that the Guv was caught trying to peddle his influence. I understand from this morning's news that he is choosing to not resign and is going about business as usual. In fact, it appears he might still appoint someone to the Senate. I just wanted to go on record that if he appoints me, I will reject the appointment. I know that is a HUGE disappoint to my fan(s) but hey, I'm a grandfather now and need to get that new role perfected before I take on truth, justice, and the American way (not to mention world peace and the economy).

However, I remain ever at the ready for consultation on an as-needed basis.

The Birds and The Fox

It's that time of year in southern Illinois where great flocks of birds are seen migrating to warmer climates. Lisa and I saw a migrating flock last week that was between 100 and 200 birds wide, and perhaps 10 miles long! And then I was driving on Saturday, going north out of town and saw up ahead a flock of birds on the ground, covering both sides of the four-lane divided road. There were no other cars around, so I slowed to a crawl and advanced towards the birds. They seemed to be calm, and as I approached, they began to fly in a swirling pattern, allowing me to pass through, and landing again behind me. It was amazing because there were so many of them, in front of me and behind me, all in motion It was sort of like being in a whiteout snowstorm, where your visibility is limited to just a few feet. I know this sounds sappy, but for a moment I was just thrilled being there and experiencing being among so many creatures. And I have to admit, Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" ran through my mind also... . I wonder just exactly how migrations work? How do they all decide that on a given day, they will meet up somewhere and begin a journey of hundreds of miles? Who is the leader? Who decides each morning that it's time to go? At the end of each day, who decides this is where they will rest for the evening? And especially I wonder how they all know to turn at the same time? Doesn't it just seem like they would be bumping into each other all the time? And lastly, which one of those birds is responsible for performing the calculation to know that a given power or communications line can support the weight of the whole flock at the same time without breaking? I have to know!

In addition to the fascinating synchronicity of migrating birds, I witnessed another demonstration of incredible precision at the Fabulous Fox yesterday. Lisa, Sarah and I went to a Mannheim Steamroller concert. I have long loved M-S's music, and particularly their Christmas music. The thing I like the very best is the percussion, much of which is performed by Chip Davis himself on their CD's. I've just never experienced a band or even orchestra with better timing and precision than what Davis is able to accomplish with his large variety of modern and historical instruments and electrical gear. The concert was terrific, although I have to admit I was disappointed that Davis wasn't present--he's recovering from neck surgery. A brief video was shown at the start, in which he explained his absence, and I was sorry to see he has a very noticeable tremor in his left hand. I wish him well in his recovery and rehabilitation and hope he will be performing again soon. The concert definitely left us feeling more of the Christmas season spirit!