Title suggested by Jeffrey Bennett

Between 1852 and 1853, Charles Dickens published an episodic novel titled “Bleak House,” about a family waiting in vain to inherit money in a disputed settlement from an extremely long-running lawsuit. It’s about the undeserved suffering the High Court of Chancery in England created, mainly by venal, self-serving lawyers.

Dickens’ ultimate attack is not on the court, as he makes perfectly clear the workings (or misworkings) of the court that constitute the major evil. He savagely condemns that particular institution and the prominent issue involved: The system itself – the whole system of law.

Although the book ends on a happier note, the case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce in ‘Bleak House‘ ends as expected; lawyers consume the ENTIRE estate.

It was true in the 19th century; it reverberates through the 21st. Our justice system is based on centuries of tradition and legal wrangling mired in the self-serving and self-perpetuating practice of law.

Consider that last sentence… It’s the crux of this column.

The law no longer intends to safeguard or protect, but to prolong the engagements to maximize billable hours.

An average lawyer’s hourly rates begin near $211; however, specialty attorneys can reach thousands per hour.

Attorneys are paid – win, lose, or draw…

Imagine having an organization that never does anything right but, it flourishes…

This is the resume of our government for the last 70 years. It is a system permeated by lawyers.

I seriously question the integrity of any system that requires practitioners to comprehend the intricacies of the legal language only to circumvent it by reinterpretation of that language – the loophole!

The above statement defines the American Legal System and, by extension, our government.

General business practices assume you’re paid for doing the job well and fired for poor performance. Not so in the legal profession. Lawyers are paid regardless of the litigation outcome. The perpetual unsuccessful campaign is how they can deplete an estate or bankrupt a client.

* Mr. Trump’s legal bill exceeds $76.7M so far… It’s clear that the tactic is not just to beat him, but to bankrupt him in the process. Who wins in all of this legal turmoil? It’s the lawyers!

There is no such expectation of success for politicians. They possess a limitless license to pirouette, characterizing failure as success politically; it’s the art of ‘spin;’ where public perception is paramount!

“What is the word for a person that profits from other people’s loss? USER…

* Exploiter: a lawyer

* In Lending – Usury is the illegal action or practice of lending money at unreasonably high-interest rates – a loan shark comes to mind.

Laws are rules that bind all people living in a community. Laws protect our general safety and ensure our rights as citizens against abuses by other people, organizations, and the government itself. That’s the concept, but its practice is far different.

We have laws to help provide for our public security, which is the definition of the law. What we experience today opposes this statement dramatically.

We are not the wards of the law but, in most instances, its victims.

Ultra-left-leaning state administrations exploit the legal process to push their humanistic sociopolitical agendas to force their progressive, unconventional policies on benevolent states where these radical ‘humanitarian’ policies are popular. Programs like ‘no cash bail’ and ‘no punishment for repeat offenders’ encourage recidivism and crime spikes.

Policies limiting prosecution to thefts above a $950 threshold cause, “smash & dash” robberies, forcing small retailers like jewelry stores or chains like Walgreens and CVS to close stores in impoverished neighborhoods.

The Corporate media would have us believe it’s racist on the surface; the problem is community-based because these areas have the highest rates of shoplifting and cannot afford to fund the city’s ‘soft-on-crime’ stance. After all, the idea of business is to make money, not financially support the local community. The business and community form a symbiosis – a mutually beneficial relationship: when either fails, both suffer.

Liberal District Attorneys (DAs) exploit local administrations to advance these lunatic social programs but, in true lawyer-like-parlance, lawyers claim “they only serve the law, they don’t make the laws.” In truth, this is a vulgar, obscene lie (BULLSHIT) since lawyers wrote these laws at the direction of their overlords up the ‘food chain.’

We the people, conveniently forget that administrations are stuffed with lawyers. Why… you can’t swing a cat by the tail without hittin’ one in any government or organization.

The price tag for this soft-on-crime was $93.9B in 2022, $112.1B in 2023, and 2024 looks to be a banner year for retail theft. Projections show an increase of 30% to 35% – $151.2B due to the geographically disenfranchised invasion – China-Joey’s invited guests.

Sadly, consumers pay the price for these psychotic sociopolitical experiments. Entire communities lose convenient shopping locations, critically needed pharmacies, and other crucial infrastructure. Crime-riddled neighborhoods are decimated by plunging property values in these areas – all resulting from Liberal Sociopolitical Humanitarian Policies.

China-Joey’s Open Border policy advert tagline:

“Marxism thru Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity”

“Bringing a Barrio to Every Community!”

“Every Town DIEs, Eventually…”

Liberal leaders expect big corporations to absorb the loss and provide a well-stocked supply of products ready for the taking. Any retailer that protects itself is deemed racist and excoriated for actions to limit theft. Most corporations forbid employees from approaching or stopping shoplifters because their insurance companies don’t want the liability…

Cori Bush accused Walgreens and other retailers of overt racism for closing stores in impoverished areas. By the way, those areas have liberal legal policies and the highest rates of shoplifting; consequently, the greatest loss… yet ultra-liberal politicians demand that the billion-dollar corporations fund this free-for-all.

We owe the legal profession a HUGE thanks for destroying the country, one liberal statute, and one community at a time.

An old maxim says the best way to make crime pay is to become a lawyer – so the logical extension of that adage is to become a politician. After all, 67.7% of Congress – the opposite of progress – are attorneys. (QED… they are all crooks.)

I’ll tweak this proverb: “99% of attorneys give the other 1% a bad name, not unlike used-car sales, bridge sales, snake-oil sales, quacks, hucksters, charlatans, and solar panel contractors. These professions rank right up there with the hysteria regarding Climate Change, Global Warming, drowning polar bears, the quest for perpetual motion, and studying why Polar Bears don’t eat Penguins”.

* Here’s a hint: polar bears are at the North Pole, and Penguins are at the South Pole. That brain-buster received a $3M Gubmint grant… No Shit…

Man’s comprehension of the intricacies of our planet is commensurate with our insight and knowledge of God. We have clues, but real awareness eludes us.

Regarding my comment about lawyers being self-absorbed narcissists, I have only anecdotal evidence to support my assertion, but what I see from the Corporate Media confirms my cynicism. They present the negative side of everything… and if grim reality doesn’t exist, they feel compelled to ‘promote‘ it into existence.

Legislation is a cudgel used to control citizens rather than protect them. This perverse use of our protective covenants is what convention is in our society. “Lawyers no longer intend to safeguard or defend but to prolong the engagements to maximize billable hours.”

In Roman times, leaders were in touch with the people. It’s somewhat different today; our leadership has the Corporate Media telling us what we want.

Have you ever stopped to wonder why they call it TV programming?

The Puppet Emperor China-Joey Biden proudly shares this sentiment – although he’s unsure where he is or what day it is, he’s ready, willing, and able to misread a teleprompter with his carefully crafted prepared message of Liberal Gobbledygook and Partisan Political Pabulum on command.

China-Joey Biden got his Juris Doctorate (legal degree) from Syracuse University College of Law in 1968, graduating 76th out of 85 after failing a course because he plagiarized a law review article, a precedent-setting event.

Exiting the stage is another matter altogether… but no one is more cordial to on-stage apparitions.

Like the preceding Emperors, he is abnormally adept at enjoying luxury – at the citizens’ expense – and spending his favorite moolah… fiat currency freely. China-Joey has enjoyed 40% of his time as president – on vacation… and in the company of Nationalist American Socialist Party (NASP) billionaire donors.

Nice work if you can get it… “and you can get it if you try!”

Another constant commendation of this political posture is that people require infotainment to prosper (remember TV programming), so we develop machines to grind out 24-hour news ‘content’ at light speed to feed our info-lust.

We invent barbaric contests, playing to our cravings and macabre proclivities, proudly displayed on the Altar of Enlightenment – the Personal, Portable, Digital Infotainment Portal – the cellular communications device.

The only constant is change. Yes, this is a dichotomy of terms, but it underlines that politicians and lawyers shape American culture, and the America we live in is also a dichotomy: Land of the Free and Home of the Legally Restrained.

There is no difference since most politicians are attorneys and are political by nature. They are self-serving narcissists so in love with themselves that they can’t pass a camera or microphone without sharing their personal views or opinions on the topic du jour or pet pork-barrel project. They are absolutely positive that what they have to say is of national importance and of palpable interest to everyone.

Narcissists are incredibly self-centered with an exaggerated sense of self-importance, marked by or characteristic of excessive admiration or infatuation of oneself.

Do we know anyone like this?

I suppose there is one thing that will never happen between two lawyers – agreement. There will always be some minor points of contention and one thing that they just couldn’t resolve.

* Negotiation: “is derived from two Latin terms, negare otium; they translate literally as “to deny leisure.” Our loose interpretation evolved into “business through discussion, or consensus.”

Now, back to our scheduled program…

America is awaiting payment for almost 250 years of legal wrangling by our government. Even before crafting our constitution, lawyers – politicians, battled for ‘a piece of the action‘ in their case, control. Remember that control = power, and power = control: money acquires both.

Yes… I am a super-cynic, a tag bestowed by a close friend after many years of observation.

Like the Jarndyce family in Dickens’ Bleak House, Americans are captives of this synthetic matrix of hypocrisy and deception. There seems to be no end to this fiction. I recognize too many eventualities create this network of confusion to discuss. The simplest rationale is that this is all about power and money, which, in this case, are synonymous.

What gives anyone the right to barter with someone else’s life, especially when the barterer’s life is not part of that elitist transaction?

NOTHING!

Nothing grants them that license – it is the height of arrogance to dicker with anything you don’t own, and yet, it’s common currency in America, especially in the upper echelons of Liberal Government.

Remember – the government doesn’t own us: We own the government… or that was the original design – but that’s changed!

Citizens are pawns in this humiliating game.

A recent study of the mRNA Vaccine shows that for every life saved – it cost 14. You read that correctly. The mRNA vaccine to fight the Wuhan Virus killed fourteen people for every ONE that it saved. Scientists also warn of toxicity risks associated with these vaccines. Many complications are associated with this vaccine, involving crucial heart and immunological processes damaged or severely impeded by tampering with our DNA.

They knew the risks and were advised not to inform the public – by guess who… their attorneys. Big Pharma couldn’t risk its massive profits. There were $120B of them in fact. AND… That’s a lot of reasons…

Liberal Americans and New Yorkers, in particular, have taken leave of their senses. NYC’s ‘Bureau of Blatant Stupidity’ (BS) has a new program to give $53 million of ‘Pre-Paid Debit Cards to ass-sylum seekers for food.’ The ONLY stipulation is that the cards must be used to purchase food… Friggin Brilliant! AND… you know China-Joey’s invited guests will all comply with that agreement.

I’ve made my next point more times than I can count.

Everything our government touches is FUBAR! – look it up…

They couldn’t pour piss out of a boot if the directions were written on the heel…

* Thanks to my friend in Texas for that aphorism.

Yes, Old China-Joey is the commander of these Lost Planet Airmen. He referenced his recent meeting with Francois Mitterrand, President of Germany, er France – who died 28 years ago – then went on to rail against President Trump for not visiting the cemetery dedicated to the fallen soldiers of WWII. Guess what…

It was all lies…

Biden is the Great Prevaricator!

All the other gaffs and faux pas over the past several years point to a definitive loss of cognitive ability. Yet, the NASP props up this doddering old raisin as the leader of the free world and maintains that he is vigorous and in complete control of his faculties.

This pathetic display of political indecision and narcissism is what the world and America’s enemies see.

The finest example of saving our country from 22 million invaders is CON-gress – the opposite of progress – who penned a New Border Bill being promoted to the Senate for approval. It’s so full of pork that it oinked as it was presented. It does nothing to solve the border crises; instead, it provides BILLIONS of dollars for Ukraine and places more stipulations on the actions of those charged with border protection.

This lame-ass legislation is yet another sterling example of what Congress – the opposite of progress does without adult supervision – leadership.

Our founders envisioned a republic run by people with experience in business, finance, management, military discipline, and life, not legal philanderers bent on self-aggrandizement and profiteering.

The people making our decisions and misleading this republic are skilled liars and charlatans whose only experience comes from a book or courtroom. They’re so far removed from our reality that there is no possible connection to who we are…

“At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst.” ~ Aristotle

February 8, 2024

~ The Author ~
Charles R. Dickens was born in 1951, is a veteran of the Vietnam war, for which he volunteered, and the great-great grandson of the noted author, whose name he shares.

He is a fiercely proud American, who still believes this is the greatest country on the planet, with which we’ve lost control and certainly our direction. He grew up in moderate financial surrounding; we’re not rich by any stretch, but didn’t go hungry – his incredibly hard working father saw to that. As most from that era, he learned about life from his father, whose story would take too long to tell, other than to say that, he is also a fiercely proud American; a WWII and Korean war, veteran Marine.

Charlie was educated in the parochial system which, demanded that you actually learn something, and have capability to retain it before you advance. He attended several universities in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree, and chased the goose further to a master’s, and has retained some very definite ideas about education in this country.

In addition, Charlie is a retired blues guitar and vocalist – a musician. This was his therapy career. Nothing brings him as much joy as playing music, and he wishes that he could make a living at it… but alas… life goes on!

That’s Charlie… a proud, opinionated, and passionate American.