“When in doubt, run and shout, go in circles all about. . ..” This famous little ditty is often sung by someone under a great deal of professional stress. Oh, they don’t know they are singing it, but you do, or at least you can figure it out pretty quickly. Next time you see the loud guy in line, or the person who is obviously looking like the perpetually late “White Rabbit” from “Alice in Wonderland,” then think of this poem. Trust me, it will fit like a tight shirt. What is interesting, we have a similar problem in the legal profession. While it is a similar axiom, naturally, lawyers have to use a lot more words. Regardless, I have discovered that this version is equally true, and you might learn to spot this in any local news story about something happening in your local court system.
The legal version goes something like this: “If the law is on your side, then pound the law. If the facts are on your side, then pound the facts. If you have neither, then pound the table, and point at the other lawyer.” This is so true, especially when you read in the local press about how someone is holding information from someone else, or about the evil actions of, say, one of the prosecutors or judges that inhabit the system. Not all of them are vile, and not everything is a conspiracy. I know for a fact, from several decades of governmental service, that most governmental activities aren’t organized enough to enter into a conspiracy of any kind, much less some grand scheme that cuts across multiple agencies, at multiple levels of government.
~ Michael S. Pauley
The legal version goes something like this: “If the law is on your side, then pound the law. If the facts are on your side, then pound the facts. If you have neither, then pound the table, and point at the other lawyer.” This is so true, especially when you read in the local press about how someone is holding information from someone else, or about the evil actions of, say, one of the prosecutors or judges that inhabit the system. Not all of them are vile, and not everything is a conspiracy. I know for a fact, from several decades of governmental service, that most governmental activities aren’t organized enough to enter into a conspiracy of any kind, much less some grand scheme that cuts across multiple agencies, at multiple levels of government.
~ Michael S. Pauley
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