On Splitting Legal Hairs

Blubs of Verbs, Thought Crime Comments (2)

 “Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser – in fees, expenses, and waste of time.”-Abraham Lincoln

This is just embarrassing: 18 states are suing the EPA.  They are suing the EPA because the EPA has done nothing in response to a Supreme Court Ruling that said the EPA can regulate green house gasses.  The EPA previously said they did not have the authority. The Supreme Court decision was last April ‘07 (note it’s April ’08 now).  Now, the states are asking the courts to force the EPA to comply with 60 days. The EPA’s response is that the Supreme Court said it should, but did not say when it should.

Seriously?  Is the EPA a twelve year old? 

Long time readers know I’m already not going to tackle this one straight forward.  So let’s kick this particular thought crime.  The silliness of having one part of your government, sue another part of your government, only to be have the end result ignored, and then, yes, restarting process, can’t be cheap.  This is our tax dollars at work.   This entire process does not benefit me in anyway, except to kill more trees to print more court proceedings on how to save more trees!

What we have here is a prime example of the Executive Branch, declining to exorcise its power, and by doing so, ignoring another branch of government. Recall a previous Editorial where i pointed out this hidden power of the executive branch.  I call it a power, because call it childless, petty and small minded would make me seem … bitter.

As we know, splitting legal hairs is a function of lawyers and the guilty. I remind you of, “That depends on what the definition of is…, is.” But i am also a hypocrite. I like technicalities and “fine nuisances”  I like it when innocent people get off on a technicalities and i for one can argue the fine point out of two guilty parties suing each other.  Like most other people, i’d use it to my benefit and decry its use by others.  Yes, I split hairs.

Those “hairsplitting” times are rather specific:  Standing up for something i believe in, or holding a high moral banner charged with the protection of item, event, person or place i believe in all good conscience only the soulless wouldn’t protect. I am a hypocrite because i have a brain and common sense. I can play both sides of this argument because i’m human and i believe every situation is a new, different and interesting subject to be judged independently.

But I hold the line at acting like a 12 year old.

OceansOfThought @ April 3, 2008