What happened today wasn’t an event of biblical proportions, it wasn’t something that will affect Americans for years to come, in reality what happened today is pretty much a no news items except we have been plagued by this scourge for years. Try and try again people have sought to help, then punish the person yet at every corner there has been supposedly something in the legal system that prevented a rational outcome to prevail, allowing the suspect to commit crimes again and again.

Today Lindsay Lohan was taken to jail. She will stay there for 30 days, no possibility for early release because the judge in the case, Elden Fox, thought outside the box. Instead of handing down a sentence, the judge ordered Lohan held without bail until her hearing on if she would be sentenced in her drug use. By holding her instead of sentencing her it sidestepped the early release process, because she hasn’t had a ruling in the violation.

I call what happened today a little victory not because I care a bit about Lindsay Lohan or her issues. She is someone who has, in my opinion, flaunted the law time and time again, and the law has rewarded her for it. She has been arrested, been given every opportunity to clean herself up and she has treated the legal system as a joke. When the court finally decided to get tough, another part of the judicial system, citing overcrowding, decided to insult our intelligence further by taking a rather light sentence of 30 days and making it a joke by having her stay less than two weeks. Lohan was so embolden as to when it was reported she had violated her probation, her first reaction was to lie about it, and we can call it a lie since hours later she TWEETED that she did violate her probation.

What makes me hopeful about this, and I hope it will be thought of as an example, that the judge found a legal way to ensure justice was done. In the grand scheme of things it’s not a huge victory, but by holding her in jail instead of putting out a sentence it is guaranteed she will spend 30 days in jail.

We have been dealing with lots of bigger problems than Lindsay Lohan, but like her there has been a lot of people flaunting defiance with the system while those in power have been impotent to stop them. The company BP is still dictating to the government of the United States what it will and won’t do. Try digging a hole on some public beaches in the affected areas and you will have BP officials force you to stop. This information I got from the news as well as an independent, non-news source. We have candidates running for Senate that many of us wouldn’t have teach our children, yet because many are so upset with the current administration because they haven’t been able to solve 30 + years of neglect in less than 2 years, people are willing to grasp at anything that sounds close to what they are looking for even if the packaging is warped, broken, distressed and stale.

We are angry because the administration, who was touted as the best and the brightest available, have proven so cool they cannot convey simple emotions that might give us reassurances they are on top of things. They would rather assume we will get it right in time, all the while the other side, with no plan for solving the issues, continues to hit one group of people images of fear of ‘the other’ while stubbornly refusing to legislate and cooperate, giving a no nothing do nothing confirmation to another group of frustrated voters. This stalemate, and the refusal of the administration to act with the power given to them in the election, demoralized a third group of people who could be agents of change for the administration. The result is an angry, demoralized and defeated electorate with many refusing to participate in the midterm elections. That will mean the scared and angry will vote for reflexive slogans, not what is in their best interest.

This judge did something the administration has been unwilling to do; look outside the box. With one clever way of administering the law it gave hope to people that celebrities are not above the law. Yes it may be ghoulish to want Lohan in jail, but to see her escape so many times and now to get some jail time because of her actions is satisfying just like Al Capone getting thrown in jail not because of all the murders he did but because of tax evasion. It might not be for the right crime, but jail time is jail time. Administration, please look outside the box, or you will find yourself away from the public spotlight because you will have been voted out of office.

UPDATE: and just like that the system protecting the rich and ‘famous’ wins. It was just announced, a few hours after I had put this article to bed, that the judge for Lohan had allowed bail to be posted for the actress. So she again has been given a pass and will probably get into more trouble before her hearing in mid-October. I still feel the lesson before the judge reversed themselves is sound.

 

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What the Administration Can Learn from Lindsay Lohan - September 24, 2010
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