So... having run through it, I'm really not surprised at my conclusions at the last couple of days I spent in court.

First off... it's Court. In the old sense of the word. Never realized how much it was a royal court until I just substituted the anachronisms properly. The guards in Armour, EVERYWHERE. The little fiefdoms of the various judges, who are the true rulers. The repeated demands for oaths of loyalty before speaking... Yep, we're living in medieval times when we're in there.

Which brings up another place that it felt like. Church. Complete with the ritual questions, all asked with the same, calm, contemplative tone. Do you have a problem? Do you have a problem? No, I have an OBJECTION. I prefer that word, thanks, councilors. I'm an unwilling peasant, dragged before the court to render judgement on another peasant, on the word of the king and his enforcers, FUCK NO, I'm not going to tell the king I'm going to do what he tells me to. Custom might dictate it, but the LAW doesn't, and I can't think of ANY legal framework that advocates for custom over the letter of the law. You bring it up constantly, might I add, Your Grace... OOPS, Your Honor, sorry.

Actually I CAN, but I'm not allowed to talk about that, or even mention that they run things. In fact, even bringing up that there's a group of people obsessed with the minutiae of laws to the point where they are nearly speaking a different LANGUAGE from the populace is absolutely forbidden to be mentioned, because there are LAWS against it. Defamation of Lawyers is a VERY serious business, I need to point out. Lawyers get death threats every day, and are constantly under assault from a society that hates them, even though everybody really NEEDS a lawyer. You need a lawyer, because the other side has lawyers, and you have to understand that not all lawyers are like that. They just have studied for years to understand WHY you must bow down to them... Trust them. They're on your side. Really. And if you say different, there is a LAW that says you are wrong and must be punished. Made by Lawyers. Who studied the law longer than you, and therefore know more about what is right and wrong, because the LAW is never wrong.

Tell that to the folks at Auschwitz, thanks. Everything was done very precisely. Very Legally. Every box Checked, every I Dotted. Eins, Zwei, Drei. And lots and lots of talk about how "This is the System, and how the system works." And if you object to the system, you are told, directly, "You would be part of the system." Yes... and would share ONLY the blame. You are told your duty is to shoulder the blame of the system's decision, but the decision is made by the system, not you. Therefore, you might feel like shit, but that's YOUR responsibility, because you had to find him guilty, according to the system.

Been there. So has every fucking Combat Veteran. These days the officers no longer take responsibility for their orders, and charge the lower ranks with the crimes they create. So too with the court. Let the lie be heard. There is no such thing as judge's "Instructions". There are only "Orders" and those orders are ILLEGAL. The judge calls them instructions because he cannot ORDER the Jury. And why not? Here's the dirty little secret. The Jury OUTRANKS the Judge. But the Lawyers ruled that the Judge gets to lie and threaten you for breaking procedures. Essentially, we're almost up to old Medieval style of insanity. WHile you're in the Jury Box... You're fucking POPE of Justice... But the King has Free Investiture. Meaning he picks the Bishops... who decide on the Pope, and will always pick a weak one, thus insuring the primacy of the King, despite the spirit of the Law.

This is bullshit.

This is legal games, and while it happens, the country continues to fall apart as the Lawyers and their Corporate Golem creations wreak havoc on America. Seriously, did anybody get to VOTE on whether or not we're going to war? Far as I can tell, the King just declared it... and we're going. End of Story. Our "Representatives" might give a little Pro Forma resistance, but at the end of the day... they know whose name is on their paycheck... M'lord.

Sigh...

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZku2REI-Xs]