[lbo-talk] another brick in that neolib wall

[jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net]

> I understand that visceral reaction; however, to stand in for our 
> inexplicably AWOL legal eagle Justin ("andie n."), I have to say I'm a 
> little distressed at the casual disregard for the rule of law here. 
> --Just as you feel justified if a Mafia guy clips a rapist, an 
> anti-abortion nut is going to feel justified if the Mafia guy clips an 
> abortion doctor.  Are you sure you wanna go there?  Or are you reserving 
> the right to ignore the rule of law for people who are disgusted by the 
> same things you are?
> 
> Miles

But these are two different things.

If someone I know is assaulted the person doing the assaulting is not only breaking the law but pretty much 
violating a community standard of decency. Either at my hand or "the laws" the community standard would 
be to punish that person.

It is a rather different proposition to think if I believe abortion is murder but my community standard as well 
as the law disagrees with that and I go kill abortion providers anyway that those are somehow moral 
equivalents.

One can believe in the first without believing in the second. I'm not 100% certain I believe in the first but I'm 
also not certain I do not. I do not believe in the second however and there is nothing inconsistent about 
doing so. Our community standards certainly gived mixed signals in this concern. Has there ever been a 
father who killed his daughters rapist and walked away with no time served even for manslaughter in spite 
of admitting to the crime? Are there any abortion provider killers walking the streets for similar reasons?

By the way this is not casual disregard for the rule of law. I have fought many battles before arriving at the  
amount of disregard for the law that I have and there was nothing casual about it.

John Thornton