I'm ba-ack!

Preliminary note: the title of this post is not to be read in an Arnold Schwartzenegger voice.
Another preliminary note: Justin, it's been longer since you've posted on yours than it has been since I have, so shush on your complaints (and I don't want to hear any whining about you trying to post but being unable to) .

Okay, preliminary notes finished, let me explain the title: I have made it through the wall, pushed it over or gone over it or something and have started freaking out about the fact that I don't have all the reading for next week finished already! (and it's only Wednesday....although, Monday night I could have sworn yesterday was going to be Thursday :)). What can I say, lately I've had the attention span of a 5-year old!

On to some interesting thoughts from today (and perhaps from yesterday, I can't promise none of those will creep in):
First, DeLay has been indicted. Not a huge shocker in my opinion, but still something that will have huge repercussions on Capitol Hill and for President Bush's agenda. Of course, that all remains to be seen.
Okay, caught up on current events, we turn our eyes to some things I thought it might be interesting to discuss. I had a realization this morning while I was listening to KOMA that made me rethink my bias against contemporary singers. (Don't worry, my bias against American Idol is still there and healthy.) I started thinking about the fact that I like all these older singers who didn't necessarily write their own songs and who didn't play instruments. Here's what I came up with for a distinction, however: they had talent. So, I came to the conclusion that there are some in every time frame who are going to be worth listening to regardless of their ability to play an instrument or write his/her own songs just because he/she has talent. On the other hand, there will always be some who are not worth listening to because they can't write their own songs, can't play instruments, and face it, they just don't have any talent. (the question then arises, why do there seem to be more of them now than in times past? Or is that just me remembering a 'golden-era' of good music that never really existed?)

Okay, that's enough of that. Here's the realization from this morning's criminal procedure class: as I get further into this legal education, I see more of the flaws of the system. A couple of months ago, I wrote about the fact that our legal system had a tendency to attempt to imitate the Almighty's perfect justice and perfect mercy, and I still believe that. However, I was sitting in criminal procedure reading cases about the 4th Amendment (right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures), and the civil libertarian in me started to protest. I am not, by the way, a liberal, I am a conservative. I also believe that law enforcement has to be able to do its job. However, I get really bothered by the ways the police have around the 4th Amendment to search anyone's vehicle, etc. The cases you read really aren't that sympathetic, because it really does only come up where someone has been convicted of something, and so I have a tendency to think, well, they deserved it anyway. But, I have a difficult time coming to the conclusion that we must sacrifice our Constitutional protections in order to effectively investigate people. I have become a terrible person to watch Law & Order with because I have a tendency to get angry at the police characters in that show for not respecting a suspect's Constitutional rights and then getting upset at the prosecutor for not being able to get the illegally gained evidence in at trial. See, I'm getting upset thinking about it. Well, here's my comment on that - if you want the evidence to be admissible, get it legally! There are plenty of ways to get it legally, trust me. (there is also a problem with the law enforcement here in Oklahoma - not all law enforcement, but it seems to be more pervasive than we might think)
Must get off that topic! Okay, that's all I've got for today (sorry about the rambling, I decided to try out the stream of consciousness writing here).