Boston Legal

One of my guilty pleasures is Boston Legal. For those of you who may not know, it is a continuation, if you will, of the Alan Shore character from the television show "The Practice"--another series that I enjoyed. Between the two, Boston Legal and The Practice, I prefer Boston Legal. Rather than being a serious melodrama, Boston Legal is a dark comedy playing on many societal ills--much as "The Simpsons" does.

At the same time, however, it does address some very serious issues, and does so with tact and seriousness. One such was in the episode "Stick It", where Alan Shore (played by James Spader) defends one of the women who work at the firm from tax evasion charges. During closing arguments he makes an impassioned plea for his client, which addresses the ills facing the United States as a result of the war in Iraq and the fight against terrorism. You can see a clip from the episode here. In the greater context of the show, it had a far more dramatic affect then what you see in the short clip, but nonetheless it is a very well presented oratory.

War....What is it good for?

When we went to war in Afghanistan, I understood the reasoning. I understood that it was to bring a government to account for their support and harboring of criminals, murderers and terrorists that planned and supported the tragedy of 9/11. I was in favor, as much as one can be, of the war in Afghanistan--we were seeking justice and to bring the individuals and powers responsible for 9/11 to account.

The war in Iraq I was not in favor of. Not sure why--it just didn't seem to ring true. What I was reading and hearing didn't add up. But more importantly I did not feel it was the United States' responsibility to enforce the dictates of the U.N. If the U.N. passed resolutions and mandates then it was the responsibility of that body to enforce them. Unilaterally enforcing them, as the United States was proposing, I felt was wrong. I felt that this was the perfect opportunity to force change within the U.N. Those were my objections to the war in Iraq, and why I felt and still feel it was unjustified.

So what now? Two of the blogs I read regularly have a good summary on this very subject. The first is written by my brother Rus. The second was written by a friend of mine. Both are well written and articulate some of my feelings better than I can. Take a peek.