Legal Commentary

I've been out of pocket, attending a funeral in another state last week, besieged by paying work (I'm not complaining), and catching my wife's cold (can't keep my hands off her, sorry). The time away gives a bit of perspective (I hope).

Opening up my computer for the first time in 5 days, and seeing all the "stuff" that's accumulated in my blog reader and e-mail in-box, I'm suffering from information overload. It will take me days to wade through all this, and I'm starting by deleting anything that doesn't seem of major importance or, if not important, at least interesting. That delete button sure comes in handy, doesn't it?

Does it seem to anyone else out there that the "blogosphere" is a lot like high school? There all kinds of cliques, and many people seem to be trying to create a persona for themselves and to fit themselves into a group where they envision they belong. Not all bloggers, certainly, and maybe not even a majority, but many. Really, though, who do they think they're fooling, other than themselves? Having a loud mouth and a mean personality doesn't mean you have anything worthwhile to say. Yeah, that means you, too, counselor.

The person whose funeral I attended was an in-law of my wife's. He killed himself. This death is too new, and much too raw, to blog about in depth. A couple of general observations, though. After witnessing the pain and exhaustion on the faces and in the voices of the deceased's children, their spouses and other family and friends, the term "collateral damage" came to mind. The terrible effects of this ultimate act of bad judgment radiate outward violently like shock waves, injuring loved ones in ways that anyone with a heart can readily imagine. I think that suicide might be the most narcissistic act that a person can perform. All that said, there may be consequences that will flow from the aftermath that will end up healing wounds and bringing people together who were previously drifting (sometimes rapidly) apart. As Viktor Frankl so wisely observed, a man cannot choose his circumstances, but he can choose his response to those circumstances and in so choosing, discover the meaning of his life. I pray that the wounded will not only heal but that the healing will make them "stronger" in the truest sense of the word. 

Inasmuch as I'm all over the track, here's another random note: my buddy J-P Borda (of Milblogging.com fame), currently escorting convoys through the mine-mazes of Iraq, sent word that his platoon is featured in an upcoming Frontline documentary on PBS entitled "Bad Voodoo's War." Here's the promo:

From that short promo, it appears that studs like J-P might be getting a wee bit disillusioned with being daily IED fodder, while too many of the rest of us seem to have forgotten about them in our daily lives that are filled with angst over whether John McCain's too old, too liberal, and too cranky to be our fearless leader, and whether Hillary or Barrack is the best empty suit to oppose him. This isn't J-P's first combat tour and, inasmuch as he and many of his cohorts are supposed to be "reserves," I wouldn't blame them one bit if they were fed up with the lot of us.

Oh yeah: Happy St. Paddy's Day!