A mother in Wilmington, Delaware and her companion were arrested this past Wednesday and later released on bail pending trial for forcing her ten year old son to strip naked and stand outside in the cold "because they wanted him to see how cold it really was out there''.
Now in no way would I so much as attempt to excuse or justify this act of cruelty or pretend to understand the state of mind (or inebriation) that these two people were in when they drew this conclusion and embarked on such a twisted life lesson for the child.
Simultaneously, I'm having a hard time getting my mind around the charges that these people were brought up on and charged with...Well, one of them anyway.
Both women were charged with conspiracy and endangering the welfare of a child.
Fair enough on the latter...but the former? Conspiracy?
What am I missing?
Were there clandestine meetings between the two prior to and leading up to this stupidly impulsive act? Am I or are we expected to believe that a plot was born from whispers and nurtured, swaddled in Fagan-esque calculation beforehand then carried out according to a predefined plan based on devious concealment and subterfuge leading later to attempts to cover up the deed and the do-ers in order that any trails would be torturously convoluted so as not to be exposed and impossible for anyone to prove?
According to the short version of law, "conpiracy" is "an agreement by two or more persons to commit a crime, fraud, or other wrongful act."
Such a generic, broad based definition is hardly ever the first thing that comes to mind in the case of "black helicopters", or provocative practices and events ranging from the Bay of Tonkin to the assassination of Lincoln, Kennedy, Kennedy, Martin Luther King or more currently the war in Iraq.
Obviously there's a massive abyss between what the common man and a judge or attorney might prosecute or defend as an act of conspiracy.
And if language between us itself is this skewed and disjointed, perhaps we as Americans should find someone else to represent us in our own courts of law besides someone from the American Bar Association or the local/state/federal judicial departments. Obviously, we're talking apples and oranges, any more.
In spite of the obvious and evident misrepresentations and deliberate falsehoods that can be presented as circumstantial evidence (if nothing more) in the current administrations lead up to the war in Iraq, not one charge of conspiracy has been leveled much less officially uttered in accusation in spite of the hisorically contradictory sound bites of the last 4 years.
Yet somehow we are led to believe that "conspiracy" in the case of these folks (ok misguided cretins, if you like) in Delaware; as well as the growing number of people being apprehended for random acts of stupidity and cruelty in this country each day is somehow a charge that is justifiable and right on the money?
There's a huge gap here folks that requires a suspension of belief that up until now was only required for Saturday afternoon viewing of full-length feature cartoons and Disney fantasies on the big screen, while whipping Milk Duds at the cute girl with pigtails two rows ahead of you.
The problem is, while the common citizen, though (in the Delaware case) appearing most likely guilty of uncommon actions and unlikable deeds and decisions are falling well within the legal definition of "conspiracy" the larger than life, wealthy and/or powerful, true conspirators of our time are able to avoid that Scarlet Letter and branding which is rapidly becoming a catch all (every bit of pun intended) for the control and containment of Americas general citizenry.
In time, along with that traffic ticket you may get pulled over for, or the D.U.I. or the unbuckled seat belt, we may actually be charged with conspiracy. Technically, according to the laws that the common person is subject to, it would be an applicable charge even today. Especially if you happen to be car pooling or transporting a passenger.
Because according to the law, it only takes two people for a conspiracy charge…unless of course you happen to be a lobbyist, Captain of Industry, politician or a president and his staff…then regardless of what you may do, you will never need worry about being charged under any circumstance with conspiracy.
Hell, no one of any influence or authority will even mention it let alone charge you with it.
