Saddam Executed...

Ok, here's my take on this. I think what happened to Saddam was just plain wrong. First, let me get out into the open that I am a rabid death penalty opponent, but even if I wasn't, I'd still think this was wrong. The biggest problem I had with this whole process is that he was tried by an Iraqi court by Shiite Muslims when he is a Sunni Muslim. In the US this wouldn't seem like such a major problem, but over there, they are two factions at war with each other. The verdict was known before the trial started. What I still couldn't believe is they actually tried to smokescreen it to make it look like a fair trial.

Even if he wasn't being tried by the opposing religious faction, at the very least he was being tried by the victims. In the US we do not allow the victims or their families to try accused murderers. There's a reason for this - to prevent unfair and unjust verdicts that are decided before trial. Everyone in Iraq was subjected to harsh conditions under his dictatorship. Everybody therefore had an opinion about his guilt before the trial even started. There was nothing that was going to change that. This whole affair was a travesty from the start, and it's sad that we had to send 3,000 Americans to their deaths just so Bush could get the satisfaction of seeing him hang.

Now don't get me wrong. Saddam was an evil man, and I believe he very likely did do exactly what they were accusing him of. However, the process he was put through to determine his guilt was unjust, unfair, and completely wrong. We would never tolerate that kind of trial in the US. There would be a huge number of valid grounds for appeal. He should have been tried in the Hague and sentenced to life in prison for his crimes. He could suffer the same fate Millosevic did, and at the same time, he'd receive a fair and impartial trial. However, that just wasn't good enough. Cowboy Bush had to have his hanging, and in the process destroyed any possibility of true justice being served, so that revenge could be served in its place.

End of Semester Wrap Up...

Well, I made it through my first semester of law school. I had my criminal law final on Thursday, and it was my last final exam of the semester. I survived, as did everyone else I'm sure. I will not speculate too much as to what my grades are, but I am confident that I will not get below a 'C' in any class, and will hopefully be in the A-B range so that I can keep my scholarship. As I stated previously though, I won't worry too much about it. A timed test does not measure my ability to legally analyze problems. In the real world, you usually have at least a few days to research what you need and come up with an answer. You're not limited on time to how much you can come up with. I've been spending the last few days playing WoW and watching some Stargate SG1, and this will sound weird, but brushing up on my chemistry.

I've always had an affinity for the natural sciences. I've always been fascinated with the way the universe works and how everything operates. There are two reasons I went to law school instead of med school, because I had originally considered both fields. One of the main reasons is that I'm a hypochondriac, and I'm afraid that if I had gone to med school, the stress would literally have killed me or put me in a psychiatric facility, especially working around diseases all the time. Granted, I hear that plenty of hypochondriacs make it as doctors because of the homeopathy aspect of it, but I wasn't going to take the chance. The other reason is that I had to work my way through college, and the only science degrees you can get from any college in Michigan are during the day, when I was working.

Despite it all though, I think I made the right choice. I enjoy learning the law. It's a complex system that has its own rules and intricasies and I can never run out of things to argue with people about when it comes to the law. Furthermore, I feel with a law degree, like a medical degree, I can make a difference in the lives of people who need it most. I can help those that can't help themselves, and that's what I've always been about. I want to help people that need it. I want to use my knowledge for the good of my fellow human beings. Knowledge that is not used is wasted. With a law degree, those who come to me for help will find someone who is willing to fight for them and help them in any way he can.

My Mood Today: Cautiously Optimistic

Well, my first law school exam is over. Contracts, the bane of my very existence, is over, at least for the first semester. I think it went rather well actually. Issues were jumping off the page at me left and right and I had no problems finding plenty of relevant and reaonsable things to write about. I think my analyses were for the most part sound. I know I missed a few things, but I 'm sure everyone did. I can't venture a guess as to my grade really, but I'm sure I didn't fail it. I walked away from that exam feeling like I knew what I was doing and what I was talking about and confident that I can use my knowledge in contracts in practice, which is all that matters to me.