Excuses, excuses, excuses

“In a society where politics is a preoccupation that takes up more than 25 hours of a 24-hour day then the “political motive” excuse is almost always cavalierly resorted to when officials are held accountable.

Whenever a fire breaks out and the authorities need to determine its causes there are a handful often quickly referred to although in most cases these are left indeterminate. Especially were accountability is not as important. Where insurance payments are involved and legal causes need to follow contract stipulations, some quick explanation is often demanded.

The most common excuse is a candle or a charcoal-fired stove was left unattended. In such cases the owners of the property are to blame. Should there be no casualties, perhaps the most that can be legally charged is gross negligence.

“Faulty electrical wiring” is another excuse we often hear. This however might involve more than one person being blamed and where insurance payments are concerned, liabilities must be determined.

The question of accountability becomes important. Also, since wiring is subject to periodic inspection and maintenance, more than the owner is involved. In some cases, accountability extends to the government or at least a government agency.

As our brief skinny on excuses progresses, note how we’ve moved from the accountability of one person, on to the accountability of a bigger collection of stakeholders, and then on to the accountability of government. This segues us to the excuse which fully involves government both before and after a conflagration.

The least palatable and one that both the investigators and even the victims shun is when the excuse for the conflagration might be arson. Not only is arson difficult to prove, but also, when proven, the consequences require far more action on the part of government. If arson were involved, moving on, as compared to other excuses, is not as easy.

In the case of a murder investigation, there are at least three excuses most often given. One is “business rivalry.” Another is “love angle.” And a third is “political motive.” Admittedly the prose could stand some improvement where the foregoing are concerned, but for the reader to quickly relate, we’ve used the actual labels that media and the authorities use as either excuses or rationalizations for a murder.

Of the three, “political motive” is a default and is the excuse of choice where either the victim or the accused is a politician. Never mind that the real reasons might be one or the other of the two remaining excuses, or maybe even all three. Usually when “love angle” is behind a murder, its newsworthiness quickly fizzles out unless one of the accused is a celebrity. And then gossip replaces what original excuse had been given.

“Business rivalry” on the other hand is a valid excuse but is often not as newsworthy and interesting without celebrities or politicians involved.

In a society where politics is a preoccupation that takes up more than 25 hours of a 24-hour day then the “political motive” excuse is almost always cavalierly resorted to when officials are held accountable for any negativity. The merits of issues are subsumed in favor of simplistically categorizing all calls for accountability as simply politically motivated.

Note how the “political motive” excuse is employed in the burning issues surrounding the criminal justice system and two politicians responsible for drafting the rules that illegally released heinous crimes criminals and convicts.

Note the excuses. Rather than provide an intelligent explanation why both co-wrote a contradicting rule granting good conduct time allowances for convicts of heinous crimes that the law clearly meant to exclude, one in constant denial alluded to partisan politics as being behind the controversy. In terms of impact where, in reality, a candle was left unattended, that is the equivalent of crying “Arson!”

When asked again, the excuse now given is that this former lawmaker is forgivable because he is not a lawyer. Yet ignorance of the law excuses no one. If it did then only lawyers would go to jail and non-lawyer criminals are free to do as they please based on forgiven ignorance. Excuses, excuses, excuses. Underlying each are politics, politics, politics.