2004-07-16

Free Martha

I started crying today while talking about the whole Martha Stewart fiasco with my mother over the phone out of dismay. (Yes, I'm an overemotional fuck, but that's part of my charm!) I can't believe how stupid some of the American public is for supporting this insane witch-hunt that has seen one of their best and brightest be beaten down as a scapegoat. What for?

Martha was persecuted for no good reason. That's right. PERSECUTED, not prosecuted.

Rosie O'Donnell has said that the whole Martha ordeal has been used by the American propaganda machine to distract the public from the unjust war in Iraq. Damn straight, Rosie. Not only that, it distracts people from more horrific white collar crime.

It's so stupid that American tax dollars have been spent on her trial (complete with government witnesses who also committed perjury). Even worse, after her sentencing, they are going to spend tonnes of $$$ on housing and feeding her for 5 months, when she has more than enough money to pay for her own frickin' room and board. Martha did some wrong, so how about let her use all her qualities towards bringing some good into the world? Let Martha pay her own damn bills, continue to break down barriers for ambitious women, fuel the U.S. economy by providing hundreds of jobs through her company and then have her perform meaningful community service. Imagine if Martha had to mentor at-risk and underprivileged girls? What if she provided important skills workshops to poor single mothers? What if she donated her company's design/lifestyle services and products to those very organizations she would be serving as part of a community service sentence? If you don't want to use her many skills, let her do mundane community service if you need to "punish" her by having her pick up garbage on the side of the road with other "wrongdoers" in orage coveralls.

At any rate, this punitive justice is total bullshit. Do you see some other lower-profile white men who have committed worse crimes? ARGH. And remember that this isn't about insider trading. This is supposedly about obstructing justice. For fuck's sake...this isn't justice.

I'm going to law school in September; I'm a believer in upholding legitimate laws, but I can't stand for this outright discrimination. This was't a legal victory; it was a joke.

hazel at 3:14 p.m.

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