The Science of Half-Ass Repairs

Anyone who has ever lived on a farm understands the term half-ass repair.  And even though the meaning of the term is pretty evident; the analysis of the action is far less clear.  You see, the quality of a repair job has a direct correlation to the quality of the performance that will be expected from that which is being repaired.  There will be times when half-ass performance will be acceptable; which in turn will make a half-ass repair totally acceptable.  On the other hand, if the performance or function of the object being repaired must be at a level significantly above that of half-ass; then it is critical that the standards of the repair be increased accordingly.  These are common sense terms; the prevailing of pragmatism over technicality.

For instance, if I am repairing the brakes on my truck; there is absolutely no room for half-ass repair.  If I am traveling down the road towing a 4-ton load of hay, top a hill and discover a school bus full of kids stopped in front me…I have to be able to stop when I push the brake pedal.   If I will be traveling on the interstate in that same truck with my wife and grandkids, I need brakes that work.  If the dog has chewed a lamp cord in two and I have a 2-year old grandchild crawling around the house; a half-ass splice and tape repair simply will not be acceptable.  On the other hand, if a tree limb takes the fence down between the pasture and the woods, there’s no need to run new strands of wire and set new posts; stout splicing with a steel post or two will do just fine.  There are many times when grass-string or bracing wire will be sufficient to repair this or that around farm.  There are times when you use a high dollar bolt and there are times when you can get by with an imported bolt.  These are things we learn by experience. 

This principle of gauging the remedy to the problem can be applicable to many things in life.  It is not always necessary to entirely blow up a personal relationship in order to maintain civility between friends.  However, wielding half-truths when full honesty is called for is a perfect recipe for future disasters.  It would seem that another area where the irony inherent in this axiom resides comfortably is the political arena.  Even though the body politic commonly takes devious and Machiavellian turns; there is no doubt that the strategic application of truth in proper doses is part of playing that particular game successfully.  A good trader doesn’t have to lie in order to be dishonest; you just have to know the right questions to ask them.  They won’t give up any more than they have to.  In many aspects of life, there is a delicate balance between whole truth, partial truth, and no truth.  There are, however, two precise arenas where there is really no place for half-ass repairs or half-truth applications; they would be one’s faith and our justice system. 

Our personal relationship with God is by its very nature one of complete honesty and transparency between the partners.  When one side is omnipotent and omnipresent; there is realistically no alternative to the approach taken by the other.  We might fool others about what we have done and why we have done it; but there is no fooling our Lord when it comes to accountability. 

And when it comes to our justice system, the very foundations of our nation demand that there be equal justice for all people.  The bedrock of our civilization, our society, and our culture is based on equal worth, equal opportunity, and equal dignity.  As recorded in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, the “…All men are created equal…” truth that is held to be self-evident leaves absolutely no room for half-way interpretations.  Unfortunately, our country has been taking an increasingly cavalier attitude towards the simple meaning of this phrase.

No one can deny that to a very large extent, the amount of justice one might receive in America has a great deal to do with the amount of money the accused has available to spend on a lawyer.  While striving and struggling to maintain equal justice for all, the demands on our justice system have taken it to a place where time is of the essence, expediency oftentimes supersedes due process, and power and privilege can override the obvious presence of guilt.  To a large extent, our justice system has been de-sensitized to the ideals our nation was built upon.  While we can all rally behind those ideals of the justice system that we take for granted; we must acknowledge the reality that it is, in fact, an ideal and not a functioning model of equal justice for all people.

Rogue federal judges who are essentially appointed for life have been pushing the limits of their authority more and more in efforts to exact the type of justice in their courtrooms that conforms to their personal agendas.  Their allegiance is not to the rule of law; but rather to their own beliefs and inclinations.  It has become somehow acceptable for something that is perceived by many to be a good thing to be achieved through whatever means are necessary; up to and including subordinating established rules of equal justice to a self-righteous moral code held by those in position to enforce their rulings.  This is, in effect, half-ass justice. 

Just as those half-ass repairs will get you in trouble down the road, costing more to fix in the long run than it does to fix them right in the first place; so it is with arbitrary application of law.  Even though our court system will eventually, through the appeals process, sufficiently examine a ruling to ascertain its validity; that process often takes years.  And while the cases are working their way up the byzantine court channels, the unfair consequences of the original improper ruling is wreaking its destructive consequences on innocent lives.

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A good farmer knows when a half-ass repair is adequate and when it is not.  If there is any doubt…you fix it right in the first place.  When it comes to justice in our nation, there is no place for half-ass repair.  That goes for our court systems from the counties to the Supreme Court of the United States.  It also goes for every single agency and employee in our Department of Justice (DOJ).  Good people understand the science of the half-ass approach.  They know to stay away from it.  Over the last several decades, we have had Democrats and Republicans placing a lot of bad people in the DOJ; people who obviously do not understand this science.  Given the likelihood that some of these bad people will occasionally be placed in positions of authority where they can administer half-ass justice with impudence; the best approach is to prevent the possibility in the first place. 

Regarding the DOJ, that prevention entails limiting the scope and authority of the Department and its officials to no more than that which is absolutely necessary to carry out their stated duties.  We should not trust their integrity.  We should not rely on their judgment.  We should not give them broad latitude to use special authority in cases where it is deemed essential.  Their authorities and activities should be transparent, limited, and sufficient only to the extent of necessary assignment.  Most important of all….DOJ personnel should be held to strict accountability for their job performance.  We currently have a half-ass Department of Justice.  We have had some half-ass people delivering half-ass justice. William Barr is trying to change that.  Good Government is composed of decent folks who honor their pledge to serve the people of this nation with honesty and integrity.

When legislation leads to law, that law should be specific, clear, concise, and written with an understanding that imperfect federal servants will be administering it.  When we place our Courts in a position to legislate from the bench, to interpret exactly what a law means; we place our liberties in the hands of unelected officials whose loyalties extend only to themselves and their personal beliefs.  Good laws start with good debate, a heavy dose of restraint, thoughtful deliberation and language that leaves no doubt as to content and intent. Good Courts start with judges who apply the laws as they are written and appreciate their roles as arbiters of justice in that context.  All of these elements must have at their core the unqualified understanding of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that is the fundamental right of every…single…American citizen.