Replies

CADE
Be brave, then; for your captain is brave, and vows
reformation. There shall be in England seven
halfpenny loaves sold for a penny: the three-hooped
pot; shall have ten hoops and I will make it felony
to drink small beer: all the realm shall be in
common; and in Cheapside shall my palfrey go to
grass: and when I am king, as king I will be,--

ALL
God save your majesty!

CADE
I thank you, good people: there shall be no money;
all shall eat and drink on my score; and I will
apparel them all in one livery, that they may agree
like brothers and worship me their lord.

DICK
The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.

CADE
Nay, that I mean to do. Is not this a lamentable
thing, that of the skin of an innocent lamb should
be made parchment? that parchment, being scribbled
o'er, should undo a man? Some say the bee stings:
but I say, 'tis the bee's wax; for I did but seal
once to a thing, and I was never mine own man
since.

- Henry VI, Part 2, Act IV, Scene 3

It helps to put that famous and popular line in context sometimes. Sounds like Shakespeare's character wants to kill all the lawyers in order to destroy property and contract rights and usher in a socialist utopia - or, in other words, to do exactly what Obama's trying to do. Makes you think, huh?

Smothers' lawyers are doing their jobs. For the time being, we live in a country where your rights can't be arbitrarily taken away just because you've been accused of a crime, no matter how damning the evidence, and I for one am grateful for that. The criminal defense lawyer's job (and this one may well have been appointed by the court to do this job) is to help assert those rights.

You may not like it, and some times neither do I, but its a damn sight better than letting police and prosecutors jail anyone they please. Fighting crime is important, but individual liberty is always more important. If I didn't believe that, I'd move to China, where they have a much more efficient criminal "justice" system.