How do you tell when someone is being a humorless jerk?
posted by Robert at
5:01 PM
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8 Comments:
(Josh) Just to take the bait on this, he didn't "have" them arrested. He complained and the court took the action it felt was appropriate. I'm not going to disagree that it seems extreme, but our legal system requires a certain level of respect to function properly, and lawyers appearing in court are officers of the court. There are restrictions on attorney conduct that apply in this context, and if Harvey and douchebag have to live by those rules, as long as they're applied equitably, tough ass.
I don't hear many lawyer jokes, but definitely some. As if, unlike apparently every other profession, all lawyers are the same. Stupid jokes like that equate someone like Morris Dees, public defenders, prosecutors who get criminals off the street, and the rest of us with the small percentage of ambulance-chasers who give the profession a bad name. Yet WE are the bad sports?
Grumble.
By
Anonymous, at 9:11 AM
How can you tell when a lead singer is at your door? He can't find the key and doesn't know when to come in.
What's the difference between a bull and an orchestra? On a bull, the horns are in front and the asshole is in back.
How many Microsoft employees does it take to change a light bulb? None, Microsoft just redefines the standard to darkness.
How many software engineers does it take to change a light bulb? None, that's a hardware problem.
A mathematician is in Africa trying to capture a lion. When he spots one he proceeds to build a fence around himself and says, "I define this to be outside!"
How many police jokes are there? Two, the rest are true.
How can you tell when a firefighter is dead? The remote control slips from his hand.
While I understand your frustration, I think that the court in this case exercised its power a little too freely. Unless you can tell me that if I go to the zoo and tell a zookeeper joke, I'll get arrested.
I'll grant this--the article is light on details; it makes it sound as if the guys told one joke and someone took umbrage. If that's not the case, I'll back off. If that is the case, then it's a couple of guys being dicks, and people are dicks all the time and we all kind of just have to live with it.
By
Robert, at 10:27 AM
Well, yeah, but what Josh is saying is that there are certain times and places where you *cannot* be a dick, and that court is one of them. I can see where an atmosphere of respectful behavior must be enforced, because it's nothing but potentially explosive scenarios--plaintiffs and defendants having to go into the same room, family members having to watch loved ones be handcuffed and taken away after losing criminal trials...yikes. You can see where, just as a practical matter, the court has to enforce strict behavior controls over everyone at all times in order to make sure that people don't lose it in the intense and life-changing moments that will come during proceedings. I think that's what Josh was saying.
By
Savannah, at 11:58 AM
(Josh) I'm an officer of the zoo.
By
Anonymous, at 12:58 PM
(Josh) And on a serious note, Savannah did a good job of intelligently saying what I was attempting to say.
And sure, there are jokes about any profession, but I'd argue that lawyer jokes are VASTLY more pervasive and are also much more mean-spirited and are really value judgments about the subjects in a way that your average drummer or engineer joke is not. I'm not particularly thin-skinned, but when you hear the same "joke" implying that you're a greedy, lying asshole who should be buried alive it get's kind of old.
By
Anonymous, at 1:01 PM
Josh! Dude. A Democrat, a Vikings fan, *and* a lawyer (and you've opened my eyes about those jokes, to which I never before paid attention). I hereby order you to become a beer-swilling Republican real-estate developer and Cowboys fan so you can get a break.
By
Savannah, at 1:30 PM
Cowboys fan? Every man has his limits.
By
Anonymous, at 2:58 PM
(Ham) I'd like to weigh in and blame the news media for this. My guess is that people are removed from the courts all the time for dick-like behavior. They may be telling fireman jokes or Polish jokes or singing out loud with headphones on and generally pissing everyone off with their rude behavior. And in all of these instances, they should be shown the door due to lack of respect and not following a certain decorum that's expected of civilized people. But that's not news! There's no irony in there or seeming hypocrisy to make it "newsworthy." But when a lawyer has someone ejected for making lawyer jokes, it fits some kind of pattern and is almost humorous. But the clowns at CNN get ahold of it and present it as an isolated incident and with absolutely no context whatsoever! CNN implies the connection between the lawyer and the lawyer jokes when there is none! It's coincidence.
This is like a story many years ago when a few young black men were shot outside of a movie theater that was showing a movie called 'Juice' about young black street thugs. People were shown the story and were supposed to draw some conclusion between this particular movie being shown, and the shootings, and the movie was supposed to be faulted. What the story never reported though is the fact that from time to time, people are shot outside of movie theaters which are not showing movies about black youths. But it only becomes a story when black youths are shot outside of a movie theater showing a movie about black youths being shot.
CNN should know better. Shame on them -- it's irresponsible reporting. But I guess they have ratings to go after. Right?
By
Anonymous, at 3:01 PM
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