Not One of AU's Finest Products

I learned the other day that the unethical federal prosecutor in the “20th hijacker” trial is an alum of my alma mater, the Washington College of Law at The American University. I suppose that I should not be surprised. AU is a fine school, and I am not ashamed of my degrees from that institution, but it has an unhealthy relationship with the federal government. It is situated in Washington, DC and has scads of adjuncts who are high ranking bureaucrats in their day jobs. There are countless government internships sponsored by AU, and among the more prominent field of study are the School of International Service and the School of Public Administration, both of which prepare one for government work. DC is a company town, of course, and most everybody works for the government or is trying to influence the government or is serving burgers to people who are involved with government.

Moreover, that the young woman chose a career as a federal prosecutor tells you a lot about her character in the first place. Being a prosecutor means screwing with people and bringing the weight of government violence down on their heads. Anyone who would do that willingly has a problem. And being a federal prosecutor in this administration, and not resigning in protest, suggests that you don’t have much in the way of scruples at all. Finally, thinking that you need to cheat in a prosecution that you cannot possibly fail to win and that is rigged completely in your favor, suggests a streak of stupidity and poor judgment.

I don’t blame AU, though. Admissions are based on IQ and GPA, not character. Graduation is based on spewing back information on exams, not character. AU is not in the business of building character. By the time you are in law school, it is probably too late to do much about your character flaws. If anything, mine were magnified by the law school experience.

A high IQ and a good memory, while helpful for success in law school, do not necessarily correlate with good character. Indeed, if you consider the most evil bas**rds in power in the country today, many of them have Ivy League educations and above average intelligence. Look at the neocons. They have brains out the wazoo but nothing in the morality or character departments.