A Few Good Men- 1992 Film

How should this film be taken?

It has been given good reviews generally speaking.

The crux of the story is this: "how do you hold the powerful to accountability"?

Does it sound familiar?

It should. It seems that the political system protects itself against accountability. However, the system doesn't really do that, if the system is poorly served by those who violate their oaths. A system is as good as the people who run it. In the times of Kings, it was said that the King could do no wrong. Authority doesn't take kindly to being questioned. Indeed, it cannot be and have authority maintained. Yet, somehow authority must be held to account, or there will be tyranny. A republic of laws is no different. If the laws are not observed, then how is it any different from a King? Such is how the film could be taken-- it is a comment upon our ways of governing ourselves.

Some may take this as critical of Trump. There could be a valid complaint, but Trump really isn't the issue. The problem is systemic. If Trump isn't held accountable, it isn't unique to himself. There IS no accountability at all in Washington DC. The system won't allow itself to be policed.

In theory, there is Congress as the ultimate arbiter. Congress is accountable to the people, in theory. But Congress won't pass the SAVE act, which would at least bring the possibility of political accountability. If the elections were honest, the system can be policed by the people at the ballot box. But if the ballot box is corrupted, then how can there be any accountability anywhere in the system? The Congress is the political body closest to the people---especially the House of Representatives.

But the House passed the bill, the Senate won't. Note that among the politically accountable branches of the government, the Senate is the least accountable. This is by design. However, that design was changed from being accountable to the legislatures of the various states to the people in the various states. This was done by Constitutional amendment during the Progressive Era. It didn't make more accountable, but less.

If the state legislatures cannot be trusted to police the Senate, then who? This is a problem that has to be worked out.

The movie required a performance from an attorney to get the desired justice. It would seem that the legal system requires a performance in order to make a judgement, according to the views expressed during the movie.

Movies and theaters cannot determine accountability. It is entertainment, not justice. It isn't politics either. It's no way to run a republic.

That leaves us with the President and the Courts. The Courts aren't elected offices. The President is elected by the STATES. The states can be governed by the Courts. But the President appoints the members of the Court. The Senate confirms the choices. The system cannot be policed by the people.

If the system won't police itself, you've got a problem. So here we are. Perhaps there won't be a happy ending. This isn't Hollywood.