When Jerks Break the Law

In a recent opinion, one of the Justices of the Supreme Court said words to the effect, "There is nothing in the Constitution that prohibits a person from being a jerk."

He's right, of course. There are a lot of jerks in our country. They are always right, and everyone else is always wrong. Jerks annoy, frustrate, and anger almost everyone they come in contact with.

About the only thing worse than a jerk is a jerk who breaks the law. Even after he is forced to comply with the law, or punished, the jerk insists that the law is wrong. And the people who enforced the law are wrong.

Moreover, the jerk insists on getting revenge against the "wrong" people who enforced the "wrong" law. The jerk always has to have the last word. A good example is running the email circuit these days:

A city councilman in Utah , Mark Easton, had a beautiful view of the east mountains, until a new neighbor purchased the lot below his house and built a new home. The new home was 18 inches higher than the ordinances would allow, so Mark Easton , mad about his lost view, went to the city to make sure they enforced the lower roof line ordinance. The new neighbor had to drop the roof line, at great expense. Recently, Mark Easton called the city, and informed them that his new neighbor had installed some vents on the side of his home. Mark didn't like the look of these vents and asked the city to investigate. When they went toMark's home to see the vent view, this is what they found...

The guy broke the law. The councilman had the city enforce the law. But the neighbor is a jerk--selfish, inconsiderate, pig-headed, and vindictive. But even a jerk has freedom of speech under our constitution.

I know of two places where jerks get there due. The first is the emporer in Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado: "My object all sublime/ I shall achieve in time/ to let the punishment fit the crime..." The second place where jerks got their due was in a comic strip. It was called Hatlo's Inferno, and appeared as the Sunday edition of They'll Do It Every Time, by Jimmy Hatlo. There, the jerks spent their eternity in Hell having their own bad acts performed on them over and over again by demons.

The irony is that the more upset you or I get about the actions of a jerk, the more enjoyment he gets out of it. So, I guess the best way to handle jerks is not to get angry, or at least not let your anger and frustration show. But I still yearn for a way to make the jerk suffer dearly when he does his evil.