[lit-ideas] Re: Scrushy and the King of Arkansas
- From: david ritchie <ritchierd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2005 16:41:30 -0800
On Dec 1, 2005, at 3:42 PM, Phil Enns wrote:
David Ritchie wrote:
"The drafting difficulty: as I read their sentence, conflicts of
interest, which usually exist in one of two contradictory modes of
being--real or merely perceived--but which can also be simultaneously
real and perceived, here exist as things that are perceived but only
sometimes real."
Again, I don't see the problem. If the conflicts are real but not
perceived, there isn't anything one can do. It seems to me the
concern
for administration lies primarily in perceptions of conflicts of
interest, and secondarily in the question of whether there is any
validity. I don't want to appear to be giving David a hard time. It
seems to me that the statement addresses the problem, the
perceptions of
conflicts of interest, with all the appropriate nods that living in
a pc
culture requires. That is, I don't think the muck up lies in the
statement but in a culture that requires such a statement. Since
it is
aimed at addressing sensitivities rather than practical problems, I
don't see why the statement should be particularly practical in
application. Surely it is effective if it appears to acknowledge
problems of conflicts of interest?
Perhaps if I wrote, "perceived but only momentarily real," you'll see
what's funny about the sentence, and about deans who sometimes exist
and sometimes do not, and snowstorms that exist in people's
predictions but then go away, and a banana that exists and sometimes
does not?
Why a banana? Because when I was in Law school one of the professors
always concluded his analysis of a case with, "and the answer's a
banana." When it comes to existence, the banana, like a dean, is the
most slippery of fruits.
David Ritchie
Portland, Oregon
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