Incorrect assumption.
"with verdict decided in advance, just a method for getting said verdict on the record in a relatively systematic way."
Isn't there something about "secret" in the secret military tribunal?
"Wrong... they told me in boot camp, and it matches my experience: If you're innocent, you want a court-martial. If you're guilty, you want a civilian trial."
Let's see, lies I was told at boot camp. When were you court marshalled and for what offense?
"Brandioch, it's fortunate for you that dueling is two centuries in the past."
I'll take anyone up on that. At any time. I'm in Seattle. Meet me here. I choose swords.
"If you are gonna accuse serving military officers of that kind of misbehavior -- when the _record_ is that even when they make mistakes, they're also making sincere attempts at fairness -- you'd be wise not to do it in any venue where (1) military officers abound and (2) the furniture has useful ballistic properties."
You'd be wise to challenge someone who hasn't faced such "officers" in his military career.
When I was a PFC, I was investigated by such an officer because I hit another truck with my truck in our motor pool.
The investigating officer didn't even bother to look at the scene and the case was dismissed when it was shown that his hand drawn map of the incident did not match the layout of the motor pool.
SSgt, investigated when a Sp4 under me called the base hot line on racial prejudice and complained that I was mistreating him because I wasn't putting him in for promotion. The investigating officer completely failed to question the Sergeant Major who sat on the board and said that Sp4 was in no way ready for promotion.
In other words, the officers in the military are there because they have college degrees.
Not because they are paragons of virtue or justice or anything else.
They are as ignorant as the rest of the population.
In fact, in many cases I'd say they are more ignorant as they cannot get better paying jobs on the outside.
We had a Sp4 roll a jeep on the way to 3rd shop because his platoon leader didn't see a problem with him pulling guard duty all night and then driving 4 hours the next day.
We had another platoon leader order his driver to drive a CUCV down a frozen hill in German. Right into a water truck. The CUCV was totalled.
And so on and so forth and on and on and on.
Anyone who thinks officers are any better than anyone else needs to re-examine his belief system.
The good news is that anyone stupid enough to believe in the superiority of military officers is too stupid to be a viable physical threat to me.
Anyone wishing to prove differently, email me and I'll send you my address. Swords.
