Lecturing Others About Being "Above The Law" Is Not Always A Good Idea

Take, for example, the case of Jeanine Pirro.  Or, if you will, "Judge Jeanine," as she is known on her Fox News program.

A former judge and district attorney in Westchester County, New York, just north of New York City, Pirro has used her Fox show as a platform for promoting law and order, in particular with reference to Hillary Clinton, to whom she lost a U.S. Senate race in 2000.  About a week ago, on the air, Pirro ripped into Hillary and Bill Clinton for acting as though they were above laws that "each and every one of us must follow."

Well, no disagreement here.  Except that one's life conveys a more powerful, more admonishing message than one's words.  And such was the case with Pirro, who, shortly after her denunciation of Clintonian arrogance toward the rule of law, she violated it herself by driving 119 miles per hour (according to a police report) in upstate New York.  For this, she was stopped and given a ticket for excessive speeding.

That's right.  Just for speeding.  And not for speeding a little bit, but nearly twice the maximum legal speed limit.  No criminal charges, such as reckless endangerment, which might ordinarily accompany such a violation.  And just a citation that can be paid through the mail, without a court appearance or the need to hire an attorney.

And it's not as if speeding to the extent cited in the police report is, in and of itself, a minor violation.  According to this story in the New York Daily News, speeding in excess of 40 miles per hour can give the violator enough points to result in an automatic suspension of his or her license, and the payment for three years of a Driver Responsibility Assessment, to say nothing of the impact on the violator's car insurance rates.

And if you're not lucky enough to be Jeanine Pirro, you may very well have the book thrown at you, including handcuffs, a court appearance, jail time and a criminal record.  Just ask some of the Daily News' readers.

Pirro, of course, realizing the hit her image would take from this incident, blamed it on her concern for her ailing mother, toward whom she was travelling at the time.  I don't doubt the sincerity of the excuse, but am forced to think that her mother might feel better if her daughter got to her in one piece--and without knocking others to pieces as well.

Hopefully, if nothing else, Pirro will develop a little humility from her experience.  It won't prevent her from going after the Clintons and, perhaps, it shouldn't.  But it may save her life, as well as the lives of others.