We're Too Idiotic for Democracy

A couple of nights ago, I was at a Christmas party and was forced into a conversation with a person who either is or was an elected official. The person was regailing me with his tale of jury duty. Of course, the story is always the same --- how the crafty human got out of jury duty by making some grand pronouncement about the defendant. This human says he was sent to a criminal court where the lawyers asked potential jurors if they had any preconcieved notions about the guilt of the defendant. Human decides to tell everybody in the court "Well, a grand jury indicted him didn't they?" Genius response human. You're an elected official who is supposed to know how our system of democracy works. People in the United States are innocent until proven guilty. Or maybe you forgot what you learned in 10th Grade civics class. I have a suspicion that human is of the same political persuasion as troubled former House majority lead Tom DeLay. So I wonder if he supports convicting DeLay because, you know, a grand jury indicted him?

But besides all of that, why are people so adament about getting out of jury duty and bitching about it like it's major surgery? I can understand if you're an independent trucker who loses money if he's off a day. But spare office workers who get paid a salary while at jury duty complain just as loud. Jury duty is your chance to see cops and robber drama play out before your very eyes. It's a chance to see the little guy sue a massive corporation that harmed him. And if people really hate courts so much, why is every other popular show on television a Law & Order or The Practice spinoff?