John – I couldn’t agree with you more.  I was taught the same, that school and home were essentially the same, and that the same rules applied.  The problem nowadays is that all parents want to be Best Buddies with their kids, and the latter end up damned confused.

Cap’n Con – I think it’s more a case of thinking themselves to be somehow separate from society.  They set their own rules, and those rules just simply state that they cannot be at fault for anything.  They are so utterly disconnected from the Plebs, that they cannot see themselves as having any of the Plebs’ weaknesses.

Lawyers, like priests, can dissassociate themselves psychologically from the ethics or morality of those they seek to defend.

The Dail is a game to them … a fake and ongoing jarndyce and jarndyce of a court case where they each get their say and the only real news is the latest fiddle accompanied by almost a celebrity lifestyle on extraordinary expenses.

Its just a club for lawyers and the ultimate clients mean fuckall to them.

Honesty doesn’t pay, as proven on an almost daily basis by those at the forefront of public life .. the Politicians ..

It would appear that if one lies, lies & lies again .. loudly enough & often enough, one gets away with it ..

The same applies equally to owning up to one’s mistakes .. find yourself a scapegoat (preferably one who isn’t rich enough or in any position to fight back) or a nebulous “cause” (like Global warming) and blame them or it hard enough & long enough until people get fed up with hearing about it and move on to the next scandal ..

One only needs to note the difference in the way in which lying, cheating, thieving Politicians & honest, public-spirited “whistle-blowers”, for example are treated to see the harsh reality of life ..