tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4400152815785368447.post9154998688581039556..comments2024-03-15T07:28:47.064-05:00Comments on Treknobabble: The Next Generation, Season 2: The Measure of a ManUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4400152815785368447.post-44430001349260043662014-04-25T18:12:38.849-05:002014-04-25T18:12:38.849-05:00I have to agree with Kevin and anon here: it seems...I have to agree with Kevin and anon here: it seems a bit bizarre that Phillipa would FORCE Riker, who clearly has a conflict of interest, is not qualified and who objects and protests to this, to defend Data "the best he can" or else threaten to take it out on Data and his future if Riker were to fail (and, of course, she decides if he fails or not. As she said 'if i FEEL that you are not giving it your best" or something). <br /><br />I mean how can you force someone to take on such an important role and if they dont or refuse or do a bad job, threaten to ruin and fuck up someone else's life? <br /><br />That's the kind of thing you would expect of Cardassian or any other military dictatorship's jurisprudence, not the Federation/Starfleet's. <br /><br />Also, whatever the details of Starfleet jurisprudence, we know that they believe in , and operate under, the principle that one is considered innocent until proven guilty ("A matter of perspective" etc). Such a principle is incompatible with what Phillipa is pulling here. I know she calls Picard a pompous ass but I always thought she was the pompous ass here. <br /><br />I also have an issue with qualification. Riker is not qualified to be a lawyer or act as such. Phillipa just wanted a warm body with the correct rank to fill the role. I found that not only a dick move on her part but unjust. <br /><br />Anyway it seemed as though the writers just added this whole spiel of forcing Riker to defend Data etc, for effect and to move the story along. It also aided with developing both characters' friendship/relationship. <br /><br />And it is true, you know, a lesser person would have refused to accept Phillipa's ruling for precisely the reasons mentioned above by you guys and challenged it in court. <br /><br />That said, what I did not understand was Picard equating what would be done with Data to slavery or enslaving an entire race. My question always was: how can you say it is an entire race and they are enslaved, when you have not established that Data is more than the sum of its parts/not a machine? Can machines be enslaved? Are they are a "race"? <br /><br />This episode made it looks like Picard's conversation with Guinan who "opened his eyes" and his subsequently making that 'slave" argument was what ultimately made his case that Data IS not just a machine. But in my opinion, I dont think Picard succeeded in showing us why Data is more than just a machine - at least not when he made that "enslaving an entire race" argument. In fact, everything else said and done about Data was a far better proof that he is not a machine, not the slave argument.<br /><br />Again, in order to accept that argument you first have to agree and prove that Data is something that can be enslaved in the first place and I dont think Picard did that by arguing that we would "enslave an entire race if Data were made into property" etc. Ellenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4400152815785368447.post-79493655292649890662012-09-18T08:58:54.802-05:002012-09-18T08:58:54.802-05:00The woman who wrote this episode is an attorney. S...The woman who wrote this episode is an attorney. So go figure. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4400152815785368447.post-16118387796450504572011-02-28T23:31:15.442-06:002011-02-28T23:31:15.442-06:00I held off if only because it would have been a re...I held off if only because it would have been a repeat of my rant in Court Martial. I think law:me::philosophy:Matt. It drives us respectively up a wall, but can't quite excite the other as much.<br /><br />But I agree, there would have to be an actual system to deal with this in a more deliberate manner. Law is nothing if not ponderous. Still, like FTL engines, it's a conceit that drives the episode, so I can not exactly forgive it, I can move past it to enjoy an otherwise super episode.Kevinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11065121037234785365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4400152815785368447.post-85358890457549346142011-02-28T23:24:03.829-06:002011-02-28T23:24:03.829-06:00Kevin, as a lawyer, I feel you should have been a ...Kevin, as a lawyer, I feel you should have been a bit harsher to this episode. Admittedly, the UCMJ or whatever the Starfleet equivalent is aren't the same as the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, but I can't believe that in the 24th Century, any judge would have the right to say, "You, sir, must defend this man! I care not that you are not an attorney and have never cracked a law book, for he must be defended by someone - anyone! - or risk having all Due Process stripped from him!" Seriously, I get the morality play behind it, but it's a damn shame the people who wrote this story couldn't have run it past an attorney for some basic legal gloss. Seriously, it makes the Gitmo military tribunals look like the height of jurisprudence by comparison...<br />- CarlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com