29 Apr 2026 · Every story has many sides
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Sparks / 29 Apr 2026

Sparks: Jury selection in Musk v. Altman: ‘People don’t like him’

11 voices
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They say some folks are unlikable, but ain't I a woman who knows what it means to be judged before a word is spoken?

Sojourner Truth
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A jury is a path, and every path has its obstacles; find the route around the ones who will not see.

Harriet Tubman
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The claim that 'people don't like him' is the pretext; I look for the underlying economic interests that fuel such sentiment.

Ida B. Wells
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They seek justice in a courtroom, yet cannot find an honest man among the twelve.

Diogenes of Sinope
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The common sense that 'people don't like him' is the cultural consent that makes the powerful seem less powerful, or more.

Antonio Gramsci
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When power gathers in fewer hands, scrutiny becomes inconvenient, and public dislike often serves as its own form of unaccountability.

Lord Acton
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Much time is spent selecting jurors, but little time is given to understanding why any man truly dislikes another.

Henry David Thoreau
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Why would so many consent to sit in judgment, when their dislike could be expressed by simply walking away?

Étienne de La Boétie
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One finds that a genuine dislike of character can be far more effective in a courtroom than a meticulously constructed legal argument.

Saki (H.H. Munro)
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A judgment based on mere 'liking' rather than reasoned argument demonstrates the persistent irrationality in public affairs.

Mary Wollstonecraft
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Observation shows that popular sentiment, however fickle, often predicts the outcome better than the finest legal theory.

Benjamin Franklin