Henry Lee, Shaman

The ongoing comedy of the Sean Lien case (when Lien Chan's son was accidentally shot by a gangbanger on election eve last month) has reached the next level this week as Henry Lee, the World's Greatest Forensic Scientist With Taiwan Roots, was brought in to settle the question. What question that might be, we don't know....

The US-based Lee, who was in Taiwan yesterday to attend the establishment of the “Henry Lee Forensic Science Lecture Workshop” at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, told reporters he had discussed Lien’s case with the Criminal Investigation Bureau, especially regarding the German-made pistol believed to have been used in the shooting.

Lee said he would look at the forensics and material evidence, but would not involve himself in the criminal and political aspects of the case.

“I only want to do forensic work on this case; other investigation activities relating to the case are of no interest to me,” he said. “Criminal investigations should not be mixed with forensic work.”

It would not be the first time Lee has assisted investigators in high-profile criminal cases. He helped forensics experts in their probe of the March 2004 election-eve assassination attempt on former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮).

Judicial authorities have been under pressure to resolve the Lien case, in which Huang Yun-sheng (黃運聖), a 29-year-old bystander, was killed.

....."resolve the case"?? What is there to resolve? The shooter was caught, confessed, the motive is known and is reasonable and makes sense. There isn't any conspiracy here.

The sad part is that all the yammering on the pan-Green talk shows about Sean Lien this and Sean Lien that with its HINT HINT CONSPIRACY flavor has raised his profile beyond all reasonable levels. It's almost as if there is some pre-scientific mindset at work in which the phrase shit happens has no meaning and all events have secret, inimical causes that can be exposed with the proper application of ideology and sympathetic magic. Henry Lee's real role here is shamanic, not scientific.

But the beatification of Sean Lien (who should be thinking presidency at this point) is not even the worst of it. No, it seems like there was too much noise about Sean Lien, and not enough about gangsters and the KMT. A blown opportunity, methinks.
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