If there are too many lawyers why can't I find a lawyer to represent me?

Does In Vitro Fertilization Make Social Security Benefits The Simplest Investment

What exactly is "the right thing for Alaska?"

Seemed obvious to me…. Here are 100,000.00 reasons. The only question I have now is for the American voters: Are you starting to see a pattern yet? Is there any difference between Republican$ and Democrat$?

From NBC's Mark Murray
Yesterday, we noted that the Iowa Family Policy Center has invited Sarah Palin to address the group on Nov. 21, which just happens to be the same day when Vice President Biden attends the Iowa Democratic Party's Jefferson-Jackson dinner in the Hawkeye State.

Palin has yet to decide whether she'll attend the event in Iowa, but this story might complicate things a bit: Politico's Martin writes that the Iowa Family Policy Center is raising $100,000 to pay for Palin's speaking fee -- which has raised eyebrows from other Iowa groups.

Convenience Store Sales of the Iowa Lottery Tickets Under the Microscope of Continuing Investigation

The Iowa Lottery began in February doing spot checks to see if store personnel properly handled winning tickets. Of course this is naïve at best because there are other ways to beat the customer when playing the lottery.  The Lottery and DCI checks aren’t enough. It’s a good start but hardly enough to cover all the ways store clerks are cheating customers.

The latest checks follow earlier tests in February, April and May.

Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich said that the lottery was pleased to work with the DCI in its latest checks.

“We are happy with the ongoing effort to prevent lottery fraud in Iowa,” Rich said. “But the overall goal is to tell customers that signing their tickets prevents most opportunity for being scammed.”

What the lottery people don’t know is the store employees have simply changed tactics to another con game. I shop for gasoline at Kum & Go, an Iowa or Midwest convenience store chain. The gas receipt has a 12 digit number printed across the bottom of it. If the customer enters that number in the online survey they are entered into a contest where they can win the Summer of 59 Sweepstakes.  Many customers aren’t aware of sweepstakes or the numbers on the bottom of the receipt. I am and what the heck I regularly enter those numbers online. I haven’t won anything but I still play.

Well at the store located at E.P. True Parkway and South 50^th Street I purchased gas and the clerk kept my receipt then stacked it on a pile of other receipts.

So here is my question, are the clerks of the Kum & Go stores playing the sweepstakes using customer 12 digit numbers and if so is that part of the game?

Do people not feel shame anymore? Have participation trophy’s created expectations in young adults that simply showing up should be enough for a pay check or a winning sweepstake or lottery ticket?

FINANCIAL MISCONDUCT: Is the answer to frivolous Wall Street bonuses, The Participation Trophy Syndrome

If the owner of Kum & Go knew what these clerks were doing he’d be angry and then ashamed of the way his store name is being slandered by these small acts of deceit that cheat the customer of their chance at winning the Summer of 59 Sweepstakes.

Look at 3:48 minutes into this video; notice the act of honesty. When you’re honest there is no reason to feel shame.  Living honestly is the reward; the same goes for an honest days work.  Only losers want a participation trophy, winners want to win one.

Wrong is wrong, but not everything that is wrong should be a crime.

Should everything that is “wrong” be a crime?

Society decides what is right and what is wrong. Society has now decided that consensual sex between adults is wrong. A 28-year-old woman and an 18-year-old man had sex and now she is a sex offender. She was an Iowa teacher at the time of their relationship.

Shocking isn't it.

How much are we spending prosecuting this woman?

So now a 28 year old female teacher who had a relationship with an 18-year-old student is a criminal. Something is wrong with this picture. Not everything society might think wrong can be a criminal act.

A teacher that used to pay taxes now is a tax burden.

If I were the judge I would have sentenced Erin M. Rohwer, 28 to write on the blackboard 500 times, “Good people do stupid things and that doesn’t make them a criminal; just stupid for a minute, but not a lifetime. In the future I will strive to be a better person; and I will remember students are off limits.”

And the boy, I would have sentenced him to washing teacher’s cars in the parking lot without the pleasure of an iPod and a cold shower. I would have called the football coach and asked him to design a physical education program that would have taken the legs right out from under him and making him too tired to be chasing his English teacher.

The boy’s mother and father I would have sentenced to confession. Give the teacher and the boy a break for God’s sake; do you think your boy had no part in making this happen?

Iowa needs to grow up and get over their aversion to anything sexual. Get over it, this is an adult man-boy who society can register and send to war where he can be shot to death and sent home in a body bag. If he wants to sleep, with what I’m sure is about 90% of the young men’s dreams at Dowliing, then let him.

He’s 18 and she’s 27. Get over it they are adults. The real criminal act is not the doing of the teacher. The criminal act is the act of society in trying to make every conservative’s hang-up about sex a crime.

The Court’s then compound the ridiculousness of making this a criminal act by ordering the woman to stay away from the boy. What if they are really in love? Can society and the courts order hold their loving hearts in contempt? The Courts have enough to do without managing a teenager’s love crush.

Does the fact she’s a teacher mean she controls the boy’s raging hormones?

Is every sexual relationship between a teacher and student always a bad thing?

Consider the following.

Yesterday morning I was talking to a colleague who I’ve known since law school. We are good friends. I know his wife she’s a wonderful woman. They have been marred since law school and have raised some wonderful children. Today on the phone we weren’t talking about this Dowling situation, but he reminded me that Beth is ten years his senior. It was scandalous at the time they met and started going out together, because he was only 18. Scandalously beautiful I’m sure.

Engagement Ring

You would think that by now Kenny Chesney, George Strait, Faith Hill, Keith Uban, Martina McBride or even Taylor Swift would have a song about giving back the ring over a broken engagement. Certainly Brad Paisley or Sugarland should have a broken engagement ring litigation song.  Maybe Phill Vaser should be the one to sing it. At the end of this post I'll add Phil Vasser - Just Another Day in Paradise. The words could be something like this; be kind I'm not a song writer.  

I asked you for your hand in marriage,

thinking we'd last forever.

But this thing we have, 

just doesn't shine any more.

So I'm showing you the door,

because frankly you're a bore.

I want you to put it back in my hand,

just like a little grain of sand.

You know that little ring of gold,

What? The one you sold?

She's saying she threw it in the river,

No I won't forgive her.

I've got a lawyer,

instead of a preacher.

Now give me back the ring. 

Okay, I'm first to admit that was bad. So let’s get back to what I know how to do. Like justice a marital engagement is a two-edged sword, it cuts both ways. I’ve written twice about broken engagements and what happens to the engagement ring. Those two blog posts are some of the most widely read that I’ve written.

The posts are on both The Verdict and The InjuryBoard.

Family Law – Broken Heart – Must I Give Back the Engagement Ring?

Family Law: Breaking up is hard to do.

Family Law: Electronic surveillance of wife's bedroom activity leads to $22,500 judgment

In Iowa we are lucky enough to have a case that is right on point.

IOWA CASELAW – HOPEFULLY HOMELAND SECURITY WILL SLOW HER DOWN AT THE BORDER

In the case of John Fierro vs. Janna Hoel, 465 N.W.2d 669 (Iowa App. 1990) the Iowa Court of Appeals took up this issue and decided as a conditional gift the ring must be returned if the marriage was never to be. The Court found an engagement ring is given in contemplation of marriage as a conditional gift. And if the marriage never happens the ring must be returned to the donor.

As clear as this case seems to be let’s not forget the other edge of the sword. I think if the issue were properly presented the decision might be expanded to include a counterclaim for wedding expenses incurred by the bride. In the State of New York there is an exception to this general rule. If the person asking for the other’s hand in marriage is already married then he can not legally contract to marry; and so the condition upon which the ring is given cannot be made; and so the woman in that case got to keep the ring. I’m not sure I agree with this reasoning but that’s the law in New York.

“In New York, the exception to the to the rule is that if the man is married when he proposes and gives an engagement ring to his second bride-to-be, he cannot legally contract to marry. If the second marriage does not take place, he does not get the ring back.”

Quote from Daniel Clement, Broken Engagement – Who Keeps the Ring

Eugene Robinson is both right and wrong about the Republicans rejecting the stimulus package.

Eugene Robinson in his latest opinion piece for the Washington Post writes in Blind Unanimity that Republicans in voting unanimously in opposition to the latest economic “stimulus package” don’t understand the mandate the voters sent to Washington with the Democratic majority.

His opinion is both correct and incorrect. Correct that the Democrats have a majority but wrong that Republicans (and Democrats) for that matter should ignore the voter's sentiment about wasteful spending. Yes, for eight years the Republicans spent foolishly; but don’t ignore that this stimulus package has plenty of foolishness in it as well. The Republicans were right to reject it. And if the Democrats don't get their act together in engaging in more foolish spending they will be out next election.

We just need to keep throwing out the majority party every fourth-year.

What Washington doesn’t seem to get is that taxpayers (yes there are a few of us left) have had enough with wasteful spending, pork barrel budgets and log rolling appropriations. The key to staying in power in Washington is to do what you promise during the election – cut spending. Did you hear that?

“If Republicans hadn't broken the bank with drunken-sailorish spending during most of George W. Bush's time in the White House, their complaints about the cost of the stimulus package and its impact on future deficits would be more credible. As things stand, we have to let actions speak: absolute solidarity among House Republicans in voting no.”

Congressmen: Are you capable of going to Washington and not becoming infatuated with yourselves?

John McCain – Out of Touch on the Economy

The Republicans narrowly lost. This was no sweeping mandate. Get that out of your head. It was simply voter’s cleaning house and trying the other party on for four years. If they don’t produce and stop foolish spending the Republicans will be right back as insiders with a majority. Get it?

Stop spending foolishly. That’s the point taxpayers were trying to make in the last election.

National Debt Spending Clock

“The US budget for Iraq in FY 2007 came to $4,988/Iraqi. This is triple Iraq's per-person GDP. It's like spending $121,000 per person ($484,000 per family of 4) in the US. Why not just bribe the whole country?  (I'm saying how it must seem to Iraqis. Think how it would be if some other planet invaded the U.S. and spent $121,000 per American per year to straighten out our country. We'd say—Just give us the money and we'll do it ourselves.") See spreadsheet for details.

Before the war, White House economic adviser Lawrence Lindsay estimated the cost at $100 to $200 billion. So the White House got rid of him and "re-estimated" the cost at $50 to $60 billion. It's now over $500 billion.

The administration spokespersons, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz, etc. were just totally unrealistic. "We are dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction, and relatively soon." – Wolfowitz, March 28, 2003.”

So Eugene, stop acting like a man on a drunken binge after a Super Bowl win. The Democrats can win the 2008 battle for the White House and lose the war of keeping power.

British Doctor Volunteering in Republic of Congo performs surgery through text-message instruction

Doctor David Nott, doing charity medical work in the Republic of Congo performed surgery by text message instructions sent from a colleague in the United Kingdom. The boy, sixteen-years-old had injured his arm in an accident. By the time Dr. Nott arrived for his one month per year stint with the charity Medecins sans Frontieres, the boy’s arm was badly infected and the boy was dying. To save the boy’s life the doctor determine the arm needed to be amputated. An arm amputation isn’t a procedure the doctor had previously performed. Aside from having very few resources he would be required to also remove the collar bone and shoulder blade.

Sending a text-message to a colleague in the U.K. Dr. Nott received step by step instructions on how to perform the operation.  If you would like to hear Dr. Nott click on the video link.

Today at the Des Moines InjuryBoard we salute Dr. Nott for his creative abilities, quick thinking and gutsy move.

American Politics - Melting down public opinion at the U.S. Treasury. How Hanks hankie and some crocodile tears made Congress weep and Wall Street jump for joy.

They called us ambulance chasers. How insulting can you get? I can't tell you how mad I was hearing that insult hurled our way. Me the guy who simply fights with insurance companies called an ambulance chaser. Well it's over. Finished. We trial lawyers will no longer have to be the ones they refer too when they yell ambulance chaser. Once and for all the trial lawyers of America can put behind them the unmitigated shame of being referred to as just a bunch of ambulance chasers. Yes we are free! Washington and the Bush Administration have saved us from the Cliffs of Insanity. What is going on at the U.S. Treasury has to be the largest frivolous claim I've experienced in 54 years of being on this earth. The true ambulance chasers are in Washington at the vault of the U.S. Treasury. The worst offenders sit in the White House.

Act I: Someone says to the trial lawyer, "You're just a bunch of ambulance chasers." The lawyer comes back with "I hate being referred to as an ambulance chaser because I'm always there before the ambulance arrives!" My former mother-in-law, Betty just loved that joke.

Nothing the trial lawyers have ever done can match the lack of integrity and comedic tragedy in Congress and the White House. The politicians in Washington are literally giving our country away and we are doing nothing to stop them. Billion by billion they are lining the pockets of their crony friends who send the tassel loafer lobbyists to do their bidding. First we heard just $700 billion then the brakes came on and we were told that estimate was just a wee bit short. Then we paused to catch our breath and we hardly could hear ourselves think for the drum of feet beating to the Wall Street bank lawyers' offices to officially change to the kind of lender that could get a piece of the $700 billion action.

Act II: Listen you can hear the whispers. Shhhhh listen you've got to listen harder.

"But wait the public didn't say a damn thing - look they went back to sleep! Can you believe they bought it? Hook, line and sinker! A $700 billion baited line with the scent of stink all over it and they just went back to work! It's a $1 trillion dollar payday; the friggin lotto man!" A payday that will surely line the pockets of every millionaire hedge fund junkey with an investment bank needle in his arm, a syringe full of liars' loans and with the unmitigated gall to still put out their hands asking for us to give it back to them; from the U.S. Treasury no less. I think we are collectively dumber than I ever thought possible.

Who are we rescuing? We are rescuing us from whom? This bail out bonanza explanation can be compared to you giving your kid the families check book to pay back his credit card company; the same ones that hooked him into years of irresponsible debt; and then being told you have to do it because if you don't the credit card company might have to raise the fees you are charged to responsibly use your credit card.

"Oh my you mean if I don't fork over $60,000.00 to MasterCard my fees might go up $2.00 per month for five years? How much time do I have to write the check? Okay, I'm hurrying! Point me in the direction of the cliff so I'm not the last lemming to jump!"

Huh? Are we that naïve? Have we lost our minds?

Let's understand what really went on -

Okay so let me see if I understand this, the hedge fund guys borrowed from the brokerage houses in amounts that they couldn't realistically pay back. The brokerages houses believed the collateral would never go down and in fact would continue to inflate in price, so they lent the hedge fund guys more than they could pay back based on a false assumption. The housing market overbuilt by the lenders who gave stupid loans to developers who would not be able to pay back those amounts put them in a pinch. The value of the oversupplied homes fell and began to lose value; the loss in value of the loan collateral caused one lender to call in the loans, which caused the hedge fund to have a fire sale of stock, which had the effect of causing stock prices to fall. Which placed the loans that should never have been made, at greater risk which caused the lenders to call in more loans which caused more stock sales, which cause stock prices to fall even more? Do I have that right?

Then the feeding frenzy was on. And mostly because the other bets made by the hedge funds, shorting stock, caused the lenders' collateral to lose even more value and at a faster rate. That made one bank calling in a big huge bad loan, turn into many banks that all were doing the same bets and now the hedge fund guys may have lost a bunch of money that they really didn't need. I say maybe because no one has proven they actually lost money. Have you seen one hedge fund guy take the witness stand to say hey I lost money! Even if they did would you care if a guy worth $100,000,000.00 lost $10,000,000.00? I wouldn't.

So did they lose money? M-O-N-E-Y like you and I have saved. Real sweat earned hard dollars. NO of course not. How come no is saying hey wait a second, you don't get billions of dollars from the U.S. Treasury without more of an investigation! If we did that we'd be stupid! Who can point out one hedge fund billionaire that is losing their house or car?

Are we being scammed? And I thought Y2K was the biggest scam I'd seen in my lifetime. It pales compared to the run on the Treasury of 2008.

Okay so Wall Street comes a running to Washington, well kind of comes running. They really don't have to come running when the main guy at Treasury is running interference and shouting out, "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" And the Congress is too busy looking up at the sky to open their eyes and turn on their brains. They just say, oh my we didn't see this coming, probably because of all the lobbyists that were visiting us with campaign contributions kept us busy from doing our job, and we don't want any real investigation because that finger could get pointed right back at us.

Act III: Wall Street now is fat and happy so they pass the hat over to Detroit and they say, "So let's do it again. This time send in the boys from Car City. Don't just send them in, heck fly them in first class. Anyone with the balls big enough to sit in front of the U.S. Congress and the American people and to ask for billions has got to have his last meal in style."

You are all seeing the best ambulance chasers I've ever seen. Heck they put the trial lawyers to shame. We look like mere amateurs compared to the Wall Street and Detroit Ambulance Chasers. I represent working stiffs not hedge fund millionaires. How was I to know? The way Wall Street and Car City are gaming the Congress and the American public these guys put us lawyers to shame.

I don't know about you but as a tax payer I want my share before the U.S. Treasury coffers run dry. To assure my fellow tax payers there will be something for everyone I've listed the U.S. Treasury Garage Sale on Craigslist. Please add your name and hometown to the comments section of this blog so I know where to send your share of the money we make.

And put those Garage Sale yard signs in Chinese, Russian and Arabic because they are the only one's with the cash to shop till they drop; from melamine poison that is.

HanksList: U.S. Treasury Department Garage Sale: All Integrity Must Go.

Garage Sale at the US Treasury

I guess you could call the wife and me empty nesters. The kids and our savings have flown the coup and are all gone! At last we are without a car, cane, clue or Congress.  Our nest egg evaporated overnight along with our caring about what might happen next. We've discussed it and are selling it all at a garage sale that will take place at 8:00 A.M. sharp the day after Thanksgiving. EVERYTHING MUST GO! We live in a quaint little section of West Des Moines, Iowa where the few neighbors whose homes haven't yet been foreclosed on will welcome you with open arms, sad faces, empty pockets and no way to retire.

We have a lot for sale so come early - the first few bargain beggars will get the lion's share of the U.S. Treasury bullion. Some of the items for sale include: boxes and boxes of lobbyists for Big Pharma that have never been opened and are still in the box; more than one hundred Congressman that look pretty, but for us, have never worked; the entire Cabinet collection that wet their pants on voice command from the President; a talking doll of the President that babbles incoherently and hasn't worked for the better part of eight years; a trunk full of integrity that was packed away in the attic and hasn't been touched, used or seen in almost a decade; we have bins, of more deregulation than you can use in a lifetime; there is a porcelain doll in traditional Alaskan dress that talks, talks and talks without saying anything; and many more smaller items that you'd miss if you weren't reading the fine print. All in all this is the largest U.S. Treasury garage sale you will ever experience. The neighbors think we are bailing out too soon and too many but we are bound and determined to empty our coffers before most American's wake up to the raid on the Treasury. This is a coup d'etat like you've never seen before the election of 2000. It's a raid on the Treasury that will surprise and embarrass even the most ardent socialist. If you have questions I'll be the guy in the straight jacket, the same one used by the Mormons to tie up the gays in California. It's a wonderful shade of ivory and can distract many from the real problems of the world while focusing attention on something that shouldn't matter. As a lawyer I'm planning on having a post gay garage prenuptial divorce sale once the gays figure out what marriage is all about!

We left nothing to the imagination and have opened every box, trunk and suitcase but weren't able to find any truth, integrity or honesty. So don't come to this garage sale looking for those character traits - because they are in short supply; a supply as short as FDA inspectors in a Chinese food processing plant.

On the table to the north we will have a wonderful selection of wall paper scraps. They may look like cheap worthless stock certificates but consider what they used to represent. You'll be the envy of all your guests when they visit the outhouse and you've wall papered the interior with the Martha Stewart Wall Street Toilet Paper Portfolio Collection, sold only at Tear and Throw up, the company that bought Sears and Roebuck. You won't find this collection in any other government treasury!

Oh I almost forget the back sale! In the back yard we have two Lear jets for sale. They have been used sparingly and are from the poorer section of Detroit's finest neighborhoods. They are being sold as-is without guarantee or any promises of the quality. Each jet has obsolescence engineered into the design. These won't last long. Please keep in mind when looking over these rare gems that $10 or $20 million doesn't go as far as it used to.

We have two homes for sale. The first is a large White House with wonderful sunsets - we hear a sunset to die for is coming up in January 2009! Please don't disturb the babbling idiot on the porch. We try to keep him locked away but he has a way of getting out and causing trouble in the hood.

The second home we have for sale is a second home that has hardly been used for anything useful. The large dome was a necessary design feature for the hot air to escape. Once again shown by appointment only as this house is still occupied and we don't want to awaken the sleeping residents who shouldn't be there much longer.

All in all there are billions to be had! So come, be early and get ready to beg, borrow or steal! We accept checks from the local Liars Savings and Loan or from Bankrupt Bank Buyers and Bilkers. Just say you have the money and we are all ears. Begging your pardon, when backing out of the drive way be very careful you don't back over our favorite pet dog Clemency. See you in the hood!

Victoria's Secret Thong Suit is about lawyer mentoring

My colleague and friend, Tom Young has an exceptional piece today about the now infamous defective thong lawsuit against Victoria’s Secret. If you haven’t yet read the Complaint follow the link. I think this young lawyer means well, but his judgment is not yet ready for the practice of law.  Of course the pundits will have a hay day with this one and the late night talk shows are provided with what they need for a good humorous monologue. But realistically non-lawyers have to ask if there is something wrong with the legal system.

Realistically there isn’t anything wrong with the court system. There is with this lawsuit but not with the legal system. First let’s put our young lawyer in perspective. We were all young and inexperience early in our careers. We all made mistakes that in hindsight looked pretty stupid. We learned and moved on to rewarding careers. But there was a time when we had few clients and cases and were hungry to learn how to litigate. There was that time in our professional lives when we saw injustice in every case, in most client interviews and we were eagerly awaiting the opportunity to apply what we had learned in law school to a real client.

Law schools don’t teach law students about how to identify a “serious damage case”. They teach all about the law concerning liability, but when it comes to damages they barely scratch the surface. From his interview this young lawyer is quick to hone in on the liability issues of product liability litigation. Product liability litigation sounds sexy to say, but hiring experts and coming up with the money it takes to litigate one is an enormous undertaking. But in this set of facts the damages issue is not there and sooner or later he’ll get around to realizing the fourth element of any tort case, damages.

Now let’s examine the actual “wrong” and see if it’s really as far out as at first blush we might think. If we honestly look at what this young lawyer is doing it’s not all that far fetched from what the Consumer Products Safety Commission does with toys. Small objects that can come loose and be a choking hazard for children can be a serious problem. Of course in this instance Mrs. Patterson isn’t young, inexperienced and this decorative object isn’t a choking hazard to her. (Okay, I’m not going there, this is a serious piece.) So stepping back from the embarrassing aspects of our thoughts, they being a thong and our minds going to a naked Mrs. Patterson putting on a thong and the object flying off into her eye, and wondering did she fall over holding her eye? When we get by the nakedness issues and how embarrassing it is to talk about it and we look instead at what this really is about, then it can become a more serious discussion. So let’s look at the thong video and all get over the laugh.

There are those that watch this and say, hey let’s turn this into a windfall and line our pockets. This is the kind of launch that Madison Avenue dreams about. It’s there Super Bowl of fact patterns from which hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising revenue will be made. I’m sure the powers that be in manufacturing, pharmaceutical, tobacco and toys have already contacted Madison Avenue to come up with a publicity campaign designed to further poison the jury pool of America so that people with good cases will have a harder time obtaining fair treatment.  Google alone is selling $6.1 billion in ads this year.

This year, Google will sell $6.1 billion in ads, nearly double what it sold last year, according to Anthony Noto, an analyst at Goldman Sachs. That is more advertising than is sold by any newspaper chain, magazine publisher or television network. By next year, Mr. Noto said, he expects Google to have advertising revenue of $9.5 billion. That would place it fourth among American media companies in total ad sales after Viacom, the News Corporation and the Walt Disney Company, but ahead of giants including NBC Universal and Time Warner.

And make no mistake about it the powers-that-be at Victoria’s Secret love every bit of this attention. They couldn’t buy this kind of advertising.  While watching sales perk up they are fondling each other with excitement.

Legally Underpinnings - But let us change the fact pattern somewhat and see if it changes your perspective about the legal underpinnings of this law suit. What if instead the same woman was in a store and while contemplating the purchase and examining the piece of underwear the same piece of metal broke off and flew off. And you being a customer of that same store were struck in the eye and blinded by the metal object. If you earned your living using both eyes and now were out of a $100,000.00 per year salary, would it still have the same humor to it?  Or what if the person being blinded were your 4 year old daughter who was with Daddy buying Mommy a present for Valentine’s Day? Would you still be angry if Mommy were the one bringing the law suit against Victoria’s Secret for her 4 year old being now blind in one eye? There is a side of me that can’t totally blame the young lawyer. His law suit does have somewhat of a meritorious and engaging legal point.

The explanation for this lawyer's "enthusiasm" and the resulting lawsuit is pretty simple. Law schools teach men and women how to "think like a lawyer". After law school, good mentoring by a practicing trial lawyer in the first five years of practice can teach them “how to practice law". Ten years into the practice the difference between a lawyer who received good mentoring and one who did not becomes pretty obvious. Perhaps the law firm where he works needs to rein in his "enthusiasm" a wee bit. The senior partners, assuming there are any might want to exercise closer mentoring of this young and eager lawyer. I think he means well, but to anyone watching the TV interview it should be obvious that as a practicing trial lawyer his judgment is not yet fully developed.

There is nothing wrong with our legal system. What there is in this instance is a lack of good mentoring in a Los Angeles law firm. So criticize the law firm all you want but leave the legal system out of it.

American Politics - Is it disgraceful to name the San Francisco sewer plant George W. Bush?

Life is like a sewer - what you get out of it depends on what you put into it. Tom Lehrer
Here are the facts. The good people of San Francisco, over 12,000 of them, signed a petition in support of a Proposition, a local ballot effort to rename the Oceanside Sewage Plant after President G.W. Bush. Jeffrey Scott Shapiro, who interned with John F. Kerry's legal team during the Presidential election in 2004, took offense to the San Francisco effort and wrote The Treatment of Bush Has Been a Disgrace, What must our enemies be thinking? The Wall Street Journal published the piece on November 5, 2008.
Mr. Shapiro raises an issue that probably needs little introduction but today we will explore why Americans might believe a mural of the President on a tank that holds human waste is a legitimate expression rather than comfort to our enemies. So let's try to answer the question,
Is it disgraceful to follow the example of the United States President set by him through the eight years he has been sitting in office?
To answer that question let us examine the record of this President and his Administration and the example together they have set.
The end justifies the means -
America invaded Iraq on what was essentially a lie. There were no weapons of mass destruction and before the American invasion there were no terrorists or suicide bombers in Iraq. By the way what end were we trying to accomplish?
Red States vs. Blue States -
Create competition and the American people will compete. Use hate as a tool for competition and in return you get the same. Pit brother against brother, get families fighting and guess what they fight and yes you may get some blood on your suit.
Straights vs. Gays -
The argement has been made that marriage is a sacred institution involving only a man and a woman. The argument begs us to forget the number of divorces in America, the instances of spousal abuse, child abuse and homicides between spouses. Forget OJ Simpson and paligamy and the like, marriage is a sacred institution. Subconsciously we can't forget all of this and the Administration knows this so they have to stir up emotions so that people forget rational thought. Well you're getting what you asked for; did you think Amercians with gay pride were going to sit there and do nothing after you've gutted their rights, attempted to drag them down to your level and told them they are a disgrace?
Hate begets hate -
The Bible tells us something about this subject. Mr. President you seem to use that Bible quite a bit during election campaigns, but then put it away at the end. It tells us that hate begs hate. You and the religious right shouldn't be surprised.
Do As I Say Not As I Do -
Isn't this what you wanted? Didn't you want the Red State Citizens and the Blue State Citizens to fight it out, for the red to disgrace the blue, to impose on one another their views no matter how disrepectful they may be? Isn't that the example your Adminstration set? You remember, the end justifies the means.
Maybe Mr. Shapiro is just missing the point -
Maybe the good people of San Francisco are being misunderstood. Maybe they really do want to follow your Administration's example and there isn't anything left to name. At the spending rate of $10Billion or more per month it's just possible this is the most valued infrastructure object left in San Francisco.
When war consumes the resources of a nation the value of a good porcelein toilet is treasured. Dwight Eisenhower said, "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron." - Dwight Eisenhower, 1953 speech.
Reap what you have sown -
Your administrations sowed seeds of hate and discontent and now the fruits of your labor are coming to fruition. You'd be wise to watch more movies. Michael Corleon in Godfather III had this advice for you. "Never hate your enemies; it will cloud your thinking." And, remember the Dixie Chicks? Remember the campaign of hate that followed? Remember how you instead of taking the high road as any American President should have done, you fanned the flames of hate and discontent. Instead of just saying you heard what they said and that in America we have the freedom to disagree but that you liked their music; you just couldn't leave it alone.
Hate is a cancer that spreads one cell at a time. David Pelzer, Author
Hate begets hate. Martin Luther King
The end justifies the means -
To disagree with the President during a war is unAmerican - That was your campaign tactic in 2004. Here are two shining examples of the social order you sort to create:

Man Criticizes Bush On A Range Of Policies versus "Don't taser me bro!" So now why do we hear your supporters shouting,

What did I do? What did I do? I didn't do anything! Don't name that sewer plant after me Bro!
Bushisms at work -
The Law of isms - McCarthyism, racism, sexism, Nazism - you name the ism and it was used in the 2004 election. In 2008 they called Obama a socialist while your Administration utilized socialist principles to bail out Wall Street. Capitalism on the way up; Socialism on the way down. Religious Right couldn't be more anti-Christian in it's message. Killing is wrong, outlaw abortion but forget DNA testing, just kill every man on death row. That is a Bushisms right out of the 2000 and 2004 campaign play books. Like they said, live by the sword die by the sword.
Mr. President they are trying to give you a history lesson -
Just maybe the good people of San Francisco are saying, We didn't start the fire!

Is this a matter of free speech? -
How soon you've forgotten the Dixie Chicks. Let me take you back to June 2006, standing on the stage with Natalie at Shephard's Bush, the scene of the crime. She voiced opposition to your war and followed up with her Texas slant of "Just so you know we are ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas." They got the cowboy boot from the record business. What did you say then? Did you take the high road as any President should? I'll remind you; you said it was just a matter of free speech. And maybe that is what this is all about in San Francisco. You take a look at the evidence and see what you think. Not all of the American people agreed with what Natalie said, but that didn't mean they agreed with you either.

Protesting the Dixie Chicks

President Bush versus Natalie Maines - to quote you Mr. President, "They can say what they want to say. ... They shouldn't have their feelings hurt just because some people (want the President's image up on the sewer plant.) ... Freedom of speech is a two way street."

Everyone dislikes a bully -

Toby vs. Dixie Chicks - The American President is supposed to take the high road and set an example that brings the counrty together, not further apart. The President of the United States shouldn't exploit the differences between the American people. After all did Toby Keith ever serve in the armed service or was it enough to send someone else's kids to die while young Toby made millions of dollars playing his guitar? Remember the name of Mr. Keith's band? The Easy Money Band. Like you Mr. President Toby Keith looked more and more like an ignorant bully. With his war of words Mr. Keith did nothing to improve country music and neither have your war of words improved the United States.

This is more than murals on sewer plants -
What's really going on here? The Peter Principle is something we learned about in Psych 101. The Peter Principle is the principle that "In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence." Are the good people of San Francisco really asking the question; Were you smart enough for the job? Is a person who butcher's the Kings English like you do intelligent enough to be President of the United States?
Participation Trophy Syndrome -
Parents all across the United States demand that youth soccer hand out participation trophys. Trophies handed out not for merit and hard work, but just for showing up at the banquet. Only losers want a participation trophy; winners want to win one. It's the trophy that encourages making just showing up a trophied event. "You mean I have to work at this job?"
You've got to give me a trophy because I showed up is not different you've got to vote for me because I'm your President and we are in the midst of a war.

The motto of your 2004 election was, Anything to just win! There's something to say about the attitude that acts and says anything just to win. It's the attitude I saw with the kids who actually wanted, no expected, a participation trophy. When you pit red against blue, black against white, gay versus straight, American against American just to win, then don't complain when you start to hear and see the same mentality being used by your detractors. You started it in 2000 and in 2004 we all knew you were not up for the job, but you won; because to do otherwise would have been unAmerican. And that is what Mr. Shapiro seems to be saying. As bad as you are if we don't support you we give comfort to those who dislike you; are enemies. Mr. President you took office with just under half of America hating what you stood for. And to no surprise the American people still hate what you Administration stands for; probably more than our enemies do.
"Live by the sword, die by the sword"
Here is the lesson to be learned. You're getting what you asked for. You're getting attitudes like those set by your Administrations. You unsheathed the sword, lived by it for eight years and now you can't get the good people of San Francisco to resheath their own. Mr. President you are dying by your own sword of putting the brakes on free expression. Like you said to the Dixie Chicks, it's just a matter of free expression.
"This is a metaphorical expression meaning that living one's life in a certain way will, in the end, affect one's destiny. The proverb comes from the Book of Matthew, verse 26:52, which describes the apostle Peter drawing a sword to defend Jesus against Roman soldiers, but is told to sheath the weapon: Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
-Matthew 26:52, King James Version
While the expression strictly-interpreted means "those who live by violence will die by violence", it is also used for a variety of situations which contain an element of poetic justice. For instance the proverb could be used to describe a person who regularly drives under the influence and is ultimately killed in a vehicle accident caused by their intoxication. A deeper meaning aludes to "those who judge will be judged" in reference to Mathew 7:2 and Luke 6:37 which can also be interpreted as poetic justice for those observed to be wrongfully condemning others. Other variants on this phrase are also commonly used."
Is this simply Poetic Justice? -
Mr. Shapiro, isn't renaming the sewer plant simply a literay device in which vice is being punished? Isn't this the President's Poetic Justice?
"Poetic justice is a literary device in which virtue is ultimately rewarded or vice punished, often in modern literature by an ironic twist of fate intimately related to the character's own conduct. In Western literature, the structure of poetry, prose and drama to have justice originates in Aristotle's Poetics. Aristotle says that poetry is superior to history in that it shows what should or must occur, rather than merely what does occur."
God is punishing you -
On November 5, 2008, the same day Mr. Shapiro's article ran in the Wall Street Journal my mother had her 81st birthday. Like I've said before Mom had a way with words. She wasn't an English major and never attended college. But Mom had a way with words. Mr. President if you knew my mother you would know that she doesn't like you and that as she was quick to point out when we did something stupid, "God is punishing you."