Crazy is Crazy and That is Nobody's Fault.

Today I awoke to the news that some Sixty Six Year Old nut job from Illinois decided he was going to make a point of embarrassing himself and his causes by killing or at least wounding a bunch of Republican Congressmen and Senators who get together at 7am to play baseball in Va.
It turns out that this guy was a Bernie Sanders supporter. Hence with a Congressman (Scalice-R-La.) who is the Majority Whip in the House (and thus in the Presidential line of Succession), in surgery for a gunshot wound and 3 other aides and Capital Police Officers shot, everybody decided now was not the time to come together as a nation and pray for the wounded, but instead it is time to blame each other for this idiot going off the main beam.

Frankly there are a number of things that could be going on here with the shooter, one James Hodgskins III of Illinois. He could have decided he wanted to go out in a blaze of "glory" or that he wanted suicide by cop. He could have been a troubled soul that finally lost his last marble. He could be a nut that wanted his shot for 15 minutes of fame and for everybody in the country to hear about his causes. The list of reasons this guy might have engaged this way could number in the millions, but one of those reasons is NOT because of anything any pundit, politician, or publicity seeking provocateur said.

Let's get this straight. Hodgskins didn't act because of something Bernie said or Trump said or because he didn't like the way they voted on an issue or even because in his twisted little mind he thought he was going to lose his healthcare, Viagra or library card.
He was not caused to do this because of Rush Limbaugh or Jeff Sessions or James Comey. Brexit and the Mexican wall had NOTHING to do with this. He wasn't channelling Al Franken or Elizabeth Warren. The acts this morning were the acts of a psychopath and could just as easily been caused by his bad hair day as by anything else. DO NOT SUBSCRIBE REASON TO A MENTALLY ILL PERSON.

Unless one can show a conspiracy to do this, or a contract to kill (think "button man" from the Mob) then this was a random act of crazy and looking to place blame on anybody's word is just a self interested attempt to cast dispersions on people you do not like.  Fact is nothing anyone said would have caused him to do this or stopped him. That is because his reason for doing this is personal to him. The idea that something someone said "drove" him to act is nothing more than an excuse and minimizes both the danger he was to others and it gives into him, because it gives him power he never had in life, to try to get others to change their behaviors and opinions through his actions.

Seeking to shame Tim Kaine for saying we have to fight Trump "in the streets" is not why this happened. Showing a picture of a bull's eye on Gabby Gifford's face in a campaign piece, while in extremely poor taste, did not cause her sick twist of a would be assassin to act the way he did. No, they do this for reasons if exposed we would find in the darkest corners of their twisted brains. Now is not the time (actually it is never the time) to blame the free speech of others for the actions someone takes unless they are duty bound to follow an order. (Think Army Capt. following commander's orders.)

When I see people blaming others for this tragedy because they may have "radicalized" or suggested it was okay, or made it easy for him or any of the myriad of other stupid things people have said or are going to say about this, I realize, they are not leaders. They do not understand what happened, but they are scared little people trying to convince others of their own importance to compensate for their own inadequacy to shut down their actual opposition. I am not reading them, I am not listening to them and I cannot be persuaded by their ranting. I am looking for leaders. Let's see if there are any in my Twitter Stream, or among my Facebook friends or on the news tonight. I am not planning on finding too many but I can always hope someone out there is smart enough to realize what stuff like this does to our Bill of Rights and are willing to speak out against it.

Memorial Day 2017: RememberingWhy We Remember.

Our freedom and our lives were and are preserved by those that served our country in War and Peace as Soldiers Sailors Airmen and Marines.

Their efforts and their lives were spent in service of not just a nation, but an ideal. That all men are created equal, that rights of man are derived from a higher power, but protected by our brave military, that we are a nation of Laws not men, that we are united in the goal of being one nation, indivisible, with freedom and justice for all.

Now so many years later we need to not just remember those that died for those ideals, but we need to remember the ideals themselves.

As I watch my feed here and on Twitter or listen to the national debate, I wonder, is this an America worth dying for? Are these Americans worth defending? Sadly, more and more, the answer is no. 

America, indivisible, with freedom and justice for All. If you are not working toward that goal, then today is just a day at the beach. If you want an America that is strong and united, then what we have been doing the last 24 years is not .

It is time to ask yourself, would you risk the life of your child for the thing for which you are fighting.

Would you risk their life for your full SS Payment? For more benefits for the poor? Would you risk their lives to get bigger tax breaks for the top 1 or even Top 20%? Would you risk their lives for a death penalty? Next time you vote, ask yourself, would I be willing to risk my child's life for the programs, policies, AND character of the person for whom I am voting? If not, is that really the right vote for me? 

There are things, worth asking the men and women of our military to die for, everything else should be open to compromise. 

So celebrate the men and women who fought for our ideals, our safety and our nation, but do not forgetthem tomorrow. Tomorrow start asking yourself about what is so important that you would put your child's life at risk and conduct yourself accordingly.

Let's Play "News, Not News, Fake News"!

Okay Team, I am getting really tired of all the Bullshit that people get nuts about. Some is actual news, some while true, isn't really news and of course some stories are pure fabrication or so devoid of the truth that it is...well, fake. 

Here is how we play:

1 present a story from some "news site" or some body's twitter/Facebook feed, you tell me if it is News, not news, or Fake News I give the answers at the end. 

Here is an example: the Holocaust never happened.

Answer : FAKE news.

If the story has some kernel of truth  it is not news it is fake news

Since it is my blog, My say is final, but YOU can make a case for your answer in the comments section. Got it? Good let's start:

1. Trump's budget is going to deprive Senior citizens and others services of "Meals on Wheels".

2. Trump Fired Comey because, Comey would not swear allegiance to Trump personally.

3. Trump may have fired FBI Director Comey because he would not stop investigating Flynn.

4. The AHAC (a/k/a "Trumpcare") will cause millions to lose their health insurance

5. The AHAC  repealed Obamacare, 

6.Trump exposed secret intell to the Russians.

7 Trump refuses to read his foreign policy and intelligence Riefenstahl reports.

8. Trump gets 2 (THAT'S 2) scoops of ice cream for dessert, everyone else only gets one!

9.The size of President Trump's inauguration audience was less than President Obama's

10. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called for ____________ 9fill in the blank

Answers:

1. Fake News

2. Not News

3. News

4. Fake News

5. Fake news

6. Not News

7. News

8.Not News

9. Not news

10. Definitely Not News.

Disagree? Let's here why in the comments below.

Just When I Thought I was Out, They Pull Me Back In

I thought my long rant time was up. Obama made ranting here useless because let's face it, he was horrible, but he wasn't my problem. Moreover while not a AGOTUS Holder fan , ( and very disappointed in Loretta Lynch) from a criminal law point of view, and with Obama's pardoning long term drug offenders, my general issues kind of wained and so this blog started to fade.

Of course some personal things came up, like my Wife's Scleroderma worsening, and my finally closing solo practice to join a law firm with younger lawyers who think I have wisdom that comes with advancing age and greying hair. My move to Raiser & Kenniff PC has made me happier and frankly has given me a bunch of new goals. I always loved being a lawyer, but I do not always like running a practice, but that's now my younger partners' problem. I am focused on federal criminal and civil rights law. I do strategic litigation, teach CLEs and write legal method articles. It's been fun. Then...came Jeff Sessions... the rants began to build within my gut, and before I knew it, I was planning on restarting the blog!

Maybe the long time away will return me to form but a few things have not changed. I am still outspoken passionate and will still write in my voice. I hope my friends like Denis Kennedy Tom Mighell, Dan Hull, Carolyn Elefant and others will start reading me again. I was an early adopter of blogs, and social media such as Twitter, and Facebook. I have outlets, but no matter where I publish, what I say here represents me and my views.

So let's look at the week in the legal news:

1. FBI Director James Comey is Fired by President Donald Trump...just typing President Donald Trump leaves me wondering WTF happened while I have been away..,

Well there is very little for me to add to this  clusterf*** but here are a few thoughts. I am not a fan of Justice by press release. Judge Comey, was just wrong to get into last year's election in any way shape or form. No doubt it was NOT the reason he was fired some 6 months later, but frankly, Obama should have done it in July of '16.

Look people, our Constitution has a mechanism for ridding us of a criminal President. It is called impeachment. Comey only dirtied up the waters, and he was wrong. I understand WHY he did it (Thanks again AGOTUS Lynch and Slick Willie Clinton. Talk about a brain fart, Loretta, really???)
Anyway, Comey needed to go. That aside, Trump fired him for a bunch of reasons: A. He was letting Trump twist in the wind on Russia-gate. B. He was getting too much Press, nobody should get more Press than Trump! (Now Trump telling  NBC's Lester Holt that Comey was a "showboat" defines Hutzpah. It was funny in a cringeworthy way. Can Trump possibly be that unaware? Apparently, yes.)

Now because he has "People" around him, one of the geniuses (my money is on Kushner or Conway) realized that firing the lead investigator WHILE he is investigating you is a bad optic. So they go to Sessions, and he gets a ridiculous hit job letter from his toady Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein to write an excuse that if Trump stays on message will give him a reason for the firing that in no way fooled anybody but might have moved the discussion along. The failure to take Trump's Twitter account away, and his general life experience however left no doubt that he was going to screw up his staff and prove to everyone he had the biggest balls in the city by announcing the firing was his idea, his call, and his decision. Now let's see, in one set of tweets and an interview he screwed VP Pence, his whole Press team, Sessions and Rosenstein.  The sad thing is, his supporters don't care, which is the most F***ed up thing I've ever seen in 50 years of following American politics. Somehow Trumpsters decided this megalomaniacal billionaire is the underdog AND is looking out for them. I mean seriously, how angry can you be, being a mostly white American. You want to be pissed, imagine you are born into India's lowest caste.  These Trump folks are pissed they do not have more?!
 Anyway, I smell a problem coming and it will get ugly quickly, however, the stakes are high. If Trump's new FBI director can get his decision about Russia-gate done within 8 months, and the GOP holds firm on the special prosecutor issue, Trump could come through midterms with a veto proof Senate and an enlarged majority in the House to help him break Obamacare and get his budgets through. If it goes badly, the house will belong to either the Dems or the Freedom Caucus, and the Senate will see even more divisiveness. I doubt the GOP holds the Senate, which could mean impeachment could be on its way.

2. AGOTUS Sessions has ordered all his acting US Attorneys and their assistants to go back to charging the highest count they can get, justice be damned. He wants them to seek charges that seek out mandatory minimums and he wants them to seek max time. The Neo-con Drug Warrior is back to grab one last gasp.

Okay I am on record for being against Mandatory Minimums, overcharging crimes, the Drug War and Jeff Sessions, but I have to wonder, after almost a decade of lower crime rates, and saving a load of money by NOT jailing non-violent offenders, why we would change courses mid stream?

Well it's not JUST because Sessions is a redneck curmudgeon who hates poor people minorities and immigrants, nor is it because he has small hands and looks like an elf. It's because... Sessions is on the payroll of the private prison industry! Yes, money is pouring into Sessions  pockets! GOP pockets and possibly other pockets. The industry has hired TWO , TWO former Sessions political employees. What would they be lobbying an AG about do you think?  These two guys have poured over $100K into Pro Trump Super-Pacs. I think the Press needs to ask more questions about these two guys, and look into Sessions too. Of course, with so many things happening, it is hard to believe they will. Nevertheless, guys JUST FOLLOW THE MONEY!!!

3. I've found Pinterest!

Follow That Lawyer Dude for healthy recipies. Tonight I made my Turkish Paprika Kicken Chicken. It was phenomenal!