Lawyers

After listening to too many hours of the convoluted legal back and forth in the Trump impeachment trial, it seems clear to me that most law schools have neglected to require a course entitled “Occam’s Razor.” (It often appears that lawyers, particularly those who are politicians, think their job is to complicate things.) I suppose that the reason for such an educational oversight might well be that it would short circuit the legal profession’s reason for being.

Trump's Tweets

It has become quite commonplace to complain about President Trump's overuse of his Twitter account. His personal and government lawyers are apoplectic at the complications he is causing by his compulsion to share his raw opinions with the world. Even Kellyanne Conway's husband, George, has joined the chorus of complainers ... probably to her chagrin.

Personally I have had no problem with Trump's tweeting out his contempt for the mayor of London's squishy response to terrorism or his disagreements with the liberal courts'  decisions that thwart his efforts to protect this country ... or his many other jibes ...  most of which I agree with. And, I also believe, that much of his voting base feels the same. After all he does have (a disputed) 20 million Twitter followers. (I am not one.) I also believe that much of our nation's media secretly relishes these early morning 140 character messages as they make for easy copy or talking-head tsk-tsking.

Yes, this is unconventional, but our president is an unconventional man ... and he is unlikely to change at age 70 ... for he has great confidence in what his style has produced. And who am I to argue?

The Grayest Lady

The New York Times can publish the deepest, darkest of our national secrets without the slightest compunction ... but, when it comes to hacked salacious e-mails between two SONY executives, it's reporters cannot even view them on-line unless they have been previously exposed by some other publication. How hypocritical can the Gray Lady get? Today on "Morning Joe" a reporter from the Times revealed that the lawyers there have forbade any its reporters from being the initial revealers of any of this hacked SONY information.

Perhaps, if the Sony execs were discussing how the U.S. was uncovering Al Qaeda operations, then things would be OK?

Memorable Lines

Tonight, in his State of the Union address, President Obama will deliver a number of memorable lines that will most certainly go down in the annals of history.  Here are just a few of them:

"The New York Rangers have crossed a blue line …"

"If I had a son, he should look a lot like me …"

"We will hunt down all those lawyers … and bring them to the Justice Department …"

"A nursery full of better clingers …"

"Albinos are just typical white persons …"

"If you like your Heath Bar, you can keep it …"

"If you’ve got a business like Solyndra, you didn’t build that …"

"It was all Bush’s fault …"

"You folks … don’t forget … I won …"

Just Whistle

Last time around Wall Streeters (such as Goldman Sachs) contributed the big bucks to the Obama campaign ... this time, not so much.  But stepping into the vacuum are the lawyers ... particularly the lawyers representing government whistle-blowers (see: New York Times Article).  So far, this one small legal cadre have coughed up $3 million to Obama and will likely come across with lots more before November.  These lawyers have benefit under Obama to the tune of roughly 40% of the $1.6 billion that the government has rewarded whistle-blowers under the current administration.

I am in favor of the notion that whistle-blowers should be rewarded for the job-risks they take ... however I don't think that their lawyers are quite so exposed.  Also, I question the advisability of politicians taking big donations from a group of lawyers who benefit greatly if and when your administration caves-in on any legal matters they bring (to my mind, something Eric Holder has shown himself capable of doing.).  And, finally, I am also compelled to inquire as to how much the whistle-blower(s) on the $535 million Solyndra fiasco received?