God I Hate This

Over the weekend I got a mailer from the SEIU telling me what a prick my congress man Zack Space for voting against HCR. Nearly contemporaneously Space sent an email telling folks that under no circumstances will he vote for lowering Social Security benefits (including raising the retirement age).

I called the SEIU this morning and got a person after several tried who said complaints was over there and sent me to a message machine. I called Space and told the person that given the SEIU mailer and his position on Social Security I would be voting for Space, although up until all this I was simply not going to vote.

I've been on a couple of blogs and made comments about the mailer, but no one has commented back on it.

My point is that it is a waste of money for the SEIU to send out something like this which will only depress the turn out of people likely to vote democratic in this house district, up and down the ticket. They could have spent this money on Mary Jo Kilroy in Columbus if they wanted to spend money in a congressional election in Ohio. I live in congressional district 18, Bob Ney's old district. The only real candidate running against Space is a conservative republican and if that candidate gets elected then he will be the representative here from now until the end of time (or until he is arrested, whichever comes first).

I didn't even go into the problems with HCR or about how it is a conduit for middle class income and taxes to be funnelled into the pharmaceutical and insurance industries in near unlimited amounts to help about half the people who are currently uninsured, fore instance.

But the over reaching point is that it seems that the union is not really thinking this thing through and has decided it must punish him for what is really a pretty poor reason, believe me there are a lot of reasons to dislike him. There are enough really serious problems with HCR, that this isn't one.

Unless of course it is a double reverse flip, and since HCR is so disliked sending out this mailer attacking Space for voting against HCR is a secret way to help him. Hmmmmmmmm?

UPDATE: Although my imput was important to them and they will get back to me as soon as they possibly can, they haven't been able to do so yet I guess they are pretty busy in the complaints and concerns section.

Banks And Bankers

Somewhere in the Ur part of my brain I keep wondering if all this torture and star chamber stuff isn't being kept on the front burner to keep the discussion off economics.

Digby has a nice post up concerning Greider's book.

I had a friend in law school a woman who had worked for Greenspan between college and law school. This would have been during the Nixon interregnum. She told us a couple of interesting things about Greenspan. First, that he had a lot of women working for him, mainly she thought, because he could pay women less then men at that time. Second, that all their projections were massaged to project success for whatever it was that Nixon was trying to do.

But, the most revealing and kind of sadly funny thing was that one year they had a xmas party in the offices and a prize was given to the employee who had made the most accurate predictions for the previous year. That person was the guy who ran the mail room.

Whenever I think about our economic situation, I think about that story.

My Day Job

So I do have a day job. I am a lawyer and today I had to serve a subpoena. Generally, I don't do it, but because I was brought in at a late date I had to go deliver it. I've done it before, but not much.

Today was interesting because the guy literally ran away from me. He had told me on the phone that he was afraid that the other party would hurt his family if he testified against them. It's a divorce with a couple of thousand dollars floating around for god sakes. I am beginning to believe my client who tells me that burned houses and dead pets follow the soon to be ex. Certainly the witness thought that and he has known the opposing party for most of his life.

The family home had burned down. Well there was some question as to whether or not it was marital property and whether or not the insurance money should go all to my client or be divided. My client took the money (before he had hired me) cashed the checks paid off the mortgage and then took the remainder (all in cash, about $50,000.00) and ......................... he testified and told me and everybody he put it in an envelope and put it in a mail slot he thought went to his previous attorney's office. As far as I know no one has seen it since. Or at least nobody admits to seeing it since.

The other side and the court are not thrilled with my guy and for some strange reason they do not seem to believe him. All I can say is that is the story he told me too.

So any way I'm sitting in my office with my client and his father in law (who is on his side) and not really believing much of what I'm being told. Then I get some outside information and all of a sudden my client seems much more believable.

In the mean time I'm sitting here thinking holy cow and I hope my dogs are not out where anybody can get to them. Of course on top of everything else I've been given four years of various financial information today, to go over. Something I haven't been able to share with the other side, as one is supposed to do. Some fun tomorrow.

Yoo and School

Well let's see the dean of Yoo's law school has decided that his tenure should not be revoked. How convenient.

Yoo was not a "decider," he only recommended that our rulers violate all our previously upheld norms of civilization as far as torture was concerned. Much like a lawyer for a mafia family.

Under the ABAs ethical standards, if a client comes to me and tells me that he wants to kidnap and torture that young child from next door, I am required to notify the police immediately. No not just that, if he tells me he wants to kidnap and torture that child molester from next door I am also required to notify the police immediately. I am not permitted to suggest ways and means of accomplishing these future acts which are clearly criminal.

Now if a client came to me and told me he had already committed a crime I could help him devise ways and means of beating the rap at trial. But even then I couldn't suggest that he do something to alter the evidence, like destroy some. Because, that would be a future crime.

No one in the media seems

WAIT OBAMA SAYS PEOPLE ARE BITTER

Ethics

Went to an ethics training over the weekend. They are always fun because you find out what you shouldn't do by what outrageous stuff others have done. Fore instance, I discovered that I should not assault the judge, at least while the trial is in progress. If one does one can get suspended. I should not tell my client or their family that their gene pool needs a better filter, at least not in writing. I shouldn't tell the judge to shut up in court either. Also, I should at least try to appear sober when I go to court.

Good to know.