Random legal thoughts on a sunny and unbearably muggy May Wednesday…
I am having mixed thoughts on BAR-BRI, which for those of you fortunate enough not to be familiar with the law school process is the most widely-used bar prep course in the country. On the one hand, the books that you get seem to be detailed and helpful. On the other hand, the video lectures I force myself to go to every day are unbearable. All they really do is say the same damn thing the book says, with an example or two thrown in every now and then to justify their being paid to talk to a video camera. Also, this course is ridiculously expensive. My advice: find a way to buy the most current books possible and skip the lectures. Trust me, your ears and your wallet will thank me later.
Speaking of law school, let me give you all a piece of advice: DO NOT BOTHER WITH IT. If you think you maybe, kinda sorta want to be a lawyer, don’t waste your time or money. The aggravation associated with law school is not worth sticking yourself in a 50+ hour-a-week career that you might not really want. The money may be good, but will the misery and toll it will take on your personal relationships be worth it? Maybe if you are a sociopath, but not if you are a somewhat normal human being.
But what if you really want to be a lawyer? Are you one of those people that thinks that the law will allow you to change the world or bring about some sort of justice? Well get that thought out of your head now, kiddo. 95% of the law practiced today is complete bullshit, not to mention that the reason we have so many lawyers is that the bullshit has become law. You want to become a public defender or a criminal defense attorney? Have fun with that, but realize that most of the clients you get are going to be guilty as hell. If you go the PD route, that means a career of haggling about plea bargains and technicalities with the DA’s office when a vast majority of your clients are guilty and deserve to go to jail. Want to be a transactional attorney? Congratulations, you are one more monkeywrench in the system, breeding more cost and inefficiency into a system that is already overflowing on both counts. Your whole career will be based on creating reams and reams of worthless pages so that you can milk as much money out of your clients as possible. If you can sleep at night without half a bottle of Ambien after bleeding someone dry like that, well then good for you.
Even the 5% of law that isn’t total bullshit is still mired in such stupidity that it almost isn’t worth it. The two things about the law that make up this 5% are prosecuting crime and wills and estates. Wills and estates are so wrapped up in arcane rules and traditions that the only reason you need a lawyer to take care of those things is to make sure you don’t screw up some technicality that renders your last wishes void. What should be as simple as you writing down who you want your stuff to go to and signing it has become a hassle, filled with complications and statutory hurdles that make no sense. Even prosecuting crime is filled with idiocy. You have to enforce stupid laws passed because some interest group has control of some legislator’s reelection fund. That sure sounds like a blast, doesn’t it?
The worst breed of lawyer though is the trial attorney. They come in all forms, from the slip and fall/car crash guys who’s ads you see during Springer or Maury during the day, to the big time guys like John Edwards who make millions turning tragedies into chances to milk as much money as possible from corporations, doctors and insurance companies. Are some of them guilty? Sure. But most of them are only slightly and remotely related to what happened. They are only there because they happen to have money. And money is what these scumbags are really after, not any sort of justice.
So you are probably asking yourself “well smart guy, what exactly should I do”? To put it simply: find a real job. Find something that you are good at and you enjoy doing, something that actually contributes some good to this crazy world. And I am not talking about joining the Peace Corps. or becoming a public school teacher. Do not fool yourself into thinking that living off the taxpayer is somehow some high calling. It isn’t, it makes you a looter. Take whatever skill you have, refine it, make it marketable. Take whatever work you can find in that area, build your experience level. Save your money and then branch out on your own. You’ll do more to contribute to the world by providing a needed service of excellent quality and expanding your business and providing jobs than you ever will in any public service career.
So after calling out a beauty pageant contestant for giving an honest answer to a sandbag question, it appears everyone’s favorite parasite can’t stand the heat and has decided that his little rant on Ms. California is “copyright protected” and should be taken off of YouTube.
Everyone has already taken him to task that is going to for saying what he said, and quite frankly I have nothing new to add to that discussion. But what I do have to say is have some pride and take the criticism like a man, even though it seems from your public persona that masculinity is not your strong suit. So what if you are taking some heat from people. You use Microsoft Paint to run a gossip website!
One more thing Mario. I hope you didn’t pay someone to come up with that “copyright infringement” crap. There is this little thing called “fair use” that is kinda applicable here. Even your buddy (and gay marriage non-supporter) Barack Obama should know that one, and he spent his entire law career writing a book about himself.
Between the election in November and my final exams last semester, I was mentally wiped out. My brain was teetering somewhere between Slater’s in Dazed and Confused and Tyra Bank’s in terms of not only creativity but basic functioning. Around the middle of January, I tried getting myself back in the groove, thinking that a month away from putting words together in coherent form was enough to get the batteries recharged. Obviously that month became two, now three.
With all that is going on right now, not just in the political world but the sports world, how can I not bring myself to write anything? With the three-ring circus that now occupies DC and Spring Training in full swing (filled with more classic A-Rod moments), I should have carpal tunnel syndrome. I spend countless hours every day reading story after story (gotta spend my class time wisely), and yet every time I sit down and log into this site, I stare at a blank text box for a while and then give in to the mental blockage that is holding me hostage. I feel like one of the cops chasing Jigsaw in the Saw movies; every time I clear one hurdle and think I have finally captured the creativity that eludes me, I fall victim to another trap.
I keep saying that I will get back into it. But I realize that writing (especially for free and with no deadlines) is a process that you can’t force it or you end up with things like National Lampoon’s movies, Linkin Park albums or Andrew Sullivan columns.
With that in mind, I think I can finally get back into the swing of things. Maybe I need to take the approach that pitchers take in spring training, building up my pitch count over a few weeks until I am at full strength and ready for the season. At the rate things are going, I am going to need all of it.
In my daily cruising of the Internet these days, it’s impossible for me to not see an article about how certain industries need to be saved for the good of us all. Monday was no different when I came across an op-ed from the NYT about how to save the newspaper industry by turning them into nonprofits with endowments. While the authors make a valiant effort to state their case, the argument is so flawed that I feel compelled to respond.
The first issue that I took with their article was the complete idiocy in their use of the Thomas Jefferson quote. I am sure the authors realize that during Jefferson’s time, the only way for the public to get information aside from books was newspapers. To think that a forward-thinking man like Jefferson would bemoan the death of what is now the least effective means of getting information to people is laughable. In fact, I am pretty sure that if he were to comment on today’s information channels, his highest praise would be for the Internet and it’s ability to instantly send information around the globe and give citizens an amazing ability to become engaged in everything from politics to knitting.
Another problem with their argument for saving them is they completely ignore the idea of creative destruction. Since free markets have evolved, creative destruction has played a key role in continuing the evolutionary process of our most successful industries. Under normal circumstances, an industry uses a process until a newer, more efficient one is developed, at which time the old one is scrapped. Businesses that follow this model tend to stick around; those that cling to the old way of doing things tend to wither and die. I’ll give you two guesses as to which route the newspaper industry has taken.
Also, the idea that newspapers can be saved by going nonprofit and being propped up with endowments is laughable. There is a reason why colleges have endowments: rich guys like to help out their alma mater, which in turns helps them. Maybe it’s a spot for their kid, maybe they get to rub elbows with people richer and more powerful than they are or maybe it’s to get an edge on recruiting employees. Whatever the reasons, they are doing it to get something out of it, even if it is just good press.
Which leads me to my final point: if the authors are so concerned about newspapers keeping their objectivity, then endowments are the worst idea possible. Money buys influence, no matter the setting. Do they not think that someone pumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into a paper might be able to swing the coverage to his/her liking, or in some cases kill stories all together?
The only solution to the current crisis newspapers face is for them to go the way of the cassette tape and laser disc: extinction. Only then can the monetary and human resources be redirected to a more sustainable venture.
It seems as if Congressman John Conyers just cannot bear to live without Karl Rove in his life. He’s trying once again to get Karl Rove to come to DC and get grilled about the perfectly legal firing of Justice Department attorneys and the bogus “Rove set up the governor” scandal. I’ve already said my piece about these issues here. I guess my question now is: when will the media villify Conyers by turning him into McCarthy or Ken Starr? After all, those guys are EEEEEVIL and they were actually pursuing real crimes that were committed.
Remember when everyone was so excited about the California recall? Remember when people couldn’t wait to replace Gray “lights out” Davis with Arnold Schwarzenegger? I wonder how many of those same people are counting the days until the Governator’s craptastic time in office is over with.
If you’ll remember, back then Arnold campaigned under a banner of fiscal restraint and easing the burden on taxpayers. Since he took over, the deficit has ballooned to over $40 Billion. So far, the only restraint the good people of California has seen is the legislature and governor restrain themselves from taking every dollar out of their wallets. Well, Arnie is at it again, this time wanting to raise and expand the reach of the state sales tax.
When is he going to get a clue? California has been bleeding businesses and residents for years now due in large part to high taxes. In fact, they are probably going to lose a seat in Congress after the 2010 Census. The more Sacramento taxes, the faster folks are fleeing.
At the rate it is going, California is going to collapse like the government of Iceland.
It’s time the people of California deliver an ultimatum: fix this mess by slashing the budget and cutting taxes, or get the hell out and move in with Uncle Ted.
So, Bill Kristol and the folks over at the Big Hollywood blog have decided that while drive-by insults can be fun, it’s more fun to have a lengthy discussion where you prove to everyone that your opponent is an absolute idiot.
It seems Matt Damon called Kristol an “idiot”, and we have all heard the choice words he had for Sarah Palin. Well, Bill has decided to take the high road. Rather than trade insults in the press, he wants Damon to “put up or shut up” and debate him in a public forum. Kristol and BH have even put up 100K for the charity of Damon’s choice if he has the sack to attend.
So, Matt, do you have the stones to show up and attempt to talk in a civil fashion with the opposition?
Today, Hillary Clinton officially got confirmed by the Senate to be the new Secretary of State. Two, yes that’s right, TWO GOP senators voted against her. During her hearings, when they bothered to show up, the Republicans made no effort to ask anything other than softball questions like it was a Barbara Walters interview instead of a Senate confirmation hearing.
While she isn’t the worst choice Obama could make (despite a lack of real FP experience), you’d think that the GOP would at least think about looking deeper into the Clinton financials. After all, we didn’t even get the dates or exact amount of donations!
I always wondered what one party rule would look like, I guess now I know.
