It is of course a violation of every known law on earth, as well as common decency, for Rumpole to read the FACDL listserv. The listserv is private and the contents are intended for their own, dues paying, members, who like an exclusive Boston Back-Bay club, do not want just anybody on their premises (and especially the author of this award-winning blog).
And yet, an FACDL member posted a "Response to Rumpole" which in turn promoted several of the FACDL Member-moles to immediately send it to us. So much for the distaste for snitches.
So here it is. Unedited. A zinger. A response. Written to us, but forbidden fruit- which is of course the sweetest.
Listmates,
I agree with 99.5% of "The N Word" of a few minutes ago. Let's get that on the record. But the last sentence? I've got a bone to pick with that one:
There are judges in Iran and North Korea shaking their heads at this decision.But George Wallace, in whatever ring of Hell he resides, is smiling.(emphasis mine)
Here's what I know, guys: 1) There's no such thing as hell, but that's another discussion for another day. 2) If there were, then George Wallace did more to redeem himself from its fiery pit than maybe any other politician of his former ilk.
Unlike Lester Maddox or Farris Bryant or Jesse Helms (or too many others I could name--some of whom hold office today), George Wallace actually recognized his wrongs and repented. Would it have ever happened if Arthur Bremer hadn't shattered his spine at that shopping center in Laurel, Maryland, in 1972? We'll never know..
But after his rehabilitation, when he returned to office, he not only apologized for his past positions--frequently and publicly--but his policies and appointments were much more humanized, much more sensitive to the realities of his black constituents, than those of most other Southern governors of that era, aside from Jimmy Carter (who, from where I sit, will always be the gold standard). As he was often quoted, "I never knew what it was like to live as a minority in this country until Ibecame one." (This is not just anecdotal--I know this from people who were there and saw it up close and personally.)
Old images do die hard, I understand. But I no longer hear the name "George Wallace" and picture an icon of hatred standing in a schoolhouse door. Instead, I picture him behind his executive desk, in his wheelchair, humbled by his experience, but all the wiser for it, and willing to use the power of his office to make amends as he could. By all accounts, the state of Alabama was all the better for it.
To paraphrase Maya Angelou: He did what he knew.. When he knew better, he did better. I can think of no greater epitaph. We should all aspire to the same.
Tony Moss, Esq.
10 comments:
Wallace was a complicated man. His entire segregationist schtick was motivated not by his contempt for black people but by his absolute hatred of white, rich, northern liberals. He had a reputation as a liberal judge in Alabama and lost the governor's race in 1958, running as a moderate/liberal on racial issues. He vowed never to be "outn******d again." As one commenter claims, his presidential campaigns were always about stirring up class resentment and vowing to give "barbed wire enemas" to activist judges and putting anti war protesters in jail for treason. I checked the Alabama governor's race votes in 1982. Wallace received over 90% of the African American vote. If he were such an evil racist, why would the very people he supposedly hated vote him into office?
Nice Tony. The ideas of redemption and forgiveness (and changing to do better) seem lost in these times.
My dear Mr. Moss. You have never appeared in Broward, on a Monday, on a trial calendar, representing a first offender in small case- say a small amount of drug possession, or even more common-a young person of color accused of a robbery where the video exonerates them, and have the prosecutor ask for a lengthy prison sentence. You have never experienced the sneering condescendence of the prosecutor, the absolute indifference to justice of the judge, the absence of comradery among the defense bar.
If you had, you would change your beliefs. There is my dear Sir a hell. And it resides less than twenty miles north of our REGJB. It is the Broward County Courthouse.
Yours etc.,
H. Rumpole
Blog Proprietor
I love you rumpole and the above comment is 99% why.
Rumpole - who was a better trial lawyer in front of a jury?
Richard Sharpstein or Roy Black?
Did Anwar Zayden die? Miami Beach legend.
Who was the very best female Judge in the past 50 years?
Roy has certain talents- a photographic memory- that places him in a category by himself. But thaSt is not to diminish Sharpie, who was as good as it gets.
Best Female Judge? Fredericka Smith is very underrated. She was a real pro. Doesn't get talked about enough. I know I am forgetting someone else. It will occur to me and I will write another comment.
Richard was the best. The real question Rump is who could get retained on Sunday night and walk into court on Monday morning, announce "ready" and wing it and look like a superstar. It's Richard, hands down. Honorable mention goes to Eddie O'Donnell who I think did this on every case. As for female judges, let's not forget Lenore Nesbitt.
Brady cheating scandal- volume ??XX?
The ball was switched. He used a small magnet in the core of the new ball and activated an electromagnet in the cup. MIT analysis of the ball bouncing on the green shows 1- the ball moved in an unnatural manner towards the cup; 2- the club hitting the ball struck it at an angle that could not have placed spin on the ball sufficient to make it move in the manner indicted on the replays.
Another inglorious chapter in the Tom Brady thinks the rules do not apply to him.
Also- every ball in play by every player was auctioned off for charity. Except the ball Brady used on the shot where he holed it from 100 yards.
When asked, he said he was keeping it. When someone requested to inspect it, he laughed and walked away.
Show the ball. Prove he's innocent or not.
#bradycheatedatgolf
#Bradycheatedagain
trending on twitter.
Barbara Levenson didn't let people get away with bullshit. Katie Pooler was cool.Diane Ward was good too.
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