JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG

WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL RICHARD E GERSTEIN JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG. THIS BLOG IS DEDICATED TO JUSTICE BUILDING RUMOR, HUMOR, AND A DISCUSSION ABOUT AND BETWEEN THE JUDGES, LAWYERS AND THE DEDICATED SUPPORT STAFF, CLERKS, COURT REPORTERS, AND CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS WHO LABOR IN THE WORLD OF MIAMI'S CRIMINAL JUSTICE. POST YOUR COMMENTS, OR SEND RUMPOLE A PRIVATE EMAIL AT HOWARDROARK21@GMAIL.COM. Winner of the prestigious Cushing Left Anterior Descending Artery Award.

Thursday, September 17, 2020

RAGE AND CHAOS

 A few random thoughts heading into the weekend, starting with the new Bob Woodward book Rage. 

The hero of Rage, the account of the Trump Administration that starts with the beginning of Trump's term is retired General Jim "Chaos" Mattis. "Maddog" was a media nickname that Trump seized on that appealed to him. Chaos was his military call sign because of the chaos his unconventional ideas created on the battlefield for the enemy. 

Rather than being some uncontrolled military maddog. Mattis comes off as the only adult in the room. Well read, historically knowledgeable, Mattis spent a considerable amount of time trying to educate the ignorant and undisciplined commander in chief of the value of alliances. Along the way, as Trump and North Korea brought the world to the edge of a nuclear conflict,  Mattis began to contemplate the unthinkable- recommending  a nuclear response to North Korea's bellicose use of ICBMs - some of which had the potential to strike deep into the United States.  A work group was formed that met electronically whenever any North Korean missile launch was detected.  Mattis had a second car follow him wherever he was. The car didn't carry security personnel. Rather the car carried the equipment necessary for him to join the meeting when a missile was launched. When in DC he slept in gym clothes so he didn't have to dress if he had to rush to the Pentagon and he had a blinking light installed in his bathroom in case there was a missile  launch when he was in the shower. When a launch was detected Mattis led the group that had to decide what the trajectory was; whether the US was threatened; whether the missile had a warhead on it and whether Mattis should order the launch of missile interceptors and alert the president about whether a nuclear response was needed.  Mattis didn't sleep much. 

Here is a quote from what Mattis thought about Trump's public criticism of America's foreign alliances. America needed allies: "It was inexplicable to think otherwise. It was indefensible. It was jingoism. It was a misguided form of nationalism It was not patriotism.

The second hero from the book- another adult in the room- was Secretary Of State Rex Tillerson, who comes off more seasoned and prepared for the job than the media portrayed. When both were announced as nominees Tillerson invited Mattis to dinner where Mattis proposed a collaboration. Tillerson would be out front on foreign policy and Mattis would have his back. He would stay in the shadows as he revamped the military but always be ready to back up Tillerson with the might of America's armed forces if needed. Neither of them contemplated what would undo both of them- a president who tried to run world affairs through Twitter. 

OTHER THOUGHTS

We have in the past criticized the NFL for it's jingoistic approach to nationalism. Football games did not need to start with jet fighter flyovers and ultrapatriotic displays. Real patriotism was not something that was worn on a sleeve. In the same way that we view real charity- it is best done anonymously so the act is real and not done for any other purpose like publicity.  We recently learned that the US armed forces paid for those NFL pre-game demonstrations. 

Now things are worse. We have two anthems when we should have none. We have more displays about a player's personal views of society when none of that matters or should matter. Of course during times of crisis, a show of national unity- like what occurred after the assassination of JFK or after 9-11 is appropriate. But we should not be subjected to how some player, who most likely did not graduate college and perhaps in their private life cheats on his family- feels about racism or socio-economic issues. They have every right to express themselves on social media. We do not appreciate their views being forced on us. And when we say "their views" we mean the views of the owners, the players, the coaches, the trainers, whomever. We call for the end of both anthems at the start of every sports game. Most fans are standing around chatting, sipping their beer, and otherwise ignoring the anthem anyway.  The Miami Dolphins had it right last week when they called the NFL's show of concern for racial unrest in the US as fake. The Dolphins refused to participate- unfortunately that carried over to their offense during the game. 

There is still chatter of judges trying to start jury trials before it is safe to do so. We do not confine our remarks to Miami. This includes areas of Florida where judges had to be threatened by CJ Canady to wear a mask in court or he would personally file a JQC complaint. The same counties where sheriffs refused to enforce mask requirements and made statements that Covid was fake news.  It is those counties where lawyers will be forced into court and risk their lives to try a DUI or resisting without violence case and we will be watching, ready to pounce- blog wise. 


21 comments:

Fake Judge Elect Rosy Aponte said...

This blog is rite. Covid can be given by air and microwaves so i urg all of you readers to ware masks when eating microwaved foods and when talkeing on the cell phones.

Anonymous said...

The genius of the Fake Rosy comments, so well illustrated in the last comment in the previous post about jury trials for PVHS is that there is an underlying assumption she is clueless because she has no experience so that she is arguing about jury trials for PVHS. The misspellings are just a bonus and is based on her illogical and poorly (porley) written pleadings.
Please keep it up. Best blog character in a while.

eyeonshumie said...

Rare shumie appearance on prior comments section clocking klock for lumping him in with anti rosy forces.

Rally For Rosie said...

Rump there will be a "Rally for Rosie" at the civil courthouse steps Friday at noon. Enough is enough with these snide comments. She appeals to the unwashed masses. Masks will be required. PLEASE DO NOT SHOW UP WITHOUT A MASK AS YOU WILL BE ASKED NOT TO CHANT AND TO LEAVE
The chants will be
NO EXPERIENCE NO ETHICS NO WORRIES WITH ROSY
AND
ROSY WE LOVE YOU
A light snack similar to prepackaged foods served on airlines (pretzels peanuts etc) will be served after the rally. Participants are encouraged to bring their own beverages and water bottles it is hot out.

Fake Joe Klock said...

I'm handling the permitting

Anonymous said...

Ah yes. The heroic and ascetic general, full of wisdom and perspective, frustrated by the egomaniacal president. And why in God's name would Trump listen to the military? Think of their brilliance: Vietnam and the idiotic excursions into Iraq and Afghanistan. And imagine if Lincoln had taken their advice? Might want to re-read The Best And The Brightest. Or better yet, spend a day in DC and read each name on the Vietnam Memorial or look at videos of our current crop of vets who are missing arms and legs. I ain't buying it for one second.

Anonymous said...

Trump is gonna win.

Fake Judge Elect Rosy Aponte said...

To all my Hebrewish brothers and sisters out there, I as a minority women am part jewishness and such I will celebrate new years eve tomorrow by the traditional pig roast that is part of our traditional end of year jewishness dinner. The tradition is that we take the hoof and leave it on the door and then at Easter the bunny will not go in the house with the pigs hoof on the door, or as we say in Israeli "passover" the house which is another jewishness tradition that I and my other minorities celebrate in spring time.

So good happy new years to all and to all a good news years nite.
Also as soon as I am a reaal judge there will be no court on jewisheness end of years day. Because I am sensetetive to minorites as I myself am one.

Fake Judge Elekt Aponte said...

This Kawse, hoving been brought to the Court upon my sua sponte moshin, do hearby deklare the blug of RUmpole to be in cuntemt. And I award Joe Clock damages in the amount of 794 dollars. oh and for pain and suffering yuo also gonna get another 500 bucks. Maybe I'm gonna dew triple damages depending on my mood, so rumPole you better behave.

Ordere from my iphone this Serptember day of 17th, 2020.

Rosy " your colored judge" Apont

the trialmaster said...

Who will be the next vastly unqualified candidate to run against an Anglo long respected sitting judge and win based solely on his/her last name? Let the bottom feeders line up trying for a huge pay raise. Aponte is the worst candidate-judge elect ever in this state, and probably the country.

Anonymous said...

2 absolutely unacceptable covid actions: trump playing down masks, and biden playing up fears a vaccine wont be safe.

Rump, you have done the easy thing in criticizing trump. Will you cross ideological lines and point out how dangerous it is for everyone for biden to hype vaccine fears?

Anonymous said...

What's the point in hiring the most expensive lawyers out there if you're still going to call them incompetent after they lose?

https://news.yahoo.com/polo-multimillionaire-went-prison-over-162000562.html

Tony Moss said...

Tony Moss said...
"[W]e should not be subjected to how some player, who most likely did not graduate college and perhaps in their private life cheats on his family- feels about racism or socio-economic issues." Priceless.

What you imply, Rumpole, is that one has to be a moral and educational paragon in order to have a valid perspective on the issues facing this country. That is utter and complete nonsense. Considering that you are speaking of a league in which 75-80 percent of the labor is African American, the racial implication of your statement is as transparent as a freshly-washed window, and even more disturbing.

I agree that we can do without the hyper-patriotic displays at NFL games. They're one of many reasons I have divorced myself from the league and refuse to watch its games. But your perspective is as racist as anything I've ever seen on this blog, and I refuse to allow it to go un-addressed.

Anonymous said...

So yeah...anybody see the JNC list that was just sent up?

Anonymous said...

Thank you Mr. Moss.

Anonymous said...

You obviously did not play football....you ha e to be quite smart and quick thinking to play that game. No, I am not joking.

Rumpole said...

Tony. Thanks for contributing. I clearly said the players are welcome to their views on social media. When I pay for a ticket I don’t want jingoism forced on me by owners. And I don’t want social commentary from players most of whom are ignorant and spoiled. You want RB Peterson who beat his kid with whips telling you how to act in public ? I don’t. Anyone and everyone can speak out on social issues. I choose to listen to intelligent and educated people. You don’t have to. If you want some 350 pound okie who chaws tobacco and hasn’t been out of his small town or ever seen a Jew or black telling you about protestors in Portland. Good for you. I don’t tune into games to see idiots tell me how to think. That’s my opinion. That I put out on social media. You can choose to read it or not. The market place decides. No one else.

Tony Moss said...

That's exactly what people like you once said about people like Tommie Smith, John Carlos, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Muhammad Ali, and others who sacrificed in support of a greater cause than scoring buckets or touchdowns. How does history regard those men now? And you have the audacity to suggest that this tradition of Black athletes reaching beyond the gridiron or the court is "forcing" adverse views upon you? After all the adverse views and images that have been scarred into our collective psyche?

And in case you didn't consider it: perhaps that "350-pound Okie" you refer to just might have a thought or perspective on the country he's living in that merits consideration by the rest of us. How condescending of you.

Rumpole said...

Tony not only is that a great point, showing why you are the great litigator you are, you have bested me. I have for years touted the greatness of Ali and his bravery in standing for social justice What Tommy Smith and Juan Carlos did in Mexico as I watched as a young boy was tremendously inspiring. Jabbabr and Russell- you are right and I was not.
With your permission I am going to put together a post and use your response. You have given me a whole lot to think and re-think Its not consistent for me to admire Ali and Smith and Carlos and criticize players today.
It's not often I am wrong. But I blew it big time. Well done sir.

Juan de Jesus Gonzalez said...

This is the blog at its best! A thoughtful exchange of ideas on a controversial topic by intelligent, learned lawyers, with one ultimately persuading the other. This blog is a great medium for a number of things but the exchange between Rumpole and Tony by itself proves its greatness.

Tony Moss said...

Rumpole, I just read your response a few minutes ago. By all means you have my permission to post the response in tomorrow's blog, and I look forward to continuing the dialogue.