Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
JUNE 22, 2020 – In my first year of practice, I handled “misdemeanor prosecutions” under my firm’s contract with a small suburb. Most cases involved traffic violations, though occasionally a bar scofflaw produced disorderly conduct charges. I usually negotiated deals but drove harder bargains in DUI cases. Several went to trial, which I relished for …
JUNE 21, 2020 – Current anti-police sentiment reminds me of my own run-in with the cops eight years ago. My clients were the board members of a local mosque. They were battling a faction that had been previously ousted. My people—the “good guys”—were smart, reliable, educated, and struggling hard to make something of themselves here …
JUNE 20, 2020 – As the professor in tweed lit his pipe in front of us 10 students that first day of “The History of Western Civilization,” no one could’ve foreseen the future (three-and-a-half-years later): me in disguise, shoving a gigantic whipped cream pie into the prof’s face. A still-shot of that scene would cap …
JUNE 19, 2020 – “This is where they died,” said Tom. I knew immediately his reference . . * * * Between classes one morning barely a month into my freshman year of college nearly four years before, I checked my mailbox in the basement of the Moulton Union. There I found a letter from …
JUNE 18, 2020 – (Cont.) – Among the “rascals” was Tom, a middle school classmate of mine whom I hadn’t seen since I’d been sent to boarding school eight years before. We hadn’t been particularly close friends, but we’d been together in band (Tom on trumpet; I on drums) and track (he, the sprinter; I, …
JUNE 17, 2020 – On our drive yesterday in the full splendor of early summer, we passed a column of dump trucks lumbering in the opposite lane toward a road construction zone behind us. The trucks reminded me of the summer when I drove one. I was between college and law school and looking for …
JUNE 16, 2020 – June’s half over. In 15 days, the year will be half over. Time for three prognostications about the rest of 2020. Two are based on business phone conversations I had yesterday; one turns on recent news stories about Trump. The first conversation was with a banker client of mine. He’s in …
JUNE 15, 2020 – At the Red Cabin we have a TV but only for watching movies the old-fashioned way—via DVDs. But soon after my wife bought a large antique cabinet with doors and mounted the TV inside, we got used to the cabinet and forgot all about the TV. A year ago, though, we …
JUNE 14, 2020 – Well, I’d had what I thought were big ideas. Yesterday, my wife and I drove up to The Red Cabin for a few days of respite from the world as it is being depicted these troubling times. Some awful stuff. In the rush to get out of town, we forgot to …
JUNE 13, 2020 – Covid-19 and the murder of George Floyd, Jr. remind us again that we can’t handle more than two big stories at once. (The economy and the November election are sub-stories of the two main stories.) Actually, one big story: Covid-19 is hanging in there by the string of a face mask …
JUNE 12, 2020 – I’m grateful for my Trump-supporting clients. They bring out the better angels of my nature, and perhaps this rapport models how our nation might avoid wholesale rupture. There is no magic to my conversations; no special formula, no complicated blueprint. Just two things: 1. Money; and 2. Mutual respect. First, the …
JUNE 11, 2020 – Wind is caused by differences in atmospheric pressure—a high pressure system battling it out with a low; or when two people with sharply contrasting opinions have a shout-out. Yesterday brought a lot of wind to our neck of the woods. Oops! Bad choice of words. I meant “golf course.” After escaping …
JUNE 10, 2020 – . . . young kids will still ask long before the halfway mark of a long road-trip. Likewise, two weeks into the post-George Floyd, Jr. era, we white-liberals behind the wheel can’t help but ask the same: “Are we there yet” in ending our nation’s legacy of discrimination? It’s the inevitable …
JUNE 9, 2020 – Yesterday I read about “the cop’s” first court appearance. Upon seeing his lawyer’s name—Eric Nelson—I thought, “Here we go again!” I just can’t get away from Nelson—or from the other downtown Minneapolis lawyer, Eric Nilssen—who . . . get this . . . is the new Minneapolis City Attorney. These incompetent …
JUNE 8, 2020 – As the train of justice hurtles down the track and we privileged folks decide whether to (a) jump aboard; (b) jump out of the way; or (c) get run over, I must sing the praises of the baked potato. The track isn’t smooth, so in walking through the carriages toward the …
JUNE 7, 2020 – If relaxed curfews now allow us to catch our collective breath, we’re not out of the woods yet. We might well be facing more serious danger ahead—too little reform too late; another case of overt police brutality; some other flashpoint, starting with the prosecution of the four Minneapolis cops. All four …
JUNE 6, 2020 – On the way to our cabin recently, we saw a huge, road-side sign that read, “HOME OF THE FREE BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE.” Honestly, the sign didn’t remind me of today–the anniversary of D-Day, start of the Allied invasion of Normandy to drive Hitler’s Wehrmacht back to Germany; an operation that …
JUNE 5, 2020 – I’d just sat down to write today’s post, when “ding”—another email arrived. The author was our good Czech friend, the inimitable Dr. Pavel Šebesta from Prague. The email was his first to me in eons. It was classic Pavel—pithy and packed with news and questions. Attached were bonuses . . . …
JUNE 4, 2020 – Recently, my wife’s extended family lost one of its elder stateswomen—Carol Piper, married to my mother-in-law’s late brother, Bob Piper. Carol was a favorite of mine, of everyone in the ever-expanding family. She died at 93 after a life well lived. Born in the U.P., she moved “south” to Chicago for …
JUNE 3, 2020 – An attorney I know often quotes Voltaire famous line, “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.” The lawyer’s point: by pressing too hard for perfection, you risk blowing the deal that your client desperately wants. At the same time, you must touch all the bases and home plate to score, …
JUNE 2, 2020 – How will the current chapter of our history read? There’s no script, no pre-determined outcome. There are signs, however, of what could well unfold. Not to sound melodramatic—which means the exact opposite: to sound melodramatic—but current dynamics in our body politic prompt thoughts about revolution. And I’m not thinking ala the …
JUNE 1, 2020 – Facebook isn’t for the thin-skinned or those of tentative conviction. Personally, I swim hot and cold with it. On one hand, I’m entertained, informed, and enriched by it. On the other hand, like the title figure in Finding Nemo, I’m habitually looking for trouble and . . . finding it. Last …
MAY 31, 2020 – Instead of Netflix over the last three evenings, my wife and I have watched “Riots in the Street,” starring . . . people in the streets. Fortunately, thanks to Governor Walz’s leadership, last night ended differently from the previous two. Exhausted by the ongoing crisis, my wife retired early. I stayed …
MAY 30, 2020 – The charge, trial, sentencing, and execution of a black man—where a single police officer, given free rein by his three fellow officers, served as police, judge, jury, executioner—took mere minutes, end to end. It will now take a collective, herculean effort to tame the beast of chaos. That people outraged by …
MAY 29, 2020 – We live at the center of the Twin Cities, with downtown Minneapolis six miles one way and downtown St. Paul equidistant the opposite way. Yesterday brought more destruction in reaction to the killing of George Floyd. From our back yard amidst bird chatter and spring fragrance we heard the regular wail …