And seemingly deflating more each day. Thrice Pulitzer winner Thomas Friedman is a journalist who has made some very astute observations, as in his From Beirut to Jerusalem and The World is Flat.  But like many of us, Friedman has also loudly and persistently advocated some very bad positions.  Both because of his influence and the importance of the causes he has championed, good and bad, one can debate whether at this point Friedman is a plus or minus player in the grand game of whole life hockey. […]

Jack Weinstein, one of the greatest judges in American history, placed himself on inactive status eight days ago at age 98, after 53 years on the federal bench.  Until that day, February 10, 2020 Judge Weinstein carried a full load of cases – and a lucky load it was – for the litigants and their champions.  How is Jack Weinstein great?  Let others count the thousands of ways (and they will) but allow HL to mention a few personal and idiosyncratic. […]

Among the greatest political quotes of the 20th Century was Ross Perot’s October 19, 1992 presidential debate retort to Bill Clinton’s constant citation to his success in addressing problems that confronted Arkansas and its governor.  Perot, a Texas billionaire, when that was a lot of money, said: “I grew up 5 blocks from Arkansas . . . It has a population less than Chicago or Los Angeles . . . [w]hat he did as governor of Arkansas is irrelevant.” […]

The liberal world is divided about the efficacy and fairness of standardized testing.  But a valid standardized test with a single question will be on the Maine ballot in November – one that will accurately measure the gullibility of those who answer it.  Will you vote to return Susan Collins to the United States Senate for a fifth term? […]

Each of us had a first reaction when hearing Trump sex worker Alan Dershowitz respond to a Ted Cruz question with the answer “If a President does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment.” […]

HL 90 is in praise of a certain sister and brothers over 70 years of age.  It is really not about whether the quintet of septuagenarians seeking the presidency (Warren, Trump, Biden, Sanders and Bloomberg) are too old for the job nor whether some among them are geriatricaly unfit. […]

The trade press headline read “Apple Pay . . . Tramples Google Pay and Samsung Pay.”  But the story was ignored in mainstream press such as the New York Times.  There the headline was “This Man May Be Big Tech’s Biggest Threat.” […]

How can we possibly compare Roger to Donald – despite the former being more lovely and temperate?  Let HL count a few ways and with all apologies to W. Shakespeare, E.B. Browning and K. Cobain. […]

Most lawyers and teachers of law know and have a responsibility to explain to others that lots of pure hogwash, pretending to be law, is being stated over and over again during the impeachment hearings. Two, stated ad nauseum, and particularly pernicious, because the repetition apparently has gotten some who should know better to repeat them, are that circumstantial evidence is not admissible and probative and that a President can fire “at will” government officials “at any time for any reason.” […]

Chief Justice John Roberts is about to emerge as a major player and possibly the closer in the last perilous year – give or hopefully take a few months – of the Trump presidency.  There is a slight bit of ambiguity and doubt in the prediction.  The Greatest Closer had failures to say nothing of his allowing Trump to exploit him.  That despite Trump’s constant slurs of Latino immigrants like him. […]