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Executive Orders

January 5, 2016

There’ll be a hubbub about executive action / orders by the time you’re reading this post. That arrogant, pompous wimp of a POTUS we have right now—does anyone else wonder how President Obama can be, at one and the same time, a king and a dictator and a skinny, wimpy dude who doesn’t have the cojones to stand up to anyone—will issue an Executive Order regarding guns in America later today.

From my perspective the Executive Order—a highlights sheet has already been posted—will do little, and ought to bring forth little controversy. Others will surely disagree. Here, and because it’s Law Day at MRW, I want to focus on the basis for presidential authority to act.

Executive Orders have been

executive orders, guns, president, President Obama

Law, The Rest of Everything

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Excited About Beinart and Frum? Not Me!

December 24, 2015

Mark Rubin

My Left-Leaning friends are very excited about two long essays in The Atlantic: Why America Is Moving Left by Peter Beinart, and The Great Republican Revolt by David Frum. (The Frum piece led the Wednesday Curator post a couple of days ago.) Me? Not so much! Messrs. Beinart and Frum are smart guys, fine writers, and professionals. (I am not a professional commentator, and that’s all I have to say.) At best, though, their theses have been oversold.

The cover page for Mr. Beinart’s essay carries this subtitle: “Republicans may have a lock on Congress and the nation’s statehouses—and could well win the presidency—but the liberal era ushered in by Barack Obama is only just beginning.” Alas, amongst about 7000

David Frum, Democrat, Peter Beinart, Republican

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Terror, Perspective, and Consistency

December 10, 2015

Mark Rubin

I promised thoughts about terror, including notions of perspective and consistency. My thoughts are many, and may be a bit jumbled. Apologies in advance.

I heard Peter Beinart on NPR this morning. The story is titled ‘Atlantic’ Article Explores How Obama Thinks About Terrorism, and it’s an interesting interview. (The Atlantic piece is here, and it’s worth reading.)

I have slightly mixed feelings about the whole approach to terror in these times. First off, he who talks toughest will almost always win the first round of any debate. We’ve all got an id, and for many it’s highly developed. Put differently, for many the following words—they belong to Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tex.)—sell:

We will utterly destroy ISIS. We

gabrielle giffords, guns, second amendment, terror

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Guns and the Second Amendment

November 30, 2015

Mark Rubin

In almost 21 months at this site, I’ve only written two posts that focused on guns and the Second Amendment. One of them, Guns: Embarrassed and Ashamed!, was posted less than three months ago, and its title tells you everything you need to know about my not saying enough about the problem of guns in America.

The Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting prompted this post. Three dead. Several others will survive. The alleged shooter’s motives are not clear, although some evidence suggests a relationship between his views on abortion and the situs.

President Obama said “enough is enough” after the shooting. He and many others have used the same words, too often, with no evident change in the

colorado springs, guns, second amendment

Law, The Rest of Everything

The Wednesday Curator – 11/24/2015

November 24, 2015

Mark Rubin

Peter Beinart wrote Why Obama Is Standing by the Syrian Refugees, posted at The Atlantic on November 23. The path we’ve been following—and remember, the nativism we’ve been witnessing began long before shots were fired in Paris on November 13—should embarrass everyone. Unfortunately, embarrassment does not seem to be evident among a majority of our fellow citizens. President Obama reminds us, constantly, that we must rise above the ugly, and Mr. Beinart documents the situation very well.

Note that nothing about surprise. Jeffrey Toobin explains why the current mood falls well within the contours of our national history, in Two American Answers to the Refugee Question for the New Yorker on November 24.

I very much enjoyed Reimagining Journalism:

Wednesday Curator

The Wednesday Curator – 11/4/2015

November 3, 2015

Mark Rubin

It’s hard not to ignore the train wreck that was last Wednesday’s Republican candidate debate. (Trying to find the World Series game before dinner in DC, I happened on the intermezzo, between the kiddy-debate and the main event.) Ryan Lizza’s piece, The G.O.P.’s Outlandish Debate Proposal for the New Yorker on November 2, provides some context for the situation as it stands now. Then there is Tierney Sneed for Talking Points Memo on November 3, with How The Debate Debacle Could Backfire On Republicans. The election is only 371 days away, and the A game ain’t playing, anywhere!

You know, I really wasn’t placed on this planet to annoy my Far Right friends. Really! That said, I must

Wednesday Curator

2015 Elections

October 15, 2015

Mark Rubin

Believe it or not, what with all of the noise—and so much of it is just that, noise—about the 2016 elections, we have a substantial number of elections in the Tucson metro area on November 3, 2015. I don’t often comment on local matters, but I’m making an exception tonight/today.

Before I proceed, I need to bring up name-dropping. You’ll see references to several people in my comments, along with disclosures about my relationships. I’m not bragging on who I know, truly. Because I’m a lawyer ethics jock, I don’t have it in me not to disclose any and all information someone ought to know.

The Tucson City Council has three seats on the ballot, and Mayor Jonathan Rothschild is

The Rest of Everything

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No Government Shutdown … I think!

September 25, 2015

Mark Rubin

John Boehner Will Resign from Congress is today’s big story. This is big news, of course, although it’s not surprising news, at least to me. The third paragraph in the New York Times story sums up Speaker Boehner’s legacy very well:

The Ohio representative struggled from almost the moment he took the speaker’s gavel in 2011 to manage the challenges of divided government and to hold together his fractious and increasingly conservative Republican members.

So here are my predictions: (1) There will be no government shutdown; and (2) we may see progress before October 30 on a number of issues that matter.

There will be no government shutdown. I’m more comfortable with this prediction. Speaker Boehner has observed, mostly,

Mitch McConnell, Speaker John Boehner

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The Trust Account

July 21, 2015

Mark Rubin

On April 14 I wrote Attorney Fees, a piece about the several types of fee arrangements between clients and their attorneys. I did not, however, discuss the trust account, an essential part of the fee relationship.

In many businesses service providers and sellers of goods receive deposits. Take, for example, a custom furniture manufacturer. You want a dining room table and chairs. You select the style, wood, and finish. You place your order. You’ll probably have to send a 50% deposit, with the balance due on delivery. What happens to your money? To the bank it goes, where it’s comingled with rest of the money the business takes in. Fire at the plant? No insurance? Pennies on the dollar

trust account

Law

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The First Amendment (and Donald Trump)

July 6, 2015

Mark Rubin

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution states: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” Today’s lesson involves “abridging the freedom of speech” and nothing else.

The text of the First Amendment only refers to Congress making no law. However, the Fourteenth Amendment bars states from making or enforcing “any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States,” and also precludes any deprivation of “life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” Bottom line?

Donald Trump, First Amendment

Law, The Rest of Everything

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