Rush to Judgment

What’s the Rush?

Do it Right this Time

What’s the rush to hold a vote on Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the United States Supreme Court?

The Senate Judiciary Committee scheduled a hearing on Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s

 accusations of sexual assault against the nominee for this coming Monday. Dr. Ford’s requested a short delay and rules to ensure a fair hearing and her safety. Grassley already rejected her request for an FBI investigation into her allegations but has offered to have the hearing next Wednesday with questioning to be conducted by an independent lawyer. Dr. Ford is still considering this offer. Committee Chairman Sen. Charles Grassley seems hell bent on getting the distraction caused by Dr. Ford over with so his committee can vote to confirm Kavanaugh’s nomination and pass it on to the full Senate. 

This is no longer 1991 when Prof. Anita Hill leveled sexual misconduct accusations against another Supreme Court nominee, Clarence Thomas. Hill’s appearance before the same committee in that year played out on TV and showed the nation what little regard the male Senators had for issues of sexual violence against women. Some of the same Senators who dismissed Prof. Hill then still sit on the Judiciary Committee today and we will soon learn if they have made any progress on women’s issues in the decades that have passed. 

Dr. Ford’s life has already been turned upside down after she revealed her claims publicly in an interview with the Washington Post. She has received death threats, had her email hacked and had to leave her home for the safety of her family. She has every reason to request an independent investigation into her allegations so that there is more than a “she said, he said” record before the Committee hearing. While Kavanaugh’s original FBI background check has been completed, all President Trump has to do is ask that it be re-opened to include Dr. Ford’s claims. So far, Trump has failed to make that request.

Prof. Hill correctly pointed out in an opinion piece in the New York Times on Tuesday that the Senate lacks any kind of protocol for handling claims like those she and Dr. Ford have made. She suggests the outline for one that makes a lot of sense and would take much of the partisanship out of the process.

Prof. Hill suggests that Senators make both claims of sexual violence and the integrity of the judiciary priorities and craft rules that acknowledge the importance of both. Next, she proposes that a neutral body, well versed in sexual violence cases, be tasked with investigating the claims and issuing a report for the Committee to use when it develops questions for a fact-finding hearing. The Committee should also rely upon advice from experts in the field of sexual violence as the hearing unfolds to avoid many of the myths often raised to counter women’s claims, like the “failure to report, therefore she’s lying” claim Trump made Friday. Hill joins the voices calling for a delay in the fact-finding hearing so that a proper investigation of Ford’s claims can be conducted. Finally, Prof. Hill suggests calling Dr. Ford by her name and not referring to her as an accuser or other loaded terms. 

Unfortunately, Prof. Hill’s suggestions are likely to fall on the tone-deaf ears of highly partisan Senators who need Judge Kavanaugh confirmed before the Supreme Court’s new term begins on the first Monday in October, not to mention the mid-term elections that take place a little over a month later. The shaky GOP Congress does not want a slew of 4-4 votes from the Court when a clear 5-4 majority is close at hand. 

There are substantial downsides for the GOP rush to confirmation looming as well. Confirming Kavanaugh’s nomination without holding a meaningful investigation and a fair fact-finding hearing on Dr. Ford’s claims will further alienate suburban women who are already jumping from the GOP ship in droves over Trump’s treatment of women. If the male-dominated Senate pushes Dr. Ford aside, many of those up for re-election in the up-coming mid-terms will not fare well in the backlash.

The #MeToo movement and the passage of time since Prof. Hill was raked over the coals must have had some impact on those in the Senate with any compassion for women who have suffered from sexual violence. Hopefully, Senators Collins and Murkowski will join with Sen. Jeff Flake and slow the train by voting “no” if Kavanaugh’s nomination comes up for a speedy confirmation vote in the full Senate. The ten democratic Senators facing re-election in states that Trump won will have to stand strong as well. A dismissive treatment of Dr. Ford’s claims will make that an easier vote for them all. 

We have reached a pivotal moment in our history. We will soon see how those we elected to represent us choose to treat women’s claims of sexual violence by the prominent and important. They need to start taking women seriously. 

Trump's Troubles

Turning on Those You Trust is Dangerous

Secret Recordings Come to Light

President Trump’s longtime personal attorney and “fixer,” Michael Cohen, secretly recorded some of his private conversations with Trump. When the FBI searched Cohen’s offices, home and apartment, they seized lots of recordings. Cohen’s attorney recently released one of those recordings and it reveals a conversation between Cohen and Trump where they discussed how to buy and bury a story from a former Playboy Bunny who claims to have had a sexual relationship with Trump before he ran for President, but after he married his current wife, Melania.

Trump long denied knowing anything about efforts to hide the Bunny’s story and Cohen’s lawyer released the recording to counter Trump’s current claims that Cohen should not be believed. Trump badly needed to make Cohen out as a liar because it appeared that he was changing sides and cooperating with prosecutors looking into many of the Trump family enterprises. 

Trump then tweeted about how unusual and illegal it was for Cohen to have recorded their conversations. He asked, “what kind of lawyer records conversations with his client?”

As a former criminal defense lawyer, I can make an educated guess why Cohen would have recorded conversations with Trump. Having represented people with mental health issues, a heavy dose of “I can do no wrong” and a less than firm grip on reality, I can tell you that many with those afflictions will gladly turn on their lawyers when their cases go south. Hoping to save themselves, they try to implicate their lawyers with prosecutors anxious to sweep up criminal activity with a broader net. Defendants caught with the evidence against them try too often to offer up their lawyers in order to avoid a lengthy stay behind bars. When the conduct of the client and the lawyer approaches or crosses legal or ethical lines, it is even easier to tempt prosecutors with the defense lawyer’s scalp. 

Experienced lawyers understand what’s involved in representing prominent, but mentally or morally challenged, clients in high stakes matters. They know that one day the advice they gave may come into question and often seek protection by secretly recording their private confidential conversations where strategies are discussed just in case the client later tries to blame the lawyer for the client’s actions. 

Cohen’s recordings were completely legal where they were made. New York law allows for secret recordings when just one party to the conversations, Cohen in this instance, consents to the recording. Wisconsin has a similar rule. Any ethical duty not to disclose the otherwise confidential contents of the recording vanishes when they are legally revealed to others or when the client later makes claims against the lawyer that can be contradicted by the recording.

Trump’s continued attempts to distract and deflect attention away from his own behavior just makes his situation worse. He will soon pay the dictator’s price for following the old patterns telling supporters that his is the only “truth” and all of the mounting evidence of his duplicity, venality and depravity is nothing more than “fake news.”

In Trump’s unreality world, Cohen just joined the conspiracy of false prophets already populated by the mainstream media, the FBI, Courts, Democrats, Republicans who are beginning to question his actions and the “rogue” special counsel investigating him. 

Republicans facing re-election bids in the upcoming mid-term elections have a tough choice to make. They stand with Trump at their peril. Moderate Republicans who have had enough of Trump are challenging them from the center in primaries and progressive Democrats are winning their elections with impressive numbers running anti-Trump, anti corruption, populist campaigns. If GOP legislators seeking re-election repudiate Trump, the financial support his team control goes away, leaving them swinging in the wind. Recent polling puts Trump’s approval rating at an all time low, making their choice all the more difficult.

Trump’s days are numbered. The chief financial officer of the Trump family businesses who has been at Trump’s side for decades was just subpoenaed by the special counsel to appear before the grand jury investigating allegations of criminal activity. He knows where Trump’s money came from and where it went.  He’s a cagey sort and I would not be surprised to find out he has secret recordings too and a second set of books detailing Trump financial dealings. 

Trump is learning the hard way that trusting people and then stabbing them in the back is dangerous business. 

Beware the Federalists

Federalist Society Judicial Ideologues

Injustice Rules

Supreme Court Justices were originally envisioned as impartial arbiters of what the United States Constitution required when disputes arose between people or those between people and their governments, large and small. The Justices are supposed to be legal scholars and put themselves above the partisan fray of their times. The nine who sit on the highest court in the land, after all, have the final say in those disputes they choose to resolve. 

From time to time in our nation’s history, the Court has strayed from its lofty mission of impartial decision maker and become a player for one side or another, diminishing its stature and credibility as a result. We are now caught up in one of those times. Partisanship does not become the blindfolded lady Justice.

The latest assault aimed at capturing the Court’s power and prestige was launched decades ago with the formation of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies. It has become one of the most powerful and little known organizations in our political system. 

Funded by libertarians and conservative business interests, the Federalists have for years been recruiting and training lawyers to become judges in our state and federal courts. Those recruited are groomed to be conservative legal thinkers bound by the literal texts in constitutions and amendments. They give no room to modern notions of constitutional interpretation that take social and cultural changes into account when making important decisions. 

Take the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution for example. It was written to allow slave owning white citizens to keep arms against possible slave insurrection at a time when the average muzzle loading rifleman was at the top of his game if he could get off one shot a minute. Federalist literal constitutional interpretation of this Amendment makes ignores the facts that no one can own slaves anymore or that AR-15 rifles with high capacity magazines and bump stocks can deal death at hundreds of shots a minute. To these limited legal thinkers, this translates easily into banning most forms of gun control legislation as a violation of the original text. 

Our whole system of law is designed to maintain the status quo and apply the brakes to legal innovations. Unfortunately, the maintenance of things the way they are is not sufficient for the Federalists who want to return to a time long past when hierarchical gender roles were clear, white supremacy was the law of the land and government was supposed to stay out of your business.

With the election of conservative legislatures and executives, Federalist judges in waiting have finally achieved their nirvana. With Trump acolytes in control of the Senate, we will soon see a solid majority of Federalist trained or sympathetic Justices in control of the United States Supreme Court. 

Conservative controlled legislatures in state and federal governments will soon pass more laws challenging established precedents involving abortion rights, civil rights, gay rights, women’s rights, voting rights and many governmental regulations setting up disputes for final resolution by the U.S. Supreme Court. 

The Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade provides another example. It established a framework to end illegal abortions and save women’s lives. It did not allow unlimited abortions on demand, as many countries do. It has been used to strike down state and federal laws that limited access to early term abortions. We will soon see outright bans passed in many so-called “pro-life” states and the challenges to them will ultimately be heard by the Federalist dominated Court where they will receive a friendly reception. 

The only potential brake on the wholesale revision of constitutional law the Federalists embrace is found in an often-overlooked canon of judicial interpretation known as “Stare Decisis.”  Simply put, it means the Court should not overturn a prior decision of the same body unless there is a compelling reason to do so. A decision must have been so wrongly decided in the first place that no present court would make the same decision. As with most rules governing interpretation of the laws, there are many exceptions that the Federalists will use to rid us of those pesky precedents they do not like.

This brings us to President Trump’s recent nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court. Judge Kavanaugh brings not only impressive Federalist Society credentials and experience, he also penned an impressive law review article advancing the startling proposition that a sitting president should not be subjected to criminal investigation or prosecution for illegal acts committed in office. For Judge Kavanaugh impeachment is the only remedy. This had to be seen as a “get out of jail free” card for this president. 

Needless to say, the partisans will pull out all the stops to pressure those few GOP Senators who don’t fear Trump’s tweets and those Democrats elected in Trump country.  It should make for an interesting confirmation process in the Senate. Stay tuned.

Immigration Atrocities

Immigration Atrocities Must Stop

Separating Children from their Parents is Inhumane

The Trump Republican Party’s assault on basic human dignity and respect for the family continues unabated. Every time I think they cannot sink any lower on the depravity scale, they take it further down by miles.

Ours is a country made great and strong by immigrants who came to our shores seeking freedom from religious or political persecution and a better life for their families. My first immigrant ancestors came from Germany in the 1700s and settled in upper New York State. They farmed and became prosperous. They joined the Revolutionary Army and fought with Washington to repel British rulers and undo unfair taxes. My wife’s Brewster ancestors came to Plymouth, Massachusetts on the Mayflower and stood up for religious freedom that came to be enshrined in our founding documents.

Wave after wave of immigrants came to America and helped build our cities, railroads, canals, and many other mechanisms of economic growth. Many who came spoke no English and had no education. They took the jobs no one else who had already gained a measure of security would take. Those immigrants brought their families to a better home than they left.

One of the dark sides of the immigration epic found its way into our history when those who came before and gained some success looked down on some of those who came later as less worthy or less deserving. The newcomers had to knock down these barriers and show their worth before becoming accepted by those several generations off the boat. Sometimes they had to organize into unions to make sure the doors stayed open to continued upward mobility.

Another dark side of our immigration history is found in the treatment of people of color by the Anglo-European majority. The involuntary immigration of those stolen from Africa aside, immigrants from Asia and South and Central America, with skin tones yellow to brown, faced additional hurdles. They tended to settle in Chinatowns and Little Havanas in major cities, seeking the protection of racial isolation.

All of the injustices visited on these later immigrants, pale in comparison to the newest atrocities being imposed upon immigrant families who seek safety and a better life by the Trump administration. It is made worse by the acquiescence of those Republicans in Congress who have the power to stop them.

Following the historical lead from dictators past, immigration authorities are now forcibly separating young children from their parents when the family units cross the border without proper permission. Those now effectively orphaned are sent far from their parents with no way of staying connected and housed in hastily converted empty big box stores set up with wire cages usually found in animal shelters. Their parents are not told where their children are being held and have no way to communicate with them. The damage inflicted upon these young humans by this treatment will stay with them for the rest of their lives. They and we can take little solace in the heartless solution offered by Attorney General Sessions, “if you don’t want to lose your children, don’t come here illegally.”

Not content with just tearing families apart, Sessions recently slammed the immigration door shut to many from south of our borders by announcing that fleeing from domestic or gang violence will no longer be accepted as a legitimate reason to seek asylum in the United States. The realities of domestic and gang violence in parts of Central and South America are well documented. Those who resist or fail to assist have legitimate fear of violent reprisals and have every reason to flee. 

These immigrants, along with many who come from Mexico without proper visas, are willing to roll up their sleeves and work in our restaurant kitchens, dairy farms, vegetable growing operations, and other occupations requiring long workdays and back breaking labor. They take jobs that most already here never apply to take. Why we shun people willing to work hard and become productive future citizens baffles me.

We have a representative in Congress who plays a central role in overseeing these and other immigration policies and has the power to bring a much more humane cast to how we treat those who come to our shores. Senator Ron Johnson chairs the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. He is in a unique position to stop the family destroying atrocities and establish legislative policy on who may seek asylum. Contact Sen. Johnson at 414-276-7282 and tell him to stand up to the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

We are engaged in behavior equal to the horrors of the slave trade we fought a civil war to abolish. It must stop.

Attorney-Client Confidentiality Has Limits

The Trump-Cohen Predicament

The FBI raid on the office, home, apartment and safety deposit box of Attorney Michael Cohen and the seizure of his files, hard drives and recordings sure has caused a lot of consternation in Washington. 

As a former criminal defense lawyer, I can say with certainty that to obtain judicial approval for a search warrant application targeting a lawyer’s office, any lawyer’s office, the prosecutor has to go above and beyond the usual showing that evidence of a crime is probably located in the place to be searched. The application must also show that the lawyer whose files and records are to be seized was both aware that the criminal activity documented in his files took place and that he was either directly involved in the criminal activity or that his services were being used to shield the criminal activity. 

These extra hurdles exist to protect one of the most sacrosanct legal protections, the confidentiality of attorney-client communications. The things clients tell and give to their lawyers are protected from forced disclosure so that the lawyer can expect honesty from his clients and be better prepared to defend their interests. These communications are protected first by the rules of evidence that prevent the information in the lawyer’s files from being used against the client in court and also prevents the lawyer from being compelled to be a witness against his client. The confidentiality of attorney-client communications is also protected by rules governing lawyer conduct and provides an additional barrier to disclosure of information the lawyer obtained from or about the client. 

Using these protective rules, some organized criminal elements began to hire lawyers to help them conduct illegal activity and protect against the lawyer becoming a government informer. Recall the days of the mob families with their lawyer consiglieries made famous in the Godfather and you get the idea.

In order to prevent lawyers from providing cover to or profiting from illegal activities by their clients, courts and legislatures changed the rules of evidence to add a “crime-fraud” exception to the attorney-client privilege and bar associations changed their ethical rules to prohibit the same kind of activity. 

The approval of the search warrant for Attorney Cohen’s files and documents added an additional level of judicial scrutiny because it had become well known that Mr. Cohen’s main client was the President of the United States for many years prior to his recent election and had continued in that relationship after the election as well. 

There is yet another layer of confidentiality in play. Normally, lawyers are loath to make public statements about representation of their clients. Making confidential information public, removes the privilege that otherwise might have prevented forced disclosure of the information. Additionally, lawyers do not usually make public disclosures about confidential information involving their clients without first discussing the pros and cons of the disclosures with and obtaining the client’s consent to the disclosures in advance. Once the Stormy Daniels door was opened, it could never be closed. 

Federal search warrants issued for lawyers’ offices involve yet another layer of scrutiny to protect confidential information from being disclosed erroneously. Federal prosecutors use “taint teams” of lawyers who are not involved in the case in which the warrant was used. These teams go through all of the information seized and make an initial determination which evidence falls within the scope of the underlying criminal investigation and then exclude from further examination or use by the prosecution team of evidence related to other clients represented by the lawyer and information unrelated to the criminal activity outlined in the warrant application. 

Attorney Cohen and other lawyers for President Trump asked the supervising judge in the case to let them have the first look at what was seized and make the call about what should be shared with the prosecutor. That request was denied, but the judge still has the option to appoint a completely neutral “special master” to either make the initial review or oversee the work of the “taint team” to make sure the privilege is not violated. 

President Trump’s attack on the FBI’s seizures as “un-American” and against the rule of law demonstrate just how worried he is about what Mr. Cohen’s files and recorded conversations might contain. Many suggest that the material seized may very well be more damaging to the President than anything that might come out of the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into Russian interference with the 2016 presidential election. So far, President Trump has avoided any direct connection to Russian election fraud even while campaign staff and other subordinates have been indicted and convicted of illegal activities. 

The saga got even more interesting when Mr. Cohen was required to identify his other clients so that the supervising judge could evaluate the scope of his privilege claim. He readily gave up the name of a prominent GOP donor who had retained him to make secret hush money payments to the donor’s mistress who had become pregnant. Cohen initially asked not to divulge the name of the third client, but the judge refused and ordered disclosure. The fact of a lawyer’s representation of a client is not confidential. Mr. Cohen then revealed that his third client was Fox News personality Sean Hannity, one of President Trump’s biggest supporters, who had been railing against the FBI seizures from the minute they took place.

The evidence sought by the search warrant included information related to the now very public payment made by Cohen to adult film actress Stormy Daniels just days before the 2016 election and to other “fixes” Cohen had undertaken on Mr. Trump’s behalf to quash damaging information from coming to light before the election. Federal charges of money laundering, illegal election campaign contributions, and others easily come to mind as possible criminal violations that could land Mr. Cohen behind bars and sweep away what remains of the Trump presidency as well. Time will tell.

#Enough

Student Survivors Leading the Charge

#Enough #Never Again

President Trump’s responses to the pleas from the student survivors of Florida’s most recent mass school shooting for quick action on gun control were inconsistent and nonsensical.

Arming teachers who, for the most part, have no interest in shooting people who enter schools is a non-starter. We are told there is no money for smaller class sizes, supplies for students, teacher salary increases or social workers. Where will the money for the guns and training come from? No one knows.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) had the guts to attend a town hall in Florida after the latest shooting and told student survivors he will gladly continue to take money from the NRA because they support his agenda of more guns everywhere. He did allow that maybe there was some sense in raising the age at which one can purchase a mass-shooting weapon from 18 to 21, but added that it required more study.

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) wants more information before considering gun violence reform. This rings hollow after he helped pass legislation that actually prevents the nation’s Center for Disease Prevention and Control from studying the causes of gun violence. The Washington Post just published clear studies showing that mass-shootings declined when the assault weapons ban was passed and went back up after it was allowed to expire.

Wayne La Pierre, the head of the National Rifle Association, spoke Thursday to a conservative political convention, claiming there was an evil in the land leading the fight to take away individual liberties along with our guns. He wants “hardened schools” with armed security guards to prevent intruders. He made no mention of the right to attend school without having to worry about weapons whose sole purpose is to kill as many as possible.

If the Florida high school mass shooting has any bright side, it is found in the cries and pleas of the student survivors. “Enough” and “Never Again.” They are marching to the halls of power demanding an end to the carnage from AR-15s in their schools. Similar marches and protests are being planned across the country. They just want to be safe at school so they can learn.

The student survivors recognize that we adults have lost the fire and the ability to bring about the changes needed keep them safe in their schools. They recognize what the problem is and whose responsibility it is to find the solution. In the words of Emma Gonzales, a Parkland student leader, “we call BS” to all the excuses and artful dodging. Their messages are clear.

It is time to end the sale of military style people killing weapons with their large magazines.

It is time for intensive universal background checks on all weapon sales.

It is time to put the safety of our future generations ahead of any right to own firearms.

It is time for our political leaders to stop taking money from the NRA.

Every political movement for social justice and peace in my life time has been lead by young people who see the problem, know the answer and “call BS” on those who stand in the way.

President Trump, the GOP leaders in Congress and those here in Wisconsin act at their political peril if they continue to ignore the student voices demanding common sense gun control reform. While they may not be able to vote this year or next, their time is coming.

Don’t try half-measures or platitudes. The Internet trolls won’t work either. The student survivors and those who don’t want to see the carnage first hand will continue to speak truth to power until change happens.

Those of us who rose up in earlier political movements have their backs and will lend a hand. I could not be more proud of the lawyers around the state offering free legal help to students disciplined by their schools for engaging in gun violence reform protests.

Change is coming on gun violence. Join in to help make it happen or get out of the way.

Waring Fincke is a retired attorney and serves as a guardian for the elderly and disabled with a Sheboygan county non-profit agency.

We Need Bi-partisan Solutions

What’s wrong with bi-partisan solutions?

Compromise produces solutions.

Ever since Newt Gingrich instituted the current GOP “take no prisoners” political strategy, bi-partisan solutions to the nation’s problems have gone nowhere.

Healthcare is the latest victim.

After the Senate failed in several attempts to repeal and replace Obamacare, President Trump issued an executive order purporting to end the subsidies paid to insurance companies that enabled lower premiums for coverage. The resulting outcry was swift and merciless.

Without the subsidies to make premiums affordable for millions of middle class folks, many would have to go without coverage. It turned out that as many as 70 percent of those receiving the subsidized premiums live in states that voted for Trump. Betrayal is a brutal political move.

Part of Trump’s message when he issued his order was that it was up to Congress to fix the problem. Congress is stuck. Not enough republicans can come to agreement on a fix. Ultra conservatives are still holding out for Obamacare repeal. GOP moderates are willing to look reality in the eye and reach across the aisle for help. Many democrats are stuck on a single payer, Medicare for All, plan and oppose anything less. Some are willing to cross the aisle to forge a short-term solution that at least maintains the status quo until a more comprehensive fix can be forged.

Enter Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) who put together a short term fix that would extend the premium subsidies for two years to keep people insured until a better plan can be enacted. It was a truly bi-partisan effort and gained co-sponsors from both parties, including one of our own Senators, Tammy Baldwin.

Trump initially supported the idea in phone calls with Sen. Alexander and public comments on Twitter, his favorite platform, and elsewhere. After pushback from those in the ultra-right like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and others, Trump appeared to switch course, claiming he could never support bailing out insurers.

It remains to be seen if the Murray-Alexander bill will command enough support to get out of the Senate and over to the House for a vote where it will have a much tougher row to hoe for passage. It does represent, at least, a ray of hope that bi-partisan solutions can still be found.

Our government works best when the people we elect to represent us are willing to compromise. We have a lot more in common and than our leaders think and are willing to recognize. Ideological purity is the single biggest impediment to progress and the ability to find solutions to common problems.

No single bloc in the American body politic commands a sufficient majority to exert total control over the reigns of government. Even with simple voting majorities in both houses of congress and a president of the same political party, republicans cannot command enough votes to advance an effective agenda. There is too much of a spread in the spectrum of the conservative right to get it done. Even with extreme gerrymandered congressional districts to support continued GOP rule, the spectrum spread will prevent a totally unified response to the issues we face.

It is time to put aside the labels of conservative, liberal, republican and democrat and to ask candidates who want to represent us in the halls of government how they plan to govern. Are you going to hew the party line or listen to all the voices? Are you going to seek real solutions to our common problems or let your personal preferences govern your decisions? Are you willing to work with all of your colleagues or just those in your party?

Our new era needs leaders committed to public service, not personal aggrandizement. They need to listen to the diverse voices of the nation, not just their isolated constituents. The need to work to see   the pressing issues of our time, not merely to align them with their own world view, but in a way that allows for input from all points of view to find a workable solution.

It is easy to stake out a position and claim its validity to the world. It is much harder to consistently re-examine that position in light of new facts or arguments and to be able to admit you were wrong and change your mind. We deserve leaders and representatives who are up to that challenge and willing to embrace it wholeheartedly.

Waring R. Fincke is a retired attorney and serves as a guardian for the elderly and disabled.

Protect the Dreamers

Protect the Dreamers

No Hate Allowed Here

Immigration reform has been a hot button issue since people started travelling to new places. We are a nation of immigrants and those who settled here in the first instance would claim that all those who came after them and took their lands are here illegally. We white folks settled those claims in the Indian Wars of the 1800s by brute force and genocide, but never you mind that part of our history.

The current effort to rid our shores of brown skinned immigrants was announced with a smirk by Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions this week. President Trump made the call, but left it to Sessions to announce the decision and he did so gleefully.

Former president Obama tried without success to fix immigration in Congress, but the republican majority prevented a comprehensive fix. As a last resort, President Obama implemented DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, to tackle what appeared to be an easy part of the problem. He protected the Dreamers, kids who were brought to our shores by parents who entered this country without proper documents.

DACA made it possible for the Dreamers to remain under certain conditions. Almost 800,000 received DACA protected status because they met conditions that include registration, proof of entry while a minor with parents without documentation, educational attainment or military service and lack of a criminal record. They paid a hefty fee for the privilege to boot. As adults with a protected status, they are productive members of our communities.

The average DACA recipient is 26 years old and came here at the age of six. Ninety-one percent are gainfully employed. One hundred percent have no criminal record. They pay $500 to renew their status every two years. One, a Houston paramedic, died rescuing people in his flooded city after Hurricane Harvey.

With the stroke of a pen, the Trump/Sessions administration took away DACA protection for these neighbors of ours, subjecting them to easy incarceration and deportation, unless Congress acts to solve the problem by next March.

The GOP controlled Congress has not been able to pass a single piece of significant legislation yet. Internal divisions between ultra conservative members of the Freedom caucus and more moderate GOP pragmatists have prevented House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell from advancing a budget, passing healthcare reform, or much of anything else. Tax code reform bills are next, along with funding the wall on our southern border, infrastructure repair and natural disaster relief measures. With all this on the congressional plate, and little GOP interest in talking with Democrats, comprehensive immigration reform or even protection for the Dreamers appears well beyond the horizon for consideration in this short period of time.

Make no mistake. This move is just another of the racially motivated actions by those currently in power to Make America White Again. Trump’s rhetoric and actions increasingly appeal to those white Anglo-Saxon evangelical racists who voted for him as he tries to shore up his political base against the rising tide of opposition from those in both parties and the Independent middle who fear further erosion of our democracy.

Former President Obama took the unusual step of weighing in on President Trump’s action and concluded his condemnation of it with the following:

“Ultimately, this is about basic decency. This is about whether we are a people who kick hopeful young strivers out of America, or whether we treat them the way we’d want our own kids to be treated. It’s about who we are as a people – and who we want to be.

“What makes us American is not a question of what we look like, or where our names come from, or the way we pray. What makes us American is our fidelity to a set of ideals – that all of us are created equal; that all of us deserve the chance to make of our lives what we will; that all of us share an obligation to stand up, speak out, and secure our most cherished values for the next generation. That’s how America has traveled this far. That’s how, if we keep at it, we will ultimately reach that more perfect union.”

We must protect the Dreamers just like many Germans did when they hid the Jews from Hitler’s thugs. We must stand up for our neighbors, friends and co-workers who share in the American Dream. Hate, prejudice and discrimination must not be allowed to triumph.

Waring R. Fincke is a retired lawyer who serves as a guardian for minors, the elderly and disabled.