1223

 Friday, December 23, 2022

In bed around 10:30, up at 5:30, one cognac.  8 below zero, wind out of the West at 26 mph, wind chill -34.

War Against Civilians  I think of the millions of civilians in Ukraine who are struggling to endure winter without electrical power.  I recall the 26 hours or so Geri and I were without power during and after our last wind storm when we had candles, flashlights,a supply of emergency water on hand, a roof over our heads, and a warm house to shelter in without missiles targeting us.  Then I think of the Ukrainians.  And the Russians who are inflicting this suffering on mothers and children, old men and women, who they say are their fellow Russians.  How do we not consider Putin, his soldiers, and his followers barbarians?

A painting I did during the Balkan Wars

Too clever by half is a phrase I first became familiar with from an old friend, fellow former Marine, fellow Vietnam vet, fellow Irish American, and fellow law faculty member Tom Cannon.  It describes a person who by attempting to be clever outwits himself.  I thought of the phrase as I listened to news coverage of the lawyer prepping Cassidy Hutchinson for her interview and testimony to the January 6th Committee.  Stefan Passantino resigned from his law firm yesterday when news of his advice to Hutchinson emerged.  Lawyers preparing a client for testimony in court or in a deposition routinely advise the client not to volunteer anything, to answer the questions truthfully but don't volunteer testimony.  Indeed a not uncommon objection to testimony by a witness on cross-examination is that the witness is 'volunteering' evidence, not simply responding to a question asked.  Another common and necessary instruction to the client-witness is 'don't guess.  If you don't know the answer, say 'I don't know. If you can't recall, say I can't recall.'  But the standard invariable instruction is "Tell the truth."  Passantino, a shanda fur die goyim, went way over the line in prepping Hutchinson, basically advising her to testify that she didn't recall an incident when she did recall it, though wasn't sure about small details.  And much more shaping of her sworn testimony.  More basically, he violated the most basic rule in a lawyer-client relationship, knowing who the client is and his duty to that client and only to that client.  Passantino was being paid and represented the interests not of Hutchinson but of Trump and the 'Trump world."  [Lord Brougham in Queen Caroline's Case: "[A]n advocate, in the discharge of his duty, knows but one person in all the world, and that person is his client. To save that client by all means and expedients, and at all hazards and costs to other persons, and, amongst them, to himself, is his first and only duty; and in performing this duty he must not regard the alarm, the torments, the destruction which he may bring upon others. Separating the duty of a patriot from that of an advocate, he must go on reckless of consequences, though it should be his unhappy fate to involve his country in confusion."]  Passantino advised Hutchinson that (1) she would not be charged for his services, (2) there would be no engagement letter, (3) the source of funding his representation would be disclosed after the end of the representation, (4) that she was to 'protect' Eric Herschmann, and (5) her job was to protect the President.  Perfidy.  In serving Trump and 'Trump World', Passantino stands an excellent chance of losing his license to practice law.  He used to work for prominent Republican law firm Michael Best whose president and 'chief strategist' is former Wisconsinite and former Trump chief of staff Reince Priebus.

Weather Watch.  The temperatures never got up to 0 today, wind chills all day in the -20 to -30 range.  The cold didn't deter Lilly from her frequent outings but it definitely shortened them.  The extreme cold also affected the behavior of the birds' behavior.  Snowbirds who normally feed only on the ground under the feeders fed on the tube feeders and the suet cake where normally they never show up.  Chickadees normally fly up to the feeders at jet speed, nab one seed and dash away to a nearby tree to enjoy their take.  Today, chickadees splitting the seed husks on the posts they perched on, so they wouldn't waste precious energy flying to and from the nearby trees.  Geri and I stayed in all day and hope to do the same tomorrow when the temperatures and winds should be almost as nasty as today's.  Spent the day reading, working on a painting of a "Handmaid", and hanging artwork in the sunroom.