3/29/2025

Saturday, March 29, 2025

D+143/69

1971 1st Lt William L Calley Jr was found guilty in My Lai massacre

1973 The last US troops left Vietnam, 9 yrs after the Gu;f of Tonkin Resolution

2020 Anthony Fauci warned America may see between 100,000 - 200,000 deaths from COVID-19

In bed at 9:30, awake and up at 5:05.  I have abdominal/stomach pain this morning.   

Prednisone, day 343; 3 mg., day 2/21; Kevzara, day 11/14; CGM, day 11/15; Trulicity, day 2/7.  2 mg. of prednisone at 5:20 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.  Other meds at 8:30 a.m.

I wonder what I would be feeling now if I were a lawyer at Paul, Weiss or at Jenner and Block.  If I were at Paul, Weiss, would I feel ashamed at the deal my management made with Trump, or would I feel relieved that we dodged the bullet of his retribution.  Wooul I feel both, knowing that to much of the world incluiding our competitor firms and our clients and potential cllents but  we look so venal, so chicken-shit, and unwilling to fight,  but that also knowing it's also clear we took a bllet to protect the work we are doing on behalf of today's clients and our ability to continue to provide legal representation?  How will I feel if I am the one designated to provide pro bono legal servies to one of Trump's pet nonprofits? If I were at Jenner and Block, would I be proud that we are fighting  in court Trump's executive order against us, or would I be shaking in my boots over the effect of the order on our clients' willingness  or ability to continue to retain us, wondering whether they must take their business to our competitors so our revenues shrink, our lawyers will have to be laid off, and our partners' income decreased?   

Jonathan Lawson, Colonial Penn, whole life insurance, and PPP.   These Colonial Penn ads seem to me to be despicable.  I'm sure they are not misleading in any legal sense, but they surely fool a log of people who don't understand whole life insurance.  It sounds too good to be true:     

"Prince you can afford, price that can't increase, and price that fits your budiget.  Coverage options start at $9.95 a month.  You can buy more.  Premium based on coverage option you select.  Coverage amounts based on age and gender. 'I'm 80, what's my price?'   9.95 a month for you too.  If you're age 50 to 85, call now about the number one most popular whole life insurance plan available through the Colonial Penn program.  Opions start at $9.95 a month.  No medical exam.  No health  questions.  Your acceptance is guaranteed."

How much whole life insurance can a 85 year old in poor health get for $9.95 a month?   Ridiculous. 

Phil Klay in this morning's NYTimes.  A former Marine officer, served in Iraq, wrote Redeployment, Missionaries, and Uncertain Ground: Citizenship in an Age of Endless, Invisible War.  His op-ed today is "Security Breaches Can Be Fixed. People Without Honor Can’t Be Trusted.."  Excerpts:

As the Trump administration has responded with a mixture of denials, brush-offs, lies and vitriolic attacks on Mr. Goldberg, I’ve found myself worrying less about the leak and more about the character of the people in charge of our nation’s defense. The breach is serious, but security breaches can be plugged. Men and women who have shown themselves to have no character, though, can never be trusted. Not with national security, not with anything.

 [A] military career starts not with training in lethality but with character formation. When I joined the Marine Corps two decades ago, I entered a decidedly archaic, premodern society for which virtue was of paramount importance. At Quantico, Va. — where Mr. Vance traveled on Wednesday to speak with Marines in training — they shaved my head and put me in a uniform, because my individuality was less important than our shared purpose. Before they taught me how to fire a rifle, they taught me about honor, courage and commitment. We weren’t supposed to be hired guns; we were supposed to be the first to fight for right and freedom.

There’s a reason essentially every warrior society throughout history has had a code like this — and it’s not that every society has been enlightened. Soldiers don’t need to be saints. But to be good soldiers, to complete their missions and protect their comrades, they do need a bedrock of integrity.

In that light, the absurdity of the Signal chat takes on a more sinister cast. You don’t need to be a military expert to know that what the administration did is unconscionable any more than you need to be a meteorologist to know that the sky is blue. It requires only a willingness to speak honestly about serious matters.

That task is evidently beyond the ability of the members of our national security team. Instead, they have lied. They have mocked. The national security adviser, Michael Waltz, has called Mr. Goldberg “scum,” even though Mr. Goldberg took more care with sensitive military information than Mr. Waltz did. The head of the F.B.I. has not promised an investigation. Mr. Trump dismissed the affair as a “witch hunt.” They have treated this as a media event to be spun rather than a grievous error to be rectified.

They have behaved, in short, like people without honor. The lives of our service members are in their hands.

 Klay reminded me of my time at Quantico, 40 years before his time there.  A lot has surely changed in Marine officer training in 40 years but I suspect the 'basics' are the same, including the values, traditions, and the sense of honor among Marines.  An officer's first duty: accomplish the mission.  Second duty: take care of your men.  In the field, officers eat only after the troops eat.  On the battlefield, never leave a fallen Marine behind.

Sheri Bubrick, no longer a neighbor but still our good neighbor.          She came over this afternon and cut Geri's hair, feeling crapping from a persistent and recurring sinus infection.  A good neighbor and good friend.