Molly Ivins died 2 years ago today

We still miss your voice :(

From 1/11/07 - her last column

We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell. Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous. Make our troops know we're for them and trying to get them out of there. Hit the streets to protest Bush's proposed surge. If you can, go to the peace march in Washington on January 27. We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, "Stop it, now!"

From an earlier column

Keep fightin' for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don't you forget to have fun doin' it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin' ass and celebratin' the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was.

Molly - we heard you loud and clear and did just that; we kicked ass and I'm telling you and all who listen - it sure was fun! We rasied hell, we took action, we spent all year on this and Iraq will end because we have a new President - he's not from Texas - you warned us about that. And we were out banging pots and pasns on Nov 4th of 2008 and again on January 20th 2009.

We sure miss you but your words remain...

Republican Mindset: Explanation Sorely Needed

In the last few days, weeks, years, and decades I have really tried hard to understand the Republican point of view or mentality and frankly I am at a loss.

For 6 of the last 8 years they controlled the White House, The Senate and the House of Representatives. for more years than that we had to endure a trickle-down theory of economics that kept promising and promoting huge tax cuts for the wealthy and zero regulation of our trade and monetary systems.

From my point of view, the only thing that trickled down was poverty, higher taxes for the middle class, higher gas, medical and food costs, and a growing sense of depression - country wide...

That is precisely why Barack Obama was elected. The citizens of this country wanted change – and they wanted it to start January 20th at 12:01 P.M. EST.

So what do we hear from Republicans? The ones who brought shame and failure to most American institutions? The ones who brought you the mess in Iraq? The ones who brought you the “rich get richer and the poor get poorer” status we now have? What do they bring to the table in Washington, D.C.? And bring in the name of being bi-partisan?

You got it: MORE OF THE SAME. More of the stuff that failed to work for the last 8 years and more - when you add in back to when Reagan started us down this path. It’s clear to me we are on a terribly wrong path. So why are they insisting on doing it their way? What as I missing in this? What have I been missing for all those years?

Are they so blinded by their own “whatever” that they can not see it did not work? Or do they not care at all for anyone but themselves? [And their wealthier friends and corporations?]

In my life as a psychology expert I have had to diagnose people and work with all kinds of issues. To this day – I have to admit – it is the Republican mindset that I still have trouble with. I’ve had Republican friends – who were able to think for themselves and had empathy for others. They would not be going along with this crowd of white rich southern men who are trying to tell the rest of us how to live our lives. If they were still alive I’d bet they would be switching their party ID.

So please – if you are a conservative republican reader here – leave a comment that explains you and your mindset.

Would You Like a UDC Law Student to Work [no cost] for You This Summer?

Caveats: If you work for a non-profit, a government agency, or in the judicial system,

and would like a UDC-DCSL student to work for you full-time this summer at no cost to you - please join us for our Summer Public Interest Job Fair on Tuesday, February 10, 2009: 12:15 pm – 1:45 pm UDC David A. Clarke School of Law Room 205, Building 39, (Second Floor) 4200 Connecticut Ave NW Washington DC 20008 Red Line: Van Ness/UDC; Parking under campus off Van Ness St.)

Group representatives set up tables, meet with law students, and have lunch!

Last summer, a record 50 UDC-DCSL students provided over twenty thousand hours of service.

TO RESERVE A TABLE: Please reply to Tiffany Hagwood at thagwood@udc.edu. Be SURE to include the name of the person attending, your organization, street/mailing address, phone, fax and email, and your organization's web site. Please also attach your written internship description if you have one. If you would like to be placed on the guest parking pass list for the school garage, at a cost to you of $3.50 rather than $8.00, please let Ms. Hagwood know by COB February 3. There is no cost to attend.

And - whether or not you can attend, we have a brand new way to post jobs! Please use our new job/internship site at http://www.law.udc.edu/networking/submit.asp

This year, the following groups have already signed up to attend the Fair:

AARP/Legal Counsel for the Elderly
AFGE Local 12
AYUDA
Catholic Charities, Immigration Legal Services
Children and the Law
Columbia Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE)
DC Appleseed Center for Law and Justice
DC Attorney General's Office
DC Office of Administrative Hearings
Equal Justice Works
Housing and Community Justice Project
Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center
Human Rights First
Just Neighbors
Legal Services of Northern Virginia
National Center for Refugee & Immigrant Children
Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia
Our Place, DC
Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP)
State of Maryland-Office of the Public Defender
The DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence
The Institute on Religion and Public Policy
The Justice Project
U.S. Coast Guard, Direct Commission Lawyer Program
USDOJ Office of Attorney Recruitment and Management

Facts About the UDC-DCSL Summer Fellowship Program

1) Qualifying organizations include non-profit groups that serve public interest purposes, local and federal government agencies and judges and judicial organizations. The organizations can be in the District of Columbia or elsewhere in the United States . International placements may qualify. Individuals or others seeking legal assistance, private law firms and for-profit organizations do not qualify. If you are unsure whether you qualify, please check with Ms. Bauman, the career services director at DBauman@udc.edu.

2) If your organization has not previously participated, you will need to provide additional information for consideration. Contact Ms. Bauman.

3) Positions must be legal in nature and the student must be directly supervised by an attorney.

4) All first-year law students are eligible for the stipend. If funds are available, upper class students may be eligible.

5) Students must provide a minimum of 400 hours work, to be completed by the end of the summer. They are paid a stipend of up to $3000 by the DC School of Law Foundation (donations to which can be made at www.dcslf.org). Supervising attorneys provide a mid-term and final evaluation of the student, as well as certify student time records.

4) There is no cost to participating host organizations, but if it chooses, the host organization may supplement the stipend with its own funds.

The Fellowship Fair

Group representatives set up tables, meet with law students, and have lunch! There is no cost to attend.

TO RESERVE A TABLE

Please contact Tiffany Hagwood at thagwood@udc.edu. Please be SURE to include the name of the person attending, your organization, street/mailing address, phone, fax and email, and your organization's web site. Please also attach your written internship description if you have one. If you would like to be placed on the guest parking pass list for the school garage, at a cost to you of $3.50 rather than $8.00, please let Ms. Hagwood know by COB February 3.

And - whether or not you can attend, we have a brand new way to post jobs! Please use our new job/internship site at http://www.law.udc.edu/networking/submit.asp

Again, please feel free to forward this announcement to your colleagues!

Thank you!

Joe

Joe Libertelli, Director of Alumni Relations

UDC David A. Clarke School of Law
4200 Connecticut Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20008
(202) 274-7338

How the R's are Planning to Rebuild

The R's are busy these days figuring out how to rebuild the R brand.

Here's the 10 point plan they are pushing [http://cli.gs/hjjzWz] ...yup - they want to be more tech savvy and recruit on line - they want to get more small donors and more under 40 voters...Hmm wonder where those ideas came from?

Maybe they will recruit minorities and stop acing like the regional party they are...you know reach out instead of bashing? But not in this document - in it they go ahead and bash :D