A Warning, Revisited

In a twit, Cathy Young reminded me of a New York Magazine article from an earlier, more innocent age. The writer was Jonathan Chait. The time was 2015. There was no President Trump, nor was such an absurd notion considered remotely possible. The article was “not a very PC thing to say.” The subtitle was “how the language police are perverting liberalism.”

It’s an exceptional article, and one that would be unlikely to see the light of day at New York Magazine today. Whether Chait would take the risk of writing such heresy, and suffering the outrage it would evoke, is unclear, but it appeared at a time when Godwin’s Law was still in effect, and so he was awful for having told the truth but at least not literally Hitler.

That the new political correctness has bludgeoned even many of its own supporters into despondent silence is a triumph, but one of limited use. Politics in a democracy is still based on getting people to agree with you, not making them afraid to disagree. The historical record of political movements that sought to expand freedom for the oppressed by eliminating it for their enemies is dismal. The historical record of American liberalism, which has extended social freedoms to blacks, Jews, gays, and women, is glorious. And that glory rests in its confidence in the ultimate power of reason, not coercion, to triumph.

Chait was idealist. Since then, the notion of using reason to prevail has become a tool of the patriarchy, a weapon of white supremacists, because it fails to support the ideology of social justice. The problem wasn’t that social justice ideology was unprincipled or unreasonable, but that reason was wrong because social justice was right. If facts and logic don’t lead to progressive goals, then the fault lies with facts and logic as the goals are absolute. The easiest way to avoid confrontation with facts and logic is to eradicate words needed to communicate them.

Most mornings I wake up and, despite having decided as I fell asleep that I’d had enough of writing, feel compelled to write some more. This morning, I didn’t. A twit by a new associate editor of Quillette, Toby Young, caught my eye over the weekend.

It publishes scientifically-literate, evidence-based articles that champion the values of the Enlightenment and try to stem the tide of unreason.

To the woke, Quillette is a right-wing publication. Another twit, which I choose not to link to, spoke of arraignments in Brooklyn criminal court, contrasting the poor treatment of black defendants to what’s happening with Manafort in federal court. It was either a lie or utter incompetence. It compared apples to Chevys. It was utterly ignorant. It was adored by the great unwashed.

There was a time when the blawgosphere called out such lies. No more. Maybe here, but pretty much the rest of it has disappeared or given up. Some have been absorbed into the idiocracy because it serves the self-interest of once-thoughtful lawyers. Others see no point in inviting outrage by challenging the lies being told to convince the ignorant of the systemic reforms needed. Where there was once a peer-reviewed effort to solve problems, there is now an effort to achieve ends by lying, omitting facts, distortion, appeals to emotion and hypocrisy.

So why should I bother? Where are the rest of you, putting your time, your effort, your butt or even your money on the line? What have you contributed to the cause of trying to illuminate law, of not making people stupider? What have you put at risk?

Where once there was vibrant thought in the blawgosphere, there’s now silence. The fight has shifted to Twitter (and perhaps Facebook, though I wouldn’t know since I don’t go there), but it’s the death of thought. Most twits are incomprehensible, and very few reflect anything remotely resembling thought. Even so, if the replies are more than an emoji or a gif, they are merely knee-jerk defensive irrationality. I don’t want to “see into your soul.” Nothing personal, but I’m not that into you.

So instead of a post on a substantive issue this morning, I’ve murdered these many words as a warning. If the lawyers (and their hangers on) out there aren’t willing to brave the storm, why do you expect me to do your dirty work?

The baby lawyers have become more cluelessly passionate. The lawprofs are even more cowardly, and far more intellectually dishonest, than ever. Judges fear the torch and pitchfork crowd who openly demands they rule “properly” or else. And one old curmudgeon lawyer should call bullshit so you don’t have to?

I have nothing more to say today. I don’t know whether I’ll have anything to say tomorrow. I write for my own “amusement,” and I’m not feeling particularly amused at the moment. Do I amuse you?

86 thoughts on “A Warning, Revisited

  1. Hunting Guy

    Robert Heinlein.

    “Don’ ever become a pessimist, Ira; a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun–and neither can stop the march of events.”

    1. SHG Post author

      A long time ago, I said I would end SJ when it stopped being fun. This morning, it wasn’t fun. Does that make me a pessimist?

  2. Richard Kopf

    No, my friend. You don’t amuse me. Sadly, you confirm what I know.

    Fuck it.

    All the best.

    RGK

    1. SHG Post author

      But I’m not a quitter. I don’t want to be a quitter. But I also don’t want to be the last man standing.

      1. Patrick Maupin

        Your fortitude in getting up early every morning and writing is nothing short of remarkable. That it may be time for a change, or even just a short respite, would not be remarkable.

        Very few could keep up your pace. It’s a real shame fault lines didn’t work out. I have no idea whether “lessons learned” would let you create a fault lines lite, but there is a continuum of possibilities between writing every day and not writing at all, just as there is a huge gap between your criticisms of the social justice movement and, e.g., Alex Jones’s criticisms.

        1. SHG Post author

          I have no clue what “lessons learned” is, but I have no plans to create a FL lite. Mind you, that doesn’t mean others couldn’t, but they would have to have the initiative to do so. I could always choose to write less, or more, or not at all. What I do is always my choice. The question is what I want to do and why.

  3. Beth

    To answer your question, yes, you do amuse me. And at times you infuriate me.
    But you never fail to give me a reason to think. Or laugh. Or question what I thought was right. But what do I know?

    At least you haven’t made me stupider.

    1. SHG Post author

      For anyone unaware, Beth is my editor and graciously gives to me every day. But I don’t need a tummy rub so much as a sense that I’m not just an old man muttering the same crap to myself over and over.

      1. LocoYokel

        Even if you are a voice crying in the wilderness it does not go unheard. Just think of all the lawprofs you piss off, some of their students will see the tweets and follow back to this blog. Others will find it randomly like I did and start to read. Even if the majority read one article and dismiss you as an old reactionary some of them will resonate with what they find here. Those are the ones you have a chance of reaching and influencing before it’s to late for them. A voice crying out is never wasted, the ideas will circulate until they find a home. Even if their methods and techniques will be different than yours as long as you (and those also speaking out) get the fundamentals of client first, integrity, and sound legal principles down then you have succeeded.

        You have taught me some things, helped me clarify things I believed but couldn’t express and given me a different viewpoint in areas where we differ. It has never been a waste to step here in the morning.

        This comes across as a tummy-rub but it’s not meant to, it’s intended to be an encouragement to keep up the fight as your efforts are not wasted nor entirely unappreciated.

          1. LocoYokel

            Would you rather they get if all from the lawprofs and we end up with the legal wasteland of progressive lawyers who will only take your case if you have enough intersectional points and will probably throw you under the bus when the favoured group of the day changes? Or one that concedes guilt when you told him to plead and argue not guilty (yes I know this is also throwing under the bus but it is a different kind)?

            Aside from that, I am not saying that you are here specifically for them but you are writing a blog so I would assume you would want somebody to read it or you wouldn’t bother, especially given the content of this post, and they are an audience that will benefit. You write because you read or see something in the news and you feel compelled to comment on it, or so I believe I’ve seen you say in other posts, but having someone benefit from that just makes the effort even better. Look at me, I am about as far from your target audience as anyone can be but I am still benefiting from your expositions. Personally the most frustrating weeks I have at work are the ones where I’m working my ass off all week but, come Friday, nothing was accomplished. I know it must seem that way to you a lot here but I assure you that you are having an impact, even if you can’t see it from day to day.

            tl:dr
            It’s not about them but the fact that they can benefit is still a plus.

            1. SHG Post author

              Maybe if it wasn’t me, someone else would fill the void. Maybe they don’t because I do. You never know.

            2. LocoYokel

              And I will get another care package of ribs sent out this summer. I believe that I still have the shipping info.

              Just ribs or ribs and brisket? Or would you prefer a pastrami? Be warned, a full sized one (brisket size) takes a month to make.

            3. LY

              I make it and my wife’s family from New York (now living in Virginia) were very impressed last week when they came down for our daughter’s HS graduation. Her cousin took half of it back home to eat.

            4. LY

              I might have to explain to her very carefully why I’m making and mailing a pastrami out to someone on the internet. Then I’d have to look up how to pack and ship it and you would have to slice it, but I make it.

      2. Jim Tyre

        If you quit, then Beth will be out of a job. If Beth is out of a job, then, aside from the loss of the huge paycheck she gets from you, she’ll have too much time on her hands. If Beth has too much time on her hands, then ….

        Ripple effects, Scott, ripple effects.

      3. Jay

        There are few writers that make these subjects interesting, and you’re at the top of the heap. For those of us who don’t participate in the twitters or bookface, your insights, links, and stories are worth a daily visit. The comments here are icing on the cake, and seeing old guys using foul language is always entertaining. I appreciate this place.

        1. SHG Post author

          There’s a guy who donates $5 a month to the upkeep of SJ because, as the donation says, SJ is “worth more than nothing.” He keeps me humble.

  4. B. McLeod

    Only a matter of time until we are all reduced to playing outlawed tunes with outlawed Peeps.

  5. Dan

    I despair at your despondency. The internet would indeed be broke with a daily dose of Justice, Simple.

  6. Tristan

    I get plenty of amusement from your blog but that isn’t why I read it. I find law very interesting but very hard to comprehend on any level deeper than the unwashed. You, plus Popehat, give me a glimpse into legal issues that, normally, I wouldn’t see. Without your daily updates, I would only see legal issues as ‘Trump made kittens illegal’ or ‘Trump saved the world by banning small felines’. This blog provides a new way of looking at issues and points out that even the most simple statements (ban Cyberbullying) actually is complex and requires thought.

    Just my two cents. Wasn’t planning on a tummy rub but I do appreciate your posts.

  7. Jake

    Quit your bellyaching and get back to work. What are you going to do? Go to more car meets and swap small talk with the mouth breathers? You gonna debate the merits of fuel injection until your mind starts to slip away and the kids put you in a rocking chair on the front porch so you can slowly drool out of the corner of your mouth? Fuck that!

    We’re all just little bits of the ferment Scooter. Fight for your corner or throw up the white flag, but don’t give me this piteous drivel on a Monday morning.

    1. SHG Post author

      I have other things to do than give you someplace to waste time and brain cells. And we use carbs, not fuel injectors. The debate is SU v. Webers.

  8. Bartleby the Scrivener

    You…fascinate, educate, inform, stimulate, challenge, and, from time to time, you amuse me as well.

    Even when we disagree, there is one thing I know about what you’ve written: it is both intellectually and factually honest, and as you’ve noted, that is increasingly rare.

    To reverse the intent of the defining phrase of my namesake, I would prefer that you continue, though I wish you and yours the best, regardless of what you do, and appreciate the thoughts you have given us.

    🙂

    1. SHG Post author

      Intellectual honesty used to be something valued. Nowadays, mostly in the breach, leaving me to be “that asshole” who says what nobody really wants to hear.

  9. David

    Sorry, but Ken seems pre-occupied with podcasting these days and his writing diminished considerable.
    That is why this sad sack has tuned into your rants for the last several months.
    Neither a lawyer nor I lender am I, but I do share your taste in music and enjoy many of those who congregate around your water cooler.
    I struggle to imagine how you practice any law with the amount of writing you do here.
    My snark is lame, so I leave it to you……
    keep on truckin’

      1. David

        Don’t recall “tolerate” being part of the equation.
        Guilty as charged re: sweet talker.
        Carry on….

      2. cthulhu

        The comment section at Popehat is a hive of scum and villainy into which armies whole have sunk. Yours isn’t. ‘Nuff said.

  10. John Lynch

    A snippet from an Eagles’ song warns that, “Every form of refuge has its price.” Your post tells about the price you’re paying to speak your mind on SJ. Shut SJ down and your silence will take a toll as well. After years of following your blog, I don’t think the latter course is in your genes. Either way, as the Judge says, “All the best.”

    1. SHG Post author

      The judge says that to everyone. Its sincerity is suspect.

      And as I recall, those Eagles’ words refer to a cheating woman.

  11. Nemo

    “What have you contributed to the cause of trying to illuminate law, of not making people stupider? ”

    Yesterday, I helped some neighbors interface with a police officer. Relevant points I covered before the meeting were stay calm, don’t bring up anything outside the complaint, and perhaps most importantly, explained to them that, contrary to what they believed, the First Amendment means that people can take your picture in public, without your permission.

    That’s just one aspect of an ongoing dispute with the property manager. Mostly, my other “legal ‘advice'” involves keeping yer damn mouth shut and stay emotionally disengaged with the adversary, and keeping everyone from diving too far down the L&O rabbit hole with things they believe are law, but ain’t – consult an actual lawyer before you go down that road, etc. Fortunately (well, sorta), things have escalated to the point where a lawyer is getting involved, so no lawyers were harmed in the process of me quashing the typical run of bad ideas.

    I also do a certain amount of ‘lawsplaining’ for people in my circle, generally correcting folks when they express opinion about law that are clearly drawn more from TV & movies than actual court cases at a conversational level, without making it into an emotion-laden festival of rants. Trust me, I always make my unofficial status clear, and oddly enough, most of my friends actually listen without severing contact. Cross-checking with the lawyers I know (no CDLs, sadly) has led to feedback that for a groundling, my advice is generally good at the social level of understanding.

    And then there’s the personal matters I’m dealing with, some of which you are aware of. SJ may not be intended for anything beyond law, but it’s proved helpful in ways beyond its domain. Where there is one, there may be others.

    So that’s what I do to help, along with the occasional rant, here and there. I try my best to not make people stupider, and always emphasize that I’m a layman, not a lawyer. As bad as what I say may be, it’s worse than the notions I’m disabusing them of – and oddly enough, I suspect you’re willing to believe that. Not because I’m particularly well-informed about law, but because you know how absolutely bizarre some of the things we groundlings invent as “it’s the law!” from God only knows where. So, dumb as I may be, you know that most are worse. At least I’m trying to understand, which is more than the majority bother with.

    So if writing your SJ articles has become a chore, rather than a pleasure, I can understand you wanting a breather of some length. I think you are doing good for the nation beyond your direct influence, but you must do what’s best for you, first. Burnout’s bad enough, but ofttimes it scorches things near whatever burned out, and you don’t need that.

    Finally, while I long ago decided to be extremely sparing with Heinlein quotes (and now it’s mostly redundant to do it at all), this once, I’ll trot out something he wrote, paraphrased: ‘A writer writes because it hurts less than not writing’. Make of that what you will, but if you find that writing hurts more than not writing, you’ll be missed.

    Besides, where in the blawgosphere can one find someone who cranks out two articles per day, day in and day out? I know of only one place that does it while keeping things reasoned and tightly-written. You’re pretty unique out here in cybervania, you know.

    Best regards,

    Nemo

    P.S. As usual, I went long, but you just had to ask the question, didn’t you?

    1. SHG Post author

      You did something for me the other day, Nemo. I think you know that, but I just wanted to say it again. Thank you.

      1. Nemo

        I did something for you yesterday, too, Mr. G. I had a really nice reply typed out for use in a comment thread – then I junked it, and later, decided to leave the comment to which I was going to reply to its own merits. After that, I reviewed the sub-thread.

        I think you’ll agree with me that it was a good time to keep my big yap shut.

        Incidentally, while it’s been a few years since I last made donuts, but a friend has a nice, deep electric skillet I can borrow, and with this one, I can fry those yeasty-beasties in waves of four, rather than three, as I used to. With maple syrup being somewhat regional, and a market next door that smokes their own bacon.

        I have no idea what flavor profile I should shoot for. Although SWMBO will be an eager guinea pig, I’m sure it’ll take some playing around before I’m happy with the glaze. However, on one point I want to ask an expert an important question: Hickory or applewood smoke for the bacon?

        N.
        Who doesn’t make promises until he knows he can deliver. As adults, the kids appreciate we followed that policy.

  12. Mike

    I just re-read the final post at FL. Now I’m sad, I don’t want this source of real news to dry up. There are so few. I bet you could get cross-posted to Reason for more visibility.

      1. Mike

        Reason is the closest thing I can find that has the monetization worked out to keep the doors open without being too far into the orthodoxy/dog-whistling off either end. It’s not all law, but covers many of the same topics you do here. Do you think they are too dumbed-down, making people stupider or that you are just not woke enough for that site?

  13. Laches

    Primarily educate and enlighten, but the amusement is an added bonus!

    My initial reaction when reading this was “I get where you are coming from, but I believe there’s still hope.”

    Then elsewhere on my Twitter feed, I was presented to a link to a recent WaPo editorial titled “Why Can’t We Hate Men?” authored by a gender studies professor which read exactly as one would expect based on the title.

    That killed my optimism and made me sad.

    Thanks for being one of the increasingly rare voices that calls out the childish, nonsensical shrieking of the passionate for what it is. There are still those of us that value experience, expertise and rational thought.

    1. SHG Post author

      Oddly, I considered using that “Why Can’t We Hate Men?” post in this one. I’m astounded that it would find real estate in WaPo, and it’s one of the things that makes me realize how insane it’s all become. In WaPo. Not Jezebel. Not Salon. Not even Vox or Teen Vogue. WaPo.

      1. Laches

        Yeah that’s what got me about it too. I kept glancing back up to the URL to reconfirm to myself that yes, this is actually the Washington Post that I’m reading. That such a steaming pile of nonsense actually graced the pages of WaPo is insane even by 2018 standards.

  14. Chris Ryan

    Amuse is not the word I would have chosen. I cannot speak to the pains of being a blawg writer, as I mostly write declarations and reports for consumption by lawyers/judges, but I can say the quality and quantity of output here is astonishing. There are a few blawgs that output more articles, and fewer still that output the quality of work you do, but I find that none match both the quality and quantity, much less the diversity of topics here.

    Thinking is hard, and speaking as an engineer with a very orderly mind, it annoys the hell out of me to see the complete lack of thinking and analysis that exist from so many today. I don’t come to SJ to be amused, thou it does occasionally happen, I come to SJ to be slapped upside the head and forced to think outside my comfort zone. A cup of coffee and a quick click on my SJ bookmark starts almost every morning for me, and I will miss it when its no longer there.

    Perspective is a hard thing to find some days, and other’s perspectives even harder to find, especially when that other is outside the “norm” of most people’s day to day living. At the end of the day, however, your life is simply that, your life. If writing doesn’t amuse you, find something that does. If anyone complains, fuck them and the horse they rode in on. If you do stop, stop knowing that you did make a difference, and a ton more of a difference then many of us could ever hope to do in our wildest dreams.

    Chris

    1. SHG Post author

      Some have called me prolific, which I liken to an all-you-can-eat buffet. The food may suck, but there’s plenty of it.

  15. Christopher Best

    I appreciate that you’re willing to stand up and shout. I used to be a lot more vocal myself, but now every time I go to point out how someone’s statement is obviously unprincipled, completely devoid of reason or thought… I pause. I’ve seen what happens to even powerful people who spend only a moment in the baleful eye of the mob. Would my employer stand by me when deluged by a constant stream of hate because they employ LITERALLY HITLER? Why should they? Do my kids deserve to have their futures crushed because I couldn’t stand someone being Wrong on the Internet?

    I still comment often, but the pause for reflection grows greater each time. That’s how they’ll “win.” I don’t think they’ll like their victory, though…

  16. BottledJuice

    “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
    ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

    And there are many ways to be substantive…

  17. wilbur

    “It is important that I should note the difficulty and pain I experience in writing…Since the publishing of a couple of books, I have been cast in the role of a writer, and without being aware of the utter absurdity of it, I have come to expect things to flow out of my finger tips. The truth is that I have to hammer out each sentence, and must hang onto an idea for ages if aught worthwhile is to be written.”
    Eric Hoffer

    I urge you to go on, for my own selfish reason that I do learn or reconsider things after reading what you write.

    1. SHG Post author

      What interesting is that most people (not all, but most) seem to see the issue as my going on, as opposed to anything they might do. There used to be a lot of CDLs doing blawgs. When did the blawgosphere become all about me? The world is falling to shit and I would hope there are more shoulders around than just mine.

      1. LocoYokel

        You REALLY don’t want me trying to start a legal blog.

        Talk about the blind leading the blind.

  18. PseudonymousKid

    Dear Papa,

    The war is lost for now. Twitter and Facebook and Reddit are trash heaps where even the most curmudgeonly can’t even make a dent. I can’t believe you made it this far without a crisis. The beauty in art, I’ve found, is that it isn’t permanent. SJ has an end. It can’t go on forever, and that’s fine.

    Your shoes will be hard to fill for anyone. You assume any of the rest of us are capable of taking over your role, whatever that may be exactly. We aren’t. Your perspective and ability are important. Even when SJ ends, I hope you find some other way to express your point of view. Hopefully you’re just getting a non-representative cross section from Twitter; the non-social media obsessed rest of us might not care so much about squabbles over 140 characters.

    Here’s to you finding another Muse. I don’t read much else daily.

    Best,
    PK

      1. Kathleen Casey

        Let me help you think it through. That’s what friends do.

        If you close the curtain it wouldn’t be “goodbye.” It would be “see you later.”

  19. Dan Quigley

    I probably wrong but in my experience, anyone that writes as often and well as you do (with an appropriate nod to Beth), doesn’t do it solely for the benefit of the audience or accolades that come from them. It’s unfortunate that you have lost many of your fellow landsmen that founded the blawgosphere; I miss some of them too. I suspect that the act of writing helps you, as much as it satisfies, attracts or helps us. I can’t speak for the rest of the crew, but I will mourn the loss of your posts and playful curmudgeonliness if you stop. But I could never think you are a quitter.

    Dan

  20. Skink

    I’m travelling, so I’m late. I visit the Hotel, finding a lament, and one that might have been written by one we all know. One that stopped writing because he thought the message was lost. It wasnt, but that changed nothing. I checked into this here Hotel because he said it was a good place to stay. He was far from wrong.

    Innkeeper, you got it wrong. You’re not alone, and you’re nothing like amusing. Not everyone can write a blog: we don’t write so good and we just ain’t otherwise real apt. But that doesn’t mean the torch ain’t being lit on this marathon. Because always, a story.

    Last night was Northern Virginia. It’s a bastion of non-thinkers because all are either governmental or contracting with it. I talk to everyone. I can’t help it. So, the hotel bar is where I went when finished with clients. There, I sat between two younguns. The topic was one well-worn here: no one deserves a trial if everyone knows guilt is certain.

    Before visiting this here hotel, I had that conversation a thousand times. We all have. We say the same thing: you have no rights if the government isn’t forced to respect those rights. I’m a constitutional litigator, of sorts, so I know how to explain this stuff. Traditionally, when dealing with the chronically stupid or ignorant, I left them as I found them. I gave not one fuck for their condition. I figured their stupidity wasn’t my problem. Besides, I didn’t need their conversation: I talk to everyone.

    But last night was different. I hung in the conversation. I tried to bring them out of darkness. I’m hardly alone. I guarantee other guests of this here Hotel have done the same. And it happened because this is a good place for germinating thought. And that’s what it’s about.

  21. Pithy the Fool

    Give the keys to the Judge for a week, or let Prof Gamso drive for a few miles, or invite Mark Bennett to hold court a while, or the other one. or even let Randazza guest edit for a week and see what is left.

    I’m trying to say, you’ve a grand pool of provocative writers at hand, let them crank you a little and see if you can turn over.

    Genuinely, all the best.

      1. SHG Post author

        There’s a misdirection in there. Nothing prevents any of them from writing any damn time they want. They have their own soapboxes, and they’re all welcome to mine should they desire. But should I have to beg them to say something?

  22. TomD

    Regular person, not a lawyer. The next time I serve on a criminal court jury, I’ll bring at least some of the reasoning and ideas from this blog into the box with me. Some defendant somewhere, whose name you’ll never know, may one day get a fairer shake because you did this.

  23. Nick

    I’ve been lurking on your blog for months now. I’m not a lawyer and so far I haven’t had an opinion worth sharing. Like many have expressed in various ways, I don’t come here to be amused. At times you do amuse, but I come here to be educated. To have my views challenged. To in many ways learn how to think critically. You have a unique talent for breaking down complex ideas in a way that is understandable to those (like me) with half a brain.

    You don’t owe me anything. But I do feel like I owe you something. To be honest. And if not publicly, then at least to myself. When you asked, “Where are the rest of you, putting your time, your effort, your butt or even your money on the line?” The only answer I have is that I haven’t. I’ve been too afraid.

    As always, you give much to think about. Questioning whether or not I can live with not doing anything to make things better for starters.

    Thank you for everything and good luck.

  24. Wesley Jung

    I’m a simple college student with maybe a single Wikipedia article of legal knowledge, but I am an avid reader of your blog. I don’t have any witticisms to share, or even a well-executed reference; all I have to share is some gratitude, and a request.

    To put it bluntly, SJ has shaped who I am today. Every day I’ve read your blog, and every day I’ve learned something new. Not only a little bit about law, but also a little bit about the qualities of the kind of person I want to be: someone who is smart but not a smartass, snarky but not rude, rational but not robotic, and thoughtful while still staying grounded.

    The key takeaway here is that I don’t think those qualities came from some mystical place within me that was unlocked by my reading; they were imparted upon me by you. And I can only imagine the other people out there waiting to stumble upon this blog and experience the same.

    So, please, keep writing–these blogs may do more for the world than you know.

    WJ

      1. SHG Post author

        So when should I expect your next post, braving the vicissitudes of the mob to bring illumination to the groundlings? Or am I left to do the dirty work for everyone?

        1. Guitardave

          So you want “groundlings” to illuminate us?

          PS. I love your brain. Please don’t stop writing.

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