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Richard Deshong
Next up – Mike Kelly. I have been called many things by friends and foes alike, but insecure is not one of them.
One of the reasons I was able to fulfill my “wanderlust” and still hold down so many positions was that I was extremely fortunate to have jobs where travel was a main part of my duties. I have had jobs where over 50% of my work was done while traveling all over America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. As I became secure in my work the one thing I always told my employer was when I needed to travel for work to someplace I had never been I would take time to explore it. Sometimes I did so by utilizing vacation time, but usually my employer agreed it was less expensive than to pay for me to come home just to turn around and go back to the same local a few weeks later, so they would pay for all my hotel, meal, car rental, etc. expenses and let me do my office work via telephone or online. It was a win-win situation. I once spent seven months on an assignment in England and rather than coming home every two weeks I would use my down time to explore all the UK, Ireland and even make short trips to other European countries. On several occasions my employer even agreed to fly my wife to England so she could join me on my off weeks.
As to your comments on my income, I never said I was in the top 20% of earners in the USA. I could only wish. What I said was that I, and I imaging a number of those posting on this forum, are in the top 20% of Americans by net wealth. I know it’s hard to realize, but a household only needs to have a net worth of around $475,000 to be in the top 20%. At our age, some of us are living in homes that we bought in our younger years and have seen greatly appreciate. In today’s real estate market, it isn’t uncommon for someone in their mid-seventies to be sitting on a few hundred thousand dollars in home equity. And, if you were astute enough during your working years to take advantage of tax deferred IRAs, 401Ks, 403Bs. etc. you may also have several hundreds of thousands of dollars socked away in investment accounts. As I read our fellow alumni posts on their travels, cars, homes, second homes, etc. I can only assume they are not living social security check to social security check. If I’m wrong, I will stand corrected.
Why is it when you brag about the college professors you had during law school, that’s fine. But when I mention I know someone who is, or has been, in a prominent position, its name dropping? I have been extremely fortunate to meet and get to know some people who have held particularly important positions in industry, politics, and even the judiciary. If I can reach out to them and get firsthand information on what is going on in a topic they are experts on, why would I not do so? I would rather do that than simply regurgitate information I get from a social media site just because I think it sounds right.
Mike, you wonder what are my inner most desires are for America. Simple, it is that we all stop putting party before country and deal in truths rather than hyperbole. I look forward to the day when AI is sufficiently developed that when some talking head goes on television and makes a comment, AI can fact check it in real time and show the truth in a banner at the bottom of the screen. My main attempt at posting on this forum has been, and will continue to be, to research and expose others to the truth. If in doing so you want to believe the truth supports liberal values more than conservative values, so be it. Just like you may say when you take on a new client you don’t see race as a factor, when I post things I honestly believe to be the truth, I don’t see political leaning as a factor. I’ll leave that up to others.
Finally, as to your defense of Trumps border policy, as a lawyer, is that the best you can do? I can only imagine what a judge would say to you, much less opposing council, if you stood up in court and made that argument. Does it matter to you that a federal judge (appointed by Trump) ruled his actions were in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act? Or doesn’t it bother you that Trump misappropriated military funds in violation of the constitutional authority that gives congress the responsibility for direct funding? How would you explain his actions to the active-duty military members whose lives were affected by not getting the services those funds were intended? As for the fences the money built, how’s that working out? Some of them were built by firms that had never built a wall in their life and resulted in the wall literally sinking into the ground and falling over. Other walls erected out of metal stopped encroachment as long as it took the coyotes to buy gas powered metal saws, or twenty-one-foot ladders. As for Trump’s offer on DACA, even though it wasn’t supposed to be a part of the meeting, the meeting was abruptly ended after Trump said he would shut the government down if Pelosi and Schumer didn’t also agree to approving money for building more wall. In other words, he tried to hold DACA hostage. By the way, I just got that information from Fox News.com.
So, Mike, nice try, but no cigar. If this is the best you’ve got, save your time. As a practicing attorney I was really expecting you would present more facts and less opinion. If I wanted opinion I would have challenged Jim.
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