Bush on Memorial Day
No matter what you think of President Bush…No, that’s not right.
I hope that you had a thoughtful and safe Memorial Day.
Here’s our President -
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Subprime Mortgage Meltdown
There is a simple explanation for this meltdown: Greed, deregulation, and more greed. I don’t think that we have seen the worst of these subprime mortgage losses.
Logan Freed After Being Wrongly Jailed for 26 Years
Many of my conservative friends believe in capital punishment. They believe in their core that it is the right thing to do. In contrast, I hear stories like Alton Logan’s and I know that we are fallible, that we make mistakes. I know that good lawyers can get their guilty clients off and bad lawyers have trouble keeping their innocent clients out of jail.
So, this brings us to Mr. Alton Logan, whowas accused of shooting and killing a security guard in 1982. It is unclear from reports how Logan came to the attention of the police, but he was arrested and tried for this murder. His mother and brother were his alibis, saying that he was at home asleep in bed. His defense was that he was asleep. Heck, I know the end of this tale and even I don’t believe he was asleep. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Logan always said that he didn’t do it.
Twenty-six years later, two lawyers came forward with an affidavit from the time of his trial. Their client, Andrew Wilson, told the lawyers that he committed the crime. But because these lawyers represented Wilson, they were ethically bound not to say anything. They were quiet for 26 years.
Although Bob Simon tries to beat up the lawyers for not coming forward before now, they did do the right thing.
Obama at Wesleyan University
Giving a compelling commencement address is very, very difficult. I’ve sat in the audience on more than one occasion. I remember being very bored during most of the commencement addresses while the speaker droned on about something.
But the young people at Wesleyan had a chance to listen to Senator Barack Obama. Man, that must be something. Here’s a portion of Obama’s speech:
At a time when our ice caps are melting and our oceans are rising, we need you to help lead a green revolution. We still have time to avoid the catastrophic consequences of climate change if we get serious about investing in renewable sources of energy, and if we get a generation of volunteers to work on renewable energy projects, and teach folks about conservation, and help clean up polluted areas; if we send talented engineers and scientists abroad to help developing countries promote clean energy.
At a time when a child in Boston must compete with children in Beijing and Bangalore, we need an army of you to become teachers and principals in schools that this nation cannot afford to give up on. I will pay our educators what they deserve, and give them more support, but I will also ask more of them to be mentors to other teachers, and serve in high-need schools and high-need subject areas like math and science.
At a time when there are children in the city of New Orleans who still spend each night in a lonely trailer, we need more of you to take a weekend or a week off from work, and head down South, and help rebuild. If you can’t get the time, volunteer at the local homeless shelter or soup kitchen in your own community. Find an organization that’s fighting poverty, or a candidate who promotes policies you believe in, and find a way to help them.
At a time of war, we need you to work for peace. At a time of inequality, we need you to work for opportunity. At a time of so much cynicism and so much doubt, we need you to make us believe again, Class of 2008.
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Errington C. Thompson, MD, is a surgeon, scholar, fulltime sports fan and part-time political activist. He is active in a number of community projects and initiatives. Through medicine, he strives to improve the physical health of all he treats...
