Thursaya November 6 2008

I wrote an email to my friend Paul this morning and decided that it reflected on how I felt and would like to share it with you.
I woke up early this morning and I feel great but it is a little ridiculous to wake up at 1:30 am toss around until 2:30 am and then get up. Oh, well! I feel very good this morning. Some stomach pain, but really it is so great to feel good after the last few days.
Well, the election is over and I know your guy didn’t win---but don’t you feel a certain amount of pride in the fact that in this country anything is possible and there is little excuse for not trying to reach the stars.
I have always had an idealized concept of this country and the justice system. That is what attracted me to the law and I devoutly believe that everyone—everyone is equal before the law. It has been interesting to watch the various interviews of people on the street and their obvious pride in this country and it’ promise of equal opportunity and that we can all start from where we are at with what we have and seek whatever goal our God given talents allow us to seek.
I just finished the book on Warren Buffett “Snowball”. I urge you to buy it or check it out at the library. Buffett talks about having won the “ovary” and “geographical lottery” born of good parents in country of opportunity. In his comment on taxes he states “if you have two twin brothers born in Bangladesh and you tell them one of you must stay here and the other must go to the U.S. and pay at least 25-30% of your income in taxes, what would you choose.?
I know, I know---the U.S. and no taxes, but Buffett does make an emphatic point. I can see why he and Bill Gates hit it off so well. They are both nerdy guys who, by accident of birth and talent have created wealth beyond belief. The book even talks about why Buffett decided to leave the bulk of his estate to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.
There was an article the other day about the Hughes Medical Foundation that was created by Howard Hughes to avoid taxes and it has now become the largest medical charitable foundation in the world and has been responsible for some of the most dramatic changes in medicine. I think that is called serendipity .
As you may suspect I am wired tonight and I have had nothing---I take that back, I went to the Bar luncheon yesterday. I only wish people could know attorneys as I know them---for the most part you will find people who believe in this system and value the rule of law discussing ideas of liberty and justice and who work every day in the trenches to see that these values are infused in to everyday living. I am talking about the everyday average practioner that is helping people.
I often wish I had the skill and will to have become a doctor. A friend of mine says he became a lawyer because he wanted to help people but he didn’t have the talent to be a Doctor.
I have been blessed by the good care of doctors---some with good bed side manners and talent some not so much bedside manner but talented. I read horror stories every so often of those who have lost their way and perform unnecessary procedures to line their pockets, and pharmacists who dilute their medication to increase their profit or lawyers who file frivolous lawsuits---but I know that these are the exceptions and not the rule. It is easy to read the paper and think all is murder and mayhem, but the truth is the reason that it is news is that it is the exception not the rule.
Be safe and hug your family and your friends, and know that you are living in the grandest country in the world, that can always use criticism and improvement, but is nonetheless the land of opportunity.
Will