One of the most enduring figures in the American justice system died Monday at the age of 90. Griffin Bell made history on many fronts that shaped the way our current legal system operates today. He was the attorney general for President Jimmy Carter and is said to be one of only a few to have passed the bar exam even before graduating law school. He served in the US Army Quartermaster Corps until 1946 as well as served as a city attorney for Warner Robins, GA. One of his highest-profile cases

Former AG Griffin Bell

before entering the political arena was the investigation into E.F. Hutton & Co. in 1980 for check kiting activities. Before being sworn in as the attorney general during the Carter administration, he served as a chairman in John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign in 1960. From there, President Kennedy appointed him to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals a year later.

While awaiting Senate confirmation for President Carter’s attorney general nomination, there were a few less than pleasant questions he fielded regarding his membership in private segregated clubs as well as some of his controversial decisions made while he was a federal judge. Still, he was confirmed shortly after Carter took office.

Born in 1918, it’s reported he was a son of a Georgia cotton farmer who helped build the well-known Atlanta law firm, King and Spalding. It wasn’t until the late 1970s that he returned, after his political works, to retire from this same law firm. Most recently, he was one of the few Democrats who supported President Bush’s re-election in 2004 and was also responsible for a study that criticized the FBI’s internal policies for disciplining agents. He’s quoted in this report as saying the methods for agent reprimands are “seriously flawed”.

Perhaps one of the most important contributions he made, however, was the public confidence that was restored after the Watergate scandal that he’s widely credited with. It’s said he restored professionalism by posting publicly every day each third party contact he’d made, including all contacts with those in the White House, Congress and others.

President Carter, after hearing of his death, released a statement saying he was “a trusted and enduring public figure with integrity, professionalism and charm that was greatly valued across party lines and presidential administrations.”

On a personal note, he was the first politician to ever grace Mr. Blackwell’s best dressed Americans list.

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I’ve only been catching the highlights of the hearings this week from the “Big 3″ automakers, mostly because I can’t seem to get my mind around the justifications. I understand the importance of remaining in business. Regardless of the layoffs they’ve already incorporated, closing their doors only ensures those remaining would be unemployed. But what I can’t understand is how to plan to remain in business six months from now. The new unemployment numbers come out later today and with last month’s numbers above 6% coupled with words like, “frightful”, “skyrocketed” and other adjectives used to tease us from those who’ve already seen these numbers, I’m doubtful any of us will be shopping for new cars. In fact, my own personal list of priorities go something like this:

· Keeping myself with a roof and four walls

· Ensuring Christmas happies for my family

· Keeping groceries in the cabinets and diet Coke in the fridge

· Keeping the utilities going

I’m sure my priorities are no different than any other Americans’ own lists. If you’ll notice, there’s no mention of any contributions via the purchase of a new car to any of these troubled auto manufacturers. Again, I tend to believe that’s applicable to other Americans too. My question is, even if we bail these companies out, and we’re currently not buying new cars, what makes Congress and these CEOs believe this is their “cure-all”? If folks aren’t running to their local dealerships now, they certainly won’t be doing so six months from now either. In fact, here are the major headlines this morning:

· Viacom to slash 850 jobs in response to the economic downturn (Yahoo News)

· Employers shedding jobs as recession deepens (Drudge Report)

· Employers cut 533k jobs in November, most in 34 years (Associated Press)

I’m just incredulous this is even being entertained. In fact, I’m amazed it’s even a priority at all. Even with their claims of keeping employees with jobs, it simply doesn’t ring true. And for them to threaten us with bankruptcy is a joke. It’s as though they’re saying, “Well, if you don’t help us, we’ll just file bankruptcy” and deliver this statement with an undercurrent of “do it or else”.

My favorite late night jab, courtesy of Jon Stewart, asks if these executives were schooled in how negotiations work. He said (and I’m paraphrasing) if they didn’t receive the 25 billion last month, what made them think they could come back this month and request 34 billion and were they under the impression Congress declined their earlier request because it was too low a number? I think many of us are wondering that very thing.

So as the vast majority of Americans are preparing to head off to their jobs and have redefined a “productive day at the office” as the absence of a pink slip, the head honchos of the automakers prepare to face Congress yet again so they can resume their martyred presences with declarations of “I carpooled here and we split the costs about fifty-fifty”. Welcome to the real world, gentlemen. Carpooling has been an acceptable cost-cutting measure for years.

A New Jersey high school football coach, Marcus Borden, petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court last Monday regarding his bowed head and kneeling on one knee during the prayers before football games. A rather vocal opponent, some spokesman representing the “school authorities”, says it’s nothing more than psychological coercion on the part of the coach, since students might feel obligated or pressured to pray even if they don’t believe in prayer.

There’s a difference in “faith” and “religion”. And doesn’t the First Amendment read something along the lines of the United States Congress prohibited from making laws respecting the establishment of religion? I could be wrong, but I don’t think the coach is a member of Congress - so I’m a little confused. We have to make concessions every single day in this country. Some of the concessions I make include following the speed limit - even when I disagree with it. Yeah, I know - I run the risk of getting a ticket. Well, I run the risk only when the day comes I can’t sweet talk my way out of a ticket. But that’s another story. My point is when did it get so convoluted and, well, wrong to have faith? What happened to the belief that two people could have different viewpoints regarding their faith and beliefs, but could still maintain a healthy respect for the other’s beliefs without it being wrong? My mom was raised as a strict Catholic - complete with Catechism classes, Mass and more than her fair share of Sisters with rulers, ready to rap knuckles at the drop of a hat. You should see her handwriting. It’s beautiful because of the importance of penmanship during the days of her Catholic school education. That said, she’s tried her best to make me understand why Confession is necessary and the importance of it in the Catholic faith. I respect that and I respect and trust her beliefs. We were fortunate to have been raised, even with my Dad’s Baptist upbringing and Mom’s Catholic upbringing to respect and honor the differences. The goal was to believe. Period. Have faith when none seemed to be found. Say your prayers. Have a healthy dose of fear.

And I can’t remember a single high school football game that didn’t begin with a prayer over the intercom - whether it was from my high school days or even more recently as my son’s high school days. It was never a problem and if there was anyone in attendance who disagreed, at no point was any disrespect shown to those who did choose to participate. I know this because no one in my hometown felt it necessary to go to court over it. Don’t get me wrong - I’m as faithful as one can be, but I’m not religious. And I’m not sure that’s a bad thing. My point is, with 95% of all high school sporting events beginning with prayer, it just seems insane to me for someone to refer to this New Jersey high school coach’s bowed head and kneeling as psychological coercion and further, it’s even crazier that the Supreme Court must be petitioned to decide this.

With so many other urgent matters that require the attention of the Justices in the Supreme Court, this shouldn’t be one of them.

All of the discontent regarding religious freedom, what’s appropriate and what’s not, where it’s OK to display and where it’s not, it can all be solved with one simple word: respect. Believe me, there’s never been a time I was ever pulled over that I thought I was wrong and the police officer believed he was wrong. But a healthy dose of respect sure took me farther (well, along with the sweet talk) and is the one reason my driving record is perfect.

As if the mortgage downfall and uncertainty of what the future brings weren’t enough, all the months of market fluctuations, the endless debates within the House and Senate and each day bringing a new

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downfall of some financial institution have culminated into a ninety year old woman attempting to kill herself because of the overwhelming burden foreclosure proceedings brought. Fortunately, she wasn’t successful. Still though, for anyone who wondered how bad things would get for the everyday American, this should be a clear indicator of the crisis.

Police had attempted to serve the foreclosure notice to her over thirty times! What makes this even sadder is she had lived in this home for the past 38 years. My guess is she probably raised her children in this house; the walls surely hold a lifetime of joys, accomplishments and dreams.

It was reported that in her efforts to refinance her home at some point resulted in having to do so through a sub-prime mortgage lender - most likely her age being a factor. The stress must have been overwhelming for her to believe the only out - the only way to remove the fear and stress - was to take her own life. Recognizing the lender’s right to protect its investment, you would think there would have been a far more satisfactory solution. Therein lies the heart of the problem - the vicious cycle of lenders not being able to collect mortgage payments because homeowners can’t make those mortgage payments because the economy is close to hitting rock bottom because the lenders can’t collect mortgage payments…..and so it goes until a rod is slammed into the spokes resulting in an unsuccessful suicide attempt by an elderly woman.

Unfortunately, sometimes acknowledging the problem isn’t always the first step towards solving the problem. There is certainly no visible solution in this situation. I guess they finally got her evicted, though. Meanwhile, the rod is kicked out of the spokes and the wheels start turning again, complete with the cycle that has no end in sight. If the recently passed rescue bill were to kick in this very minute, it’s too late for so many who have avoided being served foreclosure notices in hopes of a miracle or windfall of money. Since no one even really understands how this rescue bill will help anyone other than the big dogs on Wall Street, it’s likely there will be many more like this woman. Most won’t consider suicide as their only way out, but their lives are surely to drastically change and because of that, they could care less about the economy’s impact on the mortgage industry since they are no longer homeowners with anything at stake.