Oh, I've Slipped the Surly Bonds of Earth*

"A helicopter is 10,000 totally unrelated moving parts, bent on self destruction, flying in relatively close formation."

Today, I used the Christmas gift certificate my wife gave me to fly in a helicopter. Big whoop? Maybe. Thirty minutes of vibrating our way around a city I've lived in for the better part of thirty years, landing at virtually the same place we started. We never got more than a thousand feet in the air, an altitude most commercial aircraft attain before they get to the end of the runway on takeoff. In thirty minutes we made it from Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport to downtown Denver and back. I don't need lights and sirens to do that in the police car.

"Hovering is for pilots who love to fly but have no place to go."

Twenty years into a successful marriage, it's hard to experience something unexpected. Of course there are the blind-side things creeping into a life - an unfortunate diagnosis, an unanticipated life event. Somehow, my wife figured out how to give me a gift so unexpected, and so perfect, that it reinforces how people who seem settled in routine can offer the occasional, wonderful surprise.

"An aircraft in flight wants to fly. A helicopter in flight wants to crash."

I arrived precisely on time to my appointment at Colorado HeliOps, was greeted by my genial host Dennis, and introduced to the various of the "crew." An affable, earnest young man gave me a safety briefing ("don't walk into the tail rotor") and I signed the usual release form stating (I'm a lawyer, so I'm paraphrasing) if the helicopter crashes it's really my fault and my heirs and assigns - wife, kids, dogs, cats, Facebook friends - can all go pound sand. I met the other two guys who would be passengers with me, killing time in the simulator while our pilot and helicopter returned from an elementary school, dropping off two grownups dressed in Easter Bunny suits.

Mr. Marbury's Commission* UPDATED

"I beg your pardon,I never promised you a rose garden."

Today, President Barack Obama delivered a late amicus curiae brief with the US Supreme Court, from the Rose Garden of the White House, in support of the law colloquially known as "Obamacare." In it he implicitly urged the justices to overrule a case he evidently considers ancient, overreaching, and poorly written titled William Marbury v. James Madison. A little background is necessary.

On March 3, 1801, President John Adams, just before his term expired, signed a series of commissions, appointing members of his party to a variety of judicial offices. One William Marbury, a native of Maryland and a prosperous financier, was active in Maryland politics and a vigorous supporter of the Adams presidency. His office was to be justice of the peace in the DC District.

On the following day, Marbury's appointment was approved by the Senate; however, to go into effect, the commissions had to be delivered to those appointed ("Signed, sealed and delivered, I'm yours"). Delivery to Marbury did not take place prior to Adams' exit from office, and the commission expired.

Mr. Marbury sued, taking his case directly to the Supreme Court on the basis of a jurisdictional law passed by Congress. Here is where it gets interesting.

Forty-eight year old Chief Justice John Marshall, a Revolutionary War veteran (Valley Forge survivor) and friend of George Washington, wrote the opinion for the court, a decision now widely known as Marbury v. Madison. How widely known?

Have a Heart

Maybe he's not your cup of tea. That's fine. Maybe he advocated some things during his tenure as vice president with which you disagree. Gotcha. And all one has to say is Haliburton.... Although with gas prices approaching four bucks a gallon aren't you secretly rooting for them to find an enourmous amount of oil?

Yesterday, former VP Dick Cheney underwent heart transplant surgery. Apparently it went well, but on the whole it remains an especially daunting operation. Yet, last night Facebook was alight with comments suggesting their authors were less than sincere about the half-hearted well wishes.

Vice President Cheney was, is, and will be to the end of his life unabashedly, unapologetically pro-American. It has always gone beyond the oaths of office he has taken. Maybe that isn't to everyone's liking. So be it.

Let me just mention (I guess you don't have a choice) a couple of things.

Minutes Away

"When seconds count, the police are only minutes away."

The Sanford, Florida Treyvon Martin tragedy highlights several inescapable facts of law enforcement. Like them or not, agree or disagree, as members of a dynamic, complex and free society it is essential that people have some understanding of several key aspects of what is surely a difficult situation. One need not know anything beyond the basics, which are, as I understand them:

Treyvon Martin left a home to get candy and ice tea. Along the way George Zimmerman, a self-appointed neighborhood patrolman (nothing I've read discusses any formal training) encountered Martin and deemed him suspicious. Zimmerman called 911, but at some point a confrontation ensued. Zimmerman suffered minor injuries, and he shot Martin to death. As of today, no charges have been brought by local law enforcement.

Three factors are at work, again not requiring anything other than the above facts:

You Say You Want A Revolution?

"Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

This age seems to have brought out the crazies. The above twitter...tweet, or whatever, seems fairly straightforward. Yet, contacted by press for details, the author retreated most riki tik, explaining that he was, in fact, commenting on how "other" revolutions have expressed themselves. He was just a "rebelrouser [sic] trying to cause a stink and clearly it worked.”
Oh.

The utter recklessness of the rhetoric emerging from the Occupy Movement is astonishing. It isn't enough to write this kind of crap off as a few "crazies" with time on their hands and a laptop on a TV tray in their mom's basement. The Occupy Movement is about the maelstrom of free expression, of fighting oppression by the 1% by getting together, standing strong and.... Having a multitude of personal, conflicting messages, one being as relevant as the next, I suppose.

So, Rusty Braxton of Oviedo, FL - come on up to Colorado. Spring is here, the trees are budding and I'd love to discuss your notion that I and a couple of my friends should die so your cause can be taken seriously.

It's Not Show Friends

I wrote the below post just after the Broncos' loss to New England. Recently, the Denver Broncos have been front and center in the great Payton Manning Sweepstakes. Or is it the Great Payton Manning, etc. Jason Gay, writer with more talent in his shift finger than I possess everywhere else, suggests that the Broncos are being tacky. With thanks to Bob Sugar ( of Jerry Maguire fame) everyone knows its show business, not show friends. But the ungrateful crowd at Dove Valley need some lessons in grace.

A Good Old-Fashioned Ass Kicking

When someone kicks your ass, just be thankful you brought it with you. No one likes to show up unprepared.

I just wonder, as Tim Tebow meandered around the field - alone - after losing 45-10, who was going to put an arm around him and say that everyone endures days like he had. At least he didn't give up. Or, something.

Instead, he wandered around looking for someone to talk to. I wonder....

When he looks around the locker room tonight in Massachusetts, does he see friends? A band of brothers?

Or, a room full of people who were just along for the ride.

The Unrest of Those To Follow*

"The rest of those who have gone before us cannot steady the unrest of those to follow," Avalon Landing, Finding Forrester, William Forrester, as read by Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown), 2000.


Lynn "Buck" Compton died on February 25, 2012 in the state of Washington. He was a soldier in the 101st Airborne, a police officer, lawyer and judge. He prosecuted Sirhan Sirhan for the murder of Robert Kennedy in a kitchen at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, and retired from the California Court of Appeals in 1990.

In the Band of Brothers series he described his D-Day landing - "That's when I lost that famous leg bag you hear about. There I was, with a trench knife, a canteen and about six candy bars." With that, he set off in enemy territory to find the 101st.

May we always remember those who have fought to keep us free.

*