Over this Christmas break, I had the chance to watch the debate in the U.S. Senate over health care reform. Many if not most of the senators are also lawyers.
Of the numerous careers for which law school prepares you, the path to political office is one of the most brightly lit by a legal education.
As a student here at Florida State Law, I am struck by just how easy it would be to step into the political arena. I grew up in rural North Carolina surrounded by tobacco fields and small evangelical churches. Though Tallahassee is also a small Southern city, the people I meet at the law school are decidedly different than those with whom I grew up. Of course I will not mention names, but it is fascinating to attend law school with the children of U.S. congressmen and large company CEOs. Their outlook on life and the way they talk about the world is enlightening and useful. I learn a lot from them.
Hopefully, I do not sound like I am putting down people from rural North Carolina or rural America. I went to high school there with students that were much, much smarter than me. One of my best friends from high school attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after missing just one question on the math section of the SAT. Another went to the University of North Carolina as a Morehead scholar, and another to the U.S. Naval Academy. It is just that here at Florida State Law, there are about 700 students. I've never been around this many ambitious and intelligent people- many who already have a leg up in society- with an eye toward making their mark in government and business.
These are people who will run the government and businesses in Florida and perhaps the United States in the years to come. Attending school with them while at the same time learning how the law works in this country is a bit like Dorothy peaking behind the curtain to see how the Wizard actually runs Oz. It is an enormous advantage and opportunity for one wishing to start a career in politics.
You can almost stumble into it. Personally, I was asked last summer if I would be interested in working with a candidate for one of the highest offices in the state. I never would have met the candidate if I had decided not to attend law school and Florida State Law. There are all sorts of opportunities for active roles in campaigns and causes at the law school.
So, law school is a great platform for those wishing to enter politics. . . Actually succeeding at politics is a completely different game, though, and one for which I really do not have much advice and absolutely no experience. I respect politicians, no matter what their affiliation. To put yourself out there for public scrutiny takes great courage. You have to be very smart and calculating in what you say and do. It is an easy thing to be friendly to people, but winning at politics takes far more skills than just being friendly.
For those desiring to enter politics in Florida, I would definitely recommend Florida State Law, but perhaps you should do something else right after graduation from college. Get some "real world" experience, one way or the other. Learn from firsthand observation what everyday people have to do to survive in our society. If you go straight from high school to college to law school to political office or a political staff, then that is a pretty insulated path. There is a lot about the human condition you will miss on that narrow of a path.
But the more you understand about all types of people, not just those who send their lobbyists to you as an elected official, the better leader you will be.
Universal Health Care Now,
Nathan Marshburn
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
A New Hope
This blog is supposed to be about law school.
Today, however, I want to acknowledge the amazing effort of the U.S. Senate to accomplish health care reform.
A bill passed today which, if it becomes law, will represent quite possibly the most important change in domestic policy since I was born. I hope that I am not exaggerating.
Thank you to President Obama, Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, to Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Senator Max Baucus of Montana, Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, the late Senator Ted Kennedy, and the others of the 60 senators who voted "Yes" today to make this happen.
The bill is not perfect, and the process to get there was messy at times. But the hope and better lives it will bring to Americans far outweighs the flaws.
I was surprised that at least some Republicans did not join in this effort in the Senate. Their objection that it will add debt to the current deficit seems odd to me when the current health care system is literally bankrupting American families every day. People die in this country because they can not afford health care. If that does not motivate you to act-- well then, I'm not sure what to say. Exactly whose interests are you representing?
Health care is an inalienable right. It is not a privilege for the wealthy. This is a moral issue, and it's not even a close one.
But today is a new day. Frankly, I am amazed that we have gotten this far. In my entire life, I have never seen our government working for the people like it is doing right now.
So, to our leaders: Keep pushing! We are almost there!
Hurray for the Senate!
Nathan Marshburn
Today, however, I want to acknowledge the amazing effort of the U.S. Senate to accomplish health care reform.
A bill passed today which, if it becomes law, will represent quite possibly the most important change in domestic policy since I was born. I hope that I am not exaggerating.
Thank you to President Obama, Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, to Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Senator Max Baucus of Montana, Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, the late Senator Ted Kennedy, and the others of the 60 senators who voted "Yes" today to make this happen.
The bill is not perfect, and the process to get there was messy at times. But the hope and better lives it will bring to Americans far outweighs the flaws.
I was surprised that at least some Republicans did not join in this effort in the Senate. Their objection that it will add debt to the current deficit seems odd to me when the current health care system is literally bankrupting American families every day. People die in this country because they can not afford health care. If that does not motivate you to act-- well then, I'm not sure what to say. Exactly whose interests are you representing?
Health care is an inalienable right. It is not a privilege for the wealthy. This is a moral issue, and it's not even a close one.
But today is a new day. Frankly, I am amazed that we have gotten this far. In my entire life, I have never seen our government working for the people like it is doing right now.
So, to our leaders: Keep pushing! We are almost there!
Hurray for the Senate!
Nathan Marshburn
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Racing the Monster
Though exams during my first year of law school were more stressful than they are this semester, the past couple of weeks have still been hectic enough to make me appreciate the runs I go on around Alumni Village, the university-owned complex where I live.
During the evenings, the Tallahassee Star Metro buses come inside the complex to drop off residents. The buses on the 9:20 pm run and the last run, the 10 pm one, are usually pretty empty. The bus drivers speed around the two-mile loop faster than they should, eager to get back to the station and end their shift.
If I am out doing my jogs at this time of night, I can hear the bus coming. Its engine roars at varying decibels as it negotiates curves and speed bumps. The hiss of its brakes I can hear from almost anywhere in the Village on a calm and still night.
When I hear the bus coming, I pick up the pace of my run. If I am close enough to the finish and the bus is visible behind me, I go into an all-out sprint. The driver probably thinks that I am strange, to see some guy running full throttle down the street in front of him.
But I don't like to be passed by the bus, and for two reasons. The first is that I have a bus to blame, I believe, for getting sick one of the worst times I have ever been sick in my life.
When I lived in Las Vegas, I would go for runs up Paradise Road, which is parallel to "The Strip" or Las Vegas Boulevard. I ran past the Hilton Hotel and Casino, with its huge electronic advertisement for Barry Manilow, past the Sands Convention Center, until I came to the near convergence of The Strip and Paradise Road at the Sahara Casino. If I jogged south on Paradise Road rather than north, I'd take a right on Flamingo Road, and run to the Bellagio and back.
On one such run in Vegas, a huge bus passed me and blasted an incredible amount of exhaust into my face. I felt particles go into my nose and down my throat. When I got back from my run, I could already feel my throat beginning to tighten and hurt. I caught a fever, lost my voice, and it put me out of action for a few days.
That was quite a scary time, to be sick like that. I had no family in Vegas- no family west of Knoxville, Tennessee for that matter- and no one cared about me out there. Except for my landlord and the coworkers at the car dealership where I worked, no one even knew I existed in that city.
So now, when these Star Tallahassee Metro buses pass me, I can smell that same exhaust, and I try to avoid breathing it.
The second reason is less serious. I make it a game to not let the bus pass me, to make me run faster. When I was a kid, I saw a movie called Duel. It was a made for television movie from the 1970s, but it was Steven Spielberg's first major work as a director (even before he did Jaws). It was a well-made film, better than most of the stuff that is in theaters now (You can see the trailer for the movie at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MtAMc4i8OA, or watch the whole thing at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5370479393460637420#).
The film is about a salesman, driving alone across the desert in his small car, when for some reason he is targeted by a homicidal truck driver. The brilliance of the movie is that Spielberg makes the truck itself the character, not the driver. In fact, neither the audience nor the salesman ever sees the driver or learns his identity.
So, when I see the headlights of the bus flying around a curve in Alumni Village, when I hear the angry roar of its engine and the hiss of its brakes, I imagine that I am in a duel with it. Can I make it to the finish line and get off the road before it passes me and blasts exhaust into my face?
It's a neat little distraction from the stress of exams.
Universal Health Care Now,
Nathan Marshburn
During the evenings, the Tallahassee Star Metro buses come inside the complex to drop off residents. The buses on the 9:20 pm run and the last run, the 10 pm one, are usually pretty empty. The bus drivers speed around the two-mile loop faster than they should, eager to get back to the station and end their shift.
If I am out doing my jogs at this time of night, I can hear the bus coming. Its engine roars at varying decibels as it negotiates curves and speed bumps. The hiss of its brakes I can hear from almost anywhere in the Village on a calm and still night.
When I hear the bus coming, I pick up the pace of my run. If I am close enough to the finish and the bus is visible behind me, I go into an all-out sprint. The driver probably thinks that I am strange, to see some guy running full throttle down the street in front of him.
But I don't like to be passed by the bus, and for two reasons. The first is that I have a bus to blame, I believe, for getting sick one of the worst times I have ever been sick in my life.
When I lived in Las Vegas, I would go for runs up Paradise Road, which is parallel to "The Strip" or Las Vegas Boulevard. I ran past the Hilton Hotel and Casino, with its huge electronic advertisement for Barry Manilow, past the Sands Convention Center, until I came to the near convergence of The Strip and Paradise Road at the Sahara Casino. If I jogged south on Paradise Road rather than north, I'd take a right on Flamingo Road, and run to the Bellagio and back.
On one such run in Vegas, a huge bus passed me and blasted an incredible amount of exhaust into my face. I felt particles go into my nose and down my throat. When I got back from my run, I could already feel my throat beginning to tighten and hurt. I caught a fever, lost my voice, and it put me out of action for a few days.
That was quite a scary time, to be sick like that. I had no family in Vegas- no family west of Knoxville, Tennessee for that matter- and no one cared about me out there. Except for my landlord and the coworkers at the car dealership where I worked, no one even knew I existed in that city.
So now, when these Star Tallahassee Metro buses pass me, I can smell that same exhaust, and I try to avoid breathing it.
The second reason is less serious. I make it a game to not let the bus pass me, to make me run faster. When I was a kid, I saw a movie called Duel. It was a made for television movie from the 1970s, but it was Steven Spielberg's first major work as a director (even before he did Jaws). It was a well-made film, better than most of the stuff that is in theaters now (You can see the trailer for the movie at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MtAMc4i8OA, or watch the whole thing at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5370479393460637420#).
The film is about a salesman, driving alone across the desert in his small car, when for some reason he is targeted by a homicidal truck driver. The brilliance of the movie is that Spielberg makes the truck itself the character, not the driver. In fact, neither the audience nor the salesman ever sees the driver or learns his identity.
So, when I see the headlights of the bus flying around a curve in Alumni Village, when I hear the angry roar of its engine and the hiss of its brakes, I imagine that I am in a duel with it. Can I make it to the finish line and get off the road before it passes me and blasts exhaust into my face?
It's a neat little distraction from the stress of exams.
Universal Health Care Now,
Nathan Marshburn
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