0 We're suing the president... but the corrupt judge is off limits -- Really??

From CNN:  "The Republican-led House approved a resolution on Wednesday authorizing Speaker John Boehner to sue President Barack Obama over claims he abused his powers at the expense of Congress and the Constitution.

The vote was 225-201.

Republicans argue Obama's executive orders in a number of areas were unlawful because it's the job of Congress to make or change laws. But they believe his handling of the Affordable Care act gives them the best chance at proving their case, and are basing the suit on that issue.

House authorization now allows GOP-leaders to have the unusual challenge filed in federal court. The time frame for that is not clear and many legal experts question whether any judge would take it on.

Not a single House Democrat voted for the resolution and five Republicans opposed it."

OK, everyone knows that's going nowhere, but it's included as background for this...  This is just another waste of time, effort, money and resource.  And, we wonder why Congress has a nine per cent approval rating..  

You can't make this stuff up...

Judge Wade McCree Jr. lost his job, for now.  

This judge, in Detroit (where else??), who once texted a shirtless photo of himself to a female court bailiff, had a physical affair with a woman while overseeing her child custody case.  He had sex with her in his chambers and sexted her from the bench.  REALLY??  Read it again:  Did you see that he had the affair WHILE he was presiding over her case against her ex-husband?

But he can't be sued for money damages  because judges are immune from civil lawsuits — You can sue the President, but Judge McCree is immune??   REALLY??

Yep, it's a long-established doctrine that has many in the legal profession, and even more outside the profession, shaking their heads, and stating that the McCree case highlights a pervasive problem in the justice system (just one??): judges getting away with unethical, or simply bad, behavior on the promise of immunity.

It undermines public confidence in government," said Connecticut civil rights attorney Norm Pattis, author of "Taking Back the Courts," a 2011 book that documents flaws in the justice system.  That could be one big book.

"I don't think anybody should be above the law, least of all those who administer it," said Pattis, who labeled the immunity status as "a crazy rule" and the McCree case as "outrageous."

The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that McCree could not be sued by the father of his mistress' child, even though his actions were "often reprehensible."

The ruling baffled Attorney Joel Sklar. He represents the father, Robert King, who claims McCree denied him access to a fair and impartial judge by having an affair with Geniene La'Shay Mott when she sued King over child support. King claims McCree's decisions — such as placing him on a tether — were influenced by his "sexual desires" and that his rulings unfairly favored his mistress.        Ya think, Robert??

"This conduct is absurd," Sklar said. "It's so beyond description. A judge uses his chambers to have sex with a litigant? ... If this isn't too far, what is too far?"  Well Joel, it does seem a little too far.

It has long been recognized that for judges to be able to render impartial decisions, without fear of repercussion, they need to be immune from lawsuits. 

But just because you can't sue judges for money doesn't mean they can get away with unethical  behavior completely.  

Judges can be removed from the bench; McCree was. The Michigan Supreme Court removed him from the bench and suspended him for six years, They made it six years, fearing that the voting public is so uninformed that they'd reelect him in November.    

 News interview videos are included here for your viewing pleasure (yes, these are real interviews, not Saturday Night Live -- although SNL, take note; this could be a hilarious skit).  Note that McCree wants to keep this affair "under the covers," which seems to be the ultimate double entendre. 

While it is understood that a loosening of the immunity doctrine would trigger a mountain of lawsuits against judges, there has to be a middle ground.  Maybe there should be an exception clause:  When a judge is deciding a child custody case, while sleeping with the mother, the father wins.  

This isn't a one-time situation either; in Tennessee, a judge escaped liability recently -- he was accused of propositioning a woman for sex in exchange for him issuing a warrant for some individuals she claimed attacked her.  REALLY??

A federal judge dismissed that lawsuit, concluding that even if the judge did ask her for sex, he was protected by immunity. The judge did lose his job.  Maybe he'll be reelected.  And, maybe the federal judge who made that decision should lose his.

Is this our best?

Wanna read another Detroit mess, from a year or two ago??  Go to Internal Affairs has new meaning in Detroit. 

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Detail: We're suing the president... but the corrupt judge is off limits -- Really??

0 Has Anybody Here, Seen My Old Friend Jesse,

It's an old song, but where is Jesse Jackson this week?  Has anybody here, seen my old friend, Jesse.  

Based upon the latest black-white hate crime in Detroit, you would think that Jesse, and Al and the gang would be here to point out all the injustices that have taken place by citizens, police, politicians, and the like.  

Jesse, where are you?.  McCrabby looked up Jesse's mission statement on his Rainbow Coalition website:  

Our mission is to protect, defend, and gain civil rights by leveling the economic and educational playing fields, and to promote peace and justice around the world.

That statement certainly seems to thrust Jesse into almost every other injustice in the world that involves racial strife.  Jesse, where are you?

For those living outside Southeastern Michigan, McCrabby would like to set the stage.  

Steve Utash

Last Wednesday afternoon, Steve Utash, a landscaper from Roseville, MI, drove along the east side of Detroit. David Harris, a ten-year-old boy from Detroit, walked away from his father who was standing with him on the curb, and in front Utash’s truck when he was hit.

Realizing he had hit the child, Utash pulled over to see how the boy was, and whether he could offer any assistance.  While stopped, a pack of a dozen thugs rushed Utash and proceeded to  beat him savagely; so savagely in fact, that five days later, Utash remains in the hospital in a medically-induced coma, fighting for his life.  

Jesse where are you?

Despite Utash’s pleas, the mob continued to beat him mercilessly.  You might think the motive was to protect the young boy, who was injured enough to go to the hospital, with abrasions and possibly a broken leg (he'll be fine).  But no, the mob, who apparently beat Utash for several minutes, and allegedly quit only after a woman attempted to intervene, then proceeded to steal  his paycheck, wallet and credit cards, as well as some equipment from the truck he was driving.   How did that fit in?

Jesse, where are you?

The young boy's father, was arrested, not because he had any involvement in the attack, but on other, already-existing outstanding warrants.  Any red flags there?

Jesse, where are you?

Is there any good news?  Yes.

• Detroit Police have said that Utash was not speeding or breaking any traffic laws, and that he did exactly what he was supposed to do during a situation like this. He is not facing any charges or citations related to this incident.  That's very decent.
• Utash's family set up a fund to pay for his medical bills due (he is uninsured) and so far, it has apparently raised more than $100,000
• Detroit Police have arrested two teens, a 16 and 17, in conjunction with Wednesday’s assault. They are still on the lookout for the remainder, but are having difficulty getting cooperation from the local community in identifying the attackers.  The locals are afraid of retribution. “Snitches get stitches”  seems to be the thought of the day..
• Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have not shown up -- did we really need them?  Did we expect them?    Did we want them?  Jesse, where are you?

This story is a shame; it's a horrible and unwarranted physical challenge for Steve Utash, an emotional and frustrating feeling of despair for his family, another embarrassing black eye, in a long line of embarrassing black eyes, for the City of Detroit, and a setback for decent people who want, and think it should be possible, to live in harmony and peace with everyone. Jesse, where are you?

So, Jesse didn't show up.  Why not?  This certainly seems like a situation where he could

"promote peace and justice."  

Maybe Booker T. Washington understood it best, even before we were born.  ========>

McCrabby hopes that there is justice, in this case, eventually.  Steve Utash deserves it.  His family deserves it.  Detroit deserves it.  Law-abiding people everywhere deserve it.  Jesse deserves it.

Jesse, where are you?

How 'bout following us on Twitter, or signing up here..

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Twitter (@curtmacrae), where we don't post much, but we'd love to see you. 

Detail: Has Anybody Here, Seen My Old Friend Jesse,

0 Kids suing parents; finally!!! REALLY??

Spare the rod, get sued by your kid...    Really?

Maybe you read about the case where a young lady decided her parents "owed" her a college education, no matter what.  McCrabby wasn't going to comment, but the legal system has been a target before, so let's give a judge his due.  He stopped this lunacy.

In case you haven't heard, let's give a quick recap:  

Rachel Canning — who has been accepted to several colleges, including a $20,000 scholarship to the University of Vermont — wanted the court to declare she’s nonemancipated because under the law a parent has an obligation to support their child if he or she is not emancipated.

“To be clear, my clients never abandoned nor abused their child, and they have asked her to come home,” their attorney, Laurie Rush-Masuret, told reporters just before entering court.

Rush-Masuret said Rachel Canning did not want to follow house rules, including making curfew and breaking up with her boyfriend whom her parents considered trouble.  “We’re good parents,” Sean Canning said. “We have nothing to hide.”

Judge Peter Bogaard noted that Rachel Canning’s behavior over the past year was a concern -- cutting high school, getting suspended, her boyfriend doing the same, moving in with her best friend’s so-called “concerned” family, and then seeking high school and college tuition costs, and $654 a week in living expenses.

Six hundred fifty-four a week?  McCrabby usually takes about a hundred a week for his expenses.  Mrs. M takes less than that, except for groceries.  I know iPhones and Starbucks are expensive, but really?

The judge said the sides will revisit the issue of college tuition at the end of April, about a month after Rachel Canning’s financial aid forms are due. Bogaard hinted that ruling in the teen’s favor could set a dangerous legal precedent. “Do we want to establish a precedent where parents living in constant fear of establishing basic rules of the house?” he said.

OK, McCrabby has some thoughts..  

• McCrabby's #1 child, with an IQ north of 140 was attending Michigan State University and attaining a 2.0-2.5 gradepoint average.  He was passing, but not working.  Making a difficult decision, McCrabby told McCrabby Jr., that the gravy train was over.  Dad was done making payments for college.   The result?  He never missed the Dean's List for the rest of his college years and graduated with the Honors College.  Seems like parents should be involved.
• 
  

• Our legal system lets these frivolous lawsuits move forward at major cost, in terms of money, and humanity.  Aren't we tired of this?
• Shouldn't parents be allowed to parent?  There are so many parents that abdicate that responsibility, maybe we should applaud those that step up.  McCrabby can speak from experience that it is tougher to deny your child something you can provide than it is to simply give them what they want.  We need to give them what they need.

• And, how do you feel about the friend's parents, who took this young lady in, financed her lawsuit and were "concerned" so they stepped in?  McCrabby realizes that not all is known about the entire situation, but who does that??
• We seem to be living in a time of entitlement; would this type of suit been brought 25 years ago, or even 15?  Would our parents have been shocked at this action?  Would your dad simply have told you to "shut up and act right?"  

• Some say that kids today mature faster. Maybe, in regards to sex and knowing how to work the system.  Beyond that, many kids seem far less mature than their predecessors. An 18-year-old today seems almost juvenile compared to the ones who went off to fight World War II, or even those of us who were in college, managing our Viet Nam draft status on our own (and paying for college on our own).  When my father told me to pull my own weight, I knew how a response of "how 'bout you give me $654/week, and I won't need to" would be received.  McCrabby's kids knew the same.  We didn't sue.  When did that change?  

Entitlement seems to be built into our political system, encouraged by our legal system, and driven by a lack of common sense.  Thankfully, this judge put a stop to the lunacy, if only temporarily - let's wait to see what happens during the "revisit" in late April.

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Detail: Kids suing parents; finally!!! REALLY??

0 Weekend cartoon - job interview code for "too old"

Weekend SH!*%*%T from McCrabby -

You're too old to get a job???







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Detail: Weekend cartoon - job interview code for "too old"

0 You think your job is bad?? A lighter post...

McCrabby will be in the hospital on Monday, having kidney stone surgery (back on Tuesday, hopefully)..  While working on a post about entrepreneurship, he wanted to remind those working that it could be worse.

You could be unemployed, or  ---------->
                                see picture on right

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McCrabby

Detail: You think your job is bad?? A lighter post...

0 SH!T from McCrabby - A flaw in the real estate market

SH!T from McCrabby 

McCrabby has found a flaw in the real estate market...  As you may already know, McCrabby and the missus sold their home this month (McCrabby Moves On).  It was tough because they really didn't want to move.

But McCrabby, who has bought six homes over the years, but none in the past 24 years, uncovered an interesting "gotcha" in this new real estate market.

McCrabby listed his home for a "fair" price, much, much less than he would have gotten five years ago, but fair.  

Seems like this should've been
worth more - don'cha think?

Do you know what happens then?  Here is the process:

A home-seller and his realtor determine a "fair" price for their home, and list it.  Then, a home-buyer and his realtor view the home and like it.  They decide they'd like to buy, but they offer a bit less, trying to negotiate an even better price.  The seller and the buyer may counter one another 2-3 times.  And, finally, those four people (seller and his agent, buyer and his agent) arrive at a fair price, based upon what they have observed, compared, and shopped for.  Four people agree on this "fair" price, all of whom have stakes in the outcome. 


In McCrabby's case, an offer came in on the second day the home was listed (We're going to say it listed for $100 for demonstration purposes and then use appropriate percentages to illustrate the flaw we discussed).

The offer came in for $96.  In the countering process, McC and Mrs. M countered at $97, which was accepted, and the deal was done--right??  No, not right.

Now comes the appraisal, or what we have come to fondly call "the flaw."

Consider this:  the buyer, and/or the bank, orders the appraisal and pays the $300-500 appraisal fee.  In today's environment, unlike in the past, when the appraisal pretty much matched the offer, today's appraisal often becomes the selling price.  

Why?  Because every buyer writes into the offer that if the home appraisal comes back lower than the agreed-to price (that term is faulty, too), they either are allowed to buy for that appraised value, or they can walk.  Hmmm, let's think about that one a moment.  The buyer wants the lowest possible price, the bank wants the largest amount of equity possible, and the appraiser wants to get hired again by the bank.  

In the meantime, while awaiting the appraisal, McCrabby and Mrs. M are packing, selling some items that won't fit in the next house, and the current house is in disarray due to this effort, and will never show as well as it originally did (for the one day it was for sale).  And, McCrabby's realtor has taken the home off the market.  After all, we have an agreement.  Right??

Drum-roll, please...

Can you see this coming?  Guess where the appraisal came in... Come on, guess..  Think a moment..  Scroll down........

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Yes, you guessed it -- the appraised price was $96.  Who could've guessed?  You did, right?

Just burning a few 
more bucks..

Yes, we burned one dollar (and, as the buyer's realtor pointed out, "it's only one per cent").  Yes, it's only one per cent, or if you extrapolate that to real housing dollars, it comes to SEVERAL THOUSAND DOLLARS...

Oh, yes, it's also within 1/10 of one per cent of the buyer's original offer (before the McCrabby counter-offer - what a waste of time that counter-offer was).  The appraiser just burned several thousand McCrabby dollars.

But it was fair, you say, based upon the market...  Maybe.  But, let's point out a couple things:

1. The appraiser has the offer and contract BEFORE he ever sees the house - does that seem right?  Shouldn't he go appraise the house for a real price and then compare it to the offer AFTER he completes the appraisal?
2. Our appraiser said, upon entering the house, "You got a good price for this," basically assuring us that we would not get our price, because we'll be forced to adjust our price to whatever whim (or adjustment number) he sticks on his report - the buyer thought it was worth $97, but that didn't matter.
3. When he left, the appraiser told us we'd have the report back in two days, so while we packed, sold furniture, and waited six days, with our home off the market, we made it much less sale-able.
4. McCrabby is told that the appraiser has to know the offer price because he's supposed to review agreements, etc. (shouldn't the lending institution do that?)

Oh, it's OK; don't worry about McCrabby and Mrs. M.  They'll be fine.  A thousand here, ten thousand there, it makes no difference any more.  As many friends have told them, it's only "stuff," it's only "money."  What they fail to realize is McCrabby liked his "stuff" and really liked his "money."

But, in the end, McCrabby likes Mrs. McCrabby best, and as long as Mrs. M goes with him, he'll be good.  

At least we don't need to appraise the next house (although, as the buyer, we might enjoy that)...

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Detail: SH!T from McCrabby - A flaw in the real estate market

0 Congressman Tweets; blows off jobs speech - RU Kidding??

McCrabby's rant for the weekend:  What is the matter with this country?  Oh, here's one thing...

Paul Broun told "Fox and Friends" on Thursday he was not trying to send a message by blowing off President  Obama's jobs speech last night — he just really wanted to tweet -- we guess he was sending multiple messages.  

Are you kidding, Mr. Broun?  Come on...

The Republican Congressman from Georgia (and, believe it when McCrabby says he doesn't care if this guy is democrat or republican) said he would watch the speech from his office and offer live tweets to his almost-6000 Twitter followers (Charlie Sheen got a million followers in a couple days -- but, that's another problem for another rant).  

When Broun was asked by the Fox network host if his absence from the Congressional Chamber was meant to send a message to the president, Broun assured that there was no message.  He added "In fact, I believe very firmly this is going to be just another political speech,  The campaign's on, the president is going to give us another campaign speech."

"Would you care to share your thoughts 
with the rest of the class, Mr. Broun?"

Broun said one of the reasons he's skipping the address is because members are not supposed to be on their cell phones and Blackberries in the chamber.  REALLY??  When the president is giving a speech, you aren't supposed to be passing notes in class?  How restrictive is that??  

Broun noted that "I think it's better for me to sit in the office and watch it on TV where I can communicate with my constituents."  Those six thousand people (how many constituents do you have, Mr. Broun?) couldn't wait another hour to hear Broun's incisive comments?  Maybe Fox News should interview those six thousand people to see how many skipped the speech to read Broun's tweets.  Broun called his session a "Twitter Town Hall Meeting."  


McCrabby calls it a joke.  Saturday Night Live can play this skit without rewriting the words..

In January, Broun also skipped Obama's State of the Union speech, and live tweeted his commentary during that address.  No wonder he has so many followers.  

McCrabby would like to get more followers than Congressman Broun, so please follow McCrabby on Twitter (FOLLOW)...

Wanna connect??   

Don't forget to sign up on the left or here (where it says "join this site") so we can see your picture on this site.  And follow us on twitter (@curtmacrae), where we don't post much, but we'd love to see you there

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Detail: Congressman Tweets; blows off jobs speech - RU Kidding??