I hereby pledge that if chosen to run and if elected by the People of Illinois to the office of Lieutenant Governor:

I will resign on my first day of office, which means under the Constitution of Illinois that the office will remain vacant until the next election.

This will provide time for the legislature to organize a Constitutional Amendment to eliminate the office.

I will not take a salary for the office of Lt. Governor.

I will not staff the office of the Lt. Governor.

I will not spend a single dollar of the taxpayer's of Illinois hard earned money on an unnecessary elected office.

• The FY2008 cost of the office of Lt. Governor was approximately $2.4Million.
• The FY2009 cost (enacted) was $2.1 Million.
• The recommended FY2010 cost is $1.35 Million.
• Over a term of four years, I will save the citizens of Illinois over $5 Million dollars.

Although the Lt. Governor's duties include chairing several committees, I am quite confident that those committees may be served well by other members who may step up to fill the vacant chairmanship. As for succession, upon my resignation, the Attorney General would succeed the Governor should the Governor be unable/unwilling to serve.

--------------------------------

Yes, I'm doing this to make a point. I think it's a bit odd that the Democratic Party is taking applications for the nomination on-line. I also think the office of Lt. Governor is pretty unnecessary, given the extremely limited duties of the office and what it costs to run a governmental office that does so little.

But I'm also 100% serious.

Kevin A. Thompson is hosting Blawg Review this week, on Towel Day.

So mix yourself a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster and check it out... but very carefully.

Things Amazon Got Right

Whisper Net. Holy crap. One click and in less than a minute, I have a new book. It's awesome. And between the free books and .99 books, I'm not spending a fortune, although, in the end I have a feeling I'm going to end up buying way more from Amazon than I did before.

The Dictionary. The dictionary integration on the Kindle is so much more useful than I ever would have imagined. I use it far more than I thought I would, and now that I do, I can't imagine not having it.

Battery Life. I don't leave the wireless on most of the time. And I haven't recharged the thing since I got it, despite heavy use. Awesome.

Things Amazon Got Almost Right

The Color. I'm not a fan of white gadgets in general, but I could live with that. The real issue here is that the background of the e-ink display is slightly grey, not quite white. If the Kindle were grey or black or even red I wouldn't really notice. But looking at the white of the Kindle next to the "white" of the display, and I realize there are still some improvements to be made in the contrast.

Progress Bar. I love that I can glance down and see how far into a book I've read. What I don't like is that I can't easily see how far until the end of the chapter I'm currently reading. When your wife is nudging you in bed saying, "Turn out the damn light" there's no easy way to say, "I'm only four pages away from the end of this chapter." Some chapter marker hash marks or something like that on the progress bar would be awesome.

Notes/Annotations. I suppose this is really a keyboard gripe, not an annotation gripe, but I would really like to make better use of adding notes to texts. This is especially true of legal PDFs that I convert to the Kindle. Right now, they work, but it's tedious to type of the keyboard and it's just not a smooth process. I suppose I'm pushing the envelop of what the Kindle is and is supposed to do, but hey, if you're going to make that a feature, make it a good feature.

The size. It's really comfortable in my hand, reading in bed at night. I thought that I would want a bigger screen, and I do. But I am really pretty happy with the screen size. If the screen were actually the size of the entire face of the current Kindle and were a touch screen, I think that would be perfect. As is, it is much better than I expected.

Things Amazon Got Wrong

Folders. Seriously, I already have dozens of books on my Kindle, and I'm just warming up. I've been hitting Feedbooks and Many Books and going crazy. Which makes my Table of Contents super long. Yeah, I can search it, but I would really love to have folders for reference, non-fiction, fiction, etc. C'mon, how hard would that be Amazon??! This is the major mistake on the UI, if you ask me.

Memory Card. I know, it will hold 1500 books or whatever. Yeah, 2GB isn't bad, but I don't care. Let me put my own card in it. That's a real no brainer. And since the Kindle 1 had a memory card slot, removing it double sucks. New revisions should add features, not strip away good ones!

The Cover. Yeah, I'd probably buy my own cover anyway, and the $30 cover Amazon sells isn't bad--but it should absolutely be included with the Kindle. Who wants to walk around with something that costs over $350 with no cover?! Selling it separately means that you basically pay $30 more for the Kindle, no matter what. Include a damn cover. And speaking of "covers"... it's cool the way the Kindle exploits e-ink's ability to display a persistent image to rotate the book covers that appear on the Kindle screen when it's powered off. But here's a feature request: let me customize those images. Sure, it's cool to have Lewis Carrol, Edgar Allen Poe, or Mark Twain on the screen even though it's off. But you know what would be even cooler? A pic of my family. That really shouldn't be a hard feature, Amazon.

In the end, I have to say I love the thing. When I was a kid, I was a reader. I used to stay up way past my bedtime, when I was supposed to be asleep, reading with a flashlight. I haven't done that in years. Well, the flashlight is gone, but the Kindle actually has me reading late into the night again. Why? It's hard to say. I still love books--the smell, the feel. But there is something to be said for having a library at your fingertips. For having the ability to look up a word at the touch of a button while never leaving the page you're reading that is compelling. I don't think the Kindle will ever replace books in my life entirely, but I also think I'm going to be using it (or some form of e-reader) for a very long time.

The timing of the conference couldn't be worse for me (work projects) but I'm still trying to find a way to go... you should, too.

Conspicuously left out of their ad was any mention of the cheese. Guess that is still not of this world.

I think writing in general provides a path to clearer thinking and new ideas. That's been my experience with blogging in general. However, in blogging about fatherhood, I also wanted to create a running diary of the changes I'm going through as a new father and the changes my baby is going through as she's growing up.

That's where the problem comes in.

I'm pretty open about my life here on the blog. I do reserve intimate details about my personal life and I rarely blog about work (I said I was open, not stupid). I don't mind because, well, it's my life and I'm in control of it. However, when it comes to blogging about my daughter, I've been very conflicted about it. I don't want to expose her life on the Internet in the same way, for a myriad of reasons.

First, it's not my life--it's hers. I don't want to say things that, while true, might needlessly embarrass her. Second, I don't want to expose her to, well, the Internet. Whole lotta creeps out there. Third, I want to be able to be completely honest, and not worry about censoring myself because of who might be reading the blog, or because she might read it someday accidentally.

For all those reasons, I've decided to blog about my baby and fatherhood anonymously. Or at least, as anonymously as anyone can ever really be.

I've set up a new blog under a pseudonym where I can blog about my family. In fact, I've already got two weeks of posts up over there. I'm not going to link it here (duh). I know that someone, with enough effort could probably track it down and link it to me, but for the most part, there's nothing that links it with me here.

Now, if you know me and are interested in reading it, send me an e-mail and maybe someone will send you a link. Otherwise, continue to read about me, my rants and such right here.

I was sworn in yesterday by Thomas R. Fitzgerald, Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court. The long journey through law school is complete, I can now practice law in Illinois.

Frightening.

Second, my wife and I had the pleasure of meeting President Elect Obama at a backyard barbecue fundraiser for his Senate campaign. It was a great experience and I need to give my wife credit... after we left that afternoon, she said, "Someday he's going to be President." She called that one...

Third, Obama probably voted for my wife! She was on the ballot in Cook County... unopposed. :)

Updates:

The Speeches. I thought John McCain's concession speech was magnanimous and very sincere. It's the first sincere thing I've heard come out of his mouth since the primaries. If he had been that open, that honest during his campaign, instead of pandering to the religious right with the Palin Pick, and launching his negative attack ads, etc. this might have been a very different election. Or at least a lot closer. Palin was a pit bull, all right, but America wanted candidates who could speak to the issues, not just parrot attack talking points. I also thought it was telling that when McCain mentioned Obama, the crowd booed... but not Obama's crowd when he mentioned McCain. I hope the vitriolic supporters of McCain take heed in this election: America is tired of hateful, divisive politics. Keep up the hate mongering, and you'll destroy your own party from within.

The Grand Old Party. Republican's have some real soul searching to do. The core of the party are white, conservative, evangelicals... not exactly a growing demographic. On NPR this morning, a Republican strategist noted that the fastest growing voter demographics in America are blacks, latinos, and young voters--all of who overwhelmingly supported Obama. Not good for the GOP future. Maybe it's time to return to a Republican party of old: the one that was less concerned with what women did with their bodies and more concerned with not inflating the national deficit. McCain's Palin pick was clearly targeted to deliver the base, which it did, but this election showed pretty clearly that the Republican base ain't all it's cracked up to be... you can't win an election in America without the center.

Hoosiers!! CNN hasn't called it yet, but with 99% of precincts reporting, Obama is up 50% to 49% (by about 23.5k votes). Hooray for Hoosiers!!

North Carolina. Liddy Dole learned what hateful, untrue attack ads get you: booted. Congrats to Kay Hagen. Another lesson for the Republican party: American's are tired of the B.S. and want some politicians who address the issues instead of attacking the opponents.

Minnesota. According to CNN, with 100% of the precincts reporting, Coleman is only beating Al Franken by 572 votes?! Wow... Recount anyone? I am disappointed that bat-sh*t crazy Bachmann didn't lose her race. After her McCarthy-esque comments, I wanted to see her go down.

Alaska. Are they nuts up there? Seriously, Alaska, you're making Florida look downright reasonable these days. Are your brains frozen?? With 99% of the precincts reporting, it looks like Alaska may have elected a convicted Felon to the Senate. I think ice must be clogging Alaskan's brain tubes.

Finally, I was really disappointed that not a single person who was featured using CNN's new "hologram" technology said, "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi; you're my only hope."

Just when I though it was safe to pack up the practice tests, I found out that passing the Illinois bar exam was only the first step. There is no reciprocity in the jurisdiction of Blawg Review!

You will be given three hours to complete this Blawg Review. Your score will be based on the number of questions you answer correctly. It is therefore to your advantage to try to answer as many questions as you can. Use your time effectively. Do not hurry, but work steadily and as quickly as you can without sacrificing your accuracy.

Blawg Review has information about next week's host, and instructions on how to get your blawg posts reviewed in upcoming issues.

1. He's not a plumber. Turns out, he's not even a licensed plumber in the State of Ohio, or the county, or city where he works. I think Joe just made a lot of enemies from actual, licensed plumbers in Ohio. And probably some customers.

2. Joe's taxes would only have gone up $900. I would also add that frankly, if Joe is making $250-280k per year, I would consider that to be doing quite well and I think he could afford another $1k in taxes. That is, if he were actually a plumber. John McCain can take his smarmy "You're rich, Joe" comment and shove it. In these uncertain economic times, I know a whole lot of people who'd be very pleased to be making $250-280k.You know who is rich? John McCain. So stop with the feigned indignation, Senator McCain.

It seems to me to be quite clear that what Joe really needs isn't McCain's tax plan. He needs an accountant. I would be willing to bet that if he's figuring his own taxes, given his failures to obtain a plumbing license, he's probably overlooked some valid deductions, and that a good accountant could probably erase that $900 increase... maybe even lower his taxes. That is, if he were actually a plumber.

Disclosure: I have a plumber in my extended family. A licensed union plumber.

With all due respect, I'm not your friend. I'm a voter. Every time you say, "My friends" I think you're trying to sell me something I don't want to buy. It gets a little sleazier each time you say it.

I don't want you to be my friend and I don't want to be yours. I don't want you to attack the opposition and dance around questions: I want to hear about your policies, and I think most American's do, too. It would appear you're all out of ideas and since the Straight Talk Express went over the cliff some time ago, all you've got left is a bottle of vitrol you're trying to sell us as a campaign.

Please, give it a rest, my friend.

-Dave!

God, what is the world coming to, when I'm starting to think Lou Dobbs makes a lot of sense.

Disclaimer: The publisher provided a free review copy of this title for review. My policy for this blog is not to accept any form of compensation for reviews, but I will accept review copies--which per my policy, I will then share, free of charge with a law student interested in reading the title. If you're a law student, interested in reading this book, contact me via e-mail: first reply receives the book via snail-mail.

The first thing to note about Your Witness is that it made me want to be in a courtroom. As nervous as I was in Trial Advocacy, I did enjoy it on many levels. Trial is a combination of performance, battle, and intellectual pursuits that make being in a courtroom something very unique--and highly addictive.

I also have a confession... I read this book while studying for the bar exam. This is important for two reasons: first, I passed, which means I managed to retain some sanity with the study breaks this book provided; second, it's an easy read, not too distracting. Each of the fifty chapters is contributed by a 'who's who' of Chicago trial lawyers. The common thread is that they are offering advice about cross-examination techniques and lessons from their years of experience.

The quality of each chapter, accordingly, varies quite a bit. Unfortunately, sometimes great skill in the courtroom really don't translate into great skill at the word processor. Since I'll soon be practicing in Chicago, I won't burn any bridges here, but I'd say out of 50 chapters, there are probably 10 which are really outstanding, another 30 well worth the time, and 10 which could have been cut without missing anything from the book. There are probably five authors who could easily write enjoyable books of their own, and maybe, if I run into them around town I'll suggest it. And there are a few others that I might not want to be up against in court, but that I think should put down the word processor and walk away slowly. I'll leave it up to you to figure out who the editors probably just included to save face in the Chicago legal world, but there are a few of them.

The styles of the chapter, as well as the topics covered, vary as much as the personality of the individual attorneys themselves. Some offer straight up lessons, with examples thrown in to punctuate a point. Others write largely anecdotal war stories, but still offer some insight into cross-examination as the 'moral of the story'. Those are my personal favorites. Some of these attorneys have some incredible 'tales from the trenches' that carry along with them valuable lessons on a variety of subjects relevant to cross-examination, including depositions, experts, witness preparation, advocate witnesses, hostile witnesses, liars, etc.

Even though some of the chapters are less valuable than others, the format of the book lends itself to skipping a chapter here and there if you find a particular author not to your liking. Additionally, since each chapter stands on it's own, it is an easy read. You can pick up a chapter waiting on the train, standing in line somewhere, avoiding another Barbri test set.

If you've every taken Trial Ad and enjoyed it, I think you'll enjoy this book. If you plan on being in a courtroom (representing someone, that is) in your career, you'll enjoy this book and hopefully get something out of it as well. And even if you don't practice in court, but just want some insight into what makes those members of the trial bar tick, I think this book is worth a read.

Look, I am a middle class guy, living in a middle class suburb, working a middle class job. I understand the nature of the "crisis". I understand the importance of credit markets. I understand something must be done. But I also understand this is an ill-conceived, rushed solution and that there are other alternatives that should be considered and offer a better solution to the American people.

I can hardly believe it, but Sen. Shelby said it best:

"Many around here are finding comfort in the notion that 'something is better than nothing.' I believe that is a false choice. The choice we faced was between pursuing an informed response or panic. ... Unfortunately, we chose panic."

All of our elected officials seem to be running around like Chicken Little, crying about the falling sky. We don't need "bailout" plans with little to know accountability which need $150 Billion of additional pork in order to "entice" Representatives to vote for it. We need our elected representatives to sit down, gather expert opinions and formulate a rational response. I know, I'm a dreamer. Instead, we get a bad piece of legislation, so bad that one house of our Congress essentially has to bribe the other into supporting it.

Disgusting.