present. The court held that government must be color-blind, neither against racial minorities nor for them. Just neutral.” That was exactly what the case held.
“Oh, color-blind,” the professor said, dripping with sarcasm. “I notice you seem to have a Southern accent, Mr. Owens. It doesn’t surprise me that you think ‘color-blind’ means taking away opportunities for racial minorities.”
The message was received by the whole class. The professor was a hater and it was easier to just let her do her thing. She had the power, and one better not get in her way. It was pretty obvious that she picked out the one Southerner in the class for her demonstration of power.
Bill was unfazed. He went on to give a great defense of how the Constitution required color-blindness. But it didn’t matter. His “class participation” grade, which was a third of his grade, was zero and he got a mediocre grade in the class, despite doing very well on the written test (which was graded anonymously).
This demonstrated to Grant that the left-wing people running everything were intolerant bullies who had some deep hatred of people like Bill and Grant.
Then it hit Grant. He wanted to be a lawyer to fight bullies. Lawyers could sue the government when they hurt people. Lawyers could sue big business, big labor, big anything on behalf of the little guy. In that moment, Grant knew exactly what he was going to do with his law degree.
This was reinforced when a federal judge gave a speech at an event Grant attended. The judge, who was appointed by Reagan, was not invited to speak by the law school. A private group, the conservative and libertarian Federalist Society, invited him to speak.
The judge’s speech was on how lawyers can fight bullies. The judge said, “When you boil it down, the law is about protecting people from other people trying to take advantage of them. The law is about protecting people’s liberties and rights.” This made complete sense to Grant; it explained everything about the law.
This is what he was supposed to do. Grant had found his purpose. He wanted to be a judge; or at least a lawyer who fought bullies.
Chapter 7
Olympia
Grant and Lisa had opportunities to relocate just about anywhere in the U.S., but they wanted to stay in Washington State. They loved it there; the beauty of it, and the generally laid back people.
Lisa quickly found a job at a Tacoma hospital. Grant needed to find a lawyer job in Tacoma or nearby Olympia, which would be hard for him. Not because he had a bad résumé, but because he was “conservative.” Washington was not a hospitable environment for conservatives.
The State of Washington had a very large government. Per capita, Washington’s government was much larger than most states. For the most part, people in Washington State were liberals, at least in Western Washington around Seattle. In Eastern Washington, which looks a lot more like Idaho, people were largely conservative. The rural areas in Western Washington outside of the Seattle metropolitan area were largely conservative, too. Most people lived in the Seattle area. They had all the votes in the state that were needed to run the more conservative areas like their little parks and nature preserves. People in Washington State, just like the rest of the country, had been taught for generations that government was there to help the little guy and prevent evil corporations from exploiting them. Everything good came from government; everything bad came from a lack of government. Kids doing well on standardized tests? That came from government spending money on education. Kids not doing well on standardized tests? That came from a lack of government spending on education. Everything in life could be explained by the “fact” that government needed to do it, and needed to do more.
Of course, most people in Washington State didn’t really think of it this way. They didn’t think about it at all. They were
“Oh, color-blind,” the professor said, dripping with sarcasm. “I notice you seem to have a Southern accent, Mr. Owens. It doesn’t surprise me that you think ‘color-blind’ means taking away opportunities for racial minorities.”
The message was received by the whole class. The professor was a hater and it was easier to just let her do her thing. She had the power, and one better not get in her way. It was pretty obvious that she picked out the one Southerner in the class for her demonstration of power.
Bill was unfazed. He went on to give a great defense of how the Constitution required color-blindness. But it didn’t matter. His “class participation” grade, which was a third of his grade, was zero and he got a mediocre grade in the class, despite doing very well on the written test (which was graded anonymously).
This demonstrated to Grant that the left-wing people running everything were intolerant bullies who had some deep hatred of people like Bill and Grant.
Then it hit Grant. He wanted to be a lawyer to fight bullies. Lawyers could sue the government when they hurt people. Lawyers could sue big business, big labor, big anything on behalf of the little guy. In that moment, Grant knew exactly what he was going to do with his law degree.
This was reinforced when a federal judge gave a speech at an event Grant attended. The judge, who was appointed by Reagan, was not invited to speak by the law school. A private group, the conservative and libertarian Federalist Society, invited him to speak.
The judge’s speech was on how lawyers can fight bullies. The judge said, “When you boil it down, the law is about protecting people from other people trying to take advantage of them. The law is about protecting people’s liberties and rights.” This made complete sense to Grant; it explained everything about the law.
This is what he was supposed to do. Grant had found his purpose. He wanted to be a judge; or at least a lawyer who fought bullies.
Chapter 7
Olympia
Grant and Lisa had opportunities to relocate just about anywhere in the U.S., but they wanted to stay in Washington State. They loved it there; the beauty of it, and the generally laid back people.
Lisa quickly found a job at a Tacoma hospital. Grant needed to find a lawyer job in Tacoma or nearby Olympia, which would be hard for him. Not because he had a bad résumé, but because he was “conservative.” Washington was not a hospitable environment for conservatives.
The State of Washington had a very large government. Per capita, Washington’s government was much larger than most states. For the most part, people in Washington State were liberals, at least in Western Washington around Seattle. In Eastern Washington, which looks a lot more like Idaho, people were largely conservative. The rural areas in Western Washington outside of the Seattle metropolitan area were largely conservative, too. Most people lived in the Seattle area. They had all the votes in the state that were needed to run the more conservative areas like their little parks and nature preserves. People in Washington State, just like the rest of the country, had been taught for generations that government was there to help the little guy and prevent evil corporations from exploiting them. Everything good came from government; everything bad came from a lack of government. Kids doing well on standardized tests? That came from government spending money on education. Kids not doing well on standardized tests? That came from a lack of government spending on education. Everything in life could be explained by the “fact” that government needed to do it, and needed to do more.
Of course, most people in Washington State didn’t really think of it this way. They didn’t think about it at all. They were
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