What a Country

Watching MSNBC’s never ending coverage of Tim Russert’s death the last few hours has been terribly sad and terribly inspiring at the same time.

I am a news and political junky and Tim was always at the heart of things. I never met Tim. But I felt like I knew him as a friend and mentor.

Like my own parents, he taught me to be real, authentic, persistent, get at the truth, and use my God given skills to do the best I could to make the world a better place.

Tim was an Irish kid from a blue collar town who went to Catholic schools from grade school through college. He went to law school. He loved baseball. He had a love of this country for all the opportunities it gave us.

Who knows? Maybe it’s those duplicate experiences of mine that make me so sad, yet so inspired tonight.

This country is an in an incredible place. Only in America can a dimwitted kid from a small town like me get into a major college and then law school and be blessed with the opportunities I had to serve others as a lawyer.

Then I bump into a computer and the Internet and some how be guided to use the Internet first as a tool to help average folks around the country facing legal problems. And now have the incredible experience of meeting more good lawyers than I could have ever met practicing law. Better yet, I get to help those lawyers realize something greater in their work. How cool is that?

Tim’s death today, though very sad, can serve as an inspiration to us.

For me it means not to except less than my best and give it my damdest. To help lawyers realize their dreams, to challenge those who have not served lawyers well, to improve the image of our profession, and to make the law more accessible to people in this country.

Hopefully you can find similar inspiration.

I’ll never accomplish a fraction of what Tim did. But I it owe to my profession, to my family, and my country to do more. As Tim would remind colleagues, to ‘Go Get’em.’

Thanks Tim and God Bless.