Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Where Can I Get Some of That?

There are days when it is just too damn frustrating to look around you and realize that stupidity and incompetence are the order of the day, and by having a clue and expecting and delivering quality, you are going against the grain.

Case in point? Barry Hussein Obambi. Yes, I know I'm not supposed to utter his middle name. I don't care. It isn't that I think he is some sort of Muslim sleeper, because that would require far more intellect and judgment than he has demonstrated thus far. No, my beef with the clueless community-organizing clown from Chicago is that he misses the mark on every single benchmark any sane and rational person would want in a President. His friends are unrepentant terrorists and dirty money people. His experience includes being a one term state senator and an incomplete term in the US Senate. He cannot answer any question that has not been scripted and fed into a teleprompter. He and his wife have no love of country, unless they are putting their stamp on it. Without even having his party's nomination, he is jetting around the world as if he is already leading this nation. The flag isn't good enough for him. He's replaced it with some sort of symbol all his own. He thinks he and his family are immune from criticism, even when he has them out campaigning for him. He continually puts his poor judgement on display for all to see. And for all his paper-thin "qualifications", the media absolutely adore him. Swooning throngs of people show up to his rallies. His supporters wander around like drooling zombies, making the most ridiculous claims about him, such as him being a "lightworker" and other such rot. I could outthink and outperform this lightweight on my very worst day, and he is poised to become the most powerful man in the free world.

For some people, work is a respite and refuge from such silliness. Not me. I have a client selling their business to a much larger player in their industry. Accordingly, the buyer is represented by a multi-state law firm employing hundreds of attorneys. This kind of transaction is typically handled by a partner or equivalent in such firm. This is the case in this transaction. This partner, who probably bills at a rate more than double my own. His annual salary is probably close to three times mine. And yet, I was shocked when I sat down to review the Purchase Agreement that he sent to me earlier this week. I understand that it was a draft, and I understand that we will still be negotiating some points. I did not expect perfection, and I understand that not all references will be correct, but when I encounter paragraph after paragraph that contradict the simplest terms of the agreement, and where reference after reference is made to the wrong place elsewhere in the agreement, I get pissed. I get pissed because it wastes my time to have to have read through something that will have to be so completely reworked, and I get pissed because my client has to pay me to do that, I get pissed because if I had sent something similar to opposing counsel, even in early stages of negotiation, my boss would have ripped me a new ***hole, and rightfully so, and most of all, I get pissed because I am drowning in debt turning out better work than some joker at a Darth Vader firm who makes a much, much higher salary than I do.

I don't mind the days when the bear gets me. That is the nature of things, but it get tired of of watching the world celebrate mediocrity while I toil away at a higher standard. Maybe I should run for President. I could certainly do better than the Obamanation, and the country would be represented by someone who actually believes in it and wants something better.