Law Day & Trump Day

If you missed my column, Lucre or Malice, in honor of Law Day (which is today), you can read it here. The phrase is in the oath lawyers take in Alabama when they become members of the bar; as in, I promise to uphold the Constitution and handle my cases properly, abstaining from focusing on lucre or malice. That means no grift. No revenge. Just the law and the facts. Lawyers across the country took their oaths again today to affirm their allegiance to the rule of law.

In Alabama, we got Donald Trump, who gave a graduation-week speech at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Ahead of the main event tonight, Doug Jones and Beto O’Rourke joined forces to speak to a crowd of about 500 people who gathered, despite stormy skies and final exams, to protest Trump’s presence in Tuscaloosa.

A number of signs at the rally referenced Alireza Doroudi, an Iranian national and doctoral candidate studying mechanical engineering at the University of Alabama, who was arrested by ICE in March. Douroudi, whose case has all but dropped out of the news, was taken into custody at his off-campus house at 3 a.m. The Department of Homeland Security’s explanation was that his student visa had been revoked and he “posed significant national security concerns,” but his lawyer said at the time that government agents had not shared what those concerns were with him.

Trump took the stage at Coleman Coliseum following a talk from former Alabama football coach Nick Saban. It was billed as a commencement address, although the actual graduations begin Saturday.

Saban spoke about three things he hoped students would carry forward with them as they leave the University:

• Compassion

• Being responsible for their own self-determination in life and holding themselves accountable

• Understanding that it’s not about beating the other guy, it’s about being the best that you, personally, can be

Saban closed by paraphrasing comments Martin Luther King, Jr., once made about the importance of taking pride in your work and accomplishments, no matter what you do. He closed, referring to his wife, saying, “Miss Terry and I congratulate you.”

Trump closed by offering the graduates his congratulations, too. They came after Trump offered a list of lessons for graduates, which at one point devolved into a rant against transgender people. He talked at length about sports and “protecting women.” “Everybody should believe in the American dream,” he said. Then, he told the soon-to-be graduates that they should avoid thinking of themselves as victims.

Trump closed by encouraging graduates not to give up. He told the crowd he’d learned that perseverance was everything and to “never give up,” ultimately wending his way to talk about winning elections and saying, of 2020, “The election was rigged.”

Even on the eve of a college commencement, he went back to that, which tells us as much as anything about the man who is president.

We’re in this together,

Joyce