Sunday, June 29, 2008

Possibly the greatest letter to the editor...EVER!!

Saw this series of letters to the editor in the NY Times today. There is a lament at Harvard that not enough of their students are going into "public service." Some of their sentiments are somewhat valid, but I don't think it's fair to fault individuals for wanting to better themselves financially by taking a high-paying job. Besides, a lot of people who take these jobs to better society are frankly making things worse.

My favorite letter was this one:

To the Editor:

After a career in public service, I regretfully say, I would not do it again.

Philosophy and point of view led me to doing good instead of doing well, so I never expected to become rich. But now that I’m in my 10th year of a frozen judicial salary — less than summer students are being paid at law firms — I have concluded that whatever I may have accomplished for the public, I have wasted 25 years of my life by serving on the bench.

Emily Jane Goodman
New York, June 23, 2008

The writer is a New York Supreme Court justice.

That is freaking outstanding!! For a New York Supreme Court justice to write in and say she wasted her life is hilarious!! I hope this is not a fake, because this letter is the stuff of legend.

The message: Get that money, Harvard grads!! Otherwise, you just may end up on the NY Supreme Court. Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be justices.....

5 comments:

Gino said...

the problem with those who enter public service, a misnomer anyway, is that the only ones who do so are agenda driven, and why we have 4 SCOTUS members who cant read the 2nd ammendment in the clear language any eight grader can easily comprehend.

and on the way, they suck up huge stacks of bennies for shoddy work while 'doing good', i.e. pushing an agenda, instead of doing right.

she may be crying in her latte, but she has guarenteed starbucks income for life, while the rest of us cant even get a cup folger's without having to earn it first.

Mr. D said...

Listen carefully, youngblood, and you just might hear it. Playing soft and low. It's the plaintive, mournful wail of the world's tiniest violin.

What a hoot! Not to take anything away from Gino's good points, but the proper response to this is mockery.

Sure that wasn't in the Onion?

Mike said...

The funny thing is, until I saw the quoted letter, this post was going in a different direction. But, that letter was so outrageous it rated its own post.

Part of me still thinks that letter may not be real.

Gino said...

i think its real.
the woman does indeed exists in the govt capacity the writer claims, and she blogs on the huff post, providing ample evidence she is capable of public self-humiliation.

Mike said...

Gino, I know she's real. There's just a bit of lingering doubt about whether she actually wrote it, or someone else wrote it and signed her name. But either way, the letter itself is hilarious.

I Googled her right after I saw the letter, so I know she is actually a Supreme Court justice in New York. I didn't know she blogged at Huffington Post though.