Citizen Jeff

After he heard about Vet Mentor, a new program run by The Veterans Project that connects military veterans seeking a career in the entertainment/media industry with experienced professionals, Marine vet Rick Reyes contacted me about his creative aspirations. We quickly found common ground. Rick told me of his interest in comedy, and I told him I felt it necessary to infuse our advocacy with a dose of humor so as to humanize post-combat warriors and reach as much of the public as possible.

Rick agreed and added he’s reluctant to express anger about anything, because many people mistakenly see it as a scary byproduct of war when he gets agitated in even the most ordinary way. Struck by his longing to just be treated as a normal person, I suggested we take a camera out on the streets and present passersby with the opportunity to interact with a recent combat veteran.

We only had time to chat with a few people, but it got us thinking about producing a series of “Talk to a Vet” videos as a means of promoting dialogue between civilians and veterans in everyday life. Thanks to filmmaker Robert Corsini for shooting the footage.

This story was also published by The Huffington Post and The Public Record.

Even biased judges sometimes decide cases correctly, and with free speech experts of all stripes applauding the Citizens United decision, it’s far from apparent the Supremes falsely interpreted the First Amendment for political or ideological reasons.

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Wyclef Jean’s defensive and amateurish video response to legitimate questions about his NGO, Yéle Haiti, suggests doubts about the charity are well-founded.

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At a public hearing Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Chad Hummel, the lead defense attorney in Roman Polanski’s criminal matter, wanted it known that although he had recently asked for an in-chambers meeting to confer about one particular issue of “great sensitivity,” he had never suggested anything else shouldn’t be discussed in open court.

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One reason I don’t hate Roman Polanski is I don’t know exactly what he did with or to Samantha Geimer in 1977. Moreover, compared to those who perniciously enable systemic corruption by obsessing over the punishment of one person, I think Polanski’s reaction to evident judicial misconduct is laudable. Why should anyone take that crap?

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“Fundamental fairness and justice in our criminal justice system are far more important than the conviction and sentence of any one individual.” - California Court of Appeal, Polanski v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County, 12/21/09

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When Emily Bazelon of Slate.com recently asked Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley about the Roman Polanski case, “Cooley’s deputy tried to shush him.” But the DA was apparently in no mood to remain silent.

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It’s a fallacy that there’s a morally or legally significant difference between what Robert Halderman stands accused of doing, and what agents and lawyers do all the time. Halderman had a marketable story to sell. Just because most agents and lawyers wouldn’t go to David Letterman’s house doesn’t mean that going to Letterman’s house is a criminal act. It’s not unlawful to sell a story without using an agent or a lawyer, and making a proposal to someone who might be embarrassed by the dissemination of a story isn’t prohibited.

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