From the Wool-sack
| Publication year | 1978 |
| Pages | 1159 |
| Citation | Vol. 7 No. 7 Pg. 1159 |
1978, July, Pg. 1159. From the Wool-Sack
John White, Chairman of Democratic National Committee, describing President Carter's May 5th attack on doctors following his May 4th attack on lawyers. (New York Times, May 5, 1978, page 1.)
In addition to my annoyance at learning that the President beat me at a game I didn't even know we were playing, I confess to some pique at the tenor of his attack on the legal profession when first I read of it. It was only upon reflection that I realized that we were being called upon as a profession to serve our President in a moment of need.
Older members of the Bar will remember when a former President called upon the silent majority to condemn certain liberal elements in our society. That, you may recall, served two useful functions. It caused those who believed themselves to be members of that group to look silently down their noses at certain of their neighbors, a worthy business in its own right; and it created the non-incidental benefit of diverting attention from a president who was not very popular at that, or for that matter any subsequent, time.
Mr. Carter knew that because of the climate today an attack of that sort would not work, and, worse, might conjure up unpleasant comparisons about which I'll say no more lest my readers conjure them up themselves. What Mr. Carter, therefore, did was to jump on the bandwagon which had been constructed and given a slight push by the chief justice of the United States Supreme Court. By attacking lawyers, he invoked images of a disliked group that was almost as assured of success in diverting attention from himself as the invocation to the silent majority was some years ago by another president.
Although it may not have been the President's goal, I suggest we consider ourselves as being given yet another opportunity to render service to society rather than being attacked by the President. As is often the case when one renders service, one is not altogether pleased with the service one has rendered or, perhaps, has some lingering resentment at the fact that one is called upon to render such service. This is no less true when serving as a foil than when being called upon to represent an...
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