Page 20 - December 2018

Putting 2018 in the rearview mirror
The month of December is spoiled with riches. It is much less a month but rather the “holiday season,” and it is filled with excitement, anticipation and a unique sense of joy. I suspect that the other months are green
with envy — especially February — on Chicago calendars. I am sure New Year’s
Day can empathize with the feelings of jealously, considering it mostly plays second fiddle to Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.
This year, however, the tables may be turned, as I expect that a lot of those reading this are thrilled for the ball to drop and the singing of “Auld Lang Syne” to signal that 2018 is of- ficially in the rearview mirror. Law enforcement was on the receiving end of an exceptional amount of scrutiny and dis- paragement during the past year, and we desperately hope that a seemingly arbitrary flip of the calendar will somehow return things to normal, or at least something less than the general disdain saturating the law enforcement community of late.
No one can dispute the challenges faced over the past cou- ple of years by officers who have had their characters assassi- nated by members of the public, press, community leaders, lawyers, politicians and supervisors within their own depart-
ments. It would be easy to sink to the level of the detractors and respond by attacking with the same lack of profession- alism and uneducated remarks as those used by the other side, but that is not the way professionals and people with class operate. The right decision is often not the easy decision, and the spirit of this holiday season should remind us of this fact. Personally, I was inspired by the strength and class shown by former
President George H.W. Bush.
After his recent death, the news outlets reminded us of nu-
merous stories about the former leader, and I was amazed at the courage and dignity that he displayed during the most challenging moments in his life. Bush was perhaps most no- table for just how many times he was defeated — over and over in his career — and how he built his political legacy by coming back. He was 39 when he announced that he would seek the Republican nomination to oppose Senator Ralph Yarborough in 1964. He lost. Richard Nixon considered Bush as a running mate in 1968 but chose Spiro Agnew instead. In 1970, Bush’s plans for a rematch with Yarborough crashed when Lloyd Bentsen defeated Yarborough in the Democrat- ic primary. So Bush ran to Bentsen’s left — e.g., supporting gun control — and again lost. He was 46, and twice defeated. President Gerald Ford considered Bush as his vice president
FOP
Legal Report
DANIEL HERBERT
20 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ DECEMBER 2018