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3RD ANNUAL TERTZAG TRIBUTE AND AWARD DINNER

US Senator Carl Levin, Kara Tertzag Lividini, and 2012 Purple Sport Coat Recipient Judge David Allen

 

On Thursday, February 23, 2012, over 300 people gathered at the Park Place Banquet Hall in Dearborn for the 3rd annual Judge Kaye Tertzag Tribute Dinner and Purple Sport Coat Award Ceremony.  In his February 28 article in the Detroit Legal News (reproduced at the end of this post), John Minnis gave some background to the event:

  

"Held at the Park Place Banquet Hall in Dearborn, the tribute dinner is an opportunity to honor the former Wayne County Circuit judge who went into alternative dispute resolution following his retirement from the bench. He was known for his civility and fairness and his '’Be’attitudes”: “Be prompt. Be prepared.  Be polite.'"

 

The Purple Sport Coat awarded each year is patterned after the Versace coat Judge Tertzag often wore.  Just one coat among many in the Tertzag wardrobe, the purple was chosen because it was, in fact, one of the more muted selections.

The 2012 honoree was Judge David Allen, of the Wayne County Circuit Court.  Judge Allen was a friend of Kaye and also considered him a mentor.  Past recipients of the award are the Honorable Jim Rashid, and Joe Lujan. 

In his acceptance speech, Judge Allen said of Kaye Tertzag, “To say that he was my friend and mentor is an understatement.  Despite my close association, it would take me a couple of lifetimes to even stand in the shadow of his greatness. In that regard, I am truly humbled to wear this purple coat. I miss him now more than ever.”

Concerning Tertzag’s “Be”attitudes, Allen said, “Kaye expected these of himself and others and certainly was all of that and then some. … Despite all his success and power, Kaye always made you feel like the most important person in the room.”

The keynote speaker for the event was Carl Levin, Michigan's Senior US Senator.  Again, from the John Minnis article:

“Levin compared Tertzag to his uncle, Theodore Levin, the longtime U.S. District Court after whom federal courthouse in Detroit is named. They both cared deeply for people and understood human shortcomings. They both sought 'to do justice,' Levin said, even if it meant possibly being overturned. 'If the higher court reversed, that was their business,' Levin said. 'The important thing was to reach justice. Chach, or Kaye, had all those qualities. David Allen has all those qualities.'”

 The evening ended, as it has become its tradition, with a sambuca toast delivered by Judge Tertzag's daughter, Kara Tertzag Lividini.  She told a story from her childhood and one of the life lessons learned from her dad.  "He gave me the best gift a person could give someone.  He believed in me."  Though I am sure Kaye was touched, he did tell his daughter that there was another gift she should readily accept if offered....a judicial appointment. 

An album of over 150 photos from the event can be found here.  The committee thanks all who worked to make this tribute dinner a success, and looks forward to another great event next year.

"Onward and upward--Annoush Alla!"

 

HENRY FORD: CAPITALIST, SOCIALIST--NICK ANDERSON CARTOON

 

"And I believe companies should pay their workers the highest wages possible so they can afford the products they make."  What a concept. 

AS GRADUATION SEASON BEGINS, TIME TO GET BACK TO BUSINESS

 

 

As the Clay Bennett cartoon above indicates, the graduation season is upon us.  As the sentiment expressed on the card indicates, in politics, stupidity is always in season.  The Santorum "What a snob" remark, bizarre as it was, is old news.  This week we have Mitt Romney taking credit for the recovery of the auto industry, most of the sentiments expressed in his November 18, 2008, anti-bailout "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt"op-ed piece in the New York Times notwithstanding.  I don't remember Mr. Romney doing much of anything after that, one way or another.  Whatever the auto bailout ultimately looked like (and it looked a lot different than the solution described in the four sentences devoted to that subject in the op-ed), Mitt Romney had little, if anything to do with it.  Mr. Romney's "I'll take a lot of credit for the auto industry revival", is a remark breath-taking in its arrogance, its ignorance, its condescension, its stupidity and on and on.  It is a statement that should make even his staunchest supporters wince.

On a related note, I am reminded of a friend of my son, who, in 2008, who wore the same lucky underwear throughout the Stanley Cup play-offs, (four rounds), to support the Detroit Red Wings.  He took a lot of the credit for the Red Wings eventual championship that year.  However, Nick's underwear selection had about as effect on the winning of the Stanley Cup as Mitt's op-ed has had on the auto industry recovery.

Fortunately for Mitt, voters may forget this particular gaffe, lost as it may become among the "endorsements" that will come from Mitt's former Republican rivals.  I look forward to seeing how Mr. Santorum explains his support of Mitt, in the face of his March 25, 2012 statement, depicted in the Steve Benson cartoon below:  "Romney is the worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama."  How will Rick Perry turn around his "vulture capitalist" moniker for Mitt.  "He may be a vulture, but he's a capitalist vulture by God." From this it is but a short step to:  "I know I said Romney was a nit wit, but he's our nit wit." 

It is inevitable that a hard fought primary campaign will provide great material for any incumbent, but I can't remember an campaign quite like what the Republicans have put together.  Let the good times roll.

For the past few months, I haven't posted much on this site.  Most of my blogging has been to the www.bishopgallagher.org site, dedicated to the preservation of Detroit area Catholic school heritage.  But, there remains much to do at www.attorneybutler.net.  Stupidity continues to reign, at times, in the state's halls of justice.  Some lawyers have been behaving badly.  And there is the continuing crusade to stamp out frivolous advertising (tongue in cheek alert).

Back to work.

BC CARTOON-THE PERFECT CANDIDATE

HATS OFF TO THE REPUBLICANS OF ILLINOIS-STEVE BENSON CARTOON

GROVER CLEVELAND (HAPPY BIRTHDAY) ON TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMICS

"He mocks the people who proposes that the government shall protect the rich and that they in turn will care for the laboring poor."

Some may dismiss such a comment coming from a US President, saying Grover was but a Democrat, you know, a dangerous liberal (or traitor, if you pay attention o Ann Coulter).  On the other hand, he did say this:

"Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote. The relative positions to be assumed by man and woman in the working out of our civilization were assigned long ago by a higher intelligence than ours."

That statement would endear him to some of my conservative acquaintances, who really don't think anyone should have the vote who is not a male, owning a minimum of five acres, with an additional vote for every additional five acres owned.  Special voting rules for Wall Street bankers whose wealth is measured in those lottery ticket financial instruments sold on various exchanges.  Much like our state lotteries--few new jobs created other than those who sell the tickets.  But, there are always new games.

Happy birthday, old fella.

TERTZAG TRIBUTE DINNER 2012-FEBRUARY 23

JUDGE DAVID ALLEN TO RECEIVE PRESTIGIOUS KAYE TERTZAG PURPLE SPORT COAT AWARD AT THIRD ANNUAL HON. KAYE TERTZAG TRIBUTE DINNER- THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2012, U.S. SENATOR CARL LEVIN- KEYNOTE SPEAKER. 

The friends and family of the Honorable Kaye Tertzag will host the third annual Tertzag Tribute Dinner in his honor on Thursday, February 23, 2012. Judge Tertzag passed away on February 4, 2009, having established a great legacy of integrity and service to the State of Michigan, as well as a great example of love and devotion to his family and legion of friends.

The third annual Tertzag Tribute Dinner will be at the Park Place Banquet Hall in Dearborn from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Park Place is located at the corner of Park and Outer Drive, just south of Michigan Avenue. Tickets are $35.00, and include dinner and an open bar.  Checks should be made payable to: Tertzag Tribute Dinner, LLC, and sent to 26815 Winslow Drive, Flat Rock, MI 48134. Spouses and/or significant others are welcome. 

The Hon. Kaye Tertzag Tribute Dinner Committee is pleased to announce that the 2012 recipient of the  Purple Sport Coat Award is Judge David Allen.  Past honorees Hon. James Rashid and attorney Joseph Lujan will present the sport coat to Judge Allen. 

 Judge Allen was mentored for many years by Judge Tertzag.  Judge Allen inspires others in the finest tradition of Kaye.  Judge Allen is a Wayne County Third Circuit Court Criminal Division judge, where he has presided over thousands of felony cases.  He is a 1993 summa cum laude graduate of the Detroit College of Law, after receiving Bachelor and Master’s of Arts Degrees from University of Michigan. 

 The committee is truly honored to have Senator Carl Levin as our keynote speaker.  Sen. Levin will continue the tradition of high profile keynote speakers at this event. Past speakers include Norm Tucker and former Governor James Blanchard, both giving a great message in 2010 and 2011, respectively. 

Please direct questions to Kara Tertzag Lividini at 313.645.9511, or ktertzag@gmail.com.  Please feel free to send this message to anyone you think would be interested in attending the event.  Please note- this is not a solicitation for support or a political fundraiser. 

HAPPY SUPER BOWL FROM MITT ROMNEY

AMERICAN BILLBOARD 2-FRIVOLOUS ADS

Following the lead of our tort reform brethren, this website will continue its crusade to reduce the cost of products to the American consumer by stamping out expensive, frivolous advertising.  The cost of such advertising is a direct add on to the cost of goods and services paid for by the American public.  These frivolous ads tell us nothing about the inherent value of a product.  Why should you and I subsidize greedy advertising executives?  Why should manufacturers of good products be forced to compete with the makers of the cheap and the shoddy, just because the makers of junk have hired hot shot ad execs?  Why should a venerable old insurance company have to develop its own talking reptile (with comic accent) to  merely to compete with GEICO?  How much does GEICO spend on the talking lizard?  Don't we all pay higher premiums as a result.  Huh?  HUH??!!

Today we have a magzine ad.  Can you guess what is being sold?

Bowling balls?

Tooth whitener?

Low cut, gravity-defying women's tops?

Breast implants?

No, no, no and no.  Now here is the original ad, with the product information included:

Men's shoe polish, of course, because the shine on your shoes will really "bowl them over".  Not that the young lady is looking at your shoes.  Frankly, no reader is either.

Contact your Congressperson immediately.  This frivolous advertising must be stamped out.  I am sure even the Tea Party can get behind government intervention on this.

I'll have to stop this rant now, so I can watch the Capital One Bowl.  Those Viking, Vandal, Barbarian or whatever ads just "slay" me.

POLITICS AND POKER-ELECTION YEAR 2012 BEGINS

Here is one of my all time favorite Broadway songs, from the musical "Fiorello", based on the life of New York mayor Fiorello LaGuardia.  "Politics and Poker" puts party politics in an appropriate perspective.

As the election year begins, I'd like to paraphrase Margo Channing from All About Eve:  Fasten your safety belts, it's going to be a bumpy 2012.

Heaven help us.