Editorial for September 13, 2007 edition:


A day of infamy

Tuesday was a pretty tough and emotional day for many people.
First there was the sixth anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history. Bagpipes, prayers, speeches, solemnity, moments of silence, tears, memories, grieving survivors and everyday people all marked that most infamous of days — 9/11/01 — during ceremonies in midtown Manhattan, western Pennsylvania and the Pentagon where the terrorists unleashed their hatred for America in the most putrid, despicable way possible.
Anybody who reads a newspaper or watches TV news has heard it all before: We’re safer today than we were six years ago. We’re not safer today than we were six years ago. We won’t be attacked again. We will be attacked again. We’re fighting the bad guys in Iraq so they don’t kill us in America. The bad guys are already here and they’re coming to get us. It’s enough to boggle the mind.
Meanwhile, at the very moments that America was praising the troops abroad and blasting the maniacs whose dastardly actions led to The War On Terrorism, a different atrocity, albeit a much less drastic one, was taking place in a Center City courtroom, as a Family Court judge denied a request by Morris and Mildred Brasovankin to essentially have full visitation rights (in other words, custody) of their grandson Steven, and instead ruled that the child remain in foster care.
We don’t know the judge. Odds are she is a nice lady who does not have grandchildren. Had she had a clue about the joys of grandparenting and the thrills and benefits of a longlasting relationship between loving grandparents and a little boy from a troubled background, she would have ruled that Steven be reunited with his grandparents post haste.
With all due respect, your honor, you blew it.
When a judge takes prudence out of jurisprudence, it’s time to appeal for a better judge next time. ••

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