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MLK day tribute: The best parts of we.
Patrick McClure • January 18, 2016
THE BEST PARTS OF WE… by Patrick McClure
So as usual on this day, I try to remind my boys what this holiday is about, not just missing school. I read the speech to them. It is important that they learn, and it is truly moving to hear it in your own voice, because it is not for any “they”. It is for “we”.
My boys are getting older. They are beginning to understand. They ask questions about how militias of the state can turn fire hoses on little children. How ordinary citizens can justify burning a cross in their neighbors’ yards. How devils in white hoods can threaten the lives and dreams of our communities, black, white, red, or yellow with dripping hatred, violence, and murder.
I have to answer that they are cowards. They may stand on big stages, but they are still too low to take the pillowcases off their heads and let the world judge them. They may have turned in their sheets for screen names and avatars, but their cloak of cowardice is just as great, and far more reaching.
However we must consider that they are also the woman who walks down the other aisle at the grocery store because they don’t like the look of the guy buying bread. They are the juror who decides a man’s guilt when he walks in the trial, not at the close of evidence. They are the lawyer who begins his work assuming he knows what happened based solely on where it happened and with whom. They are me. They are the worst parts of me.
But this man we celebrate today represented a hope for a better time, a better soul of this nation, this grand experiment. He died in Memphis not waging a war for race, but speaking for sanitation workers, many of them white, trying to alleviate deplorable conditions. His life was not only about race, but about a social breakdown that caused people to lose faith in what we CAN do; what we CAN be. He did not speak and he did not die for one cause, but for many. He did not just fight “them” in their sheets and armour and vitriol. He fought me. He fought for ideas and temperament because all it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
So he wrote, he spoke, he marched, and he preached not for us, or for them… but for WE. The best parts of WE.
Don’t ever forget it. Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it. So as we look back today at the horrors of the 19th and 20th centuries, let’s not be so arrogant as to think that shameful thoughts and evil deeds, along with the apathy of the good children of light, do not persist. Reject the unearned fears, the reticence to accept all our neighbors as friends and brothers. Remember to look first at the content of the character of the man down the street, in the courtroom, in the grocery; so that WE the people can let freedom ring. The best parts of WE.
https://youtu.be/821a3P4fK84?t=8165 Check out our latest Joe Show Appearance here.
Check out our latest Joe Show appearance here. Brian discusses 5 star reviews, expert witness costs & why Pete rose should be in the Hall of Fame.
Check out Patrick's latest Joe show appearance here. https://youtu.be/npC-LTJ6dcE?t=12677
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86DwHBCoLp0#t=207m27s If the link doesn't automatically take to to the video . Please cut & Paste to you browser Hey everyone out there now you can see us during our appearances on the Joe Show. Click on the link here to see why my momma always said I had a face made for radio. And for my law school peeps listen close for a painful law school memory when we discuss the "Absence of Malice"
Our firm has a long history in Boyle County
Parents who are divorced, separated, never married or live apart and who share custody of a child with an ex-spouse or ex-partner need to understand the specific rules about who may be eligible to claim the child for tax purposes. This can make filing taxes easier for both parents and avoid errors that may lead to processing delays or costly tax mistakes. Only one person may be eligible to claim the qualifying child as a dependent. Only one person can claim the tax benefits related to a dependent child who meets the qualifying child rules. Parents can’t share or split up the tax benefits for their child on their respective tax returns. It’s important that each parent understands who will claim their child on their tax return. If two people claim the same child on different tax returns, it will slow down processing time while the IRS determines which parent’s claim takes priority. Custodial parents generally claim the qualifying child as a dependent on their return. The custodial parent is the parent with whom the child lived for the greater number of nights during the year. The other parent is the noncustodial parent. In most cases, because of the residency test, the custodial parent claims the child on their tax return. If the child lived with each parent for an equal number of nights during the year, the custodial parent is the parent with the higher adjusted gross income. Tie-breaker rules may apply if the child is a qualifying child of more than one person. Although the child may meet the conditions to be a qualifying child of either parent, only one person can actually claim the child as a qualifying child, provided the taxpayer is eligible. People should carefully read Publication 504, Divorced or Separated Individuals to understand who is eligible to claim a qualifying child. Noncustodial parents may be eligible to claim a qualifying child. Special rules apply for a child to be treated as a qualifying child of the noncustodial parent. The custodial parent can release the dependency exemption and sign a written declaration or Form 8332, Release/Revocation of Release of Claim to Exemption for Child by Custodial Parent for the noncustodial parent to submit with their tax return. This also applies to some tax benefits, including the child tax credit, additional child tax credit, and credit for other dependents. It doesn’t apply to other tax benefits, such as the earned income credit, dependent care credit or head of household filing status. For More information: Check out IRS Publication 501, Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information Whom May I Claim as a Dependent? If you have questions or need help navigating which parent gets to claim the children for tax purposes. Feel free to Give us a call at 859-236-8888.
It is with mixed emotions that we announce our very own justin Johnson has decided to take a position working as Assistant Commonwealth attorney for the 50th Judicial Circuit. We are sad to see him go but are comforted with the fact that we know he will bring his integrity and brilliance to this next chapter of his life and that maybe in some small way we contributed to that. Also we are proud to know that he will in a very real way be carrying on the tradition of this firm's founder Hon. George M McClure III by serving this area while ensuring both the victims and accused receive justice and fair play.
You may want to put on your shades. Patrick thinks the future looks that bright for the Danville School District
Check out Justin's latest appearance on the Joe Show
Both Patrick & Myself come from a long line of men and women who have bravely & honorably served this country. Both of our fathers George M McClure III & John L Bailey. Our Grandfather’s Dr. George M McClure Jr., Clarence E. Bailey and Claude L. Stacey. As well as many of our aunts, uncles and cousins have all bravely and honorably served this country some of them came home to take there place in society never really discussing their service nor asking for any special treatment because of it. Some came home in a box. draped in a flag, having paid the ultimate sacrifice. I never had the honor of serving myself. I had intended to serve. I even made the trip from Rockford Illinois to Great Lakes Naval base to take the ASFAB which I actually did very well on. However the day before I was going to sign my enlistment papers my father sat me down and said these words to me that forever changed the course of my life. He said “Son our family has done its fair share for King & Country go to college” I took my dad’s advice and I have honestly had a life that is greater than I could have ever imagined. But I have always felt a little guilty that I didn’t serve like most of the men in my family chose to do. Memorial Day is always bitter sweet for me, because I realize that I am in a very personal way the recipient of the sacrifices made by Generations of my family that served sacrificed and died so that I wouldn’t have too. I know I’m not the only one who has benefited from that type of sacrifice I know many of you out there reading this have stories that are very similar to mine. So tomorrow while we are all enjoying our hot dogs, hamburgers and mom’s apple pie let’s all take a moment to remember the ones that sacrificed so that we wouldn’t have too. Have a Happy and Thankful Memorial Day. ---- Brian
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