i dubbed them the harlem globetrotters because they are so quick, they never miss a shot. more and more there is a sensibility that if you want to prevail, you just need to hire one of these top guns, and that wasn't always the case. you can only watch so many 3-pointers, and then it is not that interesting. so i thought i would pick for my chapter an oral argument done by rank amateur, someone who had never been with the supreme court, who was a surgeon by training and shouldn't have had any place there at all. the case i picked was the oral argument you will probably remember from several years back, a gentleman who was an atheist challenging the insertion of the words under god in the pledge of allegiance, he is challenging it on behalf of his daughter who he felt shouldn't be compelled to say the word god. he was an atheist and offended him. i think we all thought going into the oral argument, hole the train wreck, this is going to be a debacle. those of us who followed him a little bit, had spoken to him on the phone or heard interviewed before, whirl argument, he had

one time, the harlem globetrotters were playing. their legendary coach was snow then in rochester and could not get to the game. who was going to coast the generals? they picked their veteran player that day. because i was a little bit of a pain in the neck, i said that he could get into the history books. they had lost consecutive games. the call a couple of places and you would be a record books forever. you could see him getting fired up. this was his opportunity. so the first half goes on and he is screaming in calling now plays and the globetrotters the sweet georgia brown and they did a bucket of confetti and all that and have time comes and they are up by 7-8 points. as the team as walking out for the second half, i go to the coach and tell him he is in this thing. he was out on the second half and he was screaming and yelling and the blues, the dribble the ball and they throw the flat basket and they have the river bend and they do all their stuff and the end the game and they sit on somebody's shoulder. they win by 15 or 16

one time, the harlem globetrotters were playing for the washington generals at the omni in atlanta. their legendary coach legendarysnowed in. he cannot get to the game. who was going to coach? they picked their oldest player to be the player/coach that it. because i was young, i went to the kids and said, you know, you may get into the history books. they have lost 10,000 consecutive games. [laughter] you call a couple plays into torture truce. you come out and win a game, you'll be in the record books for ever. you could see him getting fired up. [laughter] he said, you are right. the first half goes on and he is screaming and calling out plays. have time comes and they are up. as the team is walking out for the second half, i go to the coach, you are in this thing. you can do it. he says, you are right. he is out there in the is screaming and yelling. the globetrotters dribble the ball. they throw the basket. they have the rubber band. they threw the bucket of water. the end of the game city does someone shoulder. they win for the 10,001st consecutive time by 15 points. they walk

jack won seven straight elections to the new york state asimmably representing his harlem district. in 1953 he was elected president of manhattan becoming the first african-american to hold the post. elected more than a decade before the rise of big city black mayors in the 1960's, he was the highest ranking african-american municipal officer in the nation with an annual salary at that time of 25d,000. he was the highest paid black office holder in the country. he served as manhattan burrough president for several terms. and because of his emerging strength, the powers that be interrupted his career and he left. but jack showed that politics was something that many of our caribbean folks brought to the leadership of politics in our country. and i'll just finally end by a person that we all admired so much and has been mentioned earlier, mr. michael manly, son of norman manly who served as the prime minister, 1959 to 1962 but michael manly came in and became three-term prime minister from 1972 to 1980 and 1989 to 1992. he stepped down because of bad health. but just look at what mich

whether you could be fined for that and it was interesting because carter philips who is one of the harlem globetrotters, astonishing but doesn't do a lot of flash, he's just meticulously could good on the argument peace and not one to draw attention to himself or anything else. everybody was whispering going into this argument that he was going to actually say one of these fleeting expletives because he'd done it that the court of appeals and moly the court of appeals the whole court of appeals turned into a sailor's bar where the judges were swearing and he was swearing and everyone was swearing. it's one of the most fun oral arguments you can listen to. going into oral arguments there was a scuffle but he was going to go in there and cost like a sailor at the supreme court and at the last minute he didn't and was an interesting choice to essentially say we are not going to be transgressive. this particular court wouldn't have thought it added in fact i think they would have thought it massively detracted and so he made one think was a very smart choice to argue the case and not do the b

harlem, new york. suzanne, republican caller. hello there. >> good morning. hi, liz. i'm a fan of your work and i just wanted to know whether or not you mentioned something about that we're not at war anymore so, i mean, most people do consider us, this country, still engaged in a war on terror and also is it relevant at all that you're producing partner for the past ten years has 11 laurie kennedy, who is a far left wing activist? i was wondering if you could, you know, at least be honest about your political background of your company and kind of left wing agenda that you have. thank you. >> what do you say, liz garbus? >> i didn't mean to say we weren't at war. certainly there's a war going on in iraq, there's a lot of military activity going on in many regions so i didn't mean to indicate we were not at war. what i meant when i said the so-called war on terror is that's what it was called during the bush administration and currently today we aren't calling it the war on terror. that was more of a semantic argument. i do think we are in a time of national crisis an

when we went to the human bookstore in harlem, and you just have to go there, to have all the sisters from all over new york coming in bringing their mothers and their fathers and their lovers and husbands and their children and grandmothers, and standing up and signing books with us and telling us that, if you know, how their lives were changed and one mother creeping up to me and saying, she is alive again. she is rising again. this broker writer's block. she is on the road again. so, there are so many powerful stories that we heard and we really want a chance to document those. we just want to lose them of all. >> the press would like this to do a journal, which will allow us to bring these stories forward a lot quicker, because the book takes at least 34 days. [laughter] but, the articles might take 20. so, we are exploring a lot of different avenues as to how to get the stories out. >> one of the things i should tell you is that, barbara and i both developed a new appreciation for one another in this work. and it is something that we will find time to think about more to write ab

harlem was from that point on words and now we know especially since the board hearings in 1987 it is strong, it is a passionate political contest of guerrilla theater between contending forces and that has politicized the process of nomination confirmation. fifthly, i think today we know a great deal more about what goes on in an the court that we did in 1969. i remember in my cooking days in the '60s that justices rarely talk to the press, they did not go on camera and make a lot of speeches. well, today there is increasing transparency, we have books like the brethren or close chambers or in the nine. i think they do march rally and a more appearances in general so the court is more i think available in the eye to the general public. sixth, changes in the court's internal process. i mean, something that one is not necessarily aware of that was touched on again in the conversation this morning that i think the courts are very different place in terms of how does business. the notion that justices will share memoranda written by common pool did not exist until the early 1970's and no

at the battle of harlem heights, george washington was facing battle and asked for a volunteer to go behind enemy lines and spy on behalf of the colonial army. hale volunteered. he disguised himself as a dutch school master and set out for a week and gathered information on the position of the british but finally captured when returning to the american lines. because of papers that he had in his possession, the british knew he was a spy. and it is said that his cousin betrayed him. so they ordered him to be hanged the following day without trial. on september 22, 1776, american nathan hale was hanged for spying on british troops. his familiarous last words, i regret i have one life to give to my country. this 4th of july we should pledge to ourselves and our nation, no matter the costs, we who live here now will never let the flag of freedom disappear from our land, a land that god has shed his grace upon. and that's the way it is. i yield back. . the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from texas rise? if there is no objection, the gentlewoman will be recognize

could be fined for that and it was very interesting because carter phillips who really is one of the harlem globe trotters. he's astonishing but doesn't do a lot of flash. he's meticulously good on the argument piece and not one to draw your attention to himself or anything else, everybody was whispering going into this argument that he was going to actually say one of these fleeting expletives because heed done it in the court of appeals where it was a sailors bar where he was swearing and the judges were swearing it was one of the most fun oral arguments you can listen to. so going into oral argument there was this scuttlebutt he was going to go in there and cuss like a sailor at the supreme court and at the very last minute he didn't and i think it was an interesting choice to essentially say we're not going to be transgressive here. i think they would have thought it massively deattracted and he made what i think was a very, very smart choice to argue the case and not do the bells and whistles that might work at the court of appeals and so i think for me really the object lesson it real

bill clinton, the rent on his office in harlem last year was more than $500,000. it gives you some idea of the expense of maintaining our ex-presidents. not to mention the fact they now speak at $100,000 a pop. ex-presidents rarely drive themselves anywhere anymore. in 1953, the "new york times" said of harry and bess' trip, it is as it should be that an american ex-president accompanied only by his wife with no retinue and no ceremony can drive his own car around the country and no one think it unusual. it cheers one up somehow. and i think 56 years later it still does. i'd like to read a little excerpt from the book for you. that's particularly relevant to this part of the country. this is describing a little bit what harry's life was like right after he retired and came back to independence. back in independence, harry soon settled into a routine. he awoke every morning 5:30 dressed on the porch, picked a cane from a collection of 100 or so -- and took a walk. his route varied sometimes he would walk the town square passing the jackson county courthouse which h

harlem, new york. caller: good morning. hi, liz. i'm a fan of your work. and i just wanted to know whether or not you mentioned something about that we're not at war any more. so, i mean, most people do consider ourselves, this country, still engaged in a war on terror. and also, is it relevant at all that your producing partner for the past ten years has been rory kennedy, far lest activist? so i was wondering if you could be honest about your political background of your company and the kind of left-wing gender that you have. thank you. zoo what do you say? iveragetsdz i didn't mean to say -- that we weren't at war. there is a war in iraq. there is a lot of military going on in many regions. so i didn't mean to indicate that we were not at war. when i say the so-called war on terror, because that's what it was called during the bush administration and currently we aren't calling it the war on terror according to obama. that was more of a semantic argument. i do think there is a crisis in iraq and in afghanistan and there are serious issues. so i do not m

one time the harlem globetrotters were playing the washington generals at the omni in atlanta and it was an january and their legendary coach, the generals legendary club coach was snowed in rochester and couldn't get to the game. my god, who was going to coach the generals that they? they picked their veteran oldest player to be the coach that day and so because i was young and a pain in the neck i went to the kid and i said you know, you could get into the history books. the generals have lost 10,000 consecutive games to the globetrotters. and, you know, you call a couple plays, exhort your troops come out and win this game and you will be in the record books for ever and you could see him getting fired up. this was his opportunities and he said deride, i can do it so the first half goes on and he's screaming and calling out please and the globe trotters to the sweet georgia brown and they did the confetti and all that and have time comes and they are up by 70-point so as the team is looking out for the second half and in the corner and again i go to the coach you are right in this