Convictions: Slate's blog on legal issues

Obiter Dicta

Today I encountered two insights simply too good not to reprint here.  First, from Jack W Burtch, Jr.'s essay [pdf] in the new issue of the Virginia Lawyer:

"Becoming a partner is a decision, not a reward.  . . .  Becoming a partner in a law firm is like winning a pie-eating contest where the prize is more pie."

Second, from the latest installment of John Dickerson's peerless Slate coverage of the presidential campaigns:

"94.3 percent of the time Obama never really tells the audiences anything uncomfortable though he boasts that he will 100 percent of the time. What he promises them instead is to tell people they don't like (auto executives and Wall Street fat cats) what those groups don't want to hear."

Update:  Unsurprisingly, my esteemed colleague traced the origins of the "pie" quip long ago.