DjDiverDan: …like the tax lawyer trying to close a real estate deal who, when he didn’t know what to put in the blank line in the Warranty Deed immediately before the words “herein called “Grantee”, just deleted the blank line from the form. The result was a filed Warranty Deed in which the Grantee was NOT identified…

Does that mean the fee title was conveyed into nothingness? Seems pretty existential. If no one walks into a bank and gets a loan, does that then constitute a lien on the real property conveyed by the Warranty Deed?

I’m pretty sure I know what happened here: Boilerplate that was designed for a wide range of federal jobs — including the ones (probably a relatively small percentage of all federal jobs) for which one can be qualified even though one is mentally retarded — is just being copied here; and the limitation to “qualified applicants” who “are able to perform the essential functions of the position” ensures that no mentally retarded lawyers will indeed be hired. Still, the result looks pretty striking in a call for applications from experienced attorneys.

I guess three generations of imbeciles are not enough, after all.

The use of this all-encompassing boilerplate’s hilarious, but kudos to the DOJ for keeping an eye out for us weirdos.

Chitown Benny: . Is it true that Eris Holder the Attorney General of the United States wants to find mentally or delvelopmentally challlemged people who hav passed the Bar Exam?

I don’t know if that typo was intentional but it was pretty darned funny….

Are you accusing Holder of being effeminate? Or of being an agent of chaos and discord?

asfvab: Would it be okay for Rahm to call any people or ideas “stupid”?

Calling someone a “retard” is a rude, mean thing to do. But Rahm was obviously not intending to insult people with actual mental handicaps. He was trying to insult KosKids. It is nowhere on par with various racial insults, and the grievance mongering is just as unseemly from the right as the left. Rahm was not making fun of the handicapped, and neither was Limbaugh.

B.D.: Is Alberto Gonzales still looking for a job?Oh, that’s harsh.

Janet Reno and Eric Holder qualify, oh, that is not harsh.

Goodling? Enrobed statues? Schlozman? Repudiated reasoning? Tommy Chong? “Quaint?” Regent? Torture? Hamdi? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

You and I apparently have different definitions of “hilarious.” The boob thing might qualify, except that it was far more reasonable than people give Ashcroft credit for, given the media’s efforts to frame him with a tit behind his head at every opportunity – and it was blown out of proportion by the same asshats who accused Ashcroft of using the Bill of Rights as toilet paper while he was busy trying not to die long enough to be a constitutional superhero from his hospital bed.

All the other stuff you cite reflects either serious misjudgment (sometimes to the point of criminality) or policies with which you disagree. But none of it reflects a boneheaded incompetence in the day-to-day functions of the Department. Although I suppose this could potentially be a policy preference with which I disagree; maybe the DOJ is trying to hire mentally retarded lawyers. At least then if they do something really spectacular to violate someone’s rights, they won’t have to worry about the death penalty.

I feel like I have become almost a lawyer, despite the fact my cognitive deficits make it impossible. The system is impossible too.

It violates Hellebust v. Sam Brownback, 42 F.3rd 1331 (10th Circuit Kan) Dec. 19, 1994.

I am disabled mentally but retain a high IQ.

I would like to apply, but I could lose my disability benefits if I do, and then also my home and child.

Please tell me how I can apply so I can end the rampant discrimination against people disabled mentally.

Paula Rhoads Hook
303-371-6204

P.S. My Brainiacs public access tv show is available at http://www.denveropenmedia.org/project/6254/shows

James D. Miller: People with learning disabilities can have well above average overall IQs and yet still be properly categorized as retarded on a subset of cognitive abilities.

I’m sure there are dozens of ways to define both IQ and mental retardation but the DSM-IV defines mental retardation (which is what the ad is “recruiting” for) as having an IQ below 70.

rjbiii isn’t a major point of positive discrimination policy to recognize that if you can become qualified despite your disabilities you’ve got something pretty special about you.

With apologies to Samuel Johnson, a mentally retarded person who gets their J.D. is a special mentally retarded person, not a special attorney.

CurlyDave: Actually, I would be much more worried about lawyers suffering from “mental illness”, than “mental retardation”. I can easily imagine a mentally ill cannibalistic serial murderer who was also a perfectly competent lawyer…

Hey, Johnny Cochran hasn’t been dead long enough for that to be funny…

I imagine you have no beef with Congress passing laws that call for or encourage applicants who are disabled, and you clearly understand that this kind of boilerplate is a result.

So what`s your substantive point? Legal absurdities are a dime a dozen, but why this one here and now, when the object of your attention is the mentally retarded and disabled?

We already have a Congress.

Just to bring it full circle. :)

Because I know a lot of people with lower IQs who are not significantly cognitively or developmentally impaired and they find that word to be a vicious slur. They deserve Sarah Palin’s advocacy too. In fact, she is really a perfect poster woman for the movement, proving it’s not just the big brains (ha, it’s not so funny when the tables are turned) who can make millions for talking four hours a week on Fox.

Sounds like a description of Obama’s Cabinet, where the “r” word has officially been banned.