One of the great honors of my life was clerking for the Honorable Nathaniel R. Jones, an iconic civil rights advocate who Jimmy Carter appointed to the federal court of appeals for the Sixth Circuit—but who never stopped being a civil rights advocate!
Yesterday was Judge Jones’s birthday. He would’ve turned 99. His family, friends and clerks celebrated his birthday every year when he was with us, so we continued that tradition yesterday by reviewing and sharing thoughts on his writings and speeches. It was truly an honor to be one of the panelists doing so.
Amid our conversation, Judge Jones’s daughter Stephanie Jones—herself a lifelong public servant and advocate—read part of a commencement speech the Good Judge (as we call him) delivered at Thomas More College on May 13, 1995.
Precisely thirty years ago to the day, Judge Jones’s words could not be more relevant now—a poignant prebuttal to the pain and damage being inflicted right now on government, and government workers, by Trump, Musk, DOGE and the far right.
And a much-needed reminder.
I’ve included an excerpt below. And trust me, you’ll be glad you read it.
Judge Jones warned then of “the danger that lurks in the irresponsible attempts to make government our enemy….”
“After all, government represents the collective will of the people. When the process by which that will is manifested is undermined by irresponsible attacks, the stage is being set for disorder bordering on anarchy. What do those who engage in government-bashing offer as an alternative to it—Somalia? Bosnia? Chechnya? Rwanda? Ponder, if you will, what those who struggle to survive in those despotic lands would give to live under our system.
The genius of our founding fathers was that they set forth a prescription for peaceful correction and change of that which we do not like. Inherent in that prescription is the assumption of truth and civility. Underlying those assumptions is a notion that decisions made will be based on knowledge and its intelligent application to the formation of public policy.
It is not truth when persons who happen to control microphones and airwaves distort and demean. Nor is it civility when those motivated by hate hurl invective, scheme, and murder children as they seek revenge for governmental policies with which they disagree. Acting on the basis of hate is desecration of civility and truth.
Perhaps it is in order to ask what happened to the idea that this is a great nation, served, for the most part, by a good government? Before we answer that question, we need to reflect on what and who government is.
Government is more than some remote institution that we read about or that is defined for us by angry partisans. And it is not to be simply dismissed as an assortment of bureaucrats.
Government is the policeman who protects your home and your family.
It is the firefighter who faces danger as he or she scales a ladder to enter a burning building to save lives.
Government is the public health official who seeks to warn you about contagious diseases.
Government is the meat inspector and the person who ensures that the milk your baby drinks and the food you consume are edible.
It is government that gives us calm reassurance as we travel by air, drink our water, and breathe clean air.
Government is the city, county, and federal prosecutor who represents your interests in the various courts of this community.
It is government that you see when the National Guard and the U.S. Army respond to a flood, a hurricane, or tornado.
The state patrolman in Oklahoma who stopped a car without a license tag that led to the arrest of a prime suspect in that unspeakable tragedy in Oklahoma City was government, too.
And let us not forget how the nation's rural areas got electric power, and the highway network came into being, our parents and other senior citizens get their medical care, and Head Start launches children into promising lives. All of that is government.
Government is you and those who act on and in your behalf.
I am grateful that it was government that helped transform this nation from one that constitutionalized a system of slavery that held my forebears in bondage to one that recognizes the dignity and nobility that God planted in each of us.
Another reason I feel obligated to make a defense of government is because it was the GI Bill of Rights that made it possible for me to go to college and to law school.
So, my friends, as you go from this place, new degrees in hand, prepared to deal with the problems that abound, you will be forced to face up to the defaults of the past. Intertwined in virtually all that you do, personally and professionally, will be the American Dilemma—problems associated with race in education, housing, the workplace, and the justice system. The resolve and skill with which you approach them, given the institutional resistance you will encounter, and the frustration and divisiveness that run so deep, will tax all that you have learned during your years here at Thomas More College and, to a substantial degree, determine the future of this nation. Yet, you must rise to the occasion….
By virtue of having been here, you are equipped to meet the challenges of the American Dilemma. As you prepare to do so, I leave you with words I learned in my Sunday school as a child in Youngstown, Ohio, many years ago. They are from an old song I have never forgotten: "This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine. Everywhere I go, I'm going to let it shine."
God blessed you with a "little light." Thomas More College has provided you with the means of increasing the glow of that "little light."
My charge to you is simply this: no matter where you go, "let it shine," for you never know whose pathway you may illuminate and whose soul may be saved.”
Wow.
For the full conversation of Judge Jones and his decades of lessons to us all, here’s a LINK to yesterday’s program and more speeches.
Day 173–May 13, 2025
Speaking of cutting government, the House GOP majority—as part of its overall budget—is working day and night (including the middle of last night) to slash Medicaid from millions of Americans.
My friend and Congressman Greg Landsman shares the impact of this attack on Medicaid in this quick video:
Be sure people know and understand.
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