A Wayne County probate judge and two court-appointed lawyers have been accused of looting the estate of the late Rosa Parks. If you’ve been living under a rock – hopefully not a rock at Rick Perry’s hunting camp – Rosa Parks became famous for refusing to give up her seat on an Alabama bus in 1955. By the way, you can check out that very bus at The Henry Ford museum in Dearborn. The museum paid $400,000 for the bus and another $250,000 to refurbish it. For that money, Parks could’ve refused to give up her seat on a hovercraft.

Attorney Stephen Cohen sued Judge Freddie Burton Jr. and lawyers John Chase Jr. and Melvin Jefferson Jr., accusing them of conspiring to bill more than $500,000 in unnecessary legal fees to Parks’ estate. Cohen’s lawsuit is considered highly unusual. Lawyers frequently charge seemingly excessive fees. If  you’ve ever been charged $100 for a 1-minute phone conversation with a lawyer you know what I mean. What’s really unusual is that another lawyer is calling out his peers for their greed. That’s not how a good ol’ boys club is supposed to work.

What it comes down to is this: How much power do voters actually have. In theory, a democracy gives voters all the power. But in reality, big business and the upper class call the shots. Can the proletariat rise up simply by voting? Right now in Detroit, opponents to emergency managers have gathered enough signatures to put the issue on the ballot. If emergency managers are banned, what then? Do we go back to inept city council members who spend more money than they have? If there are enough have-not voters maybe they will eventually demand laws that guarantee them a job, a swimming pool and a cottage up North. Where does it stop?  The U.S. Supreme Court is considered a final safeguard against such foolishness. And those top judges are usually wealthy to begin with. But couldn’t the have-nots elect a president who promises to appoint have-not judges? I can see them now in their tattered black robes. It could get interesting. We saw what just happened in France -- Hollande was elected president simply by saying that austerity cuts aren't needed, when obviously the cuts ARE needed. Voters like to fool themselves from time to time.

A Wayne County probate judge and two court-appointed lawyers have been accused of looting the estate of the late Rosa Parks. If you’ve been living under a rock – hopefully not a rock at Rick Perry’s hunting camp – Rosa Parks became famous for refusing to give up her seat on an Alabama bus in 1955. By the way, you can check out that very bus at The Henry Ford museum in Dearborn. The museum paid $400,000 for the bus and another $250,000 to refurbish it. For that money, Parks could’ve refused to give up her seat on a hovercraft.

Attorney Stephen Cohen sued Judge Freddie Burton Jr. and lawyers John Chase Jr. and Melvin Jefferson Jr., accusing them of conspiring to bill more than $500,000 in unnecessary legal fees to Parks’ estate. Cohen’s lawsuit is considered highly unusual. Lawyers frequently charge seemingly excessive fees. If  you’ve ever been charged $100 for a 1-minute phone conversation with a lawyer you know what I mean. What’s really unusual is that another lawyer is calling out his peers for their greed. That’s not how a good ol’ boys club is supposed to work.

What it comes down to is this: How much power do voters actually have. In theory, a democracy gives voters all the power. But in reality, big business and the upper class call the shots. Can the proletariat rise up simply by voting? Right now in Detroit, opponents to emergency managers have gathered enough signatures to put the issue on the ballot. If emergency managers are banned, what then? Do we go back to inept city council members who spend more money than they have? If there are enough have-not voters maybe they will eventually demand laws that guarantee them a job, a swimming pool and a cottage up North. Where does it stop?  The U.S. Supreme Court is considered a final safeguard against such foolishness. And those top judges are usually wealthy to begin with. But couldn’t the have-nots elect a president who promises to appoint have-not judges? I can see them now in their tattered black robes. It could get interesting. We saw what just happened in France -- Hollande was elected president simply by saying that austerity cuts aren't needed, when obviously the cuts ARE needed. Voters like to fool themselves from time to time.