JORGE L. VARGAS retweetledi

I was born in Venezuela.
My family came here with nothing and we knew no one. But my parents always taught me that in America, you could be and do anything, so long as you worked hard and treated people with respect.
When I was in college, I was playing football and my grandfather—who fled Europe during the Holocaust—was dying of cancer.
My father called and said, “If you want to see him again, this is your last chance.” So, we flew down to Caracas, and it happened to coincide with a momentous event in Venezuelan history.
Hugo Chávez came to power in 1998, and the Constitution said he could run for only one five-year term. So, in 2003, like any self-respecting dictator, he petitioned the Supreme Court to run again. And to their credit, the judges ruled he could not.
So, what is a self-respecting autocrat to do? He packed the Supreme Court with his buddies and petitioned for reconsideration. This time the Court said, “Not only did we get it wrong, not only can you run again, you can run as many times as you like, until the day that you die.” And that's what he did.
He was president until 2013 when he died. After that decision came down, Venezuelans took to the streets to protest and that coincided with my last trip to see my grandfather.
During my visit, my grandfather asked me to take him out on the balcony so we could play chess one last time. He had taught me how to play as a little boy.
People were protesting on the streets below.
He said to me, “Your father tells me you want to go to law school.” I said I did.
He asked, “What kind of lawyer are you going to become?” I said I didn’t know.
Then he gathered all the strength that he had, and he lifted his bony finger out at the crowd and he said, “Always remember, this is what happens to a country when good people don't serve.”
And so, when I was 34 and the president intended to nominate me to be a federal judge, which is a lifetime appointment, people said, “You're crazy. You got your whole life ahead of you to make money for your family.”
But for me, the opportunity to serve this great country was a no-brainer.
And what you should know is this country is very much worth serving.
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