Michigan Politics

Michigan Political considerations.

Repentance, Reconciliation, and Restoration

Two apostles can teach us much about handling a current scandal.

For a little over a week now, we’ve been . . . treated . . . to a bit of a media circus revolving around a couple of tea party legislators in the Republican House Caucus in Lansing. Predictably, there has been much hand-wringing and calling for heads coming from key figures within the statewide republican establishment. Also predictably, there has been much hand-wringing and calling for heads from within the statewide tea party movement.

I say “also predictably” because many of the high profile tea partiers in this state have developed a habit of happily piling on any politicos from “our side” who screw up publicly. Given the way that these people are finding fault with every single republican POTUS candidate for 2016, I suspect that Jesus Christ himself could be on the ballot, and two out of every three tea partiers in Michigan would still figure out a reason to crucify him. Speaking of which . . .

You Betcha! (13)Nuh Uh.(3)

Some Other Thoughts

courser-gamratA little unique perspective can be very helpful.

I don’t think any of you need to be told what to think, but it is not hard to imagine that many (like myself), like to hear other well reasoned opinions about the more difficult topics of the day.  Occasionally, we might even have an epiphany.  So when Isabelle Terry wrote RightMi.com with the following:

There is a saying in Lansing: What happens in Lansing after 5 PM stays in Lansing.

It is a small suburb of Vegas in the debauchery sense.

Deals over taxpayer money suddenly turn to deals over acts of heterosexual sex, homosexual sex (likely more rampant than the heterosexual sex judging by the huge numbers of effeminate men romping around the MIGOP) and drugs use. The politicos are sluts in money, power, and physical highs.

Players play, secrets are kept.

That is… unless you are speaking the truth.

You Betcha! (35)Nuh Uh.(6)

RESIGNATION?? IT’S NOT MY CALL.

“I will praise the LORD while I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

Do not trust in princes, In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.” 

      MY KNEE JERK REACTION WAS TO JOIN THE CHORUS, DEMANDING COURSER AND GAMRAT RESIGN.

MY DEMANDING THAT TODD AND CINDY RESIGN WOULD BE SELF SERVING, an attempt to push the blame away from myself, and on to others, for trusting the wrong people. I accept my share of the blame, as I hope others will. I will not defend them,  I will Dust myself off, and prepare for the next battle.

    The only people who have the right to demand a RESIGNATION are first, their FAMILY, second their CONSTITUENTS, and POSSIBLY THEIR PEERS. (Their peers doing so would be in the case of many, extremely hypocritical, knowing the similar affairs of so many others over the last few years).  I am Praying for the Families, Praying for Healing, and moving forward.

   Some of the calls for resignation I believe come from the right place, although misguided. Others I suspect are SELF-SERVING, LOOK AT ME PLOYS, people attempting to prop themselves or their organizations up to fill the “Vacuum of Leadership” that they perceive this scandal leaves. I have no interest in hearing myself on the radio, or pushing out press releases with my opinion.  Let the enemy dance, giggle, and shout to the heavens “I told you so.”  This is not about “Cleaning up our mess”, the shame is on those who committed the acts, not those who misplaced their trust. Many of those who are trying to use this scandal as a springboard, had nothing to do with ever helping Cindy or Todd in the first place. Their self serving flagellation is no different than the oppositions attempt to lay blame on the Conservative movement.
I will pray for their Families, Pray for Healing, and Pray that they will eventually repent and seek forgiveness.

You Betcha! (9)Nuh Uh.(22)

For All The Wrong Reasons

Trump and the 16 dwarfs

Reposted from Redstate.com For permanence. ( I am again deviating from the ‘Michigan’ centric mission of this site for obvious reasons – JG)

The talking heads and putative conservative pundits have it very wrong.

A palpable fear of Donald Trump becoming the Republican nominee consumes the media from left to right. Fox host and debate moderator Megyn Kelly’s first question to Donald Trump “You’ve called women you don’t like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals. On your Twitter account, your Twitter account has several disparaging comments about women’s looks,…” might well have been asked by Candy Crowley, or nearly any other left wing operative determined to ruin a GOP debate.

Kelly wasted Trump’s – and our – time by advancing the theme that ‘Trump is too brash, and says things that are hurtful or boorish’. By focusing on his periodic extravagant statements, perhaps she felt the viewers would be persuaded to abandon Trump and his candidacy. ‘The Donald’ can indeed be brash and say things that are both hurtful and boorish, but with 10 candidates to evaluate and a two hour time limit, it just wasn’t a productive line of questioning.

Kelly and many other talking heads who profess conservatism seem to think that ‘brash and boorish’ is a fatal flaw in Trump’s candidacy. Civil discourse, in their opinion, is the only acceptable path to the Presidency of the United States. Trash talk, such as calling people “stupid,” “moron” or even “disgusting animals” does not elevate the campaign discourse to the level they seek.

Perhaps our self appointed media censors should reassess ‘The Donald’ in light of our current predicament.

You Betcha! (11)Nuh Uh.(0)

The Cover-Up Is Always Worse

Did Watergate teach you nothing? (Yet another case of not learning from history.)

I got wind of this via a phone call at around 07:41 this morning, while I was still getting my head screwed on straight (on my first actual day off in about three weeks), and quite frankly, I have no idea how to categorize this one. “Wrong-headed thinking” seems like a solid characterization, and I’m well-aware of the double entendre involved.

You Betcha! (15)Nuh Uh.(0)

Another tale of not learning from the lessons of history…

For a so-called conservative, “Republican” Rick Snyder sure does have this thing for imposing a tax hike on Michigan Motorists (along with the aid of his BFF Sen. Arlan Meekhof).

He even thinks that his own story is proof positive that it can be done.

I just love it when Mr. “relentless positive action”, conveniently forgets to include several glaring details.

Oh well, those who fail to learn from the lessons of history…

You Betcha! (9)Nuh Uh.(0)

Misrepresentation

Is University Indoctrination Really a Qualification Required for Political Office?

Programming ConditioningSunday, the Detroit News ran a charming agitprop piece bemoaning the fact that 20% of Michigan’s legislators “lack a formal higher education degree, ….. raising the question of whether a college degree is a prerequisite for leadership and political office”. The snide implication of this stooge for the university left is that 20% of Michigan’s legislators are ignorami, but her devious political subtext is that 20% of Michigan’s legislators have missed the political indoctrination necessary to be good left wing robots.

May I remind you of MSU Professor William Penn’s 2013 creative writing class, as recounted by the great Walter Williams in Townhall two years ago:

MSU Professor William Penn

MSU Professor William Penn

William Penn, Michigan State University professor of creative writing, greeted his first day of class with an anti-Republican rant. Campus Reform, a project of the Arlington, Va.-based Leadership Institute, has a video featuring the professor telling his students that Republicans want to prevent “black people” from voting. He added that “this country still is full of closet racists” and described Republicans as “a bunch of dead white people — or dying white people”. To a student who had apparently displayed displeasure with those comments, Professor Penn barked, “You can frown if you want.” He gesticulated toward the student and added, “You look like you’re frowning. Are you frowning?” When the professor’s conduct was brought to the attention of campus authorities, MSU spokesman Kent Cassella said, “At MSU it is important the classroom environment is conducive to a free exchange of ideas and is respectful of the opinions of others.”

That mealy-mouthed response is typical of university administrators. Professor Penn was using his classroom to proselytize students. That is academic dishonesty and warrants serious disciplinary or dismissal proceedings. But that’s not likely. Professor Penn’s vision is probably shared by his colleagues, seeing as he was the recipient of MSU’s Distinguished Faculty Award in 2003.

You Betcha! (12)Nuh Uh.(0)

One Does Not Have To Be Catholic

One does not even have to be religious or overly traditional ..

To see this as losing the culture war.

Satanic worshipers gather in an unprecedented way to demonstrate their foolishness. Detroit is already a perfect example of what happens when evil is portrayed as good, when force masquerades as charity, and now when ‘tolerance’ is used to usher in a perfectly harmless and ‘innocent’ way to throw off the ‘yoke of Christianity.’

These folks really have no idea of what they are doing.

H/T Church Militant

You Betcha! (9)Nuh Uh.(0)

2014 ACU Michigan Legislature Ratings

The American Conservative Union has long been the premier organization rating members of Congress on how conservative their voting records are.  Recently, ACU began rating state legislators on their voting records, and it just released its third ratings of the Michigan state legislature.  I will summarize the relevant information here.

ACU State Ratings 2014–MI

ACU rated 12 house votes and 13 senate votes from 2013 and 2014.  Ten of the bills are the same for both halves of the legislature. The most common topics for the state house votes were taxes (3 votes), spending (3), and regulation (3).  The most common topic for the state senate votes were taxes (4 votes) and spending (4).

ACU Michigan state senate ratings 2013/2014:
100%: Pavlov, Emmons, Moolenaar
92%: Colbeck, Brandenberg, Rocca, Robertson, Proos, Jones, Schuitmaker, Green, Booher
85%: Marleau, Hune, Jansen, Hildenbrand, Meekhof
77%: Pappageorge, Kowall, Caswell, Richardville, Nofs, Kahn, Hansen, Walker, Casperson
62%: Hunter
31-33%: Hopgood, Andersen, Ananich
23%: Bieda
15-17%: Young, Johnson, Gregory, Warren, Whitmer
8-9%: Hood, Smith

You Betcha! (5)Nuh Uh.(7)

The LGBTIQ-crowd tries to screw Michigan Taxpayers just one more time.

Okay, they played the legal lottery and won.

I get that.

I don’t have to like that, but I get it.

We have a Supreme Court Chief Justice whose mental state is seriously suspect. A fellow Supreme Court Justice who is apparently too concerned with “leaving a legacy” than actually following the letter of the law. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the judicial activism displayed by other SCOTUS Justices in preceding rulings (and these) on unrelated cases should also be a cause for concern for any Freedom-loving American. But that is better left for another discussion.

Now, the LGBTIQ-crowd wants to turn the screws just one more time.

Shakedown Flag

Expect to see this flying in Ann Arbor, Royal Oak, Hazel Park and Traverse City sometime soon…

You Betcha! (9)Nuh Uh.(0)