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Tag: 2012 vacancy nominationBy Kevin Rex Heine, Section News
In Grand Rapids tomorrow, the republican delegates will vote on which Judges will represent the Michigan Republican Party on the ballot for the Michigan Supreme Court. Though the incumbent justices (Markman and Zhara) are expected to win handily, the race between Judge Jane Markey and Judge Colleen O'Brien for the vacancy nomination has become a little heated, with O'Brien's personal messenger Mike Rizik recently writing an especially mean email chock full of lies about Judge Markey.
So is O'Brien fighting a grudge match? Is this a "fight between unfriendly opponents?"
 (6 comments, 638 words in story) Full Story By Kevin Rex Heine, Section News
Republican Delegates recently received a letter from trial attorney Mike Rizik. Mike Rizik has been a plaintiffs' personal injury lawyer and a 20-year member of the Michigan Trial Lawyers' Association. The Michigan Trial Lawyers' Association, as you likely know, is Michigan's largest contributor to Democrat judicial candidates and the Democrat Party.
(2 comments, 2150 words in story) Full Story By Kevin Rex Heine, Section News
Laws which are passed in a "knee jerk" reaction to a "preventable" tragedy often are not particularly well thought through, are insufficiently deliberated before passage, tend to overreact, and are particularly notorious for two things: (1) they tend to expand government reach into places the Founding Fathers would have never tolerated, and (2) they tend to be later found to have gaps that result from lack of foresight, and are only discovered in a post-legislation lawsuit.
The Patriot Act is a classic example of such a law. And I do find myself chuckling just a little when an Amber Alert mentions a missing 14-year-old girl, last seen headed out of town with a 19-year-old man . . . yeah, you know what's probably really happening. Also on this list are the various elements of sex offender registration. Between Megan's Law, the Wetterling Act, and the Adam Walsh Act we have I don't know how many different ways to permanently screw up other people's lives over nothing, for no other reason than because we as a society lack the testicular fortitude to deal with bona fide sex offenders according to their crime. An example in my mind is a high school kid here in Kentwood a couple of years back who streaked across the football field during the final home game of the season . . . not even out of high school, and an overreactive law has already thrown out the rest of his productive life. (Back in my day, the only LEO involvement in such an incident would be to escort the student in question home and turn him over to the parents for disciplinary action.) I mean seriously, in Michigan you can land on the sex offender registry for nothing more offensive than cussing in public, which is a real concern for a career sailor such as myself. And then there are other shortfalls.
 (2 comments, 1105 words in story) Full Story By Kevin Rex Heine, Section News
A favorite political campaign strategy is to keep one's opponent off balance. Keep them on the defensive, keep them reacting, get them chasing down rabbit trails and responding to red herrings. Anything at all to have your opponent operating in "reactive mode" instead of "proactive mode." In a tight race, getting into an opponent's head, or into the head of her campaign team, can throw them off their game, and perhaps enable an easier victory than otherwise would happen (perhaps even snatching victory from the apparent jaws of defeat).
(4 comments, 2577 words in story) Full Story By Kevin Rex Heine, Section News
The headline on the front page of the Saturday paper was "CHAOS!" in four-inch, boldface, all-caps block type, punctuated by an exclamation point just in case passers-by didn't get the hint. The article underneath the attention-grabber discussed the previous day's 4-3 ruling by the Michigan Supreme Court in Stand Up For Democracy v Citizens For Fiscal Responsibility, in which Justice Mary Beth Kelly, accomplishing a legal parse worthy of John Roberts, sided with Justices Michael Cavanagh, Marilyn Kelly, and Diane Hathaway and voted to order the Emergency Manager Referendum onto the November 2012 statewide general ballot, and touched off a power struggle involving contradictory claims about the status of municipalities and school districts currently operating under emergency managers. Also in that same Saturday paper was a statement from Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, a statement from Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, and an op-ed piece from Stephen Henderson urging a rejection of the repeal (which he followed up on in more detail in his Sunday News & Views column).
Who says a Friday news dump doesn't get much attention? And now, because of the actions of the Board of State Canvassers, we have a situation that may involve another Friday news dump . . . on a weekend when both of this state's major political parties have other things to do.
(5 comments, 2038 words in story) Full Story By Kevin Rex Heine, Section News
Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once told the London Daily Telegraph:
"I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left." By this measure, an e-mail that's been circulating to the convention delegation for about three days now must have Judge Jane Markey on cloud nine. Two weeks before convention, and her opponent has already effectively admitted that she's going to have to go personal to beat her. If that's the case, then Markey's already got this one in the bag.
(1 comment, 1176 words in story) Full Story |
 External FeedsMetro/State News RSS from The Detroit News+ Craig: Cushingberry tried twice to elude police, was given preferential treatment + Detroit police arrest man suspected of burning women with blowtorch + Fouts rips video as 'scurrilous,' defends Chicago trip with secretary + Wind, winter weather hammer state from Mackinac Bridge to southeast Mich. + Detroit Cass Tech QB Campbell expected to be released from custody Friday + New water rates range from -16% to +14%; see change by community + Detroit's bankruptcy gets controversial turn in new Honda ad + Royal Oak Twp., Highland Park in financial emergency, review panels find + Grosse Ile Twp. leads list of Michigan's 10 safest cities + Wayne Co. sex crimes backlog grows after funding feud idles Internet Crime Unit + Judge upholds 41-60 year sentence of man guilty in Detroit firefighter's death + Detroit man robbed, shot in alley on west side + Fire at Detroit motel forces evacuation of guests + Survivors recount Syrian war toll at Bloomfield Hills event + Blacks slain in Michigan at 3rd-highest rate in US Politics RSS from The Detroit News + Apologetic Agema admits errors but won't resign + Snyder: Reform 'dumb' rules to allow more immigrants to work in Detroit + GOP leaders shorten presidential nominating season + Dems: Another 12,600 Michiganians lose extended jobless benefits + Mike Huckabee's comments on birth control gift for Dems + Granholm to co-chair pro-Clinton PAC for president + Republican panel approves tougher penalties for unauthorized early primary states + Michigan seeks visas to lure immigrants to Detroit + Peters raises $1M-plus for third straight quarter in Senate bid + Bill would let lawyers opt out of Michigan state bar + Michigan lawmakers launch more bills against sex trade + Balanced budget amendment initiative gets a jumpstart + Feds subpoena Christie's campaign, GOP + Poll: At Obama's 5-year point, few see a turnaround + Obama to release 2015 budget March 4 Front Page
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