Jason

The One That Brought You

When you win, act like it.

We have all been surprised at times of the change in our elected class when they assume their elected office.

Our opportunity to witness wholesale change of position, opinion, or the art of ‘nuance’ is only eclipsed by the nagging reality that this has happened before.  Nearly every time we have voted perhaps?

Politicians generally promise much, but fail on delivery nearly as many times as those promises are made.  After an election, our ‘winners’ seem to seek out the losers in some misguided path of reconciliation.  Often whole demeanor changes occur, and the strong willed, conservative, charismatic leader we wanted, becomes a pewling little excuse maker who doesn’t want to be hated.

Screw that.

The left doesn’t care about how we feel about them.  The second hander who wants their government largess doesn’t give a rats ass about their tone, civility, or abusive language. 

You Betcha! (19)Nuh Uh.(0)

A Bad Week For Never Trumpers?

Been very busy moving the business operations, and actually enjoying some of the finer aspects of our region.

In the meantime, I am still reading, and watching what is going on.  Michiganian Shane Trejo has a fun take on the current administration’s adventures from time to time.   From the Liberty Conservative:

This was a week that reminded Trump voters why they pulled the lever for him last November. While Trump voters were welling with pride over his Presidential achievements, his annoying, desperate detractors from the self-serving obsolete “NeverTrump” conservatives to the vicious radicalized America-hating leftists were left with mud on their faces. The buffoon who was supposed to disgrace the United States is doing the exact opposite. Trump is leading with the pro-Western, pro-nationalist message that is desperately needed in a civilization on the brink of destruction. Trump displayed his expertise again yet again, and the unstumpable nature of this leader is something that future generations will marvel upon.

Read the rest

You Betcha! (8)Nuh Uh.(0)

Independence

Maybe it does not mean what we had always thought it should mean.

Happy Independence Day.

Celebrate!  Take the family out, and have a great time.   Wave the flag, blow off some fireworks, But proudly give the finger to big government types everywhere.  And don’t limit that last to just a single day in the middle of summer.

Kids in our public schools are not likely taught the truth of the cause of the revolution, but it was not hard to understand, and was spelled out succinctly in the declaration of independence.  Colonists had enough.  They were done with being pushed around.

The king was a schmuck, the power he claimed over the colonies was not earned, not justified, nor could it be respected. So we flipped him the bird, and wrote him a break up letter.

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

Bill Schuette – Jack Of All Trades

Michigan's Attorney General joins the pipeline closure drum corps.

You can say one thing about Attorney General Bill Schuette, he has had a lot of different jobs.

The latest is apparently environmental expert and mechanical engineer.  Acting like those cats in the disaster movies who always seem to have the correct and dire warnings that “something really bad is about to happen,” Schuette has now called for the end to line five.  From the Detroit News:

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette on Thursday called for the development of a “specific and definite timetable” to close Enbridge Energy Inc.’s Line 5 dual pipelines under the Straits of Mackinac.

Schuette’s comments came as his office, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Natural Resources and Agency for Energy released a long-awaited Line 5 alternatives assessment conducted by an independent contractor.

The 337-page report states the 64-year-old Line 5 could operate indefinitely, but Schuette said he “strongly” disagreed. One viable alternative, he said, would be to construct a tunnel under the straits that could serve a similar function but allow for continuous visual inspection while creating infrastructure and construction jobs.

I suppose we could add “Tunnel Builder” to the resume as well?

You Betcha! (13)Nuh Uh.(0)

Proud?

Public safety is no longer the business of this government.

Sometimes we just have to stop and shake our heads.

Should visitors to Traverse City feel comfortable any longer  about the safety of their families/children in our public restrooms?  Not because of dysfunctional little boys who think they are girls, or ..the other way around.  Not because of a special rights law, or ordinance that the Traverse City government is forcing upon business owners. (which is already being done in other ways)

But because there is now there is being broadcast, by official proclamation, a sense that a gender neutral bathroom scheme is the thing to do in our newly enlightened culture; that there is a need to allow men and women, women and boys, men and girls to take care of nature’s business and perhaps discuss the issues of the day in a unique side-by-side.

From the Ticker:

Commissioners unanimously adopted a resolution Monday stating Traverse City will make an effort to provide gender-neutral bathrooms within city buildings and encourage other community businesses or organizations to provide at least one gender-neutral restroom in their place of business.

Mayor Jim Carruthers noted the resolution was referring to “single-stall occupancy, lockable bathrooms,” which could accommodate a wide range of users, including single parents with opposite-sex children and individuals with disabilities. “We’re not talking about talking a public restroom that has multiple stalls and just all of the sudden letting mixed genders go into that,” Carruthers said. Werner confirmed, however, with City Attorney Lauren Trible-Laucht that the resolution allows individuals to use public restrooms based on their personal gender identity or expression, which Trible-Laucht affirmed.

Confirmed.

Read the rest, (it’s short) and then check back on the comments often.  Already there are folks who are “Proud” of this commission’s actions.  They are “proud.”  Let that sink in.

In the meantime, we’ll just let the authorities sort out the expression of the day, OK?

Oh, and maybe let visitors guess which of our local bathrooms might contain a ‘surprise’ guest.

You Betcha! (10)Nuh Uh.(0)

Not Any Time Soon

Will common sense ever return to our state?

I believe the power of stupid people in large numbers is reaching a climax.

Michigan has its share of both (people and numbers) in all corners of the state.  In Traverse City, it might be the new cause-du-jour ‘sanctuary city’ effort, gender fluid/creative/neutral bathrooms‘ or our political class simply not seeing the forest for the trees.

Funny thing about that last.  One of the commissioners cannot accept a sale of county property for an amount less than it is worth. But as things always seem to bear out, political classic and commissioner Cheryl Gore Follette was for itbefore she was against it.

“There is frustration, but as I’m learning, it’s government,” says Clous. “Government can’t make a decision and stay with a decision and live with it.” He says he’s at “a loss for words” over Gore Follette’s “making an issue out of selling property for less than market value, or making the assumption that we are” after the board accepted a below-market bid for 160 acres of Whitewater Township property last week.

Yes, ‘cognitive dissonance’ is a real thing.

But the hinterlands is not alone in such net-less mental acrobatics. On the opposite corner of the mitten, we have even more willful ignorance.  MI Dems were introducing bills to make the world safe for ISIS terrorists last week, the feds arrested a naturalized resident of Dearbornistan for:

You Betcha! (14)Nuh Uh.(0)

This Is What We Are Paying For.

University paper editorial is window into the failure of higher education.

Allow me to plug your ink nozzles please.

Or perhaps DOS your web service so that the minds full of mush cannot surf your seas of stupidity.  This is the equivalent of the argument that there is a right to shout down free and open discussion, as argued  by the student (not fit for toilet) paper at U of M.

Break out the comfort puppies and crayons, the tantrums are about to erupt.  All of a sudden, whomever is loudest and most violent has the most bestest right to the 1st amendment protections according to a recent editorial. From Cap Con today:

” The University of Michigan’s main student newspaper, the Michigan Daily, published an editorial criticizing recently introduced legislation dealing with campus speech.  ”

Apparently protecting free speech is anti free speech.

Tell me why we give this institution of indoctrination $400+ million of our taxes yearly?

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

The Forest For The Trees

Grand Traverse County Commissioners don't even understand why the county is broke.

We all like nice things.

Sometimes we have to choose which nice things we want however.  As a community, the pie is only big enough for so many parks, so many police officers, and some of the other necessary ‘amenities’ to make it all happen.  One thing it requires is choices and priorities.

Attending a board of commissioners meeting tonight, one participant noted that our Northern Michigan county had the worst pension funding situation in the state.  While probably true, the rest of the commissioners in their own ways acknowledged it, and then moved on to prove in no uncertain terms why it is unlikely to change.

In an effort to raise money to cover the ballooning pension liabilities, Grand Traverse County Commissioners voted 6-1 to sell a county property for nearly $100K less than the highest bid for the property.   They were convinced by a number of hikers, bikers, and cross country skiers, that letting the property in question into ‘private’ hands would make our slice of heaven intolerable.

You Betcha! (9)Nuh Uh.(1)