Opinion

Get Yer Jack Boot On

The 'other' definition of "force" once again rears its ugly head.

Pure-TicketThe logical conclusion to an over applied nanny state is the use of violence to prevent one from hurting oneself.

The Stings are on.  Grants to step up ‘enforcement’ (key use of words here) have been doled out. Click on Detroit says:

The Macomb County Sheriff’s Office will be participating in a mandatory seat belt enforcement grant beginning May 23-June 5.

Take the money, or else.

Indeed.  Click it, or we’ll put a gun to your head to save your life.  As Michigan goes into the high travel Memorial Day weekend, the stage is set once again to punish those who tempt fate by not strapping in.  In Macomb County they want to do it the nice way:

Extra patrols start Monday and continue through June 5 as part of the latest “Click it or Ticket” campaign, targeting motorists who are not wearing seat belts.

“Our primary goal is always to encourage voluntary compliance with the law. For those drivers who do not comply, our deputies will deliver warnings or issue violations as the circumstances dictate,” Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham said.

Oh, how friendly.

You Betcha! (14)Nuh Uh.(4)

My thoughts about restrooms…

There are more pressing issues than who uses what bathroom. Let t he free market sort it out.

I get the feeling that many people are worked up about this restroom issue…*sighs*.  It’s become a huge issue for many people.  It really is a war that the Government started and doesn’t belong in.

North Carolina awoke a sleeping bear that has been around for decades.  I hear many transgendered individuals have been using the public restroom of their sexual identity for decades now…mostly without concern or controversy.  Why is there suddenly attention to this issue?  Ask North Carolina.

My take?  This isn’t an issue that concerns government.  It concerns private property owners and their rights — and the rights of consumers to freely associate/shop where they wish, for any reason they wish.

So, Target allows people to use the restroom of the gender they identify with.  If you aren’t comfortable shopping at Target because of that, that’s fine.  Go shop elsewhere.  You can even tell Target why you will no longer shop there, if you wish.  Want to start a boycott of places like Target?  I support your right to do that as well (note: supporting one’s right to do something is different than supporting them doing it — there is a distinction).

What if you want to boycott businesses that have segregated restroom policies?  I support your right to do that as well.

What I cannot condone or abide is you using the guns of government to force your will onto other private people and businesses.  Any time you pass a law, you are sending out a man with a gun who is willing to steal and/or kill (if necessary) to enforce it.

What about public schools and other publicly owned institutions?  I submit to you the problem isn’t the restrooms, but the public ownership f these institutions.  Bring an end to the practice of publicly owned institutions (schools, libraries, parks, etc.) and you will solve this problem of restrooms on publicly owned property.  If there is a need for these services, the free market will provide for it (either through customer/provider relationships or donations/charity/patron relationships).

Logically, most restrooms have stalls as well as urinals (men’s rooms).  When you’re in an opaque stall, what does it matter to you what’s between the legs of the person in the private next to you?  Can they see you while you’re doing you business?  No, not unless they are peaking under the stall..in which case the store management might want to remove that person (regardless of gender identity).

Some people say, “I don’t want to share a bathroom with some sexual pervert.”  Just because a person has a different gender identity than the one they were born with, does that make them a pervert?  If it does make the person a pervert, would you rather this person go to the restroom of the gender they were born with and be around your sons, daughters or other loved ones?

Food for thought, I just wish people would focus time having debates that matter more like: the debt of the US Government, the Quantitative Easing policies (read: printing funny money) of the US Federal Reserve, endless world policing and war mongering…or any of a number of other issues that will drive our country to certain financial ruins.

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

If we can convince you that smoking is good and get you to eat for breakfast what we want you to, then we can definitely get you to support this.

Take a good look at the picture below.

Edward Bernays Image

He’s going to factor heavily in this post (and more importantly, what YOU can do to protect your pocketbook).

{Continued below the fold}

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Because giving them even more money has always solved Detroit’s problems.

Hold onto your wallets because the fun is set to begin again tomorrow.

Last week the Michigan House, in response to the temper tantrum thrown by the Detroit Federation of Teachers (which to be fair, was in response to the gross ineptitude of one Judge Steven Rhodes), passed yet another in a long line of “life preservers” to the failed Detroit Public School district.

Despite having been “locked out” by administration (seriously, that is what the DFT was using as a speaking point on every local talking head show last weekend), things went back to normal by Wednesday.

I’m still trying to wrap my head around the concept of how calling in sick en masse is somehow the equivalent of being “locked out” from your place of employment…but I digress.

Unlike the bailout proposed by the Michigan Senate, the House package is about $200-million lighter than the Senate’s, and is choked so full of poison-pill provisions that it is guaranteed to cause even more problems.

 

Bus roll over

“Not to worry! With a little elbow grease and some friendly verbal persuasion, we’ll have you upright and humming along the road in no time,” our relentlessly positive Gov Snyder allegedly remarked about the latest DPS bailout.

{More below the fold}

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

So Its Trump

Donald Trump has passed through the gauntlet and is the Republican nominee

trump article openerIts been a personal quest to stay out of the presidential contest debate to whatever extent possible.

Now the nominee is clear. Though not surprising today, it was not the person most folks would have predicted in July of 2015.  In fact it was likely that even Donald Trump thought he could roll for a while, be outrageous, and then get back to business as usual.

The more he stretched credibility however, the more he appealed to those looking for the ‘not normal’ in politics.  Many, whom we might describe as angry and disaffected with politics-as-usual, found his antics refreshing and (in some strange way) appealing. They see in him a willingness to confound convention and ‘normalcy’ in the body politic; “normalcy,” being a condition which has proven inadequate for our nation, and has created a slow road to some bizarre and unrecognizable dystopian squalor.

At the same time, those who created this environment through passive aggressive politics and (even worse) outright compromise of principle, have been freaking out.  The #NeverTrump brigade was born and now faces a conundrum with an impending Hillary presidency.  ‘Moderates’ who give in to the liberal agenda frequently, screamed “He’s not a conservative!”

As-if conservatism was ever really important to them.

You Betcha! (20)Nuh Uh.(1)

The Pig You Are Stuck With

Good luck on getting rid of THAT one.

1444000527v0f4pSome people think that a recall is the wrong way to remove bad actors from our elected positions.

So much so, that the Michigan legislature fundamentally changed the recall process from a difficult process into a bad running gag. The rules change to the recall process enacted in 2012 Became a more limited operation with shorter windows, an unconstitutional ‘factual’ requirement, and then an automatic insertion of the candidate back on the ballot as the default party candidate.

IMHO, those who voted for the recall provision changes are political reprobates.  The changes made the extremely difficult into the insurmountable, removing a tool in the tool box of the electorate. (Just the way non responsive big government types want)

Example?  Current efforts in Michigan to recall Rick Snyder now a total of four signature gathering operations, and other recall efforts (state senators) total about six more. With the window of 60 days (it was 90) to collect 790,000 signatures for any one of the Snyder recall efforts, it is likely an impossible task.  Add to that number, about 20% (150,000 signatures) more as a buffer.

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

Proportional Backfill

Did the Michigan Republican Party pull another fast one with RNC delegate allocation?

Those of us who’ve been hanging around RightMichigan since prior to 2014 likely remember well the Michigan Dele-Gate Fiasco of 2012. As a quick refresher, on Tuesday, February 28th of that year, Mitt Romney defeated Rick Santorum in the statewide popular vote, 41.10% to 37.87%. However, because 28 of Michigan’s 30 post-penalty delegates were awarded on a district-by-district basis (Romney and Santorum splitting the state at 7 districts each), and because the statewide vote totals were so close (requiring the two at-large delegates to be split one each), the resulting 15-15 delegate tie didn’t exactly square with the RNC/GOPe’s preferred media narrative that Romney won his native state. Thus, in the telephonic equivalent of a late-night, backroom deal, the MIGOP Credentials Committee (then consisting of Bobby Schostak, Sharon Wise, Saul Anuzis, Holly Hughes, Bill Runco, Mike Cox, and Eric Doster) voted 4-2 – Hughes was not present at the meeting – to creatively interpret State Party Rule 19C, and award both at-large delegates to Romney. The resulting backlash fueled an eleven-week effort that culminated in a two-day Showdown in Motown, with the end result being the ballot box blowout ouster of the national committeeman regarded as the chief engineer of the ex post facto railroad job.

It’s probably not going to draw much attention (likely because damn near no one noticed), but the potential for a Grand Theft Delegate con job similar to the Michigan Dele-Gate Fiasco of 2012 was averted, largely due to one person explaining a key state party rule in a way that eliminated the possibility of applying that rule by political discretion, and instead imposed a resolution rubric according to plain mathematics.

You Betcha! (12)Nuh Uh.(3)

Free Speech?

Beware the unintended consequence of shallow thinking.

sexy2Sometimes, folks want to have an impact in their communities.

They might oppose a millage, pass out literature and information about proposed spending by their local governments. Some might simply try to engage their neighbors in a campaign process through simple means.  They might try to encourage certain priorities as well, and may do so by only spending a few bucks at the local copy mart.

All of this free speech is protected, right? In fact, such expression is legally permissible without a legal regimen, allowing up to $1000 to be spent currently.  Candidates for public office, as well as ballot advocacy groups can opt out of reporting requirements if they do not reach that $1000 spending threshold.

However, as long as there are men occupying government, this too can change.

You Betcha! (13)Nuh Uh.(2)

A Path To A Brokered Election

Subject: Look At The Numbers Michiganians

Kasich-RubioA vote for Rubio or Kasich in Michigan is a vote for a RINO brokered convention. Look at the numbers.

Rubio will not win Florida! Why? Northern Florida…aka the “red neck riviera”, will probably go for Trump. Southern Florida, which is predominantly Cuban Americans, will go for Cruz. Why? Rubio’s support for amnesty and immigration reform allowing more Mexicans and Puerto Ricans and other non Cuban “Hispanics” into the U.S. will be his downfall.

Cubans trace their heritage back to mother Spain as do the Argentines and Chileans. They are the true Hispanics. Lyndon Johnson bastardized and generalized the term Hispanic to mean all persons living in Latin America. There is significant bias and prejudice in Southern Florida between Cuban Americans and Mexicans, Puerto Ricans and other Latin American cultures that do not derive their heritage and roots from mother Spain. They are predominantly perceived by Cubans as indigenous Indians.

You Betcha! (19)Nuh Uh.(2)