Michigan Politics

Saturday Cinema – Free Speech

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There is no question we are blessed to live where we can opine, joke, be completely idiotic and shoot our mouths off without facing a judge.

This particular matinee has little to do with Michigan, unless we step back and recall the attempt by a Michigan lawmaker to limit blogging to ‘professional journalists.’ But it is relevant, funny and sad all at the same time.

Do not watch if you are easily offended, take things the wrong way, or are somehow connected to the British law enforcement system, just in case I decide to travel overseas someday. Otherwise enjoy.

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Government Incompetence, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Philosophy, Republicans

Yet Michigan Republicans Continue To Fund The Beast

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Michigan’s state constitution does not specify a value when it mandates the support of our colleges and universities.

§ 4 Higher education institutions; appropriations, accounting, public sessions of boards.

Sec. 4.

The legislature shall appropriate moneys to maintain the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Wayne State University, Eastern Michigan University, Michigan College of Science and Technology, Central Michigan University, Northern Michigan University, Western Michigan University, Ferris Institute, Grand Valley State College, by whatever names such institutions may hereafter be known, and other institutions of higher education established by law. The legislature shall be given an annual accounting of all income and expenditures by each of these educational institutions. Formal sessions of governing boards of such institutions shall be open to the public.

Shall appropriate moneys.

How much?  It could be $1 million each school, money for a truck, or other provision that ‘maintains’ in someway the universities and colleges in our state.  But instead, we punish our taxpayers, and frankly our social norms by paying nearly 2 Billion a year for that which kills our culture and promotes leftist ideology.

And Michigan has Republican dominated Legislatures and Executive offices. go figure.

The slide into values negative programming was so obviously nearly complete when we discovered the University of Michigan was spending $85 million of our hard earned resources to promote a false vision of diversity.

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2018 Michigan Gubernatorial Race, Conservative News, Cronyism, Elections, Michigan, Michigan Politics

Snyder “It’s Been A Gas!” (tax)

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Rick Snyder will be gone after this year.

We will no longer have a progressive Democrat masquerading as a Republican in the governor’s office.  That is, unless his carefully selected heir is somehow elected.  From the Detroit Free Press:

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is expected to officially endorse Lt. Gov. Brian Calley at a campaign event in Southfield Wednesday.

“Lt. Gov. Calley and Gov. Snyder will attend an event this afternoon to highlight the best way to continue Michigan’s comeback over the next four years,” said Calley campaign spokesman Michael Schrimpf.

You know the guy.

Mr march-over-a-bridge-with-pied-piper-child-like-men-and-women political ad star?.  The guy who is Rick Snyder’s “Hillary?”  The guy who was the ‘conservative‘ in the executive branch?

The guy who was there to make sure that Michigan Taxpayers pony up an additional $1.8 Billion for roads sadly neglected because of Detroit bailouts and general fiscal malfeasance. Even after voters said.. “Nah we don’t want that” about Prop 15-1

Certainly, Brian Calley will parrot Slick Rick’s latest beg for new taxes.  Go ahead and ask him if he agrees when the Governor says we ain’t ponying up enough.

LANSING – It’s time to raise the federal gas tax to help fix Michigan’s ravaged roads, Gov. Rick Snyder said Tuesday.

Snyder, a Republican who is under fire along with state lawmakers over the shape of Michigan’s roads, said the state has taken steps to increase road funding and can do more, but it’s also time for the federal government to step up.

He said the state has increased road funding more than $1 billion annually since he took office, but federal road funding has decreased $250 million a year during that time.

“We need federal, state and local partners all working together,” but the feds are “going backwards on us,” he said.

Backward.

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Elections, Firearms, Humor in Michigan, Michigan

Bat Guano Crazy

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Give the mentally ill weapons. Specifically shotguns, for personal defense, right?

That is the attention grabbing tactic used by the most recent Libertarian candidate for the Michigan US Senate seat.  Brian Ellison, a veteran from SE Michigan is currently raising money to give out 20 pump style shotguns to the homeless.

According to Michigan radio Ellison is serious:

Ellison acknowledges his campaign, “Arm the Homeless,” has shock value that will bring attention to his campaign. But he says as a third-party candidate going up against well-funded Democratic and Republican opponents, shock value is about the only thing he can do to get media coverage.

But he says there is a serious intent to the campaign, which is to bring attention to the high rates of violent crime against homeless people, as well as the dehumanization of the homeless.

Uh..  Brian? The only thing?

Shock value does not mean good policy.  Consider a primary reason so many are homeless.  Mental illness, and the inability of our society to reconcile the use of drugs and other mind wasting substances. Our state mental institutions are closed, and the results are in many cases wandering bodies.

I am a solid 2A guy.  Hell, I have often argued that the mentally ill ought to be able to defend themselves with firearms if they so desire.  However, there are different stages of mental illness; some of them are not so predictable.

Kinda like random Libertarian attention grabbing stunts, yeah?

 

 

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Conservative News, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion

Sentencing for Pro Life Activists March 14

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Left to right: Robert Kovaly, Matthew Connolly, Monica Miller, Patrice Woodworth, Will Goodman

As a reward for buying flowers and the gall of suggesting that life is worth something, a Jury has decided against a pro life group.

While millions of foreign nationals trespass daily on our sovereign soil, it is those who stood as life’s defenders that were prosecuted for such a violation  Five Red Rose Rescuers;  Monica Migliorino Miller, Will Goodman, Patrice Woodworth, Matthew Connolly, and Robert “Doc” Kovaly were found guilty of trespassing and also interference with an officer (due to their practice of passive resistance) by a 6 person jury Feb. 21, 2018 stemming from their Dec. 2, 2017 pro-life rescue at the Women’s Center abortion center in West Bloomfield, MI. operated by abortionist Jacob Kalo.

They stood trial before Judge Marc Barron in the 48th District Court (4280 Telegraph Rd., West Bloomfield, MI.). He will be will sentencing the pro-life group March 14th at 1:30pm. 

Prior to trial the trial the pro-lifers’ motion for a defense of necessity was denied by Judge Barron. On Dec. 2, 2017 the 5 pro-lifers entered the waiting room of the Women’s Center to talk to the mothers seated in the waiting room and hand them red roses. The pro-lifers argued that their attempt to persuade the mothers scheduled for abortion to turn away from that decision and their mere presence in the clinic as an act of defense for the unborn were acts necessary to prevent greater evils from occurring than the mere violation of the city trespass ordinance.

Prosecutor Larry Sherman requested from Judge Barron that the Women’s Center never be called an “abortion clinic” in an attempt to sanitize the trial from having anything to do with abortion. Barron granted this request. Miller explains: “The victims of abortion, namely the unborn, were kept hidden from the jury and the judge’s rules were designed to stifle any testimony having to do with the reality of abortion.”

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Conservative News, Michigan, Philosophy

MICPAC April 6-7, 2018

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Michigan’s premier annual gathering for principled patriots and conservatives. This conference gets results. Task forces on Education, Property Rights, Legislative and judicial accountability, this is where the grass roots kicked off the Freedom To Work campaign.

At MiCPAC we bridge and network.all elements of the conservative movement – limited government; tax limitation; Life; faith; evangelicals; Tea Party; Constitutional; tax limitation, home schoolers, 1st, 2nd & 10th Amendments; traditionalists; National security; Labor Freedom as we continue the work of the Founders to preserve a constitutional republic for the next generations.

We keep the faith AND, we recruit, educate, train, inspire and enable grass roots leaders, candidates, campaign workers.

Be all you can be in theology, philosophy, public policies and politics by this conference with fellow believers and leaders in academia, think tanks, business, labor and grass roots activism.

We have new breath in President Trump and the Trump Administration, and new opportunity in Michigan as well. As we gear up for conventions and elections in 2018, this Conference will be pivotal for We The People. Be there!

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Conservative News, Democrats, Firearms, Michigan, Pensions & Retirement Benefits, Republicans

Michigan Gun Control Update

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Above the fold headlines in both Gongwer and MIRS today suggest that RINO Rick is launching an intense effort to secure passage of Representative Robert Wittenberg’s HB 4706 and HB 4707. These bills create a new category of judicial proclamation – ‘Extreme Risk Protection Orders’ – which direct police to confiscate the firearms of anyone who is denounced to a Michigan court “without written or oral notice” to the victim. These ERPO bills have been rebranded as ‘red flag laws’ after the Parkland, Florida high school shooting. Both of Wittenberg’s bills received their first reading (of three) last year and were languishing in the House Judiciary Committee. No longer.

Here are the headlines:

Gongwer

Snyder Preparing Gun Control Proposal

MIRS

Snyder Considers Waving The Red Flag; Sheriffs Want Cops Back In Schools

These stories are behind a paywall, but RINO Rick’s spokesperson Tanya Baker floated a trial balloon on AP three days ago. The Democrats have been all in for a while, so whether ERPOs come to Michigan will be determined by the Republicans in the Legislature soon.

Here is the problem: Some clown you hardly know can petition a judge to issue an ERPO which orders the police to seize your firearms, CPL, knives, baseball bats, golf clubs, etc. You only find out that an ERPO has been issued when the police break down your door to effect the seizure. You have no opportunity to contest the initial issuance of an ERPO in front of the judge. It is a bolt out of the blue. The police get to throw your valuable collector firearms into a dump trailer willy-nilly without any responsibility for the condition or safekeeping of your property. You, the restrained individual, then have 14 days to file a counter action. Good luck with that.

Stalinism meets civil forfeiture.

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Michigan Politics

The Handmaid’s Tale – A lesson in the dangers of socialism

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I’ve watched a few episodes of the Handmaid’s Tale.  Admittedly, you get the gist of the series after the fist few episodes.  The real short version:

From Wiki: The plot follows a dystopian future following a Second American Civil War wherein women, called “Handmaids”, are forced into sexual and child-bearing servitude.

Me: Many women (and men) are left infertile reportedly due to environmental factors.  The women that are fertile are forced to bear children for couples (seemingly always wealthy or at least government connected) whose wives are presumed to be infertile.

This line of thinking seems to fit with the Socialist/Communist Karl Marx mantra: from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

These women (handmaids) clearly have the ability to bear children.  The infertile couples clearly have difficulty conceiving children and have a perceived need to raise children.  I would like to think that most people can agree that forcing these women into sexual and reproductive servitude is wrong.  Yet, doesn’t this scenario fit exactly into the classical Maxist statement quoted above?

How is it morally incorrect to force fertile women into reproductive servitude to meet the reproductive “needs” of other people yet morally correct (or acceptable) to force other working people into servitude to meet needs of others.

An oft quoted line in the series is from Genesis 30:1:

When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”

Needs, in the eyes of many, can be subjective.  Our present society proposes several “needs” that are subsidized for the poor, which aren’t requirements for maintaining life.  The fictional society in this story line certainly seems to frame raising children as a need.

Who decides which “needs” of whom deserve forced enlisting of the services of others in order to fulfill?  Who decides which services are acceptable to seize?  Once you put the infrastructure in place to enlist/enslave people to meet the needs of other people, it could get used in ways you never intended or even foresaw — ways that would horrify you.

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2018 Michigan Gubernatorial Race, All the Other Stuff, Conservative News, Democrats, Detroit, Elections, Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Republicans

Going where other Republicans fear to tread – Follow up

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Let me start off by being honest here.

For 75% of the candidates speaking last weekend at the Michigan United People’s Governor Forum, I could’ve very easily just stayed home and wrote this piece out and included their responses even before they made them. They are ridiculously simple to predict and I would’ve easily gotten it pretty darn close to what they actually said with no one being the wiser.

I WOULDN’T do that because that’s not the kind of person that I am.

I also didn’t go to hear what those 75% had to say (although to be fair…some of what those other candidates actually said and how they said it was significantly far more concerning than even I would’ve initially suspected…more on that later).

I went to hear only one person.

Specifically, I wanted to see how he handled himself. More importantly, would he “modify his message” to placate the hostile masses.

Let me just say that what I saw should change your mind (if you haven’t already) regarding this particular candidate for Michigan Governor.

I’ll also get to why I waited this long to post this.

{And those answers are below the fold}

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