This isn’t about the right to bear arms, it’s about the right to be a freak

Have a look at this Bushmaster ad for their semi-automatic rifles:

In any sort of rational debate about gun control, we would be facing the fact that the most extreme elements of the “stop any restrictions on gun ownership ever at all the end” crowd are, at the end of the day, gun fetishists.

Period.

Much more after the jump.

It shouldn’t have taken this long

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has vetoed S.B. 59, the Republican bill that would have allowed for the carrying of concealed weapons in public places like schools, day care centers, sports arenas, bars, places of worship, hospitals, dorms and casinos. I have written before about what a tragically terrible this bill is and, actually, it’s better now than it was before it was amended. It never should have passed out of the legislature in the first place but, once it did, Governor Snyder should have announced his veto immediately.

More after the jump.

So much for THAT idea…

If you read the comments section of some of my coverage of the Right to Work for Less protest rally in Lansing, Michigan last week, you’ll see countless commenters, arriving here from Breitbart.com and Twichy.com telling us violentunionthugracistdemocratliberalfreaks about how THEY are in the mainstream and that the new Right to Work for Less legislation is not only a good idea, it’s what the people of Michigan want. And they heap kudos on a governor they say has got it figured out.

Turns out they are completely full of excrement.

All the gory details after the jump.

Funny how that works, isn’t it?

The state of Michigan’s tax revenues were up in November, beating estimates, according to the Senate Fiscal Agency (pdf). The increase in revenues was driven, in part, by higher taxes on Michiganders. As I wrote in my piece last spring, “The tax timebomb that explodes in Michigan in 2012 is MUCH worse than you thought”, the tax increase passed by the so-called “anti-tax” Republicans disproportionately impacts lower income residents.

Although the state coffers are looking pretty, the same cannot be said about our cities. Many of them are laying off police officers or getting rid of their police departments entirely.

More after the jump.

Maintaining a permanent Republican majority the easy way

Yesterday, delegates to the Michigan Electoral College cast Michigan’s 16 votes for Barack Obama. The President won Michigan handily, beating Mitt Romney by nearly 10 points. However, Republicans still maintain control over our state legislature and hour Congressional caucus. How is this possible?

Gerrymandering.

Find out how Republicans are trying to exploit this by changing how we choose our president after the jump.

Racism is alive and well in America

Racist piece of feces Bradley Patterson was kicked off the University of North Alabama football team after tweeting a racist tweet calling President Obama a “nigger”. His account no longer exists but here’s a screencap:

Moer after the jump.

Roll the tape, Jim…

The finance chairman of the Republican National Committee and former Michigan Republican Party chairman Ron Weiser was caught on tape talking serious trash about Detroit back in August. In light of the fact that Michigan Republicans seem hellbent on taking control of the city and its resources and revenues, this major party figure’s comments, hideous as they are, are very illuminating.

Let’s roll tape (after the jump.)

Why would you hire a greedy parasite to watch and teach your children all day?

Teaching is a tough profession. It has always been, but lately it has become so much tougher thanks to the anti-union attacks teachers and other public employees. It’s becoming harder and harder to understand why anyone would want to be a public school teacher these days.

The anti-union attacks on teachers have been around for decades, starting with idea that teachers get paid a full-time salary but really don’t work full-time; that their cushy workdays end at 3:00 and they have summers off. This is a very shortsighted view and, if you know anyone who teaches, you know how hard they work and how much of that work goes well past 3:00 and the month of May. Often the lines between their personal life and professional life are blurred. To most teachers, teaching is really a calling more than a job.

And yet, we treat these treat these everyday heroes as if they are not worthy of our respect.

Much more after the jump.

Depends on your definition of “represent”, I suppose…

This post is a cross-post of a terrific piece by Emily Magner from her blog Musings of a Lady. The original post can be found HERE.

In her piece, Magner talks about her treatment by two Republican legislators who “represent” her. She and a group of students did their civic duty by traveling to Lansing to meet with their State Senator and Representative to discuss House Bill 5711, a sweeping anti-abortion bill that will severely limit access to women’s reproductive health services, including abortions, across Michigan. The bill has a particularly acute impact on rural women — like the women in Magner’s area.

The treatment they encountered, while not surprising given the recent behavior of Michigan Republican lawmakers, is a story that needs to be heard.

Her essay after the jump.

How to turn your middle class into a pyramid scheme I went to see a comic perform in Grand Rapids a few years ago and he said, “So, this is the tip of the pyramid?” And the crowd sighed out laughter, knowing exactly what he meant. Grand Rapids, Michigan is the city Amway built. While the company may deny that […]

The time for this conversation is NOW

Early yesterday morning, just hours before the horrific mass shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, the Republican-led Michigan legislature passed S.B. 59, a bill that would allow concealed weapons in public schools, churches, and day care centers. Aware of the backlash that was likely to occur after the Connecticut shooting less than 10 hours later, Michigan Republicans released an astonishing statement on their Facebook page.

That statement and a discussion of the issue of gun control laws after the jump.