NOTE: I have updated this post and the title to correct the misuse of the term “assault rifle”. Though semi-automatic AR-15 rifles are commonly called assault rifles, the strict definition of an assault rifle says that it must be “selective fire” meaning that it has “at least one semi-automatic and one automatic mode”. The rifles in the photos below are […]

One of the newly-elected legislators who will take his seat on the floor of the state House next month is Todd Courser from the Lapeer area. Though he has yet to take office, I have written about him several times already and, judging by his bizarre rhetoric and behavior, there will be an abundance of Eclectawords written about him over […]

Today is December 15, 2014 and that, in itself might mean many things to you. However, for political observers, pundits, analyzers, etc., today marks the final days of the Michigan Legislative agenda for 2014 and will also usher in, in a few very short weeks, a new House and Senate. This is the last week of what is known as […]

The Tea Party of West Michigan (motto: “Influence policy, effect [sic] elections, protect the Constitution”) is a constant source of entertainment and amazement to me. They amaze me because of their impressive ability to turn out their supporters to contact their legislators to get things done according to their distorted worldview in Lansing. They are VERY good at doing this, […]

“Our nation is a nation of immigrants. More than any other country, our strength comes from our own immigrant heritage and our capacity to welcome those from other lands. No free and prosperous nation can by itself accommodate all those who seek a better life or flee persecution.” – Ronald Reagan Last night, President Obama announced the he is taking […]

Nobody likes to lose elections and when you’ve put has much heart and soul and time and effort into it as I and many of my friends have, it’s particularly depressing. I started working with a team of people in Washtenaw County to organize at the local level in February of 2013. From that moment until 8:00 p.m. last night, […]

This is the fourth and last in profiling a series of women candidates running for the Michigan State House of Representatives. As voters we have an amazing opportunity to realize something special on Tuesday and that is electing more women to the State House, something I believe is essential to moving the state forward. After spending a short amount of […]

A year and a half ago, Michigan Republican Party Chair got the scare of his life when tea party hero and “Freedom Caucus” favorite Todd Courser nearly defeated him in a narrow 833 to 768 vote for the Chair position. At the time, Courser made it very clear that he was working toward a tea party takeover of the Michigan […]

The Senior Executive Service (SES) is made up of the men and women who lead most of the major government agencies in the USA. According to the Office of Management and Budget, “Members of the SES serve in the key positions just below the top Presidential appointees. SES members are the major link between these appointees and the rest of […]

In what was a surprise to pretty much nobody, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg endorsed Republican Rick Snyder this past week. He’s also spending $2 million on pro-Snyder ads. I say it’s unsurprising because (a) Bloomberg held a mega-fundraiser for Snyder back in June in the midst of the road funding battle in the Michigan legislature that ended […]

Kerry Bentivolio, the incumbent Republican Congressman in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District has formally announced his intention to run as a write-in candidate in the November election. Bentivolio has said he feels slighted by the “establishment” Republican Party. More importantly, he sees his candidacy as a way to get hapless stealth candidate Terri Lynn Land elected: U.S. Rep. Kerry Bentivolio, who […]