“It’s time not to fight back, but to fight forward”

Next Monday is Memorial Day in the USA, a day to remember those who gave their lives to defend our country and our democracy. On that day, a coalition of civil rights, labor, and faith leaders from around the state are staging another memorial: the death of democracy in Michigan.

[More after the jump…]

Things are NOT getting better

Today, the State Court of Appeals ruled that the review teams that recommended Emergency Managers for Detroit and Flint were not subject to the Open Meetings Act. The court ruled that they are not a “governing body” so they are exempt from the requirement.

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Back in the saddle again…

Regular readers may have noticed that blogging has been light for the past few days. Both of my kids graduated from college this past weekend so Saturday morning found us at the Cleveland Institute of Music watching Arleigh graduate from graduate school (she’s a bassoonist.)

Then it was off to Ithaca, New York to watch Cameron graduate with an undergraduate degree in film making from Ithaca College…

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The era of the big middle class is over Mitt Romney is now delving into science fiction. After a successful hostile takeover of the tea party and what remains of the Republican Party, he’s convinced he is ready for his greatest illusion: convincing America that what we need is George W. Bush on Steroids. He’s so confident he made an […]

Yes, I’m asking for your money again

Yes, yes, yes. It’s that time again. Time for the awesomeness that is Netroots for the Troops®. Wait, you don’t know what NFTT is? NFTT is a what I call “The 33-Minute Miracle”. I’ll tell you why in a minute.

Every year at the annual Netroots Nation conference, the largest event of the year for progressive blogggers, writers and activists, a group of dedicated individuals pull of an major service event where hundreds of CARE packages are assembled and then shipped to our troops over seas. This year, we’re including some vets that are in U.S. hospitals, returned from war.

You can help by making a donation HERE.

(Much more after the jump.)

Oh, how subtle…

Following up on a story I wrote about yesterday (“‘Democrat’ Roy Schmidt pulls ultimate dick move, jumps to GOP too late for another Dem to run”), we now learn there is much more to this story and House Speaker Jase Bolger is implicated.

Thank you, may I have another?

Earlier this month, OFA deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter released a video in which she calls the lies of President Obama’s opponents “BS”. This week, she did it again.

[Video after the jump.]

How long are we going to put up with this?

Yesterday in Detroit, the three Republican judges on the Michigan Court of Appeals heard testimony regarding the font-size challenge to the petitions gathered to put the repeal of Public Act 4 — the Emergency Manager Law — on the November ballot. As I wrote about the other day, they did so without complete information because expert analysis of the font used on the petitions — analysis requested by the Michigan Director of State Elections — was not included in the overview given to the Board of State Canvassers before they made their decision on April 26.

Laura Conaway at The Maddow Blog spoke with the expert, Assistant Professor Chris Corneal of the Graphic Design in the Department of Art, Art History and Design at Michigan State University. Here’s what he had to say:

There are dick moves and then there are DICK MOVES. This is the latter. NOTE: this post has been updated HERE. It’s not often you see an elected official act like this much of an asshole and to do it such a dickish and public way. Ten minutes before the filing deadline to run for the Michigan House of Representatives […]

Or what I learned by thinking like a conservative news clown This post is all about getting you to donate to Barrett for Wisconsin to defeat Scott Walker. You can do that now. When North Carolina’s discriminatory and hateful Amendment One won by twenty points earlier in May, I thought, “I didn’t do enough. I should have done more.” (I […]

Let’s roll!

As I have reported before, Jackson County Democratic Party Chair Ruben Marquez has entered the race to challenge Tim “The Original Tea Partier” Walberg in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District.

Marquez announced after Republican Joe Schwarz declined to run as a Democrat. This gave him less than two weeks to secure the required 1,000 petitions signatures to get on the ballot for the August primary.

He was successful.