The following essay was written by Dianne Byrum. Dianne is a former state Representative and state Senator and is currently a Michigan State University trustee and the Michigan Director for Defend Democracy Project. Over the summer, the January 6th Committee presented overwhelming evidence proving that Donald Trump and his extremist supporters in the Republican Party planned, promoted, and paid for […]

As you may already know, I have a lot of fun on Twitter and in these posts bringing forth the shenanigans of Republican candidates while also educating Michigan’s voters. I know that sometimes it may come off as silly or unserious. But today, I must be serious about what is happening regarding Roe v Wade.  But this is not the […]

Barb Byrum on Twitter: @BarbByrum Barb Byrum at Eclectablog: BE AFRAID: Spooky Season is here for election officials and democracy itself, too You need to *see* and *hear* the Virginia elected officials set forth their plan to burn books they oppose — one of which the American Library Association named a "Best Book for Young Adults" This nation's march toward fascism […]

I think just showing up would sufficient. Biden 2.4M, Trump 2MMcAuliffe 1.6M, Youngkin 1.7M 800K Dem didn't vote300K GOP didn't vote The net 500K less Dem votes more than eclipsed the 75K margin-of-victory in VA. How hard is it to vote, really? — That Man From Michigan ✋ (@MIWolverine92) November 3, 2021 Judd Legum at Popular Information: One thought about […]

With Halloween right around the corner, people across the state are hunkering down with their pumpkin-spice beverages and their Halloween candy to enjoy their favorite scary movies. This is  exactly the kind of escapism we need right now.  But just like any good horror movie, there’s a twist: The really spooky activities are happening at Clerk’s offices in our local […]

There are just over two months until the next election date in Michigan. The last election for some communities was a month ago. Did you vote? Do you know who the candidates were? There was also an election in May for some communities. Many people had no idea.  Voter turnout in presidential years is often relatively high (in the November […]

Two weeks ago, I attended DEFCON for the third time. DEFCON is a conference where a group of mostly white-hat hackers and experts in various fields come together to determine best practice recommendations for shoring up vulnerabilities with web security and safeguards against malicious hackers.  This year, I was given the opportunity to speak at the convention in the elections […]

Upon leaving the Constitutional Convention, Ben Franklin is quoted as saying that the constitutional delegates had chosen for America “a Republic, if you can keep it.” This came years after the founding fathers sat down and declared their independence from the British monarchy. Our democratic republic was an experiment, which had never been tried before as a form of government. […]

Man, that’s GOTTA hurt… While there have been a few rational actors in the Michigan Republican legislative caucus who have refused to subscribe to The Big Lie that Donald Trump won more votes than Joe Biden in Michigan and, in fact, across the entire country, most have been vocally all in on it. The only the way The Big Lie […]

On a hot day in early summer last year, there was a press conference held on the lawn of the Mason Historical Courthouse in Ingham County. It was being held by the Islam’s Secret Agents. The is the sort of intemperate rhetoric that serves no purpose but to mislead and rile a certain group of people. For those who may […]

We’ve known this day was coming for a long time but now it is upon us. Republicans in the Michigan state senate are poised to take up three voter suppression bills tomorrow, June 16th, and urgent action is needed. As one state senator I spoke with put it, “We need to flood the Republican phone lines.” The bills are Senate […]