Let me go crazy, crazy on you…
Homophobic tea partier and Troy, MI mayor Janice Daniels has demonstrated her woo-hoo inanity in such a public fashion recently that she’s beginning to get into a hole too deep to dig out of.
The hilarity began when, on January 7th, in violation of city council rules limiting discussion by council members on single issue to five minutes, she read a rambling and nearly comical screed ranting against the transit center the council had recently approved.
Here’s a sampling. Hang on to your hats.
As the duly elected Mayor of the City of Troy, Michigan, I feel compelled to have my opposition to the construction of what is called the Troy Multi-Modal Transit Center project read into the Public Record so that the citizens of Troy, Michigan will have this information available to them for all time. The following information has been gleaned from documentation provided to me as Mayor of Troy and from various published information found on the Internet; however, all expressed ideas, thoughts, and ascertains are my personal beliefs that are protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution as a lawful American citizen.
I’ll pause while you catch your breath at this rather stunning display of poor writing being made to the citizens of Troy, Michigan for all time. You may wish to gather up your ascertains and ask yourself whether or not you are a lawful American citizen as Ms. Daniels apparently is.
Continuing:
[blah, blah, blah politically one-sided blah, blah purposefully understated…] The use of any amount of federal funds from a government that has increased the debt load on generations of Americans yet to be born by at least 5 trillion dollars of printed money in the past three years borders on malfeasance and the argument that it is our money that has been sent to Washington is naive when the truth remains that in order to get out of a serious debt crisis there has never been a legitimate provable case where increasing the debt load of the many by accepting the use of the debt money by the few has ever resulted in an improved economic climate. And to suggest that the tax dollars that we send to Washington are simply being returned to us does not address the fact that our tax dollars are not even keeping pace with the interest that is accruing on the federal debt that has been accumulating for decades now.
I’m out of breath just typing that. I’m glad she threw a period in there toward the end, even if it was grammatically wrong.
She goes on at length questioning a number of items regarding the transit center and throws in a dig at City Manager John Szerlag for opening her mail for her. Then she dives back into the tea party rhetoric.
It is a provable fact that ALL wealth is created in the private sector. The greatness of America is based upon the adherence to verifiable forces of capitalism (not manipulated by government forces), supply, demand, free markets, free men and free labor. Our country’s principles and our educational institutions have been under attack for many generations to the point where a vast number of American citizens are not educated on the free market principles that drive economic growth and development. Instead they have been misguided into believing that larger, more instrusive governments at all levels are the promoters of economic growth. This Troy Multi-Modal Transit Center is one such misguided government exercise in the misuse of taxpayers’ resources in the unsupported supposition that government projects create wealth.The truth is that government projects siphon wealth and destroy the ability of the private sector to enjoy meaningful economic expansion.
Habada habada habada… I hardly know what to say to this. She’s using her platform as mayor to give dissertations on the tea party manifesto. She also seems to ignore the fact that most of the business leaders in Troy, those private sector heroes she adores, are in favor of the transit center. Big time.
She finishes with a list of concerns that ends with this:
8. And lastly, why have you violated council’s privacy and opened our private mail. That is reprehensible and unforgivable.I must conclude that I have no confidence in our City Manager’s ability to continue to perform the duties granted him this position.
What’s interesting is that this is labeled a “position paper” but that last bit is clearly a slam against the City Manager. The attack has prompted Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson to jump into the fray with both feet, going after Daniels with vigor. He defended Szerlag, saying, “During my nearly 20 years as Oakland County Executive I have worked with many city managers within our 61 communities in Oakland County, and John stands out as simply one of the best.” You can read Patterson’s entire letter HERE.
On January 16, Szerlag responded to Daniels’ diatribe causing MLive writer Jeff Wattrick to write comments like these:
If you wanted to sum up Troy Mayor Janice Daniels few months in office, you would probably need to use the phrase “out of her depth.” […]Responding to Daniels’ rambling 20-page statement—including a passage explaining that she has a First Amendment right to compose such a statement—about the Troy Transit Center plan, Szerlag refuted Daniels point-by-point in a manner that suggests Daniels has no idea how things actually work in the city she governs. […]
He goes on to debunk some of Daniels’ most baseless assertions with a patience of kindergarten teacher trying to explain something complicated to an over-stimulated five-year-old. […]
It probably wasn’t Szerlag’s intent to embarrass Mayor Daniels with this letter, but it’s basically impossible for an intelligent professional to soberly refute these assertions without making the accuser look like a dim-wit.
To paraphrase H.L. Mencken: “As democracy is perfected, the office of [Mayor] represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of [Troy] will reach their heart’s desire at last and [City Hall] will be adorned by a downright moron.”
I highly recommend reading Wattrick’s piece. It’s brilliant.
Which brings us to the best news of the week as it relates to Troy: petition language for the recall of Janice Daniels has been approved. The recall group “Recall Janice Daniels” will need to gather 7,985 valid signatures within a 90-day window and within 180 days from the petition approval. You can “like” their Facebook page HERE.
Given the absurdity and embarrassment that is Janice Daniels, something tells me that’s not going to be all that hard.
[Crazy Words image credit: Wikimedia Commons/Freimut Bahlo]
