I’ve gotten a fair amount of pushback on my support of the effort to recall Michigan Governor Rick Snyder. My blog pointing out how the Michigan Democratic Party isn’t supporting the effort prompted a front page response from Eric B. at Michigan Liberal titled “Circular Firing Squad: “Ready! Aim! …”
We have met the enemy and he is us. Or, if you prefer, the real villain in the new budget and EFM law is Mark Brewer and the Democratic Party infrastructure.Joe D., I think, offered on Tony Trupiano’s show last Friday, a fairly logical answer to the cage rattling question of why Mark Brewer and the Michigan Democratic Party shouldn’t get involved in this, which is that the involvement of Mark Brewer or the MDP takes away any ability of organizers of benevolent overlord Rick Michigan’s recall and the recall of any of his allies in the Legislature to claim it a grassroots effort. In that case, it ceases to look like a citizen-driven effort and really a hit campaign carried out by one of the political parties*.
I have no great love for Mark Brewer or the Michigan Democratic Party. In fact, I really don’t care. But, I am fairly certain that even if you disagree with whether that is a good thing or makes success more possible, that it’s at least a reasonable explanation and not some reason to include Mark Brewer in a list of people against whom you’ve sworn a blood oath.
~SNIP~
I’m not interested in recalling benevolent overlord Rick Michigan, so the problem here is not that I won’t man up and do the work myself.
Clearly Eric isn’t a regular reader of Eclectablog or he would have known that having the MDP in my sites is hardly common. In fact, I have been shouting about Rick Snyder and the Michigan Republicans to the high heavens. I’m not one for political friendly fire, in fact, and, in the past, I have been one of the loudest critics of people castigating President Obama and the Democrats. However, that was during election season. In my opinion, if you are going to effect change in your party, the time to do it is between elections, not in the middle of the primary campaign. I can think of no time better than now to ask what the hell the Michigan Dems are doing and why they are sitting on the sidelines when one of the epic right vs. left fights is happening right in their own state.
Eric also clearly didn’t read the part of my blog where I gave a short list of things that the MDP could do to help without spending precious resources or even being seen as central to the effort. And, please, give me a break. Mark Brewer and the MDP are never going to be seen as taking over a grassroots effort. They don’t even acknowledge it.
But I’m mostly interested in Eric’s last bit there, how he’s not interested in recalling Snyder. I’ve heard that from others. “Oh, it’s just not the right time…” “Oh, what will the moderates and independents think…?” “Oh, this will never work…” “Oh, we should be trying to work with the Republicans…” A whole lotta pearl-clutching going on, eh?
Let’s get some things straight here. First of all, it’s primarily the moderates we are trying to educate. Snyder got elected mainly because, starting with his Superbowl ad in January of 2010, he managed to bamboozle a whole helluva lotta people, including an embarrassing number of Democrats, that he was some kind of moderate. Well, bullshit he is. This man, backed by a Republican-dominated legislature, has been one of the most extreme Republicans to run Michigan in my memory. These so-called moderates and independents need to hear that loud and clear, capiche?
As far as working with the Republicans goes, pardon me while I LMAO off at the thought that they would ever, EVER work with Democrats. Why on earth would they? MICHIGAN. DEMOCRATS. HAVE. NO. POWER. PERIOD. Republicans are not going to work with us. They believe that every available cent should be used to give tax breaks to corporations and that this is miraculously going to solve all of our state’s problems. Throw in some good old-fashioned union-busting and some degradation of women’s reproductive rights and health funding & availability and you have a clear picture of what the Republicans’ vision of Michigan looks like. See any Democrats in that picture? No, you don’t.
So, if you’re so dead-set against this recall effort, puzzle me this: WTF do you suggest we do? Go to rallies and hold up signs? Really? Remember what Republican Senator Phil Pavlov said about the effect of one of the rallies at the Michigan Capitol?
“I don’t think it had an effect outside of the fact we had to talk a little bit louder today,” [Bill sponsor Sen. Phil Pavlov of St. Clair] said of the demonstration. “People are pretty lock-stepped on this issue (and) I didn’t expect it to sway any votes either way.”
Effective!
Is your answer to being run over by Republicans and then backed up on over again and again to try to work with them? To have a rally? Maybe write a letter? Maybe call their office? Do you know how many times I have called my Representative to express my opinion only to watch him vote to strip away the rights of public employees, steal funding from education to give to corporations, and strip away assistance for working poor Michiganders? I’ll tell you how many times: EVERY goddam time.
Tell me what you are doing to ensure that people know what is going and to ensure that (a) people are fired up a year from now to remove every single Republican we can from office and (b) to make sure people are perfectly clear what it means to elect a Republican. From my window, a statewide recall effort seems like a mighty fine way to get that message out there and to get folks fired up for next year’s election.
It sure beats standing around shouting and holding a sign.
UPDATE: This Saturday, May 21, is the kickoff for the effort to recall Governor Rick Snyder. It begins with a HUGE rally at the State Capitol Building. The rally is expected to be the biggest one yet.
DATE: Saturday May 21, noon to 6PM
LOCATION: Capitol Building Lansing, 100 N Capitol Ave,Lansing, MI
Thousands of protesters will converge on the state capitol on Saturday, May 21st.
They are planning on tabling this event and will have recall petitions available for you to sign as well as voter registration forms.
Time is subject to change, keep updated on their event Page HERE.
For more information, go to http://firericksnyder.org
