And he accuses US of fighting amongst ourselves? Governor, please.

With all of the attention that was paid these past two weeks between the race for the Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, it was easy to miss the fact that the Michigan Republican Party had a highly-contested race themselves. When the dust had settled at their convention on Saturday, incumbent chair Bobby Schostak had won a narrow 833 to 768 vote over tea party challenger Todd Courser, a favorite of the so-called “Freedom Caucus”. Courser ran on a platform of “liberty and constitutional conservatism”.

The election was so close that Governor Snyder made a surprise appearance at Michigan GOP convention, taking time from the National Governors Association meeting in progress in Washington, D.C. to make an impassioned plea for Schostak’s candidacy. He was even seen pulling people aside to lobby for their votes.

He then accused Democrats of doing the very thing his party was engaged in as he gave his speech. Details after the jump.

Well hallelujah…

In what was not by any far stretch of the imagination a forgone conclusion, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder gave his hearty endorsement to the expansion of Medicaid coverage in Michigan as part of the Affordable Care Act. I couldn’t be more pleased.

Tea partiers in Michigan, however? Not so pleased.

All the fun after the jump.

You Keep Using That Word, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means

With the reelection of Barack Obama and the subsequent resurgence in tea party rhetoric about “tyranny”, stoked white hot by talk of enacting a handful of sensible gun regulations, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how our present-day “patriots”, and I use that phrase very loosely, have perverted the meaning of the word tyranny and the philosophies of our Founding Fathers.

Although it is widespread across the nation, one particular example of it here in Michigan really ignited my thinking on this. A tea party state Senator, Patrick Colbeck, has taken to posting passages from the Declaration of Independence on his Facebook page this week. That, in and of itself, is no big deal, of course. However, the quotes he has chosen make it clear that he is making a direct comparison between the King of England during the period before the American Revolution and our current President, Barack Obama.

Much more after the jump.

Draped in a flag, carrying a cross

With all of the struggles Michigan faces right now, it’s good to know that things aren’t so bad that religious zealots and “patriots” like Senator Patrick Colbeck have time to worry about censorship in the teaching of American History in our classrooms. This week, Colbeck introduced a bill to remedy this egregious (and essentially nonexistent) problem. The bill is modeled after legislation promoted and passed in 2001 by far-right conservative and tea party goddess Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota. Bachmann’s bill copies a law passed in North Carolina in 1997.

Details after the jump.

I’m not sure if I should laugh or cry…

Joshua Green at Bloomberg Businessweek has a hilarious piece about the utter fail whale that is the Tea Party caucus in Congress at the moment. In it, he details how utterly “hapless” (to use his word) the anti-Boehner contingent was when it came to their failed attempt to replace him as Speaker of the House.

He lays it out in three steps (which you can cackle at after the jump.)

Ah, geez…

I got an hysterical inanity from the Tea Party of West Michigan this morning, a group whose website tagline is still the comically and grammatically incorrect “Influence policy, effect elections, protect the Constitution.” In it, the author warns about the potential for violence from union members.

Details after the jump.

We’ve seen this type of thing before..

Reader Greg S. sent me a link to this astonishingly creepy video from a group that calls themselves “im2moro” (“I’m tomorrow”, get it?) It has a bunch of teenagers imploring adult voters to vote to preserve conservative values by electing conservative politicians. But it goes way beyond that. It’s so over the top that it reminds me of the type of propaganda you’d expect from the Third Reich Nazis, brainwashing children into a passionate and unquestioning nationalism.

The video and commentary after the jump.

Rage against the caffeine

Eclectablog reader Connie Crew recently sent an email to a variety of media outlets that were running the insultingly deceitful anti-Proposal 2 ad (see my post on that HERE.) She did so using a We Are the People website called Stop the Lies!

She got back an email that about curled her hair.

Read all of the tea party hilarity after the jump.

So, Governor, where were YOU on Friday???

This past weekend, former Republican Florida Governor Charlie Crist endorsed President Obama and was announced as a speaker at the Democratic National Convention next week. Here in Michigan, Governor Rick Snyder seems to be keeping out of the limelight with the Romney campaign, as well. At the last two Michigan stops by the Romney campaign, including one last Friday in Commerce, Michigan, our Republican governor was notably absent from the public view. He skipped a rally in June, as well, attending a meeting of business owners only.

Why is that? Heck, even disgraced Republican House Speaker Jase Bolger spoke at the Commerce event.

Is it because the Romney campaign has become too extreme for even our conservative governor?

More after the jump.

Leadership? Not so much…

As I reported last month, tea partiers in Michigan have been working diligently against their own self-interest, trying to prevent a state-run health insurance exchange from being formed in Michigan. The exchange, mandated by the Affordable Care Act, would help up to a half million Michiganders obtain affordable health insurance.

If the state doesn’t create one of their own, the federal government will do it for them. And that, apparently, is exactly what is going to happen in Michigan because Governor Rick Snyder has backed down from his push for the Michigan-run exchange.

More after the jump.

Aw, geez…

Wow. Even Republicans have to be flinching when their Number One Two on the ticket resorts to going full Palin on them. But that’s what Paul Ryan did on the campaign trail yesterday.

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney and the Republicans continue to lie their asses off as if nobody is watching or cares.

Follow me over the jump.