Ronald Reagan's Morning in America also marked the awakening of Allan Filip's political consciousness.
Filip, 35, was just a boy growing up in Paw Paw during Reagan's 1980s heyday, but he felt a strong attraction to the president's message of optimism and hope.
So says Mr. Filip in a front-page feature story in the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus today. It’s a bit of a fluff piece, but that’s what the neighbors features were basically created for. Filip goes on to say, “There was kind of a defeatist attitude" in the country before Reagan came on the scene, Filip recalled. "He made me feel more secure, and he got me thinking more about being an American."
Filip apparently never heard of the Iran-Contra scandal or the 241 Marines who were killed in a terrorist bombing at the U.S. Marine Corps Barracks at the international airport in Beirut. The Marines were not even allowed to carry live ammo, and many Beirut veterans are still bitter because Reagan did not attend any of the memorial services or funeral for those killed in action, as well as the limited rules of engagement the Marines were operating under.
Filip said the reason that Democrats did so well in the November election — with
the exception of Livingston County — was that they were successful in nationalizing the election.
"People are not happy with the way Iraq has gone," he said.
He goes back on the same old excuse Republicans in Michigan have been trotting out since Nov. 7. I hope he honestly believes that, and I hope that’s the principal he operates under. It will ensure Democratic control of the Michigan House for some time. In the meantime, I would like Filip to show me one, just one, Michigan House or Senate candidate who ever mentioned the Iraq war as a campaign issue.
Often what’s left out in an article is what’s most telling. This is all the article says about Filip’s apparent brief stay in Washtenaw County.
While in Alabama — and later, when he moved to Washtenaw County — Filip lived in heavily Democratic areas. That, of course, ended when he came to Hartland Township in 2003. He served as vice chairman of the party for two years before taking over the top spot.
It never mentioned he ran for the Board of Commissioners in 2002 where he got walloped with just 29 percent of the vote. A year later he moved to heavily Republican Livingston County. I will stop short of calling him a carpetbagger who moved to Livingston County to run for political office because many people move to Livingston County for the open land and good schools, but Sterling Heights where he works for Vericorr may be a little closer to Ypsilanti where he moved from than Hartland.
Filip sounded like a practiced politician when asked about the possibility of running for office himself. He said he wouldn't rule anything out, although he has "no plans to do that now, with my family being young and bills to pay."
No comments:
Post a Comment