Appointment means SOS will not be nonpartisan

We are learning why Republican career politician and Secretary of State-Elect Ruth Johnson refused to take an Oath of Nonpartisanship during the election like Democratic candidate Jocelyn Benson did.

As my friends at Living Blue pointed out, Johnson - the state’s elections administrator - hired Hartland Township resident Allan Filip as the SOS’s “director of external affairs.” County residents will remember Filip as the former chair of the Livingston County Republican Party.

In the two years he was the chair, he was, perhaps, one of the most partisan chairs the party ever had. Under his “leadership,” he attempted to politicize nonpartisan elections, improperly tried to influence a bond issue and made a false accusation that the county Democrats carried signs depicting “hate speech” in the Melonfest parade.

That sorry performance earned him a promotion to the Michigan Republican Party in 2009 where he was named as the “director of field operations.”
It appears his role with the SOS is just one more partisan job.

Former Livco GOP Chair ‘earns’ promotion

The Michigan Republican Party announced it has hired Hartland Township resident Allan Filip as the new director of field operations.

Livingston County residents will remember Filip as the chair of the Livingston County Republican Party, and in the two years he was the chair the political debate in Livingston County took a decidedly ugly turn since Filip took over as chair of the party. It began when he was named as the chair and the press was barred from the county GOP convention.

Under his “leadership,” he attempted to politicize nonpartisan elections, improperly tried to influence a bond issue and made a false accusation that the county Democrats carried signs depicting “hate speech” in the Melonfest parade.

We see what it takes to succeed in the GOP.

County political conventions on tap this week

With the historic election over, county political parties are holding their conventions this month to pick who will lead the parties.

In Livingston County, the Democratic Party will convene at 10 a.m. Saturday at the party headquarters, 10321 E. Grand River, Suite 600 in Brighton. The main purpose of the convention is to elect the executive committee which will select the officers for the next two years. I don’t anticipate a change in leadership

Current Democratic Party Chair Judy Daubenmier was just chosen in July to replace Matt Evans after he resigned to concentrate on his run for Green Oak Township Supervisor. Daubenmier has done an excellent job in a short time, bringing in some big speakers, done a great job in fundraising and established an excellent party blog, Living Blue.

The Livingston County Republican Party is holding its convention at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Historic Livingston County Courthouse in downtown Howell, 200 E. Grand River Ave. They will be replacing chair Allan Filip, who took over as the GOP Chair of the 8th Congressional District.

What remains to be seen is if this time the Grand Oil Party will open up their convention to press coverage. When they chose Filip two years ago, they slammed the door in the face of the press and chose him in secret behind closed doors.

Filip’s tenure was marked by lies, misinformation false attacks and power grabs.

Newspaper fails to find real cause for failure of bond milage

The local newspaper finally picked up on the fact that the Livingston County Republican Party was trying to influence the Brighton Area Schools bond issue that was defeated on Election Day.

Better late than never, but it certainly let the party chair get off with a lame excuse; letting him claim that the predominate party in the county was not advocating for the election but simply allowing the opponents of the bond issue to store the campaign signs there.

A group calling itself "Parents Union Local No. 1" that is made up of members of the county party’s executive committee advocated for the defeat of the bond issue, and according to the article, Allan Filip, chair of the party, claims the party did not take a position. Right, and I have a bridge in Brooklyn I can sell you.

The question the reporter or editor at the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus who wrote the piece should have asked is of the group operated by party officials is registered as a Political Action Committee or a ballot committee. In order to spend money to influence the outcome of an election must, which they admitted they paid for the signs, they must be registered.

The school district was seeking a $15 million bond for buses and technology, and a separate capital projects sinking fund on the Nov. 4 ballot. With the bond funds, the school would have purchased 1,600 new computers and 46 new school buses. While this is not entirely a new millage, it replaces an old one with a slightly higher millage.

The combined building millage and the technology/bus bond would equal about 1 mill, which is slightly higher than the building/sinking fund millage rate that expired in 2007. That millage rate was 0.9 mills, or 90 cents in taxes per each $1,000 of taxable value." It would have cost the owner of a $200,000 house $100 a year or about 28 cents a day.

That still would have left homeowners - in the most affluent area in one of the most affluent counties in the state - with the lowest school millage in Livingston County. Without those needed improvements, it will become more difficult to compete for school-of-choice students, causing the district to lose even more funding.

What is even more stunning is in light of the newspaper’s failure to ask a basic question, is an editorial in the same issue blaming the school board for the ballot failure because of the teacher’s contract they approved in April that gave teacher’s whopping 1.13 percent to 2.26 percent raise over three years, offset by requiring teacher’s to pay for their own health care.

“Tired of the fact that its school board steadfastly spends money it doesn't have, voters in the Brighton Area Schools district resoundingly defeated two requests for new taxes Tuesday,” the editorial begins.

Generally, editorials advocate for something, but I’m not sure what this one is advocating for. Being one of the most affluent communities in the area, it would make sense that in order to live here teachers need to make a decent salary. Many teachers live outside the community, but with zero mass transit opportunities they have to drive in to work. I know the price of gasoline has fallen steadily from its high marl of more than $4 a gallon, but I don’t think that’s going to continue. Teachers in Brighton are not even the highest paid in the county. That honor belongs to teachers in Pinckney Community Schools.

The editorial then goes after board member Joe Carney, who is a friend of mine. It calls him, “veteran board member Joe Carney.” I’m not sure how veteran a first-term board member can really be.

“Did the school board get the message? Not if the response by veteran board member Joe Carney is typical. As the thrashing of the tax issues became apparent election night, Carney deflected any responsibility from the school board. The fault, he said, belonged squarely on the back of recently departed Superintendent Jim Craig.”

The editorial goes on further to quote Carney, "I lay this on the very poorly ran campaign to get this done," Carney told our reporter. "The guy (Craig) that was supposed to be leading the parade, who recommended we do this, his mind was elsewhere."
Amazing. And wrong.”

I disagree. The superintendent is the one who recommended the millage. Plus, before being named superintendent he was the assistant superintendent for finance. His job is to sell the mileage within the constraints of campaign finance law. It seems a little suspect that in the most affluent district in the county he can’t sell a much needed millage that will cost homeowners a mere 28 cents a day. Instead, he was looking for a new job.

Clearly, that’s not the only reason for the defeat. The teacher’s contract, wrongly, contributed to the loss, but when the party that controls every political office in the county from U.S. Congress down to 90 percent of the township positions advocates for the defeat of a common sense proposal, some of the blame should be placed at their feet.

That’s where the newspaper should look, and they failed.

Every picture tells a story don't it

Sometimes, a picture is worth a thousand words.

I had no intention on adding words to this post; just the photo. Back in the day when I was an award-winning photographer, a stand alone photo went a long way to filling the news hole. This photo, apparently, was the header of an email Mr. Anuzis was sending to supporters to push the so-called "Fight to the Finish Tour." I decided to take a look at the Youtube video from the so-called "Victory Center" in Livingston County to see if I recognized anyone.

I was surprised to see stacked next to where Mr. Anuzis and county Grand Oil Party chair Allan Filip were speaking along with the stacks of "Rogers for Congress" signs were stacks of orange signs urging people to "Vote no on the Brighton School millage." We have seen county Republicans try and do away with nonpartisan races in the county, but I had no idea they were campaigning against Brighton Schools. It seems ironic an anti-school measure is using Brighton High School's color. Go Bulldogs.

The Brighton Area School district is seeking a $15 million bond for buses and technology, and a separate capital projects sinking fund on the Nov. 4 ballot. With the bond funds, the school will purchase 1,600 new computers and 46 new school buses. While this is not entirely a new millage, it replaces an old one with a slightly higher millage.

According to the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, "The combined building millage and the technology/bus bond would equal about 1 mill, which is slightly higher than the building/sinking fund millage rate that expired in 2007. That millage rate was 0.9 mills, or 90 cents in taxes per each $1,000 of taxable value." According to the paper, it will cost the owner of a $200,000 house $100 a year or about 28 cents a day.

I had no idea they are campaigning against this. Can somebody tell me why?

I know the GOP does not care for public school teachers, but none of the bond money collected would go toward pay or benefits for teachers. All of the money would go into purchasing technology for the classrooms. Brighton is a relatively affluent area, but the computers there are more than eight years old. The bond money would also go into buses, which seems like a basic safety issue. The state does not provide any additional money for buses. The district actually dropped busing for high school students a few years ago, but the public demanded they bring it back.

Who are the scheduling wizards who picked the same time as the Backyard Brawl

A group calling itself "The Our Country Deserves Better" PAC is trying to make up for John McCain's decision to abandon Michigan and is conducting a bus tour with 10 stops in Michigan.

The next to last stop will be a rally in my backyard on Saturday at the Mill Pond in downtown Brighton at 3:30 p.m. I do agree with the bus tour's premise that our country deserves better, especially after eight disastrous years of Bush "leadership," but it will not get it with Bush clone Grampy McSame.

As just one more example of how out of touch McSame and his supporters are, I kind of doubt they will get that big a crowd. I would be there just to show my support for Sen. Barack Obama, but I will be sitting in my Lazy-Boy chair in Howell at 3:30 watching the kick-off of the Michigan-Michigan State football game at the Big House. I suspect quite a few of my fellow Michiganders will do doing likewise. It makes you wonder who schedules that stuff.

If you want to see a real bus tour, today is the last day to see the National Bush Legacy Bus Tour when it rolls into Ann Arbor from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday at South State Street and South University.

You would expect the McSame tour will find a big crowd in predominantly Livingston County, but a couple of recent stories in the local daily are showing Obama is leading McSame in raising money in GOP-rich Livingston County.

The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus reported another story that says Obama has increased his money lead, raising some $53,000 compared to McCain's $39,000 from November 2006 through Oct. 1, 2007. In the earlier story, county GOP chair Allan Filip used the ridiculous excuse that Obama is charging for yard signs. With a bigger money difference this time, Filip dropped that ridiculous excuse and has found another alibi. I know his job is to spin bad news like this – and like the news yesterday that the EPIC/MRA poll shows Obama's lead in Michigan has increased by 14 points –but give me a beak. At one point does spin become a lie?

This time Filip used the excuse that most county Republicans probably gave more money to Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. That may be true, but he is, of course, ignoring how close the race and how late it went between Obama and Democratic Presidential Candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton. That race went all the way to April, and like Romney, she won in Michigan; granted, Obama's name was not on the ballot, but technically she won.

Speaking of former Republican Massachusetts Governors, former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld endorsed Obama, citing the senator's steady leadership, good judgment and ability to unify Democrats, Republicans and independents. Weld was governor of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997. In fact, Weld campaigned for the Mittster before he yielded to McSame in February.

Weld joins other prominent Republicans endorsing Obama over McSame in the campaign's final weeks, including former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Minnesota Gov. Arne Carlson and Scott McClellan, former press secretary to President Bush.

Obama raises more cash from individuals in predominately Republican Livingston County

The Livingston County Press & Argus did a nice piece of journalism using Open Secrets to report that Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama has raised more money in predominantly Republican Livingston County that GOP nominee John McCain.

According to the report, Obama had raised $35,637 through Sept. 21; more than $3,300 that McCain‘s $32,267 in individual donations. It’s rather surprising because the county has long been a GOP stronghold, and the last time the county went for a Democrat was in 1964, choosing President Johnson over conservative icon Sen. Barry Goldwater.

The joke, originated by an editor at the newspaper itself, was that Livingston County Democrats could hold their meetings in a phone booth. It appears we will need a larger and more lavish phone booth.

The county’s Representative in Congress since 2000 has been a Republican, both state Representative and the state Senator are Republicans, all the members of the County Board of Commissioner are Republicans, all county-wide partisan offices are held by Republicans and only some five partisan township offices are held by Democrats. In light of that, Obama winning the money race is huge.

The spin Livingston County GOP Chair Allan Filip put on it is embarrassing. Since taking over as the chair of the county party less than two years ago, he has come out with some unbelievable whoppers, but this one is right up there. He claims it’s because the Obama campaign is charging for yard signs,

All I have to say to that is a lot of people must be paying a lot of money for those signs.

"What I do know is what could be contributing to some of that is he was charging for collateral, such as yard signs," Filip said. "Just out of speculation, that could be a part of it. I think the reason why he was doing it was because he was trying to get his total number of small donations up.

You are embarrassing yourself. The McCain campaign also charges for yard signs as well. I like their classy “nobama” signs, and for a mere $8.95 you can have one.

Better buy a lot of make up that $3,000.

Local GOP attack on Obama uses age old tactics

The Livingston County Republican Party's letter writing team continues to use the Daily Press & Argus as a launching pad for false attacks against Democratic Presidential nominee Barrack Obama, and the latest false attack is from Brighton Township resident Randy Kniebes.

Although this latest attack from the county Grand Oil Party isn’t as racist as some have been in the past, it has elements of that as well as the misinformation and misdirection that we have come to expect from the loyal opposition.

The misinformation begins with the first sentence: “Most Americans do not know much about the character of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., despite nonstop glowing coverage from an adoring media.”

The reality is the right wants to define his character, and if anyone – and I don’t see how anyone with an email account hasn’t - has seen some of the ugly and racist emails that are floating around cyberspace, you know these experts at character assassination are pulling out all the stops. We have heard he is a Muslim, he attended a "radical madrassa” or he was sworn into the U.S. Senate using the Koran. As for the adoring media, a new study by the Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) found “Barack Obama is getting more negative coverage than John McCain on TV network evening news shows.” It is true that he is getting more overall coverage, but that’s not surprising when you consider the corporate media is in the business to make money above all else, and they obviously want to go where there is a fresh, exciting candidate who is drawing huge crowds and excitement instead of a tired, old politician who has been doing the same things for almost 30 years and is an exact replica of the failed Bush Administration.

What is different is the right is pulling out their old “liberal media” strategy, and the corporate media is criticizing Obama to shake the false tag that they are giving him “glowing coverage.” Hey, it has worked for the last 40 years, why stop now?

Then we get this gem:
“First, even liberal media outlets now acknowledge that the "surge" strategy in Iraq has been a huge success. Obama strongly opposed the surge. When Obama was asked in an interview if, knowing what he knows now that the surge was a big success for the United States, would he have supported it — his answer was "no." Think about that.”

Think about why we started a war that should never have been started, and every single day more and more evidence of the deception the Bush “team” used to con the public into supporting this unnecessary war that hinders are real fight against terrorism comes out. Also, there is no such thing as the liberal media.

“Knowing he had a sure success for the United States (the premise of the question), he would have instead chosen defeat and humiliation for the United States by surrendering Iraq to the terrorists. Having to choose between what is best for the United States or admitting that he was wrong, Obama chose his own interests over his country's best interests. A big warning sign.”

First, Iraq had nothing to do with terrorism. It’s difficult to sum up an unnecessary war that has gone on longer than World War II to a few black and white sentences, but right-wingers do it all the time, I guess I can too. The so-called surge was a temporary measure designed to give the Iraqi government the space and time to make the hard choices and decisions that only the Iraqis can make for themselves. That has not happened. Anyone could have predicted that the sudden infusion of large numbers of the best fighting force in the world would reduce violence, albeit temporarily. No one has yet defined what victory means in Iraq or who decides when we reach victory. The so-called surge is not the only reason violence has fallen off in Iraq, and that was just one factor. However, just last week on one day 87 Iraqis were killed and 288 were wounded. I would call that violence. If it is going so well, when are the troops coming home?

In addition to the so-called surge, ethic cleansing has worked so well it’s getting harder to find targets. The Iraq fiasco has led to segregated neighborhoods where they all once lived peacefully together. In other words, some neighborhoods are now exclusively Shi'ite and others are Sunni.

We are also paying people who once shot at our troops. Some 91,000 former militants called “Concerned Local Citizens” (CLC’s) or “Sons of Iraq” have put aside their anti-U.S. operations in exchange for cash. And of course, these contracts come at a cost. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the U.S. is paying about $16 million a month.

The next salvo is the age old GOP tactic of taking a quote completely out of context to say something else:
“Secondly, Obama told a group of a (sic) Democrats that "his candidacy was the moment the whole world was waiting for." Moreover, Obama declared that "I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to its best traditions." What breathtaking arrogance and hubris from a one-term senator whose only significant accomplishment has not been any legislation but his own biography!”

This is from Grampy McSame’s most recent attack ad known as the Messiah ad that tries to make it seem like Obama thinks he is the second coming of Jesus Christ. Somehow, Grampy’s people think it’s a bad thing to inspire people and have our allies like and respect our leader for a change. But the full quote makes it clear that people are excited about change and restoring the country to what it was before Bush made us the guys in the black hats, who torture people, take away rights, spy on our own citizens and thumb their noses at the law.

We keep hearing this word “arrogance” attached to Obama from the right. Some how it’s arrogant to campaign for president and demonstrate you are presidential. Grampy is doing the same thing, but he has not been called arrogant. I wonder if arrogance is a code word for “uppity?” Below is the full Obama quote:

“It has become increasingly clear in my travel, the campaign, that the crowds, the enthusiasm, 200,000 people in Berlin, is not about me at all. It's about America. I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions.

Then the attacker ends with the told tried and true attack when he uses this quote out of context.

“For the ordinary Americans who Obama thinks just cling to our guns and religion, these are some things to consider before we vote.”

The full quote is, “They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." Obama was talking about the 3 million people who have lost their decent paying industrial job under Bush. To me, it’s accurate because the Republican strategy of fear and dividing people is always at work.

But Mr. Kniebes earns a gold star from party chair Allan Filip for another letter-to-the-editor full of misinformation, false talking points and half-truths.

GOP launches racist attack on Katrina victims

The Livingston County Republican Party is taking up the racists remarks of its hero Rush Limbaugh and launching a thinly-veiled racist attack on the Hurricane Katrina victims with a letter writing campaign.

The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus published a letter to the editor from Howell Republican Tom Worley that basically accused the victims of Hurricane Katrina of being looters, thieves and whiners, as compared to the victims of the current flooding in the Midwest, specifically Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who are non-complaining, salt-of-the-earth people. The not-so-subtle point the Livingston County GOP and Limbaugh are trying to make is people in the Midwest are white and the backbone of America versus the people in New Orleans who are black and criminals. The political debate in Livingston County has taken a decidedly ugly turn since Allan Filip took over as chair of the party almost two years ago, and this is just one more example.

While the floods in the Midwest are devastating and the courage of the people affected is inspiring, the damage pales in comparison to Katrina. Hurricane Katrina was one of the five deadliest hurricanes and the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, displacing more than half a million people, killing over 1,700, and causing $81.2 billion in direct damage. One magazine even named it one of the top 10 worst natural disasters in U.S. history.

The loss of live can be contributed to both the ferocity of the storm and the short time people had to prepare. The people of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama did not have nearly the amount of time the people of the Midwest had to react to the category 5 hurricane.

When you talk about New Orleans, many did not have the means to evacuate. Many urban dwellers do not own a car because they simply do not need one. It is estimated up to 100,000 New Orleans families did not own a car.

I would imagine it takes at least a few days of rain to raise flood waters like it did in the Midwest. Even Worley said in his letter that, “When this happened in 1993, I had the privilege of visiting the flooded area.” Flooding for those who live in a flood plain is not something new to them. But the biggest difference in the reaction of FEMA.

Their actions in New Orleans served as a perfect example of what not to do in a disaster, and the lessons leaned from their disgraceful performance in New Orleans will help everyone else. Even the official news source from the Republican Party, Fox News agrees.

“Nearly three years after Hurricane Katrina turned FEMA into a punchline, many homeowners, politicians and community leaders in the flood-stricken Midwest say that so far, the agency is doing a heckuva job — and they mean it.”

Rogers is shocked, shocked that people are not happy with the direction of the country

U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton is shocked, shocked I said, that people are not happy with the direction of the country.

Obviously, the Congressman needs to get out of Washington, D.C. once in a while and actually visit regular people in the 8th Congressional District.

According to a story in the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, Rogers told one of his pat stories to a receptive audience at the Livingston County Republican Party's annual Lincoln Day Dinner that students at Okemos High School “seemed dejected with the state of the country.”

"They honestly believed the world was going to combust in 26 minutes," Rogers said, according to the paper. "I was shocked — shocked, and said, oh, wow, what work do we have to do.' "

The reason for this disillusion? Democrats, taxes and regulations. Well of course. It has nothing to do with the fact that we are in an endless war that did not need to be fought that's costing us millions of dollars a day, the greatest country in the world has stooped to torturing people and gas is almost $4 a gallon because oil companies drafted the energy policy.

If that were the case, the simple solution would be cutting taxes, but that has never worked. Maybe if we cut taxes and wages low enough we can be equal to a third world country where the jobs are going. If those students are really felling that way then I guess Barack Obama was right when he said voters are bitter over the direction of the country.

If Rogers' quote wasn’t ridiculous enough we get one from Michigan Republican chair Saul Anuzis, who said Obama was “unqualified and looking at the world through "rose-colored glasses.” He has more experience than the last Illinois resident to be president and the best Republican president on civil rights. I guess Obama was wearing his rose-colored glasses when he was raised in a struggling single-parent home or worked as a community organizer in the poorest neighborhoods in Chicago.

I actually agree with Allan Filip, chairman of the county GOP, who has proven to be the most insulting chair the local party has had in recent memory. He said “It's important those kids in Okemos realize we live in the best country in the world." I agree, and that’s why I will speak out when we stoop to torturing people, invades sovereign countries for no reason and when our government commits crimes.

Rightwing editor continues with false accusations against LIVCO Dems

Rightwing Livingston County Daily Press & Argus editor and columnist Buddy Moorehouse has, not surprisingly, come out in a column agreeing with the chair of the Livingston County Republican Party that the county Democrats appearance in the Melonfest parade last weekend “wasn't appropriate.”

He can’t be serious?

The manufactured controvsary started when Allan Filip, the disgruntled chair of the Livingston County Republican Party, wrote a letter-to-the-editor full of false accusations that Democrats carried handwritten signs with hateful messages in the parade through downtown Howell on Aug. 18. Both I and Livingston County Democratic Party Chair Matt Evans put an end to that myth by actually posting what the signs said.

Thwarted by that truth, Moorehouse had to admit the signs were not hateful, but then he makes the ridiculous statement that it was not an appropriate place for the signs. Perhaps he should tell Filip, who was marching in the parade for always absent U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton?, and state Sen. Valde Garcia, who was also in the parade, that it was inappropriate for them to be in the parade.

The whole issue is ridiculous.

“The Democrats have every right to carry their signs anywhere they want. Nobody's disputing their right to free speech, and nobody's saying they didn't have a right to carry those signs in the parade. They did. They had every right to do so.
I just feel it wasn't appropriate for the occasion.
If you've ever been to the Melon Fest parade, you know that it's a festive, happy, family-friendly affair. Last Saturday, the parade was filled with marching bands and Girl Scouts and gymnasts and tons of kids, and they were all smiling and waving and having fun.
And then you had the Democrats and their signs.
It was a jarring sight, and they seemed totally out of place in the parade.”

If they were not hateful - which they were not - and the Democrats had a right to appear in the parade then why is he complaining and bothering to write this column? Since when is the truth hateful or inappropriate? The first time the Democrats heard that their appearance was considered "hatful, jarring inappropriate” by anyone was with Fillip’s lie-filled letter, despite having a booth at the two-day festival within sight of the Republican’s booth. I did notice Filip was rather lonely when I saw him in the booth on Saturday. Perhaps that’s the real reason for the letter.

Moorehouse does, to his credit, point out that he was “once a Republican candidate for state representative, but I'm trying hard not to let my political leanings get in the way of my opinion on this.”

He failed miserably in that effort, and he left out some of the story. He was a candidate for the open seat in the 47th District in 2002 that was just created by redistricting. The Republican primary, which determines the winner, was flooded with six GOP candidates, some very well known and respected. The goal was to out conservative the opponents, and Moorehouse did a pretty good job of that coming in third in the close race that saddled us with Rep. Joe Hune by just two votes. Moorehouse had to quit his job as an editor at the paper to run, and the Press & Argus management said publicly Moorehouse would never work at the paper again. Apparently they misspoke because they needed these fair and balanced opinions from him.

I didn’t see anything “jarring,” and I saw some friends of mine having fun. I have been to many Melonfest parades over the years, and this is the first time an unfair attack has ever been launched against the Democrats.

You have to ask why do people and companies march in this parade? The answer is the same reason the Press & Argus was in the parade or, radio station WHMI, Art Van Furniture, karate schools, gymnastic schools, churches and all the other participants in the parade who were also passing out coupons and ads along the parade route: to promote their business and cause.

Why was the P & A passing out newspapers during the parade? Why wasn't that considered inappropriate? If he wants to talk about what’s appropriate for a family parade, perhaps he should mention the display by the people promoting the Slaughterhouse and Corn Maze. It scared a few kids, including my granddaughter. That might be the only thing that could possibly be considered “jarring,” but they had every right to be in the parade. It was in good fun, just like the Democrats who were showing the flag in the parade.

“There's a time and a place for protests like that, and I don't think the Melon Fest parade was the time or the place. And I think I'd feel the same way if it had been the Republicans carrying signs blaming Gov. Jennifer Granholm for the state's horrid economy.”

First, It was not a protest, and I have no doubt you would never write a column if the Republicans bashed the Governor in any parade. Second, there was nothing stopping the Republicans from being in the parade, but apparently they could not find enough of them. Perhaps Moorehouse could have helped them out with something other than his writing and marched with them? Third, blaming the governor for the “state's horrid economy” would be a lie.

“If you're the only negative, angry entry in a parade, you might stand out, but it's not necessarily in a good way. I doubt they won many converts last Saturday.”

Sorry to disappoint both Moorehouse and Filip, but we did win converts. That’s why the angry letter and column. The Democrats were neither angry nor negative. In fact, they were the exact opposite. They were full of fun and friendly, and more importantly, truth.

Both Filip and Moorehouse owe the county Democrats an apology for their false accusations.

LIVCO Democratic Party chair sets the record straight

Livingston County Chair Matt Evans responded to the Livingston GOP chair’s letter-to-the–editor in the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus that ran Wednesday where he made baseless charges that the Democrats carried signs in the Melonfest parade with hateful messages with a letter of his own that ran in today’s edition. In this, Matt Evans clearly identifies himself as the chair of the party, unlike Filip who tried to portray himself as an innocent observer.

As the Chair of the Livingston County Democratic Party I need to set the record straight as to the letter from the Republican Party Chair that appeared in the Press Argus on August 22nd.

Mr. Filip’s letter stated that our members carried hateful signs in the Howell Melon Fest parade. The following are the slogans that appeared on the signs: “Quit stalling on State budget.”; “We want universal healthcare.”; “No spying on Americans.”; “Mike Rogers voted against children's health.” ; “Support the troops, bring them home.”

“State Senate: Don't balance the budget on our student's backs.”

I fail to see how any of these statements can be honestly categorized as “hateful”, however I can recommend to Mr. Filip that if he is seriously concerned about hate speech he should perhaps turn his attention to the October appearance of Anne Coulter. Of course he has an inside line on free tickets to this event as his wife is one of the organizers.

Mr. Filip also took out of context a quote from the house Whip James Clyburn. If you were to read the entire quote (see the Washington Post website) the problem Mr. Clyburn was referring to was the possibility that some Democratic members may want to “stay the course”. He did not say that we would look at progress as bad news. Of course this wouldn’t be the first time Mr. Filip was loose with the facts. This spring he told the Ann Arbor News that Senator Levin “flip-flopped” on the Iraq War, when in fact he opposed this fiasco from the beginning.

I understand better than most the sacrifices that are necessary to guarantee our safety and security. I lost a brother in Viet Nam and even 39 years after his untimely death, it is as real as if it was yesterday. I know first hand the sacrifice that the families of the fallen have placed on the altar of freedom. This administration and its partners, Mike Rogers and the Republican rubber-stamp Congress, must be held accountable for this mess.

Our message is indeed political, but it is not for our personal gain that we march. I firmly believe that we need to return the government to the people, not the highest bidder. And Mr. Filip, if we have to rain on your parade to make it happen, so be it.

Matt Evans

Chairman, Livingston County Democratic Party

Coulter Quote of the Week: dedicated to the LIVCO GOP Chair

This week’s Coulter Quote of the week is dedicated to Allan Filip, chair of the Livingston County Republican Party.

Mr. Filip wrote a letter-to-the-editor that appeared in the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus today that accused the Livingston County Democratic Party of carrying “picket signs with handwritten hateful slogans” in the Howell Jaycees Melonfest Parade on Saturday. These were a few of the “hateful” signs Mr. Filip was referring to:
“No spying on Americans.” “Mike Roger's voted against children's health.” “Support the troops, bring them home.”

If Mr. Filip considers that hate speech, he must be totally outraged at the hateful and racist speech that comes out of the mouth of Ann Coulter every single day, and he must be so outraged by her speech that he will go as far as to lay down in the middle of Grand River Avenue to ensure she does not speak at Cleary University’s Economic Club Speakers Luncheon Series in October for a cool $30,000.

Some how, I don’t see that happening.

In an ironic twist of fate, Mr. Flip is the husband of Janet Filip, the Director of Development and Alumni Relations at Cleary University, the person who actually books the speakers for the Livingston Economic Club Speakers Luncheon Series. She had a wide choice of speakers who actually would have fulfilled the stated mission of the Economic Club Speakers Luncheon Series of enriching the Livingston County community, but she instead chose a rightwing hatemonger.

This week’s quotes are just routine, Coulter examples of raising the bar for political discourse in the country.

However, just think how outraged and disgusted you would be if these two Coulter gems were handwritten on poster board picket signs and carried in a parade.

“Most important, Democrats resolutely refuse to tell the poor the secret to not being poor: Keep your knees together until marriage.” --- Online column 8/1/07

"We ought to spend that money that we're spending in Iraq on tracking down Bill Clinton and pursuing the death penalty." The Jon Caldara Show 8/2/07

Desperate LIVCO GOP chair launches baseless attack on Democrats

An open letter to Allan Filip, chair of the Livingston County Republican Party, in reply to his letter-to-the-editor full of false accusations in the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus.

The party of FDR and Truman is alive and well, thank you, but I must ask you: where’s
the party of Eisenhower and Ford? The answer is long gone, and it has been hijacked by the likes of Tom Delay, Karl Rove, Dick Cheney and George Bush.

I attended the Melon Festival parade in Howell with my family on Saturday, and I failed to see the signs you are complaining about. In fact, I talked to a friend of mine where the signs from the parade are currently stored, and she did not see them either.

“I saw no nasty signs,” said Hamburg Township resident Debby Buckland. “Healthcare for all” “No spying on US Citizens” is nasty and hateful?”

In fact, here are the exact wording of the signs that were carried by members of the Livingston County Democratic Party in the parade:

“Quit stalling on State budget.”

“We want universal healthcare.”

“No spying on Americans.”

“Mike Roger's voted against children's health.”

“Support the troops, bring them home.”

“State Senate:
Don't balance the budget on our student's backs.”

I see no hate speech there, do you Mr. Filip? I see some hard truths. As for complaining to the Jaycees, go right ahead and make your case. We know the Republicans like to censor political speech, but like one of your “leaders,” Mike Bishop, recently found out; people will not stand for censorship.

I also worked a shift at the Democrats booth on Sunday and I stopped for a while on Saturday, and no one reported anyone complaining about the signs. In fact, the opposite was true. The response was great, and many people stopped by on Saturday to fill out our survey. People were also pleasant and interested on Sunday, but because of the rain they were les of them. But they were with us.

The people you claim complained may have been figments of your imagination, but more likely they were hard-core Republicans like you who do not like hearing the truth.

Actually, I did not see the Republicans in the parade at all. I did see some people marching for U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, but again, no Rogers. Perhaps you can remind him where the 8th Congressional District is if you ever see him. He seems unable to find it lately. We, of course, did not see Reps. Chris Ward and Joe Hune, but we didn’t expect to see Ward. He even blew it off last year when it was an election year.

You are calling the majority of Americans Marxists because the majority of Americans who do not support the Iraq civil war/occupation. It was an immoral invasion that did not need to be made that was based on faulty information bent to allow Bush and his cronies a long-held wish to invade Iraq. It did not, and still does not, have anything to do with combating terrorism or protecting the U.S. against terrorists.

The protest sponsored by Americans Against Escalation in Iraq occurred in a bedroom, commuter community at noon on a weekday. It’s a miracle anyone showed up, but you should check out Rogers' Michigan office on Thursdays if you want to see lots of people protesting against the Iraq fiasco.

Like you, I also grew up grew up believing America could accomplish anything with the support of our citizens, and that’s why I am hoping the citizens can get us out of that useless occupation. I also grew up believing that we were the good guys wearing the white hats. We did not invade smaller weaker country for no reason based on made up reasons, excuses and justifications. But far more importantly, we most certainly did not torture and kidnap people. I spent 20 years in the military trying to be a good American the many times I was overseas representing America by being a good ambassador for the U.S. and projecting a positive image, but in a matter of seconds George Bush threw away all of that great good will people had for us.

It makes you wonder what prompted this unprovoked attack, but after seeing how few people visited your booth, I am beginning to see why. Apparently, the Livingston County Democratic Party is a force to be reckoned with based on this attack.

Second consecutive front-page story on Rogers divorce attempts to clean up his image

If yesterday’s front-page story in the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus on the announcement that U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers is divorcing from his wife of 17 years wasn’t enough coverage, today’s edition also featured a front-page story on the pending divorce.

Usually, newspapers will follow up a story that it got out the door in a hurry on a tight deadline before all the facts were known, but this story seems to focus only experts telling us not to worry that this will not hurt Rogers bright, political future. A friend recently remarked to me that the initial story looked more like obituary complete with an admiring review of his career while ignoring the hypocrisy of his previous stands on marriage and privacy.

Today’s story has well-known state political pundit Bill Ballenger, editor of the Inside Michigan Politics newsletter, assuring us that a divorce is not a political liability unless it’s a messy one. Rogers' name has been tossed around as a possible candidate for either Governor after Gov. Jennifer Granholm is term-limited or for Senator when veteran U.S. Senator Carl Levin retires. But Ballenger added, “I'm not sure he's viewed as quite as hot a commodity as he was in 2004.”

Over the years the P & A has been Rogers biggest cheerleader, and it appears this follow-up story may be an attempt to shore up Rogers political fortunes or merely a follow-up to explore facts that were not available before. Just six months ago editor and former conservative Republican House candidate Buddy Moorehouse told us “Rep. Mike Rogers, our congressman, who is destined for something much, much bigger. Mark my words.”

Allan Filip, chair of the Livingston County Republican Party, conveniently used the excuse that he didn't want to comment on the situation out of respect for the Rogers' privacy, but I’m not sure how not commenting on Rogers' political future compromises his privacy.

Matt Evans, chairman of the county Democrats, had the best take on the situation while also agreeing with Ballenger that a divorce alone is not a big deal. But he said that Rogers couldn’t escape the Republican platform of so-called family values.
"The fact of a divorce in and of itself does not carry a stigma, nor should it," Evans said. "But there's a great deal of situational ethics when it comes to family values in the Republican Party."

What really stuck me about this story was when I remembered a Rogers campaign commercial that aired last summer and fall when Rogers was locked in the tightest race since he won a squeaker over former state Sen. Dianne Byrum by a mere 111 votes in 2000. What made it even more memorable for me was that it was filmed right in my neighborhood in Howell’s West Street Park.

The commercial has a bride and groom getting married facing a minister with their backs to the camera, and Rogers is apparently the best man. Rogers turns around to face the camera and talks about the so-called “marriage penalty” in the U.S. tax code. He ends the commercial by making a joke about his wife says how it's tough being enough married to him without the “marriage penalty.”

It seems ironic that he is now making a plea “for respect for their privacy,” but it was a campaign issue and position. It’s also ironic that we have a party and a politician telling us who we can and cannot marry, but he now doesn’t want to talk about his marriage. It’s about a political party stating we must preserve the sanctity of marriage when individually they can't preserve their own marriages.

This is what he said about marriage on March 12, 2004 in the National Review:
"The marriage of a man and a woman is a sacred union and a fundamental element of building strong families and a strong nation," Rogers said.

Livingston County Democrats set realistic goals for 2008 election

It took more than a week, but the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus finally got around to covering something from the Livingston County Democratic Party’s 24th annual Edwin B. Winans Dinner held on May 5.

Matt Evans, chairman of the county Democratic Party, said the goals of the party in 2008 are to elect a Democratic county commissioner for the first time since 1996, elect five Democratic township trustees and have 51 percent of Livingston County residents voting for Democratic Sen. Carl Levin.

Those goals don’t seen to be all that lofty, and you have to have something to shoot for. To quote another unsuccessful and long gone Detroit Lions coach, “The bar is high.” We already have four Democrats on township boards, so one more doesn’t seem like all that much. The county commission may be tough. We have had Democrats on the board before, and we came close to having quality candidates for all nine seats last November. There are many seats that never get challenged, and even if Democrats never win any of those seats we are making the commissioners responsible to the voters, for the first time ever for some. Levin getting 51 percent is not all that far out of the question either. He got 46 percent of the vote in 2002. Getting an extra 5 percent based on his record in the past six years is possible.

I like the response of the alleged brain trust of the county GOP.

Allan Filip, chairman of the Livingston County Republicans, said the Democratic aims for the next election are unrealistic. I just hope he keeps on believing that.

Filip pointed out that the county is in better financial shape than most parts of Michigan, and "I don't think it is a coincidence that our county is governed by fiscally conservative Republicans."
"I think the values of tax and spend are not Livingston County values," he concluded.

They are not Democratic values either, but hording money and giving taxpayers nothing for the taxes they do pay is not much of a value either.

Of the five counties that share a border with Livingston County four have community college systems and park systems; Livingston does not, nor does it offer residents much more than basic services. It seems if you want a post secondary education or to take in some recreation you are encouraged to leave the county.

Cleary University continues to book right wing speakers who support prejudice

Cleary University continues to play lip service to the stated mission of its Economic Club Speakers Luncheon Series to “enrich the community by hosting speakers who can share a broad spectrum of business, social, political, intellectual, and cultural experiences."

In the four years of the series every speaker has had a conservative bent, other than the Mayor of the biggest city in our state, and the college and their spokesperson continue to use the appearance of one non-conservative as a shield as they continue to book more and more extreme rightwing speakers. The latest is Steve Emerson, a self-described terrorism and national security expert and journalist, set to speak Monday. However, none of those occupations fit him, and many see him as an anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bigot who supports racial profiling. He’s to the left of Cleary’s booked speaker in October, hatemonger Ann Coulter, but these two are just two more examples of the extremist speakers Cleary is foisting on the community.

Emerson’s bio and book claims he warned that an attack by Islamic terrorists like that of 9/11 was coming, but that’s like the weatherman predicting it will rain in Seattle. Every plot, terrorist attack or conspiracy is an Islamic terrorist plot to Emerson. For an example, Emerson also told us the Oklahoma City bombing was a Muslim terrorist attack

A day after the Oklahoma City federal building was bombed in 1995, he went on television theorizing -- wrongly -- that the culprits were Arab. Attempting "to inflict as many casualties as possible -- that is a Middle Eastern trait," he said in one interview, one of many statements his enemies call reckless and biased, according to an article in the magazine published by the nonpartisan media watchdog group, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR)

Here are some quotes from other people and groups on Emerson:
"He's made his life's work discrediting Arab American and Muslim groups, and his obsession makes me uncomfortable," said James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute.

Moreover, since the end of the cold war, Islam is increasingly described by a coterie of writers and policymakers as a new seedbed for anti-Western aggression, replacing communism. Some journalists have made a virtual industry out of this view. The most prolific is Steven Emerson, whose film 'Jihad in America,' shown recently on PBS, describes America as a training ground for Islamic terrorism. Muslims almost universally know and loathe Mr. Emerson's work, calling it biased and distorted. " The Christian Science Monitor (1/22/96)

"There's more than a little bigotry in Emerson's obsession with Muslim terrorists." (EXTRA!, July/August 1995)

The New York Times Book review said Emerson's 1991 book Terrorist was "marred by factual errors...that betray an unfamiliarity with the Middle East and a pervasive anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian bias." (5/19/91)

The Livingston County Daily Press and Argus, a sponsor of the LEC, and the college are using the alleged plot by foreign-born Muslims to allegedly attack Fort Dix as a crutch to promote Emerson’s appearance and sell more tickets.

Emerson said, “Part of the problem with the Fort Dix incident, Emerson said, was that the FBI had to rely on a tip to jump on the case.” In other words, any and all Muslims and men of Middle Eastern descent are guilty until proven innocent, and they should be profiled. That is, of course, ignoring the fact that the number of terrorist attacks and real pots in the U.S. by “Islamic terrorists” can be counted on one hand.

Janet Filip, Cleary's director of development and alumni relations, said more tickets have already been sold for Emerson's appearance than for financial analyst Mike Jensen, who spoke as part of the series in February.
As for Emerson's appearance, Filip said, "That's timely with what just happened (Monday) with the FBI busting up the terror ring in New Jersey. It's a real topic that we should be talking about. To get his thoughts on the subject would be very important."

Filip, the wife of the chair of the Livingston County Republican Party, is responsible for booking the conservative speakers who dominate the series. Is anyone really surprised that more tickets have been sold for Emerson's appearance than for a financial analyst at a university that bills itself as a business school? Is anyone surprised that Livingston County is viewed as a racist community?

We don’t need to get Emerson’s “thoughts on the subject.” We already know that they are.

County GOP naked power grab exposed

The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus gets the award for understatement in a story today on the county Republican Party’s recent decision to trash the nonpartisan tag on school board races.

“Political parties and community groups are raising the profile of the campaigns and injecting a partisan atmosphere.” You think? You really mean one political party.

In last spring’s election the county GOP Executive Committee endorsed two members of that committee for the Howell School Board, and we were stuck with current board member Wendy Day and the negative statewide and national PR as closed-mined book burners.

Just a few weeks ago, the county GOP’s new chair circulated an e-mail to their members urging them to run for school board and offering candidate training and its membership as campaign workers.

An excerpt from the e-mail said, Miles Vieau (Treasurer of the Brighton School Board and a member of the GOP executive committee) and his team will help you with your campaigns by providing you with packets on “All the In’s and Out’s of running for School Board.” Miles and his team will also provide an overview of School Funding in Michigan, followed by questions and answers. The Republican Party has many concerned volunteers who may be willing to volunteer for your campaign should you be interested in running for the school board.

“It's always been political; it's just been kind of a quiet politics," Vieau said in the news article. "It's becoming more political."
But Vieau said it's naive to think the school board and judicial elections are not political, even if they are nonpartisan under the law. "Only in name ... they're not really nonpartisan," he said.

That’s a crock. The only good news is his seat is up for election, and he may not run. As someone who has paid attention to school board races in Michigan for 12 years that’s the first time I have ever heard that false observation.

An even scarier development in the school board races was the emergence of an anti-gay hate group known as the so-called “LOVE” PAC - (Livingston Organization for Values in Education) last spring, and one of its endorsed candidates, Day, won a seat in Howell. Ironically, the county GOP and the so-called "LOVE" candidates are the same people.

Vieau said the main issue Republicans care about in terms of schools is fiscal responsibility in the face of budget cuts. Vieau said there are basically two sides: "Some are for wages, and some are for fiscal responsibility."

He can’t be serious? That’s the only thing school board members have to be concerned with? He can’t possibly believe it's as simple as one side is for wages and one for “fiscal responsibility” We saw some of that Republican fiscal responsibility with the largest federal budget deficit in our nation’s history, and on the state level we saw the former Republican governor flee the state as fast as his sturdy legs could carry him leaving his predecessor with a $4 million hole. We can afford that kind of GOP “fiscal responsibility” in Livingston County.

Another disappointing thing is hearing that former long-time Howell School Board member Roger Dresden, who resigned in 2004, plans on running and pandering to the so-called “LOVE” group for their endorsement.

The group started a book banning controversy some three months ago by trying to ban a book called “The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them.” Since then, they have also tried to ban Nobel Prize winning author Toni Morrison's first novel, "The Bluest Eye," and an acclaimed memoir written by Richard Wright in 1945, "Black Boy." Both books address social issues of blacks in 1940s America and have been used for at least two years in an American literature class.

GOP Chairman Allan Filip said the party's Executive Committee will not issue endorsements, although individual members of the party are free to do so. Last year, a charged political questionnaire to judicial candidates was withdrawn by the party after it was deemed inappropriate.

That seems funny after endorsing last year and taking a huge active role in recruiting, training and offering campaign volunteers for the school board race this year the party is not going to endorse, too.

We need independents, progressives and liberals to run for school board to combat this naked power grab. Nominating petitions and affidavits for anyone 18 or older wishing to run for a four-year term are available at their county clerk’s office, municipal clerk’s office or school board office. The filing deadline for local, nonpartisan – at least in theory thanks to the Republicans - school board elections in May is 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Pinckney Community Schools has three seats up for election, Brighton Area Schools has two seats, Howell Public Schools has two, Fowlerville Community Schools has two seats and Hartland Consolidated Schools has one seat.

Republicans try and do away with nonpartisan races

Last spring we saw the Livingston County Republican Party make a mockery of the nonpartisan school board races by endorsing candidates, and this spring they are taking the next step in their unmitigated power grab by recruiting and training candidates for school board races.

For the first time ever in Livingston County last spring the county GOP Executive Committee endorsed two members of that committee for the Howell School Board, and as a consequence of that unprecedented move we were stuck with current board member Wendy Day and the negative statewide and national PR as closed-mined book burners.

A friend of mine who is not happy with the direction his party is taking - and there are a lot of those in the county – forwarded me an e-mail from new Chair Allan Filip to all Republicans in the county urging them to run for school board.

However, it took that a step further and offered candidate training and its membership as campaign volunteers.

Miles Vieau (Treasurer of the Brighton School Board and a member of the GOP executive committee) and his team will help you with your campaigns by providing you with packets on “All the In’s and Out’s of running for School Board.” Miles and his team will also provide an overview of School Funding in Michigan, followed by questions and answers.
The Republican Party has many concerned volunteers who may be willing to volunteer for your campaign should you be interested in running for the school board. People interested should contact Miles at; kmvieau@comcast.net Thank you in advance for your interest.

The GOP in this county holds almost every partisan seat, including the Congressional seat, the state Senate seat, both state House seats all nine County Commission seats and control of all the township boards in the county, but apparently that’s not enough.

In the past, Democrats were allowed to serve the community by running for and serving on the two nonpartisan city councils and five school boards in the county because candidates were elected based on their character, qualifications, resume and community involvement and not the R after their name.

Spurred by their 50 percent success rate in the school board race they endorsed in, the Republicans tried to also make a mockery of the nonpartisan judicial races by endorsing one of their own executive committee members for District Judge. They tried to base their unprecedented endorsements for all the nonpartisan judicial races on a disgusting questioner to all candidates. These are some of the questions on it:

How much money have you donated to the Livingston County Republican events and committees in the following calendar years? What is your party affiliation? What does it mean to be a Republican? Do you personally agree with the following Republican values?

They only backed off after they were exposed by the local newspaper, the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus. Instead they announced that nine judicial candidates have "core values" consistent with the party, but stopped short of issuing an endorsement.

We need independents, progressives and liberals to run for school board to combat this naked power grab. Nominating petitions and affidavits for anyone 18 or older wishing to run for a four-year term are available at their county clerk’s office, municipal clerk’s office or school board office. The filing deadline for local, nonpartisan school board elections in May is 4 p.m. Feb. 13.
Pinckney Community Schools has three seats up for election, Brighton Area Schools has two seats – including Mr. Vieau’s seat, Howell Public Schools has two, Fowlerville Community Schools has two seats and Hartland Consolidated Schools has one seat.

LivCo GOP Chair pushed false talking point

The Ann Arbor News, one of the many news outlets present at a fundraiser held on Jan. 20 for the Livingston County Democratic Party featuring Sen. Carl Levin, focused more on the new chair of the county party, Matt Evans.

Evans took over from long-tine chair Joe Carney on Jan. 1, and he had already been aggressively seeking quality candidates and raising money for future races.

Matt Evans, the new chairman of the Democratic Party in Livingston County, has lofty goals for his party in a county historically dominated by Republicans: "We're planning to elect candidates with the ultimate goal of getting a (Democrat) state senator or representative,'' said Evans.

The real telling thing is the response from new Livingston County Republican Chair Allan Filip, who was elected around the same time as Evans. Frankly, I don’t know why he was even asked to respond, but that’s another story. Apparently, being informed is not one of the prerequisites for being chair of the county GOP. Here’s Filip’s informed response:

Livingston County GOP Chairman Allan Filip, reached after Levin's talk for his reaction, said he found it strange that Levin was so critical of Bush's handling of the war. "Didn't (Levin) vote for the war? Yes, he did, so I guess it's a referendum on folks like (Levin) as well,'' Filip said.

Hey Al, no he didn’t. Sen. Levin was one of 23 Senators and 133 Representative voting against the so-called Iraq Resolution authorizing force to enforce the UN Resolutions. I also have to wonder why the reporter didn’t point out that simple fact. Even if Levin had voted for the resolution, does that mean he cannot support policy change after the facts and events show everyday that Bush’s Iraq policies are failing?

Is that the Republican model” You follow a policy no mater if it continues to fail and is simply not working? The fact is the people who voted for the resolution made the mistake of believing in and trusting the President. I don’t think that will happen again.

Filip said Evan's comments didn't bother him. "I guess they could criticize - that's their option as the (minority party) - but we're going to go about the business of governing and doing what's right,''

What about the Republican senators who voted for the resolution that are not backing off of support for bush’s policy for the occupation, such as Sens. Chuck Hagel, Olympia Snow, Susan Collins or John Warner?

As he has shown, he’s not going to let a few facts get in the way of a good talking point.