American Legion Post breaks the law they vowed to uphold

In my 20 year Navy career, I never once thought that service made me above the law or that I didn’t have to follow the laws of the state or nation; someone should tell that to the members of American Legion Post 444 in Baraga at the base of the Keweenaw Bay in the Upper Peninsula.

They are breaking the state’s workplace smoking ban that includes bars and restaurants that went into effect on May 1, making the ridiculous claim that deadly secondhand is “what freedom looks like,” according to auxiliary post member Anita Shepard. No, it’s what flouting and disregarding the law looks like.

Post spokesman Joseph O'Leary claims its “not about the smoking, It's about the right to choose to allow the use of a legal substance on our property.“ No, the workplace smoking ban is a public health issue, and it’s about protecting the 80 percent of the population who choose not to endanger their health.

This is not the first time military veterans have made the claim that their service has earned them the right to ignore the law. Even before the law went into effect, American Legion posts and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) posts launched a petition drive with the claim that the law didn’t apply to them.

Even military leaders have long recognized the harmful effects of smoking, both first and secondhand smoke, and they banned it on ships some 20 years ago. Just last spring the U.S. Navy banned smoking on submarines, despite having the most advanced atmosphere purification technology in the world.

But the post in Baraga has gone farther than anyone in breaking the law, and Post Commander Rick Geroux issued a notice to members and employees that he thinks his post is above the law and would not follow it.

According to reporter Dawson Bell, “several citizen complaints were filed about the post's noncompliance, and local health officials sent notices of violation. Geroux responded with a news release July 16 that described the new law as unconstitutional and un-American.”

That is just per BS. I challenge Mr. Geroux to show me where in the Constitution it says you have a right to smoke. The fact is the government has an obligation to protect the public from poison like secondhand smoke and other deadly substances, and if anything it’s un-American not to protect the public from deadly substances.

The article said “several of the elder statesmen point out the government provided the smokes and hooked them on the habit when they were in the service.” That is simply not true. No doubt the military practically encouraged serviceberry to smoke, but over the last couple of decades it has tried to correct that mistake.

Tobacco companies did provide free cigarettes during World War II, but that was as big a PR move as big tobacco spending billions of dollars to convince people they have some kind of constitutional right to smoke. But it was more than PR; it was an investment by hooking millions of young men that earned them billons of dollars over the years, despite the clear scientific proof of the harmful health effects of smoking.

Republicans put the con in Convention

Apparently, the misnamed and misguided “tea parties” organized by rightwing Republicans and extremist hate groups allegedly to protest government spending and taxation has spawned a convention and a political party.

The gatherings were organized primarily by a pair of conservative Washington, D.C.-based lobbying groups and Republicans last month as so-called “grassroots efforts" turned out to be nothing more than an anti-President Obama rallies and a fundraiser. It has been claimed they are nonpartisan efforts, despite Republican elected officials who spoke at and helped organize the rallies.

Something called the “Michigan Tea Party State Convention” is set for June 13, and organizers claim the farce “isn't about party politics- it is about We the People.” That is simply not the case; this is just another Republican rally. My friend, ka_Dargo, discovered it was Wendy Day who registered the Tea Party Convention domain name.

Day is a member of the Howell School Board, a founding member of the anti-gay hate group LOVE (Livingston Organization for Values in Education) and a member of the Livingston County Republican Party executive committee.

The so-called convention will be held at the Capitol City Baptist Church in Holt, south of Lansing, and it will feature “general sessions,” “break-out sessions” and “winning ballot initiatives.” The fact is that 5013C non-profit groups, such as churches, are not permitted to do anything to help or hinder the election of any candidate to public office, and this clearly violates that rule.

A look at the panels for the breakout sessions further dispels the myth that this is a nonpartisan event, and it clearly proves it’s a GOP rally.

One of the breakout sessions is called “Welcome to the Underground! New media panel on blogging and social networking.” That is an area the Republicans have had trouble with, and the decision to include this in the convention is so surprise. One of the panelists is Nick De Leeuw, a former DeVos for Governor staffer who now runs the official unofficial GOP blog “Right Michigan.”

Another session called “Headlines and Interviews- Working with Media” features Detroit News reporter Dawson Bell, named one of the most biased reporters in the conservative media, and it will be moderated by former Republican state Representative and Macomb County Commissioner Leon Drolet, who is also a candidate for Michigan Senate in the 11th District.

The session on ballot proposals will be moderated by Scott Hagerstrom, the director of the extremist rightwing group Americans for Prosperity (AFP) of Michigan, one of the two lobbyist groups that organized the “tea party.” He was also a staffer for former right wing Republican Rep. Jack Hoogendyk.

The session on the state of the economy features panelists Jack McHugh, a senior legislative analyst for the rightwing think tank Mackinac Center for Public Policy; Paul Kersey, the director of labor policy at the same rightwing think tank; and moderated by Ken Braun, a policy analyst for, you guessed it; the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

Despite a short week conservative talk radio host has lots of examples of his bias to choose from

Despite being only on the air for two shows last week because of illness, conservative WJR-AM radio host Frank Beckmann has plenty of examples of his bias on display.

His show on Wednesday, as are all of his shows, served as a two-and- one half hour platform for his conservative views. That’s fine, but not when he claims he is fair and balanced. He chose Wednesday to talk about what he calls the Global Warming hoax. Despite every reputable scientist agreeing that global warming and climate change have been caused by human beings through the high emission of greenhouse gases Beckmann, apparently, really knows the truth because he did the research on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) web site. He referred the guest to the links on his web site to prove he has the answers on climate change that Nobel Prize-winning scientists do not. So, I took a look. The things he chose to link to clearly demonstrates his bias.

A few that really got me were, “As discussed by (Republicans) L Brooks Patterson and Bob Daddow at the (Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce) Mackinac Policy Conference” and “Satirist, Lecturer, Writer, and Political Commentator recently spoke to the (conservative think tank) Heritage Foundation, "Regurgitating the Apple: How Modern Liberals 'Think."”

The day after Michigan resident Michael Moore’s latest movie “Sicko” was released on DVD, Beckmann had as guests on his show the makers of the documentary “Manufacturing Dissent,” a 2007 documentary that exposes what the creators say are Moore's misleading tactics and mimics Moore's style of small documentary makers seeking and badgering their target for an interview. The film was made over the course of two years by Canadians Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine. Beckmann did not bother to hide his glee at going after Moore, and his closing comment to the filmmakers said it all, “We’re going to convert all of you liberals.”

On Thursday Beckmann had state Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, as a guest The softball questions he throws at Bishop are bad enough, but the disturbing part is what Beckmann lets him get away with saying without ever challenging him. Like this gem:

“The Republicans are in the minority in the Legislature,” Bishop said.

I almost fell out of my chair on that one. Even though that’s what voters clearly intended to do last November when 60 percent of the total votes cast for Senators were for Democratic Senate candidates, the Republicans still control the Senate 21-17.

Detroit News editorial page editor Nolan Finley had a few gems of his own. On Thursday he wrote, “Chrysler's new CEO Bob Nardelli is taking on more than just the nuts and bolts turnaround of the automaker. He appears to be out to break the mentality of collective entitlement that permeates the domestic auto industry, and infests much of Michigan as well. Nardelli is considering extending bonuses beyond the executive suite deep into the ranks of Chrysler workers, based on the company's performance and an individual’s contribution.”

The “mentality of collective entitlement?” We know where Finley stands.

Recently, the obscene compensation CEOs were making has been an issue as the gap between the rich and poor widens and the middle class is in danger of going the way of the dinosaurs. Nardelli was the poster boy for that problem.

In 1965 the average CEO was earning 24 times what the average worker was making. But in 2005, the average CEO was making 262 times what the average worker is making. As the CEO of Home Depot, Nardelli made $38 million, or roughly $100,000 a day, in 2005, but the average worker who is selling the product and is the public face of the company is making just $10 an hour on average with few if any benefits. Nardelli continued to make this outrageous salary despite the company’s stock going down 6 percent in six years, and it fell 40 percent during his tenure.

Finley uses his Sunday column to tell us how wonderful Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is and how bad Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton is.

“Romney gets the auto industry -- in fact, he's offered himself up to run an automaker if this politics thing doesn't work out. “

I’m sure he’s qualified.

Detroit Free Press reporter Dawson Bell came in third in our poll, but I have seen no bias. He wrote three articles last week: a story on the Supreme Court argument on same sex benefits, the court decision to stop the Michigan primary and a feature on term limits.

Detroit News editor chosen as the most biased in Michigan mainstream media

The Michigan Messenger readers have spoken, and after a week of online voting the Big 3 of media bias are Detroit News editor Nolan Finley, radio host Frank Beckmann and Detroit Free Press reporter Dawson Bell.

We asked our readers to nominate which journalists were the most biased, and from that list we asked them to vote last week on which journalists from a list showed the most bias. This is the result. Actually, political pundit Bill Ballenger was tied with Bell for third place, but I am exercising my power as the unofficial media critic at MM to cast my tie-breaking vote for Bell. However, I will play closer attention to Ballenger.

The voter turnout was a little disappointing, but it's certainly consistent with the voter turnout we see for general elections; and it was even better than most primary elections. When you consider that only about a quarter of the registered voters actually decide who is going to run the state, the 43 votes cast in this informal poll isn't all that bad.

Finley was the big winner - or loser depending on your point of view - with 27 percent of the vote, followed by Beckman with 25 percent of the vote and Bell and Ballenger with 16 percent. Also receiving votes were Tim Skubick with three votes; George Weeks, two votes and Murray Feldman with one vote. In the comments section I also received write in votes for Chris Christoff, the Detroit Free Press Lansing bureau chief; Chad Selewski of the Macomb Daily; nationally known sports writer, best-selling author and radio host Mitch Albom; and Detroit News columnist Laura Berman.

Among the other comments I received was that I was concentrating only on conservative media bias. My answer to that is that the myth that has been floated around since the 1970s is that the media is liberally biased, but that is simply not true. I am pointing out the predominant bias of the mainstream media. An argument was also made that some of our slate of candidates are not journalists. However, anyone who conveys information to the public fits our definition of a journalist.

Finley is a columnist and the editorial page editor of the Detroit News, and as a columnist he is expressing his opinion, which by its very nature is biased. But it's clear where his bias lays. It's very hard to find bias in the newspaper's straight stories, but as the editorial page editor, it follows Finley's bias that sets the tone for the entire newspaper. Clearly, his biggest obsession is Gov. Jennifer Granholm. He seems to blame her for everything but the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby. He must not be aware that the governor, any governor, cannot influence macroeconomic activity through the two most important factors: monetary policy and fiscal policy.

In a recent column about the governor's leadership on the budget situation, he used a quote in a column he said was from Speaker of the House Andy Dillon, D-Redford Township: "Why doesn't she take control of these negotiations?" asks Dillon, and then answered, "Because she doesn't have leadership instincts."

When called out on the source of the quote, Finley changed the online version and attributed the quote it its rightful owner; Granholm opponent, Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester.

According to the Detroit News official bio, Finley is the "Editorial Page Editor of The Detroit News, a position he's held since May 1, 2000. He directs the expression of the newspaper's editorial position on various national and local issues, and also writes a column in the Sunday newspaper. Prior to that, Finley was the newspaper's Deputy Managing Editor, directing the newsroom. Previously, he served as Business Editor, and in various editing positions on the city, state and metro desks. He was also a reporter, covering Detroit City Hall during the Coleman Young administration. Finley has been with the newspaper since 1976, starting as a copy boy in the newsroom while a student at Wayne State University.

Beckman hosts a show on conservative talk radio station WJR weekdays from 9-11:30 a.m., and he is an occasional columnist for the Detroit News. He shares a similar obsession with Finely for the governor while claiming he is fair and balanced and looking out for us. He seems to be a Bill O'Reilly wannabe with a rather large ego. His bias seems to fit in at WJR, and it's a mystery how the most powerful radio station in a state that has been blue since 1992 located in one of the most liberal cities in America can get way with not having one non-conservative voice on the air.

Beckman drew the ire of progressives in early October when he taped an interview with the governor for replay later in the day, and then he allegedly used a YouTube clip supplied by a conservative blog from an old debate about a completely different topic to accuse the governor of lying to the public about tax increases.

Bell covers Lansing and politics for the Detroit Free Press, and he is the only reporter on the list. Finding bias in a straight news story is difficult, but bias there can cause the most damage because it is not so obvious. Bell helped start the "ipod for every student in Michigan" controversary last spring when he mistakenly wrote in a story that House Democrats were proposing a $58 million line item to buy every student an ipod that was really for new technology. Republicans made hay with that line, and it continues today.

Ballenger is one of the most well-known and respected political pundits in the state. According to his official biography as the former Griffin Endowed Chair in American Government at Central Michigan University, Ballenger "…is a former (Republican) state representative and state senator, an ex-state racing commissioner and director of the Michigan Department of Licensing & Regulation. Mr. Ballenger also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health, Education & Welfare in the administration of President Gerald R. Ford." He also writes and publishes the newsletter "Inside Michigan Politics," and he is a regular panelist on the political talk TV show "Off the Record."