False and sleazy attack ads against Leyton having an effect

Voters say they hate negative, attack campaign ads, but political pundits and consultants say it works. The pundits must be right because there is no other explanation for Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton trailing in the polls for Michigan Attorney General.

His opponent, Bill Schuette, has run some of the sleaziest ads I have ever seen, but he has finally been shamed into taking one of them off the air by the family of someone he was shamelessly exploiting. But that, in my opinion, is not the sleaziest ad.

The TV ad most people have seen has lead to a profane-filled death threat against Layton, yet it still stays up.

That ad stars Debbie McIntosh, of Grand Blanc, whose son, Adam, 25, was murdered in 2006. She is very angry that the killer did not get more time and that he was the only one charged, even though there’s no evidence that anyone else was involved. Republicans are using the millions of dollars of unregulated corporate cash to run that smear ad exploiting McIntosh holding a photo of her son and calling Leyton a liar.

Even after an anti-Semitic attack by McIntosh on the Flint Journal web site and death threat, the ad is still running.

I’m not sure what crime has to do with the Michigan Attorney General, since the job is largely a civil and administrative posts and acts as the state’s attorney, but the Republicans have been trying with no success to paint Leyton soft on crime. Every ad they have run has had a foul called on it by the nonpartisan Michigan Truth Squad.
In his two terms as Genesee County Prosecuting Attorney, Leyton has prosecuted more than 20,000 criminal cases to Schuette’s zero. The teabggers have driven the Republican Party so far to the right they are in danger of falling off the cliff, but one thing they constantly claim is that they will not support career politicians. Yet almost all of the Republican candidates can qualify for that label.

While Leyton was serving in local government as an elected prosecutor, he also served on the Flint Township Board of Trustees, first as a Trustee and later as the Township Clerk; Schuette was, first, a U.S. Congressman, a member of former Gov. John Engler’s cabinet, then a state Senator and finally an Appellate Court Judge.

This is just more Republicans teabagger hypocrisy.

The ad that was pulled off the air claimed that Leyton was “overly lenient in the plea deal he reached with a drunken driver who led police on a chase that resulted in the death of Flint police officer Owen Fisher,” according to subscription only Gongwer.

“Flint police officer Owen Fisher, murdered while on duty. An open and shut case: not for David Leyton," the ad says. “He plea bargained down to just three years in prison; said it was just and right."

But Gongwer said David and Vida Fisher, the deceased officer's parents, said “the ad is wrong and that Christopher Bentoski would see more than three years in prison for his convictions on assault with intent to do great bodily harm and fleeing police.” The Fishers also criticized Schuette for using the story without consulting with them first and for making an ad that was disrespectful to their family.

"We request that Mr. Schuette remove this ad from the airwaves," David Fisher said. "Our son was a tremendously civil human being and this ad is both uncivil and incorrect. We believe that Genesee County prosecutor David Leyton approached this case with appropriate gravity and treated our family respectfully."

Back to the drawing board, and since Republicans have so much unregulated corporate money to burn, a new ad is already up in its place featuring Republican Oakland County Executive Brooks Patterson criticizing Leyton for plea bargains. Patterson is very familiar with plea bargains; like the one he took in 2003 to reckless driving after being pulled over for possible drunk driving.

News of DWI arrest of incumbent Republican House member does not break until after election

Two days after the election, subscription only MIRS is reporting that Rep. Kevin Green, R-Wyoming, was arrested for Driving While Impaired (DWI) in an incident that occurred some two weeks ago in Saginaw Township.

Speculation by the online newspaper is that it would not have had an effect on the election in the predominantly Republican area near Grand Rapids, but that should have been up to voters. He won with 62 percent of the vote, but I wonder why it was not reported in the Grand Rapids Press or the Saginaw News.

Green is the Republican Caucus Whip, and he was mentioned as a candidate to succeed term-limited Craig DeRoche as the House Minority Leader. What this will do to that candidacy is also unknown. In fact, the Republican caucus, as well as the Democratic caucus, is meeting right now to possibly elect new leadership for the upcoming session that begins January 6.

Garfield ducks second drunk driving conviction

Just 24 hours before jury selection was set to begin, it appears the second drunk driving charge against Rep. John Garfield, R- Rochester Hills, may be dismissed. The moral of the story seems to be with a good lawyer anything is possible, or justice is only for those who can’t afford a good lawyer.

Ingham County prosecutor Stuart Dunnings told subscription only Gongwer that he has submitted a motion to the 54-B District Court Judge to dismiss the second drunk driving charge. Dunnings said the video evidence of Garfield being pulled over by Michigan State University police on March 29 for not wearing his seat belt "doesn't jive with what was being said." I’m not really sure what that means, unless they pulled him over first because they suspected he was driving drunk at that hour of the morning and used his not wearing a seat belt as justification for pulling him over after the fact. However, that is pure speculation on my part.

But there appears to little doubt of Garfield’s guilt. His blood alcohol level was .14, and the legally drunk level is .08. The day after Garfield was arrested his chief-of-staff, Dave Jessup, said, "This is an ongoing battle he is fighting with alcohol,'' he said. ''He is home in the district and is taking steps to deal with this.''

Following his first drunk driving convention in 2005, Garfield used the standard GOP alibi and checked himself into a rehabilitation center, claiming he had a problem that was aggravated by pain medication he has taken for several years. His hometown newspaper, the Oakland Press, called for his immediate resignation following his second arrest, but it appears there will be no consequences for Garfield, either from law enforcement or the Republican “leadership.”

Ironically, in the same issue of Gongwer the Michigan Office of Highway and Safety Planning announced it is running a new advertising campaign aimed at getting people to not drink and drive as a statewide blitz on offending drivers that begins Friday. The TV ads will begin running immediately, and a state police crackdown on drunk drivers will run from Friday until September 3. "Drinking too much and driving is a dangerous combination, and the result isn't pretty," OHSP Director Michael L. Prince said. "The consequences of a drunk driving conviction, such as fines and increased insurance rates, are very serious and are a drain on offenders' wallets for years."

That is unless you have a good attorney.

UPDATE: The Detroit News on Tuesday confirmed the charges have been dropped. No word on why.

Hometown newspaper calls for Garfield’s resignation

I was a little surprised to read in the Oakland Press editorial pages that they are calling for the resignation of Rep. John Garfield, R-Rochester Hills, following his arrest late last month for drunken driving, his second such arrest in 18 months.

“For his own good and for the good of those people he represents, we believe he needs to focus on his personal problems and consider resigning from the Legislature.
First, he is a lawmaker and it doesn't set a good example for such an individual, if found guilty, to be breaking the law.
Also, today's state government problems need intense focus from our leaders. They need to be able to concentrate on resolving the budget and other economic concerns.
Whatever the extent of his current drinking problem, the court case and its surrounding publicity are distractions that most likely hamper his ability to fulfill his duties as a legislator.”

The Michigan Democratic Party is simply asking the Republican “leadership” to reprimand Garfield.

"He has violated the public's trust," said Mark Brewer, Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party in a press release. "Given the emphasis the Republican caucus has put on personal responsibility and public servants acting as role models to youth, I fully expect GOP leaders will want to reprimand him publicly, at the very least. The people or Michigan deserve nothing less."

I agree with Brewer, and my only reason for even pointing out the Garfield story was to illustrate the hypocrisy of the Republicans crowing about a major story in the Detroit Free Press that Democratic Rep. Bert Johnson, D-Highland Park, was observed by a reporter driving on suspended license in a vehicle with an invalid plate. I still have not seen any press in any newspaper about Garfield’s arrest that comes close to the amount of ink Johnson got. So much for the “liberal media” myth.

At this point I don’t think Garfield should resign or be fired, but he should be reprimanded.

However, it would not be unprecedented if Garfield was asked to resign or even expelled for his actions, and we have the example of former Sen. David Jaye, R-Washington Township, the only Michigan lawmaker ever to be expelled. Jaye was convicted of drunk driving twice and he served stints of 10 and 45 days in jail, and he actually served his constituents from behind bars in jail. However, it was the domestic violence charge that eventually did him in, although he was never convicted of that or even charged.

At this point I don’t think Garfield should be expelled or resign.

GOP plays rehab card again

The rehab card is played again by the GOP.

Republican have been making hay with the fact that Democratic Rep. Bert Johnson, D-Highland Park, was observed by a reporter driving on suspended license in a vehicle with an invalid plate last week after the reporter was tipped off by an anonymous caller. Another anonymous poster thought it so important I know that he made it a point of posting to let me know about it.

Incidentally, since that report Johnson’s driving privileges have been reinstated.

Less than a week later Rep. John Garfield, R- Rochester Hills, was arrested in the East Lansing area by Michigan State University campus police, according to a sketchy Associated Press report. The report said Garfield, 57, was arrested “early Thursday.”

The House was in session from noon to about 2:20 p.m. Thursday, but Garfield is listed in the House Journal for that day as excused. I guess being in jail is a pretty good excuse. This is Garfield’s second arrest in about 18 months, and Garfield pled guilty to a lesser charge of driving while impaired in the 2005 incident, according to the AP.

But the kicker is the reason he was allegedly driving drunk, and haven’t we heard this excuse coming from the GOP before.

Following his conviction in 2005, Garfield checked himself into a rehabilitation center, noting he had a problem that was aggravated by pain medication he has taken for several years, according to the AP.
''This is an ongoing battle he is fighting with alcohol,'' Dave Jessup, Garfield's chief of staff, said Friday. ''He is home in the district and is taking steps to deal with this.''

Say hello to Mark Foley for us.