Only Republicans think it’s OK to charge admission to political debates

Only in the world of Republicans can a decision by a candidate to skip a so-called political debate where admission is charged can he earn their scorn.

Both the Michigan House and Senate canceled session on Thursday so lawmakers can attend the annual three-day Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce's Mackinac Policy Conference. Thursday evening an event called “The Great Gubernatorial Debate” moderated by “Off the Record’s” Tim Skubick was held.

Invited to participate were Republican gubernatorial candidates Sen. Tom George, Terri Lynn Land, Mike Cox and Peter Hoekstra, and Democratic candidates Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith and Lt. Gov. John Cherry.

Cherry decided to skip the debate because admission was being charged and it was a fundraiser. Over at the official unofficial GOP blog “Right” Michigan, they gave Cherry a hard time for skipping it, saying he “snubbed the event.”

I say good for him. Who the heck charges admission to a political debate? The tickets were $175 in advance and $200 at the door. Plus, Ann Arbor businessman Rick Snyder, a GOP candidate, was not even invited. The rightwing blog failed to mention that.

In the 14 years I have been a journalist and in politics. I have only heard of one other time where admission was charged for a political debate between candidates for elected office.

Last June the Livingston County Teen Age Republicans (TAR) sponsoring a candidate forum for the two open Michigan House seats and charged admission.

Newspaper sponsoring informative political debate on Thursday

The Livingston County Daily Press and Argus is again sponsoring a debate for the candidates looking to fill the open seats in the Michigan House of Representatives.

The debate is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday July 24 at the Brighton Center for the Performing Arts, 7878 Brighton Rd.

Democrats Donna Anderson of Brighton and Milford resident Tom Crawford are facing off against Republicans Jason Corosanite and Bill Rogers for the open 66th District seat that includes the city of Brighton and the townships of Marion, Oceola, Brighton, Genoa, Green Oak and Milford.

Democrat and Hamburg Township resident Scott Lucas is are facing off against Republicans Charlie Aberasturi, Cindy Denby and Frank Portelli for the open 47th District seat that includes the City of Howell and the townships of Cohoctah, Conway, Deerfield, Hamburg, Handy, Hartland, Howell, Iosco, Marion, Putnam, Tyrone and Unadilla.

The newspaper always does an excellent job, and unlike the county GOP that recently used a debate as a fundraiser, the event is free and truly meant to inform voters, not to raise money. The Daily Press & Argus is continuing its practice of soliciting questions and areas of concern from readers. You can e-mail your questions to kkarol@gannett.com. These questions will be used to formulate those used

Republicans use public political debate as fundraiser

The Livingston County Republican Party wants citizens to be informed voters and know the issues the candidates they are voting for in the primary election in August support. That’s a great and admirable goal, but the disgusting part is they want to charge you to do so.

The Livingston County Teen Age Republicans (TAR) is sponsoring a candidate forum next month for the two open Michigan House seats, but they are charging you 5 bucks to attend the forum and hear from the candidates. I have been around politics for a few years, but I can’t recall being charged for a political debate so the party can raise money.

Republicans Jason Corosanite and Bill Rogers are facing off to run against Democrats Donna Anderson of Brighton and Milford resident Tom Crawford for the open 66th District seat that includes the city of Brighton and the townships of Marion, Oceola, Brighton, Genoa, Green Oak and Milford.

Republicans Charlie Aberasturi, Cindy Denby and Frank Portelli are facing off against Democrat and Hamburg Township resident Scott Lucas for the open 47th District seat that includes the City of Howell and the townships of Cohoctah, Conway, Deerfield, Hamburg, Handy, Hartland, Howell, Iosco, Marion, Putnam, Tyrone and Unadilla.

In a primarily Republican county like Livingston County, the primary winner will more than likely be the winner of the General Election in November – although that may be in doubt this year with the long coat tails of the next President, Barrack Obama – and if you have an uncontested race in the Democratic primary you may want to vote for the best Republican candidate.

The good news is the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus sponsors a debate for both the primary and the General Election that costs nothing, and it is truly a public service and not a GOP fundraiser.

America and Michigan marks the sixth Anniversary of 9/11

HOWELL - Ceremonies, memorials and events marking the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon yesterday.

The ceremonies were held in every town, city, hamlet and burg across the nation. It was marked nationally in Washington, D.C. where the President held a moment of silence and General Peter Pace spoke at the wall of the Pentagon where the hijacked airliner crashed into; in New York City relatives of those who died in the World Trade Center and on the two hijacked airplanes gathered at Ground Zero in New York to honor their lost loved ones; in Michigan the Governor ordered the flags in the state flown at half-mast and a moment of silence and locally in Livingston County a pair of ceremonies were held. Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox spoke at American Legion Post 141 and the third consecutive year the Livingston County Teen Age Republicans (TAR) organized a ceremony of the lawn of the Historic Livingston County Courthouse in downtown Howell.

The TAR event honored the military, local firefighters, police, EMS personal and the 3,000 people who lost their lives on that historic day. The crowd was much smaller than in the past, especially in comparison to the event held on Sept. 12, 2001 on the day after the attack when the huge crowds lined the sidewalk and overflowed into Grand River Avenue.

“Hank you for coming out showing your support,” said Staff Sgt. Jamison Yager. “It has been six years, and the flags and bumper stickers have begun to disappear.

“Remember, freedom isn’t free,” he said.

But some 100 people braved the chilly, windy weather to participate in the event.

“We are cold tonight, but I have heard you have not been cold until you have spent a night in Afghanistan,” said Sen. Valde Garcia, R-Howell, a Colonel in the National Guard. “You have not been hot until you have worn full body armor in Iraq.”

However, the 9/11 event has conflicted many people. They want to show their patriotism and honor the sacrifice of those that died in the attack, as well as the people in the Armed Forces, but they also feel 9/11 has been used as a political tool to get the U.S. into the Iraq war that had nothing to do with the 9/11 attack, as well as it being used as an a tool to restrict civil liberties and circumvent the U.S. Constitution. Frank Grundman is one who feels the same way, and he is suspicious that political parties have grabbed onto the event to bolster support for the Iraq situation, although he said that was pretty much absent in this event than in past ones.

“I guess it just bothers me that an event that brought the country together like nothing I have ever seen in my lifetime has been used to justify something that has driven a huge wedge between people in this country,” he said.

9/11 event by TARS is nothing more than a pro-Iraq occupation rally

Tuesday marks the 6th anniversary of the largest terrorist attack on U.S. soil when 19 Al-Quida terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners and crashed two into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon and one in a field in Pennsylvania killing almost 3,000 people.

Tuesday will also mark the third time the Livingston County Teen Age Republicans (TAR) will use the anniversary to gather support for President George Bush’s failed policies, support for the Republican Party and support for the Iraq occupation/civil war. The event will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the lawn of the Historic Livingston County Courthouse in downtown Howell. We can be certain that there will be firefighters and Republican politicians. It has not been announced who will be there, but I can almost guarantee U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers will be there. He has been pretty scarce in the 8th Congressional District all summer, but I’m betting he will be there. He has been, apparently, hiding from his constituents who want an end to the Iraq occupation.

I think it’s great we remember those who died in the horrible attack and pay tribute to the men and women of the police and fire service who risk their lives everyday, but Sept. 11 and 9/11 has been used by Bush as justification for every unpopular policy and goal he was pursuing. It has been his justification for invading a sovereign country that posed no threat to the security of the U.S. that plunged us into a four-year bloody occupation, it served as justification for shredding the Bill of Rights, to spy on U.S. citizens, to institute a backdoor draft, to suspend the writ of habeas corpus and to torture people. Bush has also used 9/11 to silence critics and to brand anyone who disagrees with him an unpatriotic traitor.

I fail to see why this event is more important than other important and watershed event in American history. Why aren't the TARS holding a rally to mark Pearl Harbor Day, D-Day, V-J Day, V-E Day or even the day the Berlin wall came down? I have heard the argument that they mark 9/11 because it happened in their lifetime, so does that mean we can expect this event to end in 10 years or so when those born after Sept. 11, 2001 enter the TAR ranks?

There have been, so far, 3,753 members of the U.S. Armed Forces killed in Iraq. In Livingston County, nine with ties to the county have been killed in Iraq, and that’s more the entire 12 years of hostilities in Vietnam. In July they put the names of two of those county residents killed in Iraq on the veterans memorial located on the same courthouse lawn the 9/11 event will be held, but there was no rally or publicity from the TARS. These are peers of the TAR members, but they prefer to memorialize people they never knew.

It seems scary that I would ever agree with Rush Limbaugh, but I partly agree with him when he pointed out the basic unfairness of the 9/11 victims' families being paid greater benefits than family members of American military personnel killed in action. It’s happening right here in Livingston County only the payment is not in dollars.

I went to two of these events in the past, but one was sponsored, or at least organized, by the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus held on the very same courthouse lawn the day after the actual attack. It was an amazing event. It was one of the most moving events I have ever attended. The next one I attend was little more than an attempt to rally support for the Iraq fiasco, and the solidarity of the country had long given way to Bush’s quest to invade Iraq at any cost. It had become what it is today, a partisan political event.

Prior to Labor Day I had heard some of my favorite liberal talk show hosts talk about rumors of a major PR campaign by conservatives after Labor Day to pave the way for an attack on Iran. Just like clockwork, Rogers had an OP-ED piece in the Detroit Free Press called “Beware of Iran,” and Kelster93 does excellent job writing about it over on Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. I’m sure we will here more about Iran on Tuesday.

I urge you to attend to pay respects to the people who died in the attack and to recognize and honor the sacrifice made by fire and law enforcement. Just ignore the political rally for Bush and Iraq. In fact, I would recommend you count how many times Iraq is mentioned, especially linked with 9/11 and the alleged “war on terror.” Also keep a county of how many times Iran is mentioned.