Bloggers gaining credibility with appearance of LL on OTR

Bloggers took a major step toward the mainstream and credibility when one of our own was included as a regular panelist on a mid-Michigan institution, “Off the Record with Tim Skubick.”

Julielyn Gibbons – AKA Liberal Lucy of Liberal, Loud and Proud – appeared as a regular panelist on the show hosted by Tim Skubick, along with Rick Albin of WOOD-TV, Stephanie Korneffel of MIRS and Bill Ballenger of Inside Michigan Politics. The show on Michigan PBS stations features various mainstream reporters that cover the legislature and state government talking about the hot political stories, and it usually features a guest.

LL appeared as a panelist as part of a show on blogging and bloggers, and a week later she joined the panel as a capitol correspondent. Hopefully, she will appear as part of the rotating panel of reporters, and it will also spur Mr. Skubick to look at other bloggers for inclusion as panelists.

The show airs on most state PBS stations, but here in mid-Michigan it can be it can be seen on WKAR in East Lansing at 11:30 p.m. Sunday. It can also be seen on line.

On a personal note, LL is a former Livingston County resident, hailing from Green Oak Township where some of our most loyal and active Democrats come from, and her parents still live there.

She has also posted a very personal and courageous story on why she started blogging and became an activist. She is asking for our help in spreading the word about Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. In doing so, she is trying to bring attention to an upcoming event, the Get Your Guts in Gear ride. Please check out her post on the subject, the event itself and spread the word.

LC’s own LL knocks em dead on OTR

Hats off to Julielynn Gibbons (Liberal Lucy of Liberal, Loud and Proud) and Marcy Wheeler (emptywheel from The Next Hurrah) for the excellent job they did representing liberal bloggers on “Off the Record with Tim Skubick.”

They appeared with rightwing bloggers Nick DeLeeuw (“Rightmichigan”) and Bill Nowling (The Lunchbucket Conservative) on the half hour show to discuss the effect of blogging on Michigan politics. They did an excellent job doing that, and they lent credibility to what we bloggers do. This is one of my favorite shows, and usually the panelists are political reporters from the mainstream media that cover the Capitol, but this time we had people who are much more involved in covering the Capitol.

I know this is all over the blogosphere by now, but because a lot of what I write about is politics where I live in Livingston County I wanted to point out the special connection to Livingston County.

Liberal Lucy grew up here in Livingston County’s Green Oak Township, and her proud parents still live. Although she now lives in Lansing, many local Democrats know her from her work to improve the Democratic net roots presence here in the county.

Bill Nowling also lives in Green Oak Township, and he was once a reporter here for the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus when it was still a weekly newspaper. After moving here to his wife’s hometown, fellow Republican Buddy Moorehouse, then the editor of the former Brighton Argus, got him a job with the paper until he could get into Michigan Republican politics, hooking up first on the staff of former Gov. John Engler and for then former state Sen. Mike Rogers.

After going to work for a PR firm, he made news when he allegedly threatened to blackmail Rogers after Rogers was elected to the U.S. House if he did not vote for a telecommunications bill one of the clients Nowling’s firm was representing wanted passed.

Ann Arbor resident Marcy Wheeler is the author of “Anatomy of Deceit” about the Plame CIA leak case. She was the only blogger to receive a press pass for the Scooter Libby trial where she live-blogged during the trial.

DeLeeuw operates one of the more slimier blogs around that’s long on accusations and short on facts. He recently took the Governor to task for daring to take a lunch hour and spending it with her teenage daughter on her birthday. His latest baseless attack is accusing Michigan House Democrats of taking a bribe because DTE’s political action committee contributed $15,000 to the House Democrats' political action committee, making the ridiculous claim it was for the proposal to revamp state regulations to return monopoly status to utilities such as DTE that could raise $500 million toward the budget shortfall. Like all of his “reporting” the real story is what he leaves out, like the fact that DTE has also given $11,500 to Senate Republicans.

You can see the show online, or you can tune in tonight at 9 p.m. on WKAR in East Lansing or 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The show is on most state PBS stations.

Governor’s Inaugural speech inspires

Only Gov. Jennifer Granholm can make the oath of office sound lively and exciting, and she did just that today when she was sworn in for her final term by her mentor, Judge Damon Keith, on the Capitol steps in Lansing in front of some 1,000 brave but cold souls.

I was one of those brave souls, and I had a front row SRO perch, thanks to the place-saving ability of Liberal Lucy of Liberal, Loud and Proud. Following the swearing in of the Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, the trustees of the state’s public universities and judges we made our way across the Grand River to the warmth of the Lansing Center to hear the inaugural speeches.

The theme of the scaled down inauguration was “Celebrating the Next Michigan,” and the governor laid out the problems facing Michigan and her slow but study success at diversify our economy by attracting high-tech companies to the state and maintaining our still much needed auto manufacturing base in the face of the disastrous unfair national trade practices.

“We have seen, and we have fought alongside entire communities that have been hollowed out by the ravaging pull of cheap labor from distant lands,” she said. “We all know that our challenges have been decades in the making. And we know that full transformation doesn't happen overnight.”

Her speech was interrupted by applause about a dozen times, especially when she urged legislative and political leaders to put politics aside and act now to begin undoing the problems that the ebbing market share of our state's largest employer has caused over the years and act now.

“Because it will take time, we cannot waste time,” she said. “Feel the urgency. You feel it too. We must act and act now.”

I had the privilege of hearing Anita Baker sing her rousing rendition of the National Anthem, and Whitney Houston has nothing on her. I was a little disappointed at the Invocation of Pastor Dan Miller of St. Joseph. He took an inappropriate shot at newspaper Op-Ed pages in a prayer.

Sen. Carl Levin was the MC, and he acknowledged the great job the governor has done with the mess that was dropped in her lap four years ago.

“She has trimmed more money from the budget than any governor in history, but she still managed to extend health care to 300,000 people, diversified our economy and attracted new businesses to the state,” he said.

Lt. Governor John Cherry highlighted the administration’s fight to bring health care to all Michigan citizens and give every child the means to go to college if they desire. He compared the administration to a ship sailing on the Great Lakes with the governor as the commanding officer, and she has sailed us through some story waters over the past four years.

“She made the tough, gut-check decisions that had to be made to erase the budget deficits we were facing,” he said.

Mayors George Heartwell of Grand Rapids and Kwame Kilpatrick of Detroit led off the remarks. I have heard Kilpatrick speak in the past, but he seemed to me much more mature and more of a leader, and his remarks reflected the theme of Celebrating the Next Michigan when he pointed out the citizens of Michigan have more similarities than differences.

The speech by Attorney General Mike Cox was uninspired at best, and there was good reason why the more than 3,000 people in the Lansing Center sat on their hands during his remarks.

Secretary of State Terri Land’s speech was also unremarkable, but I was intrigued by some of her proposals. I liked her proposal to pre-register 16-year-olds to vote when they get their DL, so that when they are 18 they are already registered. The no response early voting sounded interesting. Perhaps it’s just the verbiage that’s different, but I would prefer no reason absentee voting instead of early voting. Anything that encourages young people to vote and increases voter turnout I support. She also proposed having the Michigan DL serve as the passport, and that will ease problems going to and from our neighbor to the north.

Newest progressive blog will shine the harsh spotlight on Mike Rogers and his voting record

I am proud to say I have enlisted in the blog Army to hold U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers accountable for his actions, votes and lack of representation of the people in the 8th Congressional District. I did so by becoming a contributor to the newest progressive blog, “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.”

This blog is not sinister nor an attack on Mr. Rogers. It is simply shining a spotlight on his voting record and actions, and that will be accomplished by focusing a group of dedicated eyes from all of the municipalities in the 8th District on Mr. Rogers. I am proud my fellow progressive bloggers allowed me to be a part of this.

We have already gained some notice. In the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus a three-paragraph brief appeared today announcing our presence. I also expect to see a story coming soon from the P & A featuring the person who started the blog, Liberal Lucy from “Liberal, Loud and Proud.”

Despite the blog being up only a few days, more than 50 people a day are visiting the blog. The hits are not only from all over the 8th District but from all over the county, such as Washington, D.C, Los Angles and Chicago.

We also look forward to input from readers and our fellow progressive bloggers in the form of comments, and if you see something we may have missed on Mr. Rogers please feel free to bring it to our attention.