The SPLC reminds people of Anuzis’ endorsement of a hate group

Former Michigan Republican Chair Saul Anuzis announced last week that he is making a second run to become the Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair to replace clueless Michael Steele, but the Southern Poverty Law Center is reminding people of Anuzis’ past endorsement of a hate group.

The nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry tracks the activities of hate groups and domestic terrorists in the U.S., and one such group it identified as a hate group in 2006 was the Michigan State University campus branch of Young Americans For Freedom (MSU-YAF) and its “leader” right-wing extremist Kyle Bristow, who also served as a Republican precinct delegate.

The MSU-YAF chapter eared its designation as a hate group under Bristow for its 13-point agenda, according to the SPLC, “that would have established a “Caucasian caucus” at MSU and, in turn, eliminated all student government representation for practically every other non-white, non-heterosexual, non-male or non-Christian student group at the university.” The MSU-YAF chapter also “sponsored a “Catch an Illegal Immigrant Day” contest, held a “Koran Desecration” competition, jokingly threatened to distribute smallpox-infested blankets to Native American students, and posted “Gays Spread AIDS” fliers across campus. Bristow’s YAF also brought several extremists to speak at the MSU campus, including Holocaust denier Nick Griffin, leader of the whites-only British National Party.

Despite this over-the-top hate and extremism, Anuzis endorsed Bristow. Anuzis said on a radio program in May 2007, according to the SPLC, the year after MSU-YAF’s more outrageous activities were made public: “I’ve known Kyle for years and I can tell you I have never heard him say a racist or bigoted or sexist thing, ever.”

He must be deaf.

During the past election, Anuzis issued a press release attacking Wayne State University law Professor Jocelyn Benson, the Democratic nominee for Michigan Secretary of State because she was once an investigative journalist at the SPLC, which the release said used “fear and intimidation” in its hate group listings. This was one of many completely false attacks launched against Benson by scared Republicans.

Michigan Republican Congressman are ducking townhall meetings

We have all seem the “tea baggers” disrupt health care townhall meeting put on my Democratic members of Congress, courtesy of scripts provided by the two rightwing Washington, D.C. lobbying groups that are behind the fake, Astroturf “tea parties,” but why haven’t we seen many town halls put on by Republicans?

Michigan’s Democratic Congressional delegation has held them, knowing the disrespect and attacks they were going to endure, but why haven’t Republicans held them? Surprisingly, they are not holding them because they are also afraid of the "shenanigans” and extremists that supporting them: their words.

Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, said he would only hold "tele-town halls” because of "shenanigans seen at some in-person town halls.” I can guarantee that if he does hold one no organized group will try to disrupt it and tell to shut him down and hijack the meeting. I cannot say the same for Democrats holding townhalls.

Mad Thad McCotter, R-Livonia, said he would not hold townhall meetings because extremists attend them. I agree with him, but the problem is they are his supporters. But McCotter apparently will not even meet with constituents.

One of his constituents, Eric Shelley, who was the 2008 Green Party candidate for Congress, has been trying to get a meeting with McCotter and ask him why he will not hold a townhall meeting. He was stymied, so he took to recording the conservations with McCotter’s staff and posting then on Youtube. Michigan Liberal and Blogging for Michigan have done an excellent job covering the saga.

His latest conversation was very telling. It was with McCotter’s chief of staff,
Andy Anuzis. Livingston County residents will remember Andy from his brief stint as the chair of the Livingston County Republican Party, taking over briefly in 2002 when Chris Ward was elected to the Michigan House. He is also the younger brother of Saul Anuzis; known for being loose with the truth and dirty tricks.

Anuzis told Shelley it was illegal to record telephone conservation, but that is simply not true. In Michigan, it's not illegal to record a conversation in which you are a participant. Anuzis could have hung up at any time to avoid being recorded.

Then he tried to blackmail Shelley, telling him the staff would no longer talk to him and he would never meet with McCotter if he didn’t take the videos down.

I have a simple question. When are Rogers and McCotter going to hold a townhall meeting and what are they afraid of?

Unbiased Beckman is keynote speaker at MRP state convention

If you need any more proof of the rigtwing bias of WJR-AM radio commentator Frank Beckmann, just show up at the Michigan Republican Party state convention on Feb. 20 where Beckman is the keynote speaker.

Beckman says he is a conservative, but he also claims he is not a Republican. Right, and I’m not a Democrat. He will feel right at home at the Lansing Center surrounding by his audience.

The program bills his appearance as the “ Opening session with honored guest speakers “ Frank Beckmann, Host of the Frank Beckmann - WJR-AM Radio and The Honorable Haley Barbour - Governor of Mississippi.

Last year readers of Michigan Messenger ranked Beckmann in second place among the most biased reporters, columnists and commentators in Michigan. The rightwing Republican was not happy with the results of that reader survey, but his actions since then just reinforces that ranking and the rightwing slant of WJR.

What’s even funnier is how MRP chair Saul Anuzis, or whatever he is now, describes Beckmann’s appearance on his “blog.”

“We will also have WJR's Frank Beckmann there who will discuss "what media bias?” What media bias? The media bias you display on your radio show.

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.

LSJ Journal urges readers to oust Taylor from broken Michigan Supreme Court

The Lansing State Journal is the latest newspaper to endorse Judge Diane Marie Hathaway to help fix the broken and politicized Michigan Supreme Court.

Hathaway is squaring off against rightwing Republican Cliff Taylor, and he leads the partisan majority of activist judges known unaffectingly as the "Gang of Four" that have slammed the door to the courts shut to all but insurance companies and the richest corporations. If fact, the LSJ endorsed Hathaway's candidacy "as a way to protect the rights of Michigan residents against the assaults of the Taylor-led court."

The newspaper also said "The most important vote a Michigan resident can cast this fall is to oust Chief Justice Clifford Taylor from the Michigan Supreme Court." That would be a blow for justice, so be sure to flip your ballot over and vote in the nonpartisan section for Judge Hathaway.

Michigan Republican Chair Saul Anuzis is doing more than spinning over a TV ad that accused Taylor of sleeping during oral arguments on the bench in a case where six children died in a house fire. In the case, McDowell vs. City of Detroit, the two mothers of the dead children said that Taylor fell asleep during their case. What's Anuzis's answer? The mother's are lying.

He's all class.

GOP calls for protesters against Speaker of the House to bring their own crayons

The Michigan Republican Party and Chair Saul Anuzis are organizing a protest against Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi tonight at Borders in downtown Ann Arbor where she will join a panel discussion and sign copies of her new book, "Know Your Power" at 7 p.m.

The intention of the protest is to build on the Grand Oil Party’s juvenile stunt last week where they preached to each other in the dark after the House and Senate were adjourned for the annual summer break on how giving oil companies more leases in environmentally sensitive areas will reduce gas prices. The email blast to supporters says the intention is to “… send her a strong message that she needs to call Congress back into session now, and hold a vote on an energy bill that will allow America to develop America’s oil.” No word on why they don’t just ask the head oil man in the White House to call them back into session since he has the power to do that, or why for all but the last 18 months of President George Bush’s time in office when the GOP controlled both Houses of Congress no real energy plan was adopted.

To help in the protest and to lend an air of authenticity, Anuzis is asking his followers to bring homemade signs, and since he knows they probably can’t think of any catchy slogans for themselves, he sent along some helpful suggestions, such as “Gas b-4 Book Tour" "Bring Congress Back" "We Want Lower Gas $" "End The Shutdown" and "Give Us A Vote."

Bill Nowling and the MGOP communications team have really outdone themselves. That was money well spent.

I have a few slogans of my own for the Grand Oil Party attendees to use: “Food stamps for Exxon,” “We don’t need no stinking books,” “Books are for liberals,” “Tell Bush to tell you to bring Congress back,” “Drill on those thousands of leases you already have,” “oil execs need help to pay for their Bugatti Veyrons,” or “We need our gas prices to go down by 2 cents in 10 years now.”

The Ann Arbor stop will be Pelosi’s first stop on a 13-city book tour, and because there are so many people expected to want to meet the Speaker, Borders began giving out wristbands this morning when the store opened. According to Borders, the wristband guarantees a place in line, but offers no guarantee you'll meet the Speaker.

I have a better suggestion for the GOP: buy a book at Borders to benefit a Michigan company. That may be asking a little too much. Buy a DVD while you are there and do some real good. Make sure you carpool.

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.

The comedy styling of Saul Anuzis

I enjoy laughing and comedy. That’s why my favorite radio show is the “Stephanie Miller Show.”

Usually it’s not a good thing to generalize, but. Liberals are actually funny. Conservative's lame attempts at comedy almost always fall flat. For examples, we just need to look at “comedians” Rush Limpbaug and Ann Coulter or the Faux attempts at the Daily Show rip-off, the Half-Hour News Show. Limpbaug and Coulter are hilarious if you are a racist homophobia.

In addition to my daily doses of Stephanie to make me laugh, I also have Michigan’s Republican Party Chair Saul’s Anuzis’s daily dose of spin via what he calls “Articles of Interest” on his “blog.” It’s not really a blog because he does not allow any comments. I guess I can’t blame him because of the crap his staffers write, but he should not call it a blog. But I guess if I wrote that stuff I would not want to have to try and defend it. You find the kind of humor there that makes you say, “is he for real.”

Today, he is enjoying the fact that Kalamazoo businessman Jon Stryker is under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department. This is the same Justice Department that fired U.S. attorneys because they refused to investigate and make up charges against Democratic politicians. The same Justice Department that for the first time in history has been politicized and used as a weapon by the bushies. Nixon used the IRS to go after his enemies, but Bush used a department that is supposed to uphold the law to go after enemies. I guess former Nixon aide John Dean had it right when he used the title “Worse than Watergate” for his book about the Bush Administration.

And why do Anuzis and the GOP hate Stryker? What is his crime? He contributes to Democrats. In his daily does of BS, Anuzis claims that Stryker “spent more than $5 million of his own money buying a majority in the Michigan House of Representatives.” I hope Anuzis keeps believing that was the reason.

But the funniest line from Anuzis is this one, “”After spending millions of dollars to buy Governor Jennifer Granholm’s re-election…” That’s’ one of the sickly, funny lines. Hey Saul, did you forget who your candidate was in 2006? Your candidate's only qualification for the job was that he inherited millions of dollars from his family’s pyramid scheme. He spent millions of those inherited dollars trying to buy the seat.

Stryker is a rarity among Democrats who happen to be rich; he inherited his business that makes him rich. Almost every conservative billionaire has inherited their money.

The hatred of billionaire philanthropist George Soros if a perfect example of the misguided GOP hatred. Here is a man who escaped Nazi-occupied Hungary as a teen with nothing but the clothes on his back, and he managed to become a billionaire with his wits and hard work. He gives millions to charity, he helped end apartheid in South Africa by giving money for scholarships to black students there and he helped end Communism by funding dissident movements behind the iron curtain. You would think he would be a hero to the right and a model of what they say they stand for. No. Why? Because he contributes to liberal causes, he's the devil and evil. They call him the liberal sugar daddy.

Contrast that to the conservative sugar daddy – the one they hate to talk about - Richard Mellon Scaife. He got his money the old fashioned way, he inherited it by being a principal heir to the Mellon banking, oil, and aluminum fortune.

Scaife is the class act that bankrolled the conservative hit magazine “The American Spectator,” and he also financed the so-called” Arkansas Project” that paid people to come up with dirt on President Bill Clinton.

For an excellent story on that you should read “Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative” by former American Spectator writer David Brock, who now operates the web site that Bill O’Reily calls the “Left Wing Smear site Media Matters.” All they do at Media Matters is post his words and actual videos.

No wonder billo hates them.

Dingell-Anuzis push presidential primary plan

If the back-and-forth debate and on-again-off-again Presidential Primary election wasn’t strange enough, it got a little bit more unusual with the announcement Tuesday that Michigan Republican Party Chair Saul Anuzis and Michigan Democratic National Committeewoman Debbie Dingell have collaborated on a bi-partisan presidential primary selection plan they say will put the debate to an end.

Last week the Democratic National Committee voted to strip Michigan Democrats of all its 156 delegates to the national convention for violating party rules by choosing an early primary, and the national GOP said Michigan Republicans would lose half of their delegates at the convention for doing the same thing. The Legislature went back and forth on whether to hold a caucus or an open primary after getting the news of the sanctions.

What is being dubbed the Dingell-Anuzis presidential primary selection plan is patterned after the Levin-Nelson Presidential Reform Bill in Congress. The plan would divide up states into six regions. There would be six sub-regions set up in each region, designating a representative cross section of America. The national parties would then set six distinct dates for when contests would be held. A lottery would determine the dates each designated sub-region could hold a presidential primary or caucus and no one region could be selected to go first for two consecutive presidential cycles, eliminating incentives for states to break the rules.

The original decision to hold the primary on Jan. 15 was to make Michigan more relevant in the presidential selection process instead of always allowing Iowa and New Hampshire – states not representative of the ethnic and racial make up of the rest of the country - to go first. Those two primaries go a long way toward choosing the eventual winner and eliminating under-performing candidates from the race.

“We need to end the monopoly of some states that always enjoy earlier contests while protecting every state’s right to be relevant in the process,” Dingell said in the press release put out the Michigan GOP announcing the plan.

The plan will be sent to both Republican and Democratic national committees for review and consideration for the 2012 cycle.

State GOP puts blogger and political operative in charge of communications

Subscription only Gongwer is reporting GOP dirty trickster and Livingston County resident Bill Nowling has been named director of communications and research for the Michigan Republican Party. With party chair Saul Anuzis’ reputation for dirty tricks he Nowling should fit right in.

Nowling is also a blogger, operating the rightwing blog the Lunchbox Conservative. He was most recently the director of media relations for the political consulting firm Sterling Corporation. Nowling was previously press secretary for former Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema, deputy speechwriter for former Governor John Engler and he worked for former state Sen. Mike Rogers. But Livingston County residents might remember Nowling from when he briefly worked as a reporter for the then weekly newspapers the Brighton Argus and the Livingston County Press when he was between political jobs after moving to Michigan. That’s when I briefly met him when I took over the position at the newspaper he was vacating in 1998.

He got the job through his friend, then managing editor Buddy Moorehouse, who briefly had to quit his job after the newspaper went daily in order to run as a conservative Republican candidate for the 47th District seat in the state House in 2002. So much for the liberal media myth/strategy.

I came in contact again with Nowling around 2002 when I was covering politics for the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, and Nowling was working for a political consulting group called Persuasion, Inc. The Rogers camp claimed Nowling - who at the time was representing a large telecommunications company, At & T, I believe- tried to blackmail Rogers, now a U.S. Congressman. The Rogers people claim Nowling said if Rogers didn’t vote for a telecommunications bill the group’s client wanted passed there would be hundreds of the company’s employees picketing in his office the next day. Now, Nowling claims it never happened, and he says he and Rogers are now buddies. But the Rogers people sure made a big deal out of it at the time. Either Nowling is lying or Rogers Press Secretary Sylvia Warner, who I have a lot of respect for, was lying gin 2002.

The release said he will “head up the party’s communications and research efforts through the 2008 election cycle.” That fact, coupled with the recent GOP poll tax that requires showing a photo ID to vote, it will be an interesting election, and we will have to be especially vigilant for dirty tricks, voter intimidation and fraud.

South Carolina county GOP chair pulls an Anuzis

Spartanburg County Republican Committee Chair Rick Beltram pulled a Saul Anuzis when he tried to exclude Republican Presidential Candidate Ron Paul from all party functions in the South Carolina county, and, like Anuzis, Beltram was forced last week to extend a personal invitation to the conservative candidate.

What was Paul’s crime that he was excluded from the small, narrow tent known as the Republic Party? He dared to question the government, its foreign policy and its failed policies in the deadly occupation and civil war in Iraq. Funny, I always thought that’s what the Founding Fathers based the Constitution and government on.

According to the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, Congressman Paul said at the GOP debate in Columbia this year that American intervention in foreign affairs as far back as 1953 was, in part, a catalyst for the 9/11 attacks. Again, it’s funny that any criticism of the government translates to hating and blaming America for Republicans. Saying it was a reason or contributed to it in no way means it was correct, it was the proper response or the innocent people who died in the attack asked for it. Beltram, apparently, decided to boycott Paul from any future county party events. "He can stay home," Beltram told the Herald-Journal, who for months held that this county would welcome all Republican candidates. "Well, the door's closed for him."

According to Ron Paul’s campaign blog, Paul supporters flooded Beltram’s phone lines (864-542-1992) and email inbox (rick.beltram@intedge.com) with protests, and that led Beltram to extend a personal invitation with a very condescending and snotty note. The note invited him to a question and answer forum and a meet and greet before Aug. 15 “to convince us that have incorrect information about Dr. Paul's political platform.” I have no idea why Paul has to convince or prove anything to Beltram. It seems to me Paul has plenty of supporters without Beltram’s help, and isn’t the job of any party chair at any level during a primary simply to allow members the most access to candidates and get their views out to as many party members as possible so the best candidate can be chosen by the party members?

Following the same debate in May, Anuzis said he would circulate a petition among Republican National Committee members to ban Paul from more debates. However, the response was so overwhelming negative against Anuzis trying to censor Paul that it shut down his web site and email. Published reports said “party outcry was so great that it took a visit to Detroit by RNC chairman Mike Duncan to convince Michigan Republicans that Anuzis was still cut out to be their leader.” It also led Anuzis to issue a contrite but insincere letter on his unblog.

Michigan GOP should cancel subscription to Communist Party newspaper

You are probably not aware of this, but Republicans, at least some Republicans, are calling for the Governor to fire Andy Levin from his position as Deputy Director of the Department of Labor and Economic Growth for allegedly, at least according to the Republicans, calling companies and employers terrorists.

The reason you have not heard about this is because it’s not true, so no reputable mainstream media outlet is dumb among to reach the same ridiculous conclusion and pick up this non-story and you don’t read rightwing blogs. Republican Party Chair Saul Anuzis put a press release last month calling for Levin to be fired, posted it on his “blog” – if something that refuses to allow comments and feedback can be called a blog - and on a blog called right Michigan that’s a cheap rip-off of the Michigan Liberal. In fact, this guy apparently has nothing else to write about because he posts the came crap about Levin everyday. This guy is so petty he recently called the governor out for taking a lunch break and spending it with her teen-age daughter on her birthday. Can you get any more petty?

The offending passage came from the May 26 edition of the “People’s Weekly World,” which is the official newspaper of the U.S. Communist Party. I don’t read it, but apparently Anuzis does. I wonder why that is? The reporter was covering Biennial AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention, and this is the offending passage, in fact the only reference to Levin in the entire story.

“Levin, who worked in the national AFL-CIO’s organizing department for 10 years, said the only way to stop the “terror campaign” that companies initiate after workers vote to form a union is to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, which contains stiff penalties for such abuses.”

Can anyone please explain to me how they can reach that ridiculous conclusion from that? The dictionary defies terror as “violence or threats of violence used for intimidation or coercion.” That is exactly what companies do to keep unions out. If you don’t believe me I suggest Anuzis and the “right” Michigan kid visit the Michigan Historical Museum right there in downtown Lansing or get put of Lansing and visit the Monroe County Labor History Museum so they can read up on the Battle of the Overpass in Dearborn in May of l937, the Flint Sit-Down Strike in 1936 and the bloody battle to organize the Republic Steel plant in Monroe in 1935.

The Employee Free Choice Act tries to level the playing field that’s tilted so far in favor of the company. It would allow workers to organize a union free of an employer’s intimidation, free from fear of being fired and free from retaliation. The bill would allow employees at a worksite who want a union to simply sign a card clearly indicating support for a union. Companies pull out the stops when a union tries to organize to protect the employees. The employer is free to call mandatory meetings on company time to lie about the union, spread misinformation and makes threat when the union can only ask workers to attend organizing meetings as they speed out of the parking lot to get home, and the company also routinely fires organizers and those sympatric to unions.

What really bugs me is the people on “right” Michigan enjoyed the middle class upbringing their parents provided because of the surface and hard work of union members that created the middle class, and now they smear unions.

Anuzis apparently has a thing for Levin, the son of U.S. Rep. Sander Levin and the nephew of U.S. Sen.. Carl Levin. You may recall that Anuzis broke into and trespassed into Levin’s home last fall and with a welcome basket of Michigan products in a lame attempt to label Levin as a carpetbagger.

Levin grew up in Michigan and graduated from high school here. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts; a Masters degree from the University of Michigan’s Rackham Graduate School and a Law degree from Harvard University. He then organized union workers in Michigan before being transferred—first to Boston, then to Washington, D.C. Like many young people, he recently chose to return home to raise a family, doing exactly what the governor is trying to do: get the best and the brightest to stay in Michigan and have them come home. How does that make him a carpetbagger? While the governor is trying to stop the brain drain, we have people like Anuzis undermining the progress of the state with those kinds of stupid stunts and dirty tricks he has become known for.

Levin ran for state Senate in the 13th District in November where he narrowly lost. In January, the Governor appointed Levin as Deputy Director of the DLEG where he oversees workforce development, career education and other key programs.

Instead of firing him, I hope the governor promotes him, and he runs again for the senate in three more years.

Falwell and Coulter say U.S. deserved the 9/11 terrorist attacks

The recent passing of televangelist Jerry Falwell has right-wingers falling over themselves trying to whitewash his image and make him a saint. They have a lot of work to do. This is a man who perverted Christianity for his own narrow view of the world to further his discriminatory agenda. How he is any better than fellow televangelists Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Whittington or Ted Haggard.

His repugnant views on gays puts him in league with the likes of Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church. Quotes like this were his stock-in-trade, and his “moral majority” was far from it. In fact, you could change Falwell’s name for Phelps and no one would be the wiser.

“AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals”

His take on 9/11 was just as ugly:
“AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals” I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen.'"

It’s funny; Falwell blames the U.S. for 9/11, saying we caused it, but we hear nothing from the rightwing who goes off the deep end and calls people traitors, the “hate America first crowd” or cowards if anyone suggests the U.S. policy abroad is also to blame for the hatred of the U.S. But in the Republican Presidential debate earlier this week, Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul dared suggest that the U.S. policies over the past 50 years contributed to 9/11, and he was immediately blasted.

Republican Party Chair Saul Anuzis is calling for his exclusion from future debates and starting a petition among Republican National Committee members to expel him.
"I think Congressman Ron Paul was way off base and doesn't represent any of the Republican party base...let alone activists," Anuzis said on his “blog.” "I don't have a problem with his libertarian views, but blaming 9-11 on us (U.S.) was over the top."

Why not let the voters decide that, Saul? But the real whitewash comes from the biggest hatemonger ever, Ann Coulter in her weekly column. It amazes me that Coulter and Falwell can call themselves Christians, especially Coulter.

No man in the last century better illustrated Jesus' warning that "All men will hate you because of me" than the Rev. Jerry Falwell, who left this world on Tuesday. Separately, no man better illustrates my warning that it doesn't pay to be nice to liberals.
Falwell was a perfected Christian. He exuded Christian love for all men, hating sin while loving sinners. This is as opposed to liberals, who just love sinners. Like Christ ministering to prostitutes, Falwell regularly left the safe confines of his church to show up in such benighted venues as CNN.

How she could write that crap with a straight face tells you a lot abut this woman. “He exuded Christian love for all men” except those he disagreed with.

Coulter agrees with Falwell that the U.S. was to blame for the 9/11 attack, so why isn’t Anuzis denouncing her, too?

“First of all, I disagreed with that statement because Falwell neglected to specifically include Teddy Kennedy and "the Reverend" Barry Lynn.”

The rest of the article is just more gay bashing, but the interesting thing is she wants to go back to the ‘50s. “There have always been gay people — even in the prelapsarian '50s that Jerry Falwell and I would like to return to, when God protected America from everything but ourselves.”

When it was OK to beat up, call them "fags” and discriminate against gays? I’ll bet African-Americans in the south who were not allowed to vote, drink from the same water fountain, go the same schools or expect police protection want to go back to that time, but Coulter’s past quotes have illustrated she wants to go back to Jim Crow.

Agents Maxwell Smart and Austin Powers in charge of Senate Republicans secret budget plan

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

The power of the press rolls over GOP chair

Ah, the power of the press.
Just three days after a story appeared in the Midland Daily News where Michigan Republican Party Chair Saul Anuzis claimed the state GOP did not use any of the recorded computerized "robocalls” in the last election cycle that annoyed and angered so many voters Anuzis was forced to take back that fish tale.

However, the less than honest chairman did some serious tap dancing, and he claimed he “spoke too broadly,” it was a “mistake” and “too broad of a blanket statement.” How about, I lied?

Anuzis told the whopper before a friendly audience of Republicans at the annual Fourth District Republican Roundup in Clare last week, and the vigilant Communications Team at the Michigan Democratic Party quickly picked up on it, and it sent out a press release on Jan. 17 citing links and references where Anuzis not only admitted using the calls but bragged about using them.

With MDP chair Mark Brewer armed with campaign finance reports actually showing the Michigan GOP paid for the robocalls Anuzis was forced to come clean. Good job to Communications Director Jason Moon for spotting the lie.

The Michigan Democratic Party points out Anuzis' whopper of a lie on robocalls

The Michigan Democratic Party called out Saul Anuzis, chair of the Michigan Republican Party, on the lie that the state GOP did not use any of the recorded, computerized "robocalls” in the last election cycle that annoyed and angered so many voters.

Anuzis told the whopper before a friendly audience of Republicans at annual Fourth District Republican Roundup in Clare last week, according to a Jan. 17 press release by the MDP. Unfortunately for Anuzis, there was also a reporter from the Midland Daily News in attendance at the friendly pep rally.

Now, I know he’s lying because I actually received some of the calls from them. But, of coursed, I don’t expect anyone to believe me or the party, so the MPD provided sources and links to the instances where he admitted using robocalls. I checked them out, even the MIRS example, and the quote is in a story about the Michigan Youth Correctional Facility (MYCF) in Baldwin, “In the meantime, Michigan Republican Party (MRP) Chairman Saul ANUZIS is making robo-calls into the area that slam Gov. Jennifer GRANHOLM for closing the MYCF in the first place.”

It doesn’t surprise me at all that he lied, nor does it bother a whole lot. We have all come to expect that. What really caught my eye in the Midland Daily News story was a blurb that said his “Blog” “gets 300 to 500 hits a day.”

My first question is how can you call that a blog? Three’s no mechanism in place for feedback or comments, so in my book it’s not a blog. Stop calling it a blog, or allow comments.

You should be able to let people say, “hey, Communications Guru, You’re an idiot,” and believe me, running a liberal blog in Republican-dominated Livingston County I have been called that and a whole lot worse. You should be able to defend what you write, or don’t bother writing it. I try to respond to everyone who posts, no matter how vile, and I enjoy defending my position and hearing other viewpoints.

It doesn’t even bother me that much to be insulted, although I did take offense to a recent commenter on a rightwing blog where I was called a “gutless, spineless, little anti-war pussy” who is responsible for troops dying in Iraq, and he used my real name. It led to one of the most embarrassing situations in my life.

But that’s another story, and I will relate it soon when my embarrassment subsides a bit.

That’s all, folks.

Ward will lose clout after Democratic House takeover, Duh

Although the tidal wave - or tsunami that state GOP chair Saul Anuzis called it - of anti- Republican sentiment managed to bypass Livingston County without getting any one wet, there is some good news. House Majority Floor Leader Chris Ward will now be the minority floor leader. The Brighton Republican's arrogance, rudeness and attitude completely soured the atmosphere in Lansing between the two parties, and his move to the sidelines will be a major plus for Michigan.

The bitterness and acrimony caused by Ward was so bad that you may recall an incident in June when Democratic Floor Leader Mary Waters of Detroit said she was trying to see the bills on the rostrum because Republicans, who hold a majority in the House, won't give Democrats a daily agenda when she was wrongly physically blocked from doing so by a House sergeant.

The story in the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus today does not even scratch the surface by not going into how the Republicans completely shut out the Democrats from getting any bills out of committee and onto the floor, especially the Democrats they had targeted for defeat in the last election by putting politics over solving our state's problems, like Rep. Kathy Angerer after she unseated an incumbent Republican.

Let’s hope the Democrats don’t stoop to the level of the Republicans, but it will take a lot of will power not to do so after the Republican arrogance of the last 12 years.

By Dan Meisler DAILY PRESS & ARGUS
Lansing was swept up in the Democratic electoral sweep on Tuesday, handing the state House of Representatives to the Democrats. That leaves the Republican-controlled Senate as the remaining check on Democratic power in the House and governor's office.
After Tuesday's election, the Democrats went from having a six-vote deficit and three unfilled seats to gaining a 58-52 majority.
The GOP's loss of power means that Livingston County's two representatives, Chris Ward of Brighton Township and Joe Hune of Hamburg Township, stand to lose considerable clout.
In the age of term limits, Ward worked himself up to the position of House majority floor leader at the tender age of 32. Now, with the Democrats taking over, Ward will spend the final two years of his career in the state House in the minority.
As majority floor leader, Ward worked with Speaker Craig DeRoche, R-Novi, to decide what legislation to move and when to move it. But when the new batch of lawmakers is sworn in January, Ward and the rest of the Republicans will be on the sidelines when those decisions are being made.
Hune chaired the House Insurance Committee, but will be relieved of that duty under Democratic control.
Neither Ward nor Hune could be reached for comment.
In the Senate, Republicans lost one seat in the 38-member chamber, leaving 21 GOP lawmakers.