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Saturday, April 23, 2011

Ground Zero for American Politics

April 23, 2011


I'm so rarely floored by political news anymore. But last night the following segment of the Rachel Maddow Show floored me. I knew the Republicans were out of control with their budget cuts and fiscal insanity, but this goes beyond anything I've heard so far.
Instead of raising taxes on the super-rich, Michigan Republicans are employing dictatorial powers -- dissolving local governments and selling off public facilities to private corporations, including, as you'll find out below, a public school for pregnant teens. This is tea party government in action. This is your pro-life party. They arrest pregnant teens and deprive them of a decent education -- instead of taxing the rich. Utterly disgusting.
Michigan should be the top story on every news show in the nation because it underscores what tea party Republican governing is all about.
E.D. Kain brings us the latest from the Republican dictatorship in Michigan where they're arresting pregnant teens for doing nothing more than defending their right to an education:
Detroit Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb announced last month that he was closing eight schools, and selling up to 45 more to charter companies. Among those slated for clsoure was the Catherine Ferguson Academy, a school designed for pregnant teens and the only one of its kind in the nation. One reason the announcement came as such a surprise to students and teachers there is that Catherine Ferguson has a stellar track record, boasting 90% graduation rates and 100% college acceptance rates.
Now, via Daily Kos, it appears that protesting teachers, teen mothers, and their children were arrested after staging a peaceful sit-in at the school protesting its closure...
We have to help Rachel make this a major national story. People have to know. As such, this will be the only post on the blog today in order to highlight its importance. I want everyone here to watch it and spread it around to everyone else. Facebook it. Tweet it. Email it. Digg it. Reddit it. Just go.

Posted by: Nicole473 at April 23, 2011 10:31 AM
This is unreal.I shared as requested because that's what's coming to TN. The severity may be less here b/c TN has been red and idiotically conservative for a long time already, but now that we're electing teabaggers into our state legislature, some of the things that have made TN a great place will go away. I'm hopeful we can watch Michigan and Wisconsin and use them as examples for what to avoid. I'm hopeful Tennesseans will wake up before it's too late and avoid this level of insanity. I'm doubtful we will not follow their footsteps, though.
Posted by: Camel54 at April 23, 2011 11:00 AM
Of course your non-troll readers care about this, but I'm afraid the majority of America falls into one of two categories on this.
1. People who simply do not pay attention to or care about what's going on in the 'hood (or much else in the world, for that matter).
2. Republicans who want to shut down every government entity that might send one of their tax dollars to a minority neighborhood.
Posted by: KenInCO at April 23, 2011 11:09 AM
I'm afraid the late, great George Carlin was right. The game is rigged and it's never going to get any better. He says it far better than I ever could.
Posted by: KenInCO at April 23, 2011 11:12 AM
@Ken
They should care. Michigan is LITERALLY being corporatized.
If Republicans in Michigan are successful in their efforts, and thus far, they have been VERY damn successful, the rest of the states under Republican control are next.
Dictatorships. No hyperbole. It is REAL.
Posted by: Nicole473 at April 23, 2011 11:14 AM
Democrats had controlled this region for decades.
What happened?
Posted by: LennyC at April 23, 2011 11:17 AM
This is republican politics at it's finest. Manufacture a crisis, in this case say the local government is disfunctional whether true or not and then bully anyone who disagrees with you into shutting up.
The real disfunction is in Washingtoon DC. But again the republicans have been manufacturing crisises since about 1992 when Clinton was elected. That was how Gingrich and Delay ran the House of Representatives.
Posted by: dildenusa at April 23, 2011 11:20 AM
Wrong, LennyC.
For decades, Michigan switches parties every 8 damn years. Prior to Granholm, before term limits, Michigan had a republican gov. (engler) for 12 years.
Exactly, dilden. Disaster capitalism.
Posted by: Nicole473 at April 23, 2011 11:26 AM
@Nicole, of course they should care. I wasn't arguing otherwise. I just saying most don't. Younger people are too busy playing video games and watching Jersey Shore or whatever crap is popular now. Older people have been brainwashed into actively supporting the teabagger agenda with religious zeal.
Remember that scene in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom where Indy is forced to drink the blood of the Kali Ma? I feel like a good portion of America is walking around in a trance like that. However, I'm doubtful that this wave of extreme crazy will be a strong enough fire to snap them out of it. Thanks to the right wing noise machine (and their own racist leanings in many cases), they are too far gone.
Posted by: KenInCO at April 23, 2011 11:31 AM
One thing that jumped out at me was Rachel's complaint/question asking "Is this how we practice Democracy now in America?" or similar.
Ask Obama and Pelosi and Herr Reid. Remember the President's signature "Healthcare" legislation? It includes all sorts of new commitees and panels who will have the power to create the rules and regulations that the legislation lacks. Not voted on, not debated.
Remember any of you who read Katrina Vanden Heuval (editor of the leading liberal Progressive magazine The Nation) when she pleaded with Obama in a column to bypass the legislature and use Executive powers to implement the progressive agenda, including EPA rules regarding Carbon emmissions, among other things?
What's happening in Detroit isn't just some sample of Tea Party mentality and Republican governing. Rachel conveniently, like she sometimes does, overlooked what's been happening at the federal level for at least the last two years apparently right under her nose.
I don't like it any more than anyone else, but don't pretend this is exclusively a Republican or Tea Party thing. It's a byproduct of what happens when an area goes through economic convulsions. Michigan is a poster child for how big powerful businesses collapse under their own weight and years of bad policy. Blaming it on Republican or Tea Party dirty tricks at this late date ignores the decades of incremental steps Michigan took in getting to where it is today. Jobs go, the revenue stream is reduced to a trickle, communities and many of the good things they once took for granted (which includes civility) die.
Posted by: nedp at April 23, 2011 7:24 PM
This video is minimal. The school should clearly be closed. First of all, there should not be a requirement to go to a college in order to graduate. College is not a measure of success. It may lead to success, but it itself is not success.
I think there is a lot more going on behind the scenes than this video portrays. The state has the ability to cut grants given to local governments. It is not clear why they stopped local elections, but perhaps the local government is bankrupt. Not sure, but there is more details that this video is not telling us.
If Michigan thinks it can raise taxes on the rich and corporations, it needs to rethink its strategy. Business will move out and more jobs will disappear. Which also means less tax revenue to pay for schools.
I'm not from Michigan. I do not feel sympathy for the state, government or schools. America does not guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of happiness through hard work. I am aware of many people who are successful and more than happy, who do not have a college degree.
It is interesting that immigrants aren't complaining and are more than pleased to cross the border for a greater opportunity.
The people who live here seemed to have lost track of the opportunity that exists. Instead they would rather complain about it and blame it on the rich.
This is a capitalistic country. Or it used to be before the Dems got involved. Capitalism bears little sympathy. If you don't like it, go somewhere else, and stop complaining. Please!
Posted by: George Bush III at April 23, 2011 8:00 PM


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