Living with Republicans and Republican Politics

For twenty-something years, I was in Livingston County and living with Republicans and Republican politics. It is not easy being a Democrat there. If it was not for the stupid things many Republican constituents say, it would have been downright difficult if they had a brain. They kept pitching down the center with their remarks and I kept hitting homeruns on Facebook and in replies locally.

Some background;

Livingston County population makeup is 96.4% White. It is also the richest, or one of the richest counties in Michigan. The rest of the county population make up consists of minorities of which less than 1% is African Americans.

When there were issues with police interactions with Black citizens, the local newspaper asked the county population what they thought. Did similar issues occur in their communities? How did police react, etc.? In pointing out the county demographics to the editor, I suggested he should find a Black resident and ask. That is, if he could find a local Black resident given the scarcity. The editorial comment disappeared.

The Politics;

Livingston County is the home base for Michigan State Senator Lana Theis. Lana will be competing in an upcoming primary to select a candidate. Opposing Theis in the primary is car salesman Mike Detmer. Mike is a gem of a Michigan Republican. He attended an Operation Lockdown/pro-Trump rally in Lansing with the Proud Boys in 2020. In his last primary to become a US House Representative, he lost, and then refused to support the primary wining Republican. Republican Junge lost to Elissa Slotkin.

Laying a foundation for what is to come next.

As stated, the State Senator Lana Theis represents Livingston County. A week ago, (Wednesday [13th]) in the beginning of a Senatorial session, she delivered the invocation.

Her prayer;

“Dear Lord, across the country we’re seeing in the news that our children are under attack. That there are forces that desire things for them other than what their parents would have them see and hear and know. Dear Lord, I pray for Your guidance in this chamber to protect the most vulnerable among us.”

Dem Senators took issue with the prayer and some walked out during the invocation. Lana was referring to Critical Race Theory in her prayer.

Republicans are in the majority in the Michigan, having been so for decades and especially in Livingston County. Much is due to gerrymandering which may go away due to redistricting by a citizen commission. Today and by their status, Republicans say whatever they want to say without fear of retribution.

It was not enough with just the prayer. Senator Theis decides to take it a step further in a fund-raising mailer. A mailer attacking Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow as a “groomer.” McMorrow was one of several senators walking out during Theis’s invocation.

Lana Theis’s mailer:

“Groomers outraged by my invocation.”

Last Thursday, I opened the Senate session with an invocation praying for our children’s safety. Several of my Democratic colleagues were so offended, they walked out!

Our children are under assault in our schools – the last place we should be worried about them.

Gender-bending indoctrination, confusing them about their identities

Exposure to inappropriate sexual content, stealing their innocence

Race-based education – Critical Race Theory – pitting children against each other

These are the people we are up against. Progressive social media trolls like Senator Mallory McMorrow (D-Snowflake) who are outraged they can’t teach can’t groom and sexualize kindergarteners or that 8-year olds are responsible for slavery.

They believe that we, as parents, do not have the right to help our children navigate their adolescence or their education. These enlightened elites believe our rights end at the curb of the school drop-off and we must surrender to the wisdom of teacher unions, trans-activists, and the education bureaucracy.

Not on my watch.

As Chair of the Senate Education Committee, I promise you that I will never back down from this fight.

– Fundraising email for Lana Theis

‘Accused me by name’ — Michigan Sen. McMorrow blasts striking claims by Education Committee Chair (wilx.com)

In the full story, Senator McMorrow wonders why the attack on her as well as others who walked out during the invocation. She comes to realize that even in the minority, she represents the opposition to Theis’s claim. A claim to represent marginalized children using an argument of parental rights as the basis if another parent says the claim is wrong.

The Rebuttal:

Addressing Senator Theis and Republicans, Senator Mallary McMorrow gave a seven hundred-and sixty-one-word straight to the point speech. Five minutes and using few words, Senator McMorrow delivers her rebuttal hitting them hard in answer to their divisive politics and lies.

Senator McMorrow;

I didn’t expect to wake up yesterday to the news that the senator from the 22nd district had, overnight, accused me by name of grooming and sexualizing children in an email, fundraising for herself. So I sat on it for a while wondering: Why me? And then I realized: Because I am the biggest threat to your hollow, hateful scheme. Because you can’t claim that you are targeting marginalized kids in the name of “parental rights” if another parent is standing up to say no.

So then what? Then you dehumanize and marginalize me. You say that I am one of them. You say: She’s a groomer. She supports pedophilia. She wants children to believe they were responsible for slavery and to feel bad about themselves because they’re white.

Well, here’s a little bit of background about who I really am: Growing up, my family was very active in our church. I sang in choir. My mom taught CCD. One day, our priest called a meeting with my mom and told her that she was not living up to the Church’s expectations, and that she was disappointing. My mom asked why. Among other reasons, she was told it was because she was divorced, and because the priest didn’t see her at mass every Sunday.

So where was my mom on Sundays? She was at the soup kitchen. With me.

My mom taught me at a very young age that Christianity and faith was about being part of a community, about recognizing our privilege and blessings and doing what we can to be of service to others—especially people who are marginalized, targeted, and who had less, often unfairly.

I learned that service was far more important than performative nonsense like being seen in the same pew every Sunday or writing “Christian” in your Twitter bio and using that as a shield to target and marginalize already-marginalized people.

I also stand on the shoulders of people like Father Ted Hesburgh, the longtime president of the University of Notre Dame, who was active in the Civil Rights movement, who recognized his power and privilege as a white man, a faith leader, and the head of an influential and well-respected institution, and who saw Black people in this country being targeted and discriminated against, and beaten, and reached out to lock arms with Dr. Martin Luther King when he was alive, when it was unpopular and risky, and marching alongside them to say, “We’ve got you,” to offer protection and service and allyship, to try to right the wrongs and fix injustice in the world.

So who am I?

I am a straight, white, Christian, married, suburban mom who knows that the very notion that learning about slavery or redlining or systemic racism somehow means that children are being taught to feel bad or hate themselves because they are white is absolute nonsense.

No child alive today is responsible for slavery. No one is this room is responsible for slavery. But each and every single one of us bears responsibility for writing the next chapter of history. Each and every single one of us decides what happens next, and how we respond to history and the world around us.

We are not responsible for the past and cannot change the past. We can’t pretend that it didn’t happen, or deny people their very right to exist.

I am a straight, white, Christian, married, suburban mom. I want my daughter to know she is loved, supported, and seen for whoever she becomes. And I want her to be curious, empathetic, and kind. People who are different are not the reason that our roads are in bad shape after decades of disinvestment, or that healthcare costs are too high, or that teachers are leaving the profession.

I want every child in this state to feel seen, heard, and supported, not marginalized and targeted because they are not straight, white, and Christian.

We cannot let hateful people tell you otherwise, to scapegoat and deflect from the fact that they’re not doing anything to fix the real issues that impact people’s lives.

And I know that hate will only win if people like me stand by and let it happen.

So I want to be very clear right now: Call me whatever you want. I hope you brought in a few dollars. I hope it made you sleep good last night.

I know who I am. I know what faith and service means—and what it calls for in this moment. We will not let hate win.

“Michigan lawmaker blasts GOP colleague’s Christian bigotry in viral speech” (onlysky.media)

I avoid Twitter. Everything I saw in Twitter was incomplete or snippets of McMorrow’s rebuttal. Or Twitter commenters were deciding what was important, and more important than the entire speech. Twitter was missing most of McMorrow’s speech.

This is one of the few times when I did not have to wonder why, a person or politician did not say more and get right to the point. Senator McMorrow, a State Senator said what needed to be said. I wish there were more Democratic politicians like Senator McMorrow who will talk more to the ugly politics brought on mostly since trump. We need them and we need them now.