Comments on: Article: Republicans don’t want Michigan voters to vote from foreclosed homes

By: Laura Wilamowski

Laura Wilamowski — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:32:21 +0000

10 Cheers for Cecelia, under reply #5. I DITTO every sentiment. Macomb Co politics and backwards ultra conservative Republican-eliteism is killing our community! I was raised here and now live here but, I also lived in Europe and CA. I’ve travelled extensively. Coming back to MI is culture-shock. The narrow-mindedness, the stereotyping, the all-out discrimininatory attitude and lack of tolerance for anything but a Republican viewpoint, the top-down management style, is not conducive to advancing the human spirit. Only when the “powers to be” get their heads out of the sand, and live from tolerance, acceptance, mutual respect for all people of all walks of life, and stop living from self-righteousness and fear, will our area change. Read “A New Earth” for starters. The proverbial Glass Ceiling is so low here…….we need to come from inclusion, not exclusion. We need to embrace each other and empower our strengths, not use differences and ignorance to divide. I quote, “The state of the world is a reflection of our state of mind.” If our area embraced a more open, accepting, worldly philosophical view based on hope and pursuing our natural, individual potentials, aand drop the knee-jerk reaction to being afraid of “different” people and beliefs, all of us would benefit. Our area could be a leader, an example to the world. Small-mindedness yields small-minded goals. As another quote states, “In the East they contemplate the forest. In the West they count the trees.” Let’s start contemplating the forest.

By: Zhana

Zhana — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 20:19:30 +0000

Before you know it, they’ll want to bring back poll taxes and literacy tests, too. White male landowners for the win!

Moving out of this country is looking better and better every day.

By: uppitybrownwoman

uppitybrownwoman — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 22:29:44 +0000

Thanks for the information + link, Cecilia!

By: Cecelia

Cecelia — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 22:17:04 +0000

Just wanted to give everyone more of the facts here…

“At the open hearing held on October 24, attended by several Macomb County NOW members, President Diane Russell pointed out in a statement supporting the measure as an appropriate first step to bring county employees above the poverty level, that the poverty rate is highest for families headed by single women and that a report recently released by the Michigan Women’s Commission showed that women in Macomb County earn 62.55 cents for every dollar earned by men. This rate is below the rate for Michigan which is 67 cents, and significantly below the national average of 76 cents.”

Source: http://www.michnow.org/public_html/news.htm

UppityBrownWoman-There are tons of people dedicated to dividing the population but I don’t want to chalk it up to say that everyone is out there to divide. There are people who are really hard at work to unite city/suburb, rich/poor, black/white, lower/middle/upper class and so on.

By: uppitybrownwoman

uppitybrownwoman — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 20:32:46 +0000

Seriously, Lisa, what with McCain’s latest desire to have the US Constitution read as it was written by the Founding Fathers… I still can’t believe people support him.

Thanks for the link, ProgressiveReb!

Cecilia, I had no idea about the pay ratio! I knew that Michigan had one of the highest unemployment rates in the US, but it’s disheartening to find out that so many people are dedicated to dividing the population in Michigan… :(

By: Cecelia

Cecelia — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 17:14:16 +0000

I live in Michigan and I can tell you that Macomb County is a very conservative cookie cutter auto industry town. It has the lowest pay ratio women/men where women make .67 cents to the mans dollar there!! I am not surprised that a place like Macomb County would do this. Michigan and Metro Detroit (Macomb is in Metro Detroit) have some of the highest foreclosures in the nation. Also, because Metropolitan Detroit is so very divided by race, class and gender – this county only perpetuates that. You know the NIMBY (not in my back yard) saying, well Macomb County has this stigma hanging over their heads very much so. They continue to perpetuate the divisional consciousness in this metropolitan region by doing something like this. This is why the region is not as vibrant as many other metro areas in the USA. Then Michigan’s economy is the worst in the nation. Metro Detroit’s unemployment rate is around 9% while the City of Detroit’s unemployment is around 16%. If Michigan is to be healthy Detroit and the Metro area need to be healthy. When I read about something like this I am saddened to know that there are people out there who want to keep dividing this region.

By: ProgressiveReb

ProgressiveReb — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 15:45:20 +0000

This is outrageous. And if it happens in Michigan, it will certainly happen in other states. We must fight back. Progressive Future has a great action page posted where you can write to Michigan's Secretary of State, Terri Lynne Land, and tell her that this kind of interference with the basic right to vote is unacceptable, and that you expect her to say so—publicly. Just click here.

By: belledame222

belledame222 — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 07:09:15 +0000

jesus fuck. -spits- yeah, they’ll try anything they can get away with.

By: Lisa Harney

Lisa Harney — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 06:48:55 +0000

And I’m serious – the right to vote is supposed to be a foundational right (although it wasn’t, obviously). Exploiting the law to take that right away needs to stop.

By: Lisa Harney

Lisa Harney — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 06:29:46 +0000

Oh, god. I’m just expecting a virtual conflagration of this bullshit this year. Trying to disenfranchise people for frivolous reasons should be a felony.

They’re gearing up to steal the election again.