Lies, Continual and Not Unexpected

In my state of Michigan, the feeling was that the grassroots were rising up for good reason.  We had been under the strictest COVID protocols by a Governor who exercised power with 192 medical edicts, who flouted the law and had to be reigned in by the feckless Michigan Supreme Court and a petition to limit the length a Michigan governor could declare an emergency.  The 4th amendment was suspended when we were ordered to remain in our homes and where we could go to transact commerce.  You couldn’t go fishing.  Planting a garden was considered dangerous.  Michigan had one of the worst recovery performances in the United States, the economy has floundered as we lost nearly 82,000 jobs.  We also had a scandal where the Michigan Unemployment Agency “lost” 8.5 billion in fraud.  

Who could lose to that?

We did, resoundingly.  Establishment Republicans are spinning this as my fault.  You see, no one wants to conduct business in a state that wants to ensure, unequivocally, that elections are safe and sound.  No one wants to hear that about abortion being murder and the actual statistics of pregnancy resulting from incest, no one wants to hear about Gov Whitmer’s tyrannical tactics of throwing people in jail who needed to run their businesses during COVID.  Our Attorney General favored an invasive species over 10000 citizens of Midland, but that’s not an issue you can run on and win.  

Forgive my sarcasm, but I am simply stunned. The Democrats and Whitmer fostered anything BUT a climate favorable to business, I’ve been conducting business as a software developer and entrepreneur in Michigan for over 30 years. I have worked at a directory level for a publicly traded company, worked directly with C – level executives effectively for years. We do not have an environment conducive to business now and Gretchen Whitmer took every step to destroy our lives and ability to conduct business during the scam-demic.

What puzzles me is that my peers have been transformed into people whom I no longer recognize. MIGOP claims that bulwark donation sources refused to give money because our candidates discussed fraud. There is overwhelming evidence of fraud, election fraud, COVID fraud, and unemployment fraud. Had the Republican been serious they would have picked one of these issues, hammered it with the donors and instilled a sense of confidence, they would have won.

But perhaps I overestimate my peers. Maybe self reliance – a prerequisite in my book – is no longer vital for business where you want to beg your Governor to give a tax break while you send jobs overseas. Perhaps 1- 1.5% growth is good enough when you remain on top and let domestic and foreign interests dismantle our ability to produce and maintain a healthy economy while your pockets are filled and ego stroked. I can’t say I understand why they have lost their sense of independence, but after my county, home to Motor City and the tradition of the auto industry, voted to ask the World Economic Forum to advise on how to build the Smart Cities of the future I can only conclude that our fierce independence and know how has evaporated.

Scarier though is the realization that these same peers also applaud the woke corporate culture that seeks to enforce all of our behavior. Is that the price I must pay for them to remain in the limelight and retain Linked In rock star status? Like princely trust fund kids, men like Mike Shirkey and others who worked for GM then went into government at the state levels, don’t like rolling up their sleeves. They want tax breaks that others don’t receive. They favor pedigree, not ability.

I close with this: what is it that the grassroots offers to people that so threatens those who pay lip service to government remaining in check? You know this answer. You need to speak those words like I do. We all do – going “Purple” to reach the Blue will hasten our fall. Look at what it got Michigan.