ACHTUNG: The following is not a “fair and balanced” article. It is an editorial by the editor.
Last week Townbroadcast examined GOP primary election candidates for state representative in the 43rd and 79th districts. This week, it’s the state senate candidates’ turn for the 18th and 20th districts.
Three Republicans are competing in the Aug. 2 primary in the 20th District and two will vie for the same post in the 18th. And pretty much the same as the state rep. races, I think they’re all bozos on this bus.
I made an exception for Rachelle Smit in the 43rd state rep. race because she’s been a creditable Martin Township Clerk. I’ll do the same for Ryan Mancellini in the 18th District, but I fear that, “eer, he’s got no chance!”
Mancellini gets my nod, for what it’s worth, because he recognizes that something needs to be done soon about climate change, an issue the GOP continues to laugh off and ignore. He also has indicated he’s sick and tired of the failed War on Drugs.
But his opponent, Thomas Albert, has been in Lansing for the last six years as a state representative and seems to have a huge advantage with name recognition and fund-raising. Albert is a classic GOP legislator, opposing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at almost every turn.
The odds-on favorite for the 20th District is incumbent Aric Nesbitt, who cleaned Allegan County Clerk Bob Genetski’s clock four years ago after announcing he is a supporter of Donald Trump.
It’s depressing that so many Republican candidates declare they worship at the altar of Trump, and talk a lot about non-issues such as Critical Race Theory and government overreach (except on abortion). Trump apparently still has an iron grip on this party. It’s a damn shame because he was the architect and ringleader of a failed attempt to overthrow the United States government. And he still has many disciples in West Michigan.
The other two candidates, like Mancinelli, have about as much chance of winning as do the Detroit Tigers the World Series this fall. They are Austin Kreutz, a pastor who wants to establish a theocracy, and Kaleb Hudson, who looks like he just won an election for student council.
The issues? They don’t matter. The winner will be whoever genuflects best at Trump’s altar.
The gubernatorial primary race among five Republican bozos has become even more troubling. It’s gotten so bad they’re tuning on one another over who likes Trump the most or least. And Ryan Kelley, the guy who was arrested at the nation’s capital, has taken classless and misleading political advertising to new heights with his cherry-picked evidence that somehow the governor, whom he calls “Insurrection Gretchen,” led a ruckus, which she did as a state senator, in opposition to the hastily rammed through Right to Work law by lame-duck politicians.
There is a huge difference between violently trying to overthrow the government and leading a protest protected by the First Amendment. But Kelley is counting on prospective voters not to know or care.
I repeat, they’re all bozos on this bus. I’ll stick my neck out and predict that Tudor Dixon, with financial support from the House of DeVos, will win Aug. 2 and set up the first governor’s race between two women.
Otherwise, there will be a couple of millage propositions on the ballot. The most important is the Wayland school bond, which I support. I also back the Martin Township Fire Department and Yankee Springs Fire Department millage renewals.
And I recommend a “yes” to Yankee Springs Township residents approving coverage by the Henika Library in Wayland. There are 1,800 residents without full library services in the township, which are also located in Wayland school system. Residents have been working for many years to achieve these services and finally the voters can decide on the Aug. 2 ballot with a proposal to increase the local tax levy by up to 1.5 mills.
A message to all those voting in the Republican primary. Your candidate, if he or she wins Aug. 2, likely will win in November. So it matters now.
Editor,
Why when your back is against the wall, you and your liberal progressive friends resort to name calling? I expect better than that from the local editor.
Cheers!!
Mr. Young, maybe you can get the addresses of the thin skin Trumpets, and send them a box of tissues.
Skoal!
” Trump apparently still has an iron grip on this party. It’s a damn shame because he was the architect and ringleader of a failed attempt to overthrow the United States government. ”
Dave, if you really believe that claptrap, you are not as intelligent as I once thought. Watching a one sided narrative, without the other side getting a chance to cross examine or question, selecttive and out of context videos and most of the testimony being hearsay and opinion, is not proof of any of the claims that Trump tried to overthrow the government. And you a journalist? Seems you are more a partisan hack, than journalist.
Still love you though. You are like a long lost brother to me, still and even though we have different viewpoints on many issues.
Wow! Hearsay and video context right out of the Trump playbook. If I’m not mistaken, all of these witnesses are either Trump appointees or Trump staff members, not one of them is a Democrat or liberal, but hard core Republicans, true patriots of the United States. And to suggest that because loudmouth Jim Jordan or other trash talking jack asses weren’t allowed to cross examine is a joke. Like Ms. Cheney said, don’t believe that these people would have folded like wilted flowers just because they were on the panel. But I guess when you’re ready to give up on democracy and are willing to live in a oligarchy, you better wake the hell up and pay attention to what’s taking place down in Maralago. But for me, I’m sticking with democracy.
So Dave, how is the current administration in Washington working for you? Are you wishing for more of this on a state level? I honestly hope you wake-up and smell the coffee…..while you can still afford it.
Farmboy, if you think the President is in control of the economy, you need an IQ test. If that was the case, according to the GOP, under Trump we would all be millionaires. Wake up and Smell the stink of Trump before it’s too late!
Mr. Longstreet,
My IQ is just fine, thank you for your concern. My concern for you is you might want to have your eyes checked if you can no longer see what gasoline, groceries, a trip to your favorite restaurant, etc., is now costing you compared to only two years ago. Now explain to me how the current administration bears no fault in any of this.
Mmmmm, smell that coffee!
Folks like Just an ol farmboy and GOP/Trump fanboy Wilkens long for the good old days of GOP style fiscally conservative policies like farm bailouts that were more than double of the auto bailouts they decried as “socialism”.
They long for The Tax Act of 2017 that was followed by record setting deficits because of the severe cuts to Federal revenue causing then Treasury Secretary to go to Congress months later requesting an INCREASE to the Federal debt limit so the Federal government could pay for its obligations including military pay, military pensions, home loan guarantees. Beginning in 2021 those making less than $75K/year are seeing will see annual tax increases that started last year and run through 2027.
Most importantly, every GOP candidate running for office wanted to or got endorsed by former President Trump. The first sitting US President in the history of our country’s 58 Presidential elections with an incumbent to attempt a coup. He went to The Ellipse to incite supporters who bought into The Big Lie. They went on to attack Capital Police guarding the US Capital and gained access by force. We’ve learned some of the VP’s Secret Service detail texted family thinking they might not survive the mob. All in an attempt to circumvent Vice President Mike Pence from certifying the results of the 2020 general election.
The slate of candidates running in the GOP primaries and those who win think it’s important to be aligned with the first sitting US President in 58 Presidential elections to attempt to act like they really didn’t lose. It was an attempted coup. An attempted violent overthrow to prevent the incoming administration. They are politically amoral. They are all election deniers including Representative Huizenga, every GOP state wide candidate along with GOP state senate and state representative candidates. They tacitly approve of former President Trump’s attempt to stay in office.
If you vote for a Trump endorsed candidates or a Trump supporter who wanted to but didn’t get to kiss the ring, it’s a de facto vote for authoritarian government that only accepts election results if their slate of candidates win. Some may think that’s wonderful until the authoritarians they voted for refuse to accept they lose in upcoming election rendering all voting worthless.
Farmboy, most fossil fuel companies are run by GOP owners. They found a way to rape the American people with someone else to blame. With fuel prices rising, so does every thing else. People like you eat this right up. Next thing you will tell me is Biden took your pew at church. Mmmm, smell that Trump back side
Excellent points, Mr Longstreet and Couchman. I wish we were keeping score — good guys 100, brainwashed 0. Why don’t they ask themselves why this cycle continues to happen? And how come their party has never fixed it?
Mr. Longstreet,
So you want me to believe that cancelling the Key Stone pipe line did not have an effect on current gas prices? What about the canceled leases on public land for drilling? Now it is good policy to go crawling to terrorists central (the middle east) for oil to save ol’ Joe’s butt and the midterms when 3 years ago the good ol’ USA was energy independent and exporting oil? Also while we export to our enemies from our national critical reserve? I did not agree with that one but the point is we were free of foreign oil. I surely hope you are not drinking the “green new deal kool-aid” because it is a proven unsustainable heep of manure. Now also Dennis don’t try to make me believe that ALL oil executives belong to the GOP. I am sure a good many Dem’s have reaped the financial benefit’s of the oil industry one way or another including Dem politicians.
Couchman,
I have never once voted straight ticket for anybody nor do I currently wholeheartedly support Mr. Trump. I feel he went to Washington with good intentions and had an up hill battle all the way because he vowed to “drain the swamp” and the members of the swamp didn’t want their cushy, stinky, profitable little swamp drained. He came right out and said it and did his best to do it. He didn’t sneak around doing it, he attacked it head on. Now let’s discuss the Russian collusion issue if you want to see swamp action at it’s best, a small example in my opinion.
So that being said I take offense to being lumped into any specific catagory, I do my homework and vote my conscience not my total hatred for any particular party issue or individual as I know for a fact many people did in 2020. They told me so themselves.
Just sayin’
Here’s everything you need to know about the historic KXL fight–and why the pipeline’s cancellation has had no impact on current oil prices.
What Is Keystone XL?
The Keystone XL pipeline extension, proposed by TC Energy (then TransCanada) in 2008, was initially designed to transport the planet’s dirtiest fossil fuel, tar sands oil, to market—and fast. As an expansion of the company’s existing Keystone Pipeline System, which has been operating since 2010 (and continues to send Canadian tar sands crude oil from Alberta to various processing hubs in the middle of the United States), the pipeline promised to dramatically increase capacity to process the 168 billion barrels of crude oil locked up under Canada’s boreal forest. It was expected to transport 830,000 barrels of Alberta tar sands oil per day to refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas. From the refineries, the oil would be sent chiefly overseas—not to gasoline pumps in the United States.
Some three million miles of oil and gas pipelines already run through our country, but KXL wasn’t your average pipeline, and tar sands oil isn’t your average crude. It’s derived from a sludgy, sticky deposit found beneath the wilds of northern Alberta’s boreal forest. These sands contain bitumen, a gooey type of petroleum that can be converted into fuel. It’s no small feat extracting oil from tar sands, and doing so comes with steep environmental and economic costs. Nevertheless, in the mid-2000s, with gas prices on the rise, oil companies ramped up production and sought additional ways to move their product from Canada’s remote tar sands fields to midwestern and Gulf Coast refineries.
Mr farm boy I would suggest you go back and do some more studying because you got a F on this paper it was full of hogwash.So please quit drinking the swill. And by the way the keystone pipeline is already here it was the XL part that was cancelled also Canada is a “FOREIGN COUNTRY”
This is from the NRDC.
Dirty energy lobbyists claimed developing tar sands would protect our national energy security and bring U.S. fuel prices down. But environmental reviews by both the Obama and Trump administrations concluded that the Keystone XL pipeline would not have lowered gasoline prices. NRDC and its partners also found the majority of Keystone XL oil would have been sent to markets overseas—aided by a 2015 reversal of a ban on crude oil exports.
This lines up with an industry trend: Oil and gas companies are exporting 8.4 million barrels of crude oil and refined fuels every single day. That’s up nearly threefold from a decade ago, and an amount equal to 42 percent of our consumption. And these exports are more than 10 times the capacity of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.
Keystone XL Pipeline Environmental Impact
Leaks and the pipeline
Tar sands oil is thicker, more acidic, and more corrosive than lighter conventional crude, and this ups the likelihood that a pipeline carrying it will leak. Indeed, one study found that between 2007 and 2010, pipelines moving tar sands oil in Midwestern states spilled three times more per mile than the U.S. national average for pipelines carrying conventional crude. Since it first went into operation in 2010, TC Energy’s original Keystone Pipeline System has leaked more than a dozen times; one incident in North Dakota sent a 60-foot, 21,000-gallon geyser of tar sands oil spewing into the air. Less than two years before the project was finally pulled, the Keystone tar sands pipeline was temporarily shut down after a spill in North Dakota of reportedly more than 378,000 gallons in late October 2019. And the risk that Keystone XL would have spilled was heightened because of the extended time the pipe segments were left sitting outside in stockpiles. “A study published in early 2020, co-authored by TC Energy’s own scientists, found that the anti-corrosion coating on the project’s pipes was damaged from being stored outside and exposed to the elements for the last decade,” notes NRDC senior attorney Jaclyn Prange, who spent years working on KXL litigation.
EPA staff perform oil and sediment sampling near Battle Creek, Michigan, after the Kalamazoo spill.
U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Second Class Lauren Jorgensen
Complicating matters, leaks can be difficult to detect. And when tar sands oil does spill, it’s more difficult to clean up than conventional crude because it immediately sinks to the bottom of the waterway. People and wildlife coming into contact with tar sands oil are exposed to toxic chemicals, and rivers and wetland environments are at particular risk from a spill. (For evidence, note the 2010 tar sands oil spill in Kalamazoo River, Michigan, a disaster that cost Enbridge more than a billion dollars in cleanup fees and took six years to settle in court.) Keystone XL would have crossed agriculturally important and environmentally sensitive areas, including hundreds of rivers, streams, aquifers, and water bodies. One was Nebraska’s Ogallala Aquifer, which provides drinking water for millions as well as 30 percent of America’s irrigation water. A spill would have been devastating to the farms, ranches, and communities that depend on these crucial ecosystems. Even worse, building Keystone XL would have meant enduring those risks just to send the fuel to our overseas rivals—and the profits to Big Oil.
What is tar sands oil?
All facets of the tar sands industry pose a threat to the environment. Its mines are a blight on Canada’s boreal, where mining operations dig up and flatten forests to access the oil below, destroying wildlife habitat and one of the world’s largest carbon sinks. The mining depletes and pollutes freshwater resources, creates massive ponds of toxic waste, and threatens the health and livelihood of the First Nations people who live near them. Refining the sticky black gunk produces piles of petroleum coke, a hazardous, coal-like by-product. What’s more, the whole process of getting the oil out and making it usable creates three to four times the carbon pollution of conventional crude extraction and processing. “This isn’t your grandfather’s typical oil,” says Anthony Swift, director of NRDC’s Canada project. “It’s nasty stuff.”
Keystone XL and climate change
A fully realized Keystone XL would have led to more mining of that “nasty stuff” by accelerating the pace at which it’s produced and transported. (Indeed, Keystone XL was viewed as an essential ingredient in the oil industry’s plans to triple tar sands production by 2030.)
Keystone XL Pipeline Controversy and False Claims
Opposition to Keystone XL centered on the devastating environmental consequences of the project. The pipeline faced more than a decade of sustained protests from environmental activists and organizations; Indigenous communities; religious leaders; and the farmers, ranchers, and business owners along its proposed route. One such protest, a historic act of civil disobedience outside the White House in August 2011, resulted in the arrest of more than 1,200 demonstrators. “This is not a pipeline to America,” said the late civil rights activist Julian Bond, among the many arrested. “It’s a pipeline through America, and it threatens to be a disaster for us if it leaks poisons on the way.” Leading scientists and economists came out in opposition to the project, in addition to unions and world leaders such as the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and former president Jimmy Carter (together, these and other Nobel laureates have written letters against the project). In 2014, more than two million comments urging a rejection of the pipeline were submitted to the U.S. Department of State during a 30-day public comment period.
But the groundswell of public protest was up against a formidable opponent–hundreds of millions spent on lobbying by the fossil fuel industry. In the two years leading up to the November 2014 midterm elections, the fossil fuel industry spent more than $721 million to court allies in Congress. When industry-friendly politicians took charge of both congressional houses in January 2015, their first order of business was to pass a bill to speed up approval of Keystone XL. (That effort failed.) Later, fossil fuel companies funnelled millions into Trump’s 2017 inauguration ceremony, days after which he brought the Keystone XL project back from the dead, and ramped up federal lobbying efforts in the first months of his administration.
The industry also falsely claimed that the pipeline would be a big source of jobs.
When TC Energy said the pipeline would create nearly 119,000 jobs, a State Department report instead concluded the project would require fewer than 2,000 two-year construction jobs and that the number of full-time, permanent jobs would hover around 35 after construction.
Didnt do your homework on this one did ya Farm boy. We have never been free of foreign oil!!
Damn funny stuff. Thanks for the chuckle. If the Republicans are bozos, what are the Demoncrats? Role models for decadence?
Yes DAVID”Bwa ha ha ha” 😈