In 100 words or less...

The Michigan Supreme Court defied the will of the people. Justices Taylor, Corrigan and Young agreed with the Court of Appeals while Justices Markman, Cavanaugh and Weaver said the the proposal was too complex to distill into 100 words or less. The disgusting decision ignores that complex issues are constantly distilled into short summaries, from history class (The Civil War was primarily a war over the right to own slaves but also one of state rights versus centralized federal government) to literature (Romeo and Juliet is the tale of two star-crossed lovers from warring families who engage in a doomed romance).

By the way, just for the fun of it I made the above paragraph exactly 100 words. Because of the Court of Appeals decision to create an absurd rational (which could in theory be used to strike down any ballot proposal in the future) to overturn the will of 415,000 valid signatures from Michigan voters partly based on the law of a completely different state, we now have to hold our breath and wait for the glorious Constitutional Convention we've been promised would come and save us from ourselves.

The Con Con (a double con, so to speak) will be made up of the very people who would have been negatively affected by the Reform Michigan Government Now initiative, just as the courts who struck it down were as well, so it would take a real dunce to expect real reform. What we will likely get is a couple of bones thrown out to keep the wolves at bay and the assembled brain trust will go back to their day jobs, continuing to ruin state government and put up road blocks in the way of progress in Michigan.

The politicians and special interests will manage to kick the can a little farther down the road, but the people of this state and this nation are slowly waking up to the destruction done to our democracy by the wealthy elite. Michigan government is dominated by the Mackinac Center's ruling class and the Michigan Chamber of Commerce which screws its own small business members by supporting policies that help China and Wal-Mart while destroying Main Street and small towns. The Republican Party will continue it's quest to dismantle any form of social safety net, public education, sensible health care reform that doesn't line the pockets of insurance companies and will continue to blame the Democrats for it.

The 70% of people of voters who said they would approve the Reform Michigan Government Now proposal should do well to remember exactly who stood in the way of letting them vote on this and understand why they did it. History has proven that when the people want change, the ruling class will do whatever it takes to stop them. It says something that the Michigan Chamber of Commerce fought so hard to prevent a series of reforms which had NOTHING to do with "small business" or economic policies. It says something that the corporate-owned media of Michigan relentlessly repeated Saul Anuzis' lies and spin. It says something that the powers-that-be could not let a reform effort backed by nearly half a million voters even get to the ballot. It says something, and it doesn't even take 100 words- Michigan voters are demanding change the politicians and power brokers who stand in their way will soon face their wrath.

One last note to the media: From now on, will you follow the same standard with every other reform proposal and allege that you know who wrote and funded it even when you don't? Will you dismiss any ballot measure because it comes from somewhere other than exactly down the middle of the road? Will you actively work to destroy any ballot measure than either side of the political spectrum alleges will favor the other?