It hasn’t even been three months since the Aug. 8 primary election, and it seems as though the local political climate has gone from exciting with change in the air to almost boring and irrelevant with a sense of the status quo creeping back into things.
Perhaps the biggest development has been the collapse of the Barry Democratic Party into virtual oblivion, as if it was possible to sink even deeper in terms of lack of influence in local politics. The Dems once again could only muster three candidates for offices on the County Board of Commissioners- two of which seem destined for defeat as it stands today. The others on the ballot seem to fill the usual Democratic opposition role as placeholders of a local party that is virtually powerless and doesn't seem to realize the large task that remains before it- building a strong local party with committed volunteers and a grip on the reality of the situation.
Fourth District candidate John Loftus has been running for a seat on the board for more than a dozen years now, and he’s even more pathetic than he was in days gone by, this time choosing not to even show up for the candidates’ forum. The question then is this: John, if you didn’t intend to be serious about the job, why did you bother to apply? While it's nice to have the slot filled by a "D" in order to keep a race "contested" this has became a sad biannual affair which needs to end- something which might actually spur other Dems in the district to get off their butts and field a real candidate and move the local Democratic Party beyond its existence as a geriatric social club.
The other race that seems a lock for the Republicans is in the Third District, where Democrat Mike Lewis came from virtually nowhere to skyrocket into rarefied air as a potential problem solver and intelligent alternative to the status quo, only to fall from grace after revelations of a pattern of questionable personal activities, some of which were illegal according to a front page article in the Oct. 19 Hastings Banner. The sheer weight of accusations seems to weigh down any attempts to explain them individually as they seem to make up a pattern and while Lewis has admitted wrong-doing he then makes counter charges and offerees defenses that don't seem to square. How such an obviously bright guy can get himself caught up in more than one of these ridiculous situations seems too much to swallow. The beautiful thing is that voters will get to decide for themsleves what they think of all this and if, as Lewis suggests, this is part of an attempt to unfairly trash him then he is allowed to explain that to the masses and find out if they agree. The fact remains that even without these reports Lewis as a Democrat would have faced an uphill battle but now that fight seems a bit harder to overcome. This whole sordid affair is likely to give Republican newcomer, but same old same old Keith Ferris a smooth ride on election night, and it may just be the biggest tragedy of the general election. Would that this election could be only about who had better ideas- Lewis would win hands down since Ferris has offered nothing in his appearances or ads to deserve a vote and Lewis has proven he is willing to stir things up, ask tough questions and look at things in a new way. If Lewis plays any part in stopping the freight train intent on renovating an aging jail which occupies prime retail space for an overblown price then Mike has done more than most local politicians without even being elected. A large part of me wants to suggest you vote for Lewis and then, if he does win, watch him like a hawk and be ready to send him away if he does anything the least bit questionable while in office. Given the corruption and incompetance that has existed in Barry County for years, we could probably do much worse, but can we do better? That is a question to be decided by the voters...
The real race to watch for a County Board seat seems to be between Democrat David Brinkert and Republican Mark Englerth in the Sixth District. Brinkert is the more likable chap of the two, but he somehow hasn’t been able to rid himself of the aura of naiveté that might hurt him as badly as simply having that dreaded and much-maligned “D” next to his name in a conservative district. Englerth certainly has made enough enemies in his stormy tenure as Barry County Republican Party Chairman and in the primary election in which he unseated current Chairmarm Clare Tripp. Rumor has it that Tripp is so bent on revenge she’ll marshal whatever forces at her disposal to seek Englerth’s defeat on Nov. 7. Mr. Englerth likely doesn’t have a lot to worry about. He won the primary pretty handily against a seasoned veteran and he will be on the Republican side of the ballot, which is as good as gold over the last dozen years in Barry County’s one-party system and would especially valuable in an election where many Republicans could come out to attempt to vote out Governor Granholm and Senator Stabenow.
The State Senate and State Representative contests don’t give us much in the way of relief. Republican Patty Birkholz will win the senate race over neophyte Suzzette Royston in a cakewalk and then make her bid for the Senate Majority Leader’s post. Royston just hasn’t been able to connect with voters in three counties, even though she’s a hunter and supports the death penalty. Her campaign is just more of the same and not enough to dethrone a powerful and entrenched politician like Birkholz who has somehow managed to appear moderate enough to not alienate too many voters in the middle.
Brian Calley is as virtually unbeatable as he was in the GOP primary for 87th District State Representative. Democrat Doug Kalnbach was a lot of fun on the campaign trail and at forums, but he really didn’t offer a serious alternative to Calley. Anybody out there think Kalnbach can get 40 percent of the vote? I'd love for the voters in the district to prove me wrong and wipe that smug smirk of Calley's face. The reason why Michigan is in a such a mess is because our state government has been ruled by the Mackinac Center and a right wing cabals of tax cutting loons who'd rather spend time making license plates for Right to Life or giving the ranch to big business than dealing with problems faced by every day people and Calley seems like more of the same instead of the agent of change he claims that he is.
Democrats in this area have to learn the tired old union-style politics doesn’t resonate very well in conservative Bible-thumping West Michigan, where most voters will simply go to the polls Tuesday, Nov. 7, with the opinion, “We like the way things are around here. Why should we change anything?” The Democratic Party seems to be facing a resurgance nationally but that coming tidal wave doesn't seem to be coming close to the GOP's oasis in West Michigan.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
20 comments:
I agree with your assessment that people will go to the polls believing it’s in the best interest to not shake things up too much.
A new poll shows Granholm up 8 points.
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=63747
I think most voters would rather accept the status quo than risk having DeVos screw things up even more.
He is probably going to give out the names of all of the good american food resturaunts in China!
The Dems have no chance of capturing any commission district this year. Even with this year's cast of the Bad News Bears ;).
Royston was resently quoted as saying that a "[State Senator] needed to know how to milk the cows and castrate the bulls." Sounds very Perot.
As for Doug, nice guy--never seen him in a tie. Run some "Bible-thumpin" Dems, and this election may be a different story ;).
I saw this article...thought it current to Mr. Lewis' situation...
HOUSE G.O.P.: CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR FUTURE CANDIDATES
Legislation that will be introduced in the House by Rep. David Hildenbrand (R-Lowell) would require candidates for the Legislature to go through a criminal background check when they file for office, a measure announced Wednesday that Democrats called a hypocritical double standard.
House Speaker Craig DeRoche (R-Novi) has said when the 94th Legislature convenes that he will move to not seat Bert Johnson because the Detroit Democrat’s involvement in a 1993 incident in which he pleaded no contest to charges of breaking and entering and armed robbery at the Oakland Hills Country Club. Mr. Johnson has acknowledged being involved in the crime, but never said who handled the weapon. He served eight months in jail and three years on probation.
When Gongwer News Service asked whether the legislation was an indication that House Republicans do not have the votes to keep Mr. Johnson, an unopposed candidate for the 5th District, out of office, Mr. Hil-denbrand said the proper steps will be taken after the election regarding Mr. Johnson’s situation and that the legislative proposal “is about trying to address the issue in the long term.”
But Mr. Hildenbrand would not commit to whether he’s made up his mind on whether to push the button come January to not seat Mr. Johnson.
“I share the same concern as many of my colleagues. Candidates for the Legislature should be held to a higher standard,” Mr. Hildenbrand said, adding that he has not decided yet how he will vote.
That sentiment was also shared by Rep. Judy Emmons (R-Sheridan), a co-sponsor of the piece, who said she has apprehension that allowing Mr. Johnson to be seated “would be blurring the lines of the Constitution.”
Rep. Gary Newell (R-Saranac), who will also be a co-sponsor of the legislation is term-limited and would therefore not be able to vote on the seating.
Mr. DeRoche has argued that Article IV, Section 7 of the Constitution, which states that no person “who has within the preceding 20 years been convicted of a felony involving a breach of the public trust shall be eligi-ble for either house of the Legislature,” is why Mr. Johnson should not be seated. Republicans would have to maintain a majority in the chamber to pursue a vote.
Mr. Newell said, “there’s some discussion out there” on whether Mr. Johnson’s conviction, which occurred before he took office, defines a breach of public trust, but, “the public will at least be advised the person has a prior felony conviction (under the legislation).”
A 1970s attorney general opinion held that constitutional provision applied to someone who committed a breach of the public trust 20 years before while in office.
Mr. Hildenbrand said details are still being worked out as to who would pay for the background check and whether a future candidate found to have a felony conviction on their record would therefore be ineligible for office.
Should Mr. Johnson not be seated there would be precedent for that, Mr. Hildenbrand argued.
More significant would be to require all legislators to be regularly urine and blood tested for alcohol and illegal drugs...before each vote.
Then we could eject every legislator who has committed adultery and loose any possible quorum...
Or we could even require that any Attorney General (Mike Cox) comes to mind, who has admitted to the attack on family values through his commiting the CRIME of adultery
be removed from office or stoned to death.
Pat has left out the all-important test for pine tar on one's palm.
I don't suppose that serving on a few unpaid public positions has entered the mind of folks like Dick DeVos as a "minor league" entry into the world of power and control.
I personally have a higher regard for people who, like Englerth, VanNortwick, Ferris, Callton, etc. who have done a stint in the trenches before throwing in their hat. I wouldn't reject a felon who had served the required penance, but I do look for some evidence of experience. So far, we don't have an affirmative action program that applies to felons or Dems.
It might be a nice dream for the Dems of Barry to charge into the fray with a coherent platform and an array of highly qualified candidates, but I would be thrilled to see a name on every blank line (even Lassie, if necessary).
Wow, that long thread dangled in the ditch a bit too long. Good to be back up here closer to the fresh air! Thanks for the clean board!
I had to quit reading after 90 comments!
Activism has it's bounds!
Maybe open threads serve a purpose?!
Granholm did her "photo op" at the MCTI at Pine Lake. It was shameless for sure, lol. I called in sick so as not to have to go through it. They spent an awful lot of money there to impress her. Money that should have been spent on the students.
Great example you set children's dad...since you called in sick you no doubt just took a paid holiday...
CD, Should I understand that you are in some way connected to MCTI? In my mind MCTI represents the most forward-thinking organization in the county and perhaps in the entire State. You have the potential to make a huge positive contribution to this blog, but I can understand if you get sucked into the negative vortex from time to time.
I would really like your thoughtful input regarding "Incarceration" to be posted on the more academic "el-grillo" site, linked on the right.
Quite frankly, the fact that Jen and her staff realize that MCTI exists is impressive. Most of the population of Barry County either don't know what it is or have a relative that has been positively impacted by it.
I hope your anger is temporary and you will weigh in on the subject of building bigger and better jails. While MCTI is currently well-financed, we need to replicate the facility in every County and perhaps some day in every Township. Using the money wasted on "corrections" would make financing a cakewalk.
Patthetruth - Acidic barb but once again without a hint of fact. I am an unpaid volunteer. When they shut down medical services and request political involvement, whether for either party, I will bow out. While wearing the white coat, I am non political/non judgemental/non racist/etc... but I still hold deep spiritual beliefs (thank you Walt Winebrenner). If I were anything else I would not be alowed to enter into some places to help.
And for your further reading pleasure, I also volunteer at the Va in Battle Creek and occassionally at the Battle Creek (Calhun County) Jail. I don't limit my sources of human grief to just this county. Last year I was a school nurse in Fennville. ANd yes, I probably need grief therapy.
El Grillo, I agree with you 10,000 percent. MCTI IS a PROGRESSIVE organization. It is too bad the winds of the political machine in office RIGHT NOW is KILLING support for it. I am pretty sure that if we could change the lives of people at the stages that show up there, we could lower our crime rate drastically. Of course it would never be zero and we would still need to build more jails if only to keep contractors working. It is so much less expensive to help people at that point than it is to "rehabilitate" them at some later point. To support this, ask any police officer working the streets. They will tell you the same. I spent a couple of hours this morning raking leaves in yards of shut in's with one of our local deputies. After that I am not sure I am even worthy to be calling them friends. These officers deserve more from us than we could ever give them. Buy one lunch tomorrow.
The population at MCTI has experienced a decline in health services for several years now. They no longer have any dental help and a dwindling MD attendance due to funding cuts. They have compensated though by hiring an excellent grief councilor. I have personally purchased prescription meds for patients not able to purchase any themselves (and before you pounce Patthetruth, I made sure they were taking them and not selling them).
And what do we do for our local jail? What do these men recieve for medical care?
CD, The snoring beasts will rise to this, but Gary Newell was a strong supporter of MCTI. I hope Brian Calley has the same degree of concern, or more.
My understanding of health care in the jail is that it is very good, but I'm sure the awakened beast will be happy to contribute anecdotal denials. This is a very important issue for both the jail and mental health locations. There are some influential people in town who think that we ought to get out of both locations and find someplace cheaper for both entities. The hospital neighborhood is definitely expensive, but the symbiotic relationships are obvious.
One thing that is difficult in the blog world is that cause and effect are often blurred by incomplete perceptions. Often what seems to be an unwillingness to fund a good program is merely from ignorance of the value by uninformed people. The flip side is that we provide lots of information to sift through, when we rise above the personal stuff.
Thats the kicker with retired troupers (police) being in politics. They know well what it takes to reduce crime and improve lives but are caught up in the power of their position. They seem to be intoxicated with control and power, implied power or whatever.
On second thought, perhaps you could recommend somebody else at MCTI for me to exchange thoughtful comments with.
Reducing crime maybe, improving lives not necessarily. Improving lives may or may not be the outcome of their official actions. Not really their job, they are not social workers (though thrown into that mode often). You would hope their actions might have a positive impact! Some officers use good non-arrest, or even arrest, judgemental interaction that does have a positive impact on life status, however momentary. Others misuse their positions, intentionally or maybe not really fit for the job to begin with. All professions/agencies/officers have abilities from zero to ten.
Suspended drivers get hit with an extra fee, $250.00 for two years I believe, brought on to help balance the budget by our Governor and Legislators (Newell). Some are just trying to get to work to put food on their families table. Keep getting busted and never get out of the financial servitude Master called michigan.gov. Family suffers! Some probably revert to crimes when all else fails. So, what have we accomplished? Keep arresting them?
Why not a mediator who can sit down with people/families placed in similiar positions. One shot chance, wipe the slate clean, have list of conditions they must meet. As in all cases, there are some exceptions, i.e. the driver with a long reckless driving record that goes the wrong way on 131 and kills a whole family. Newell's answer, "Punish them all!" The latter driver will be driving anyway, probably no job either.
Who thinks being a cop is a great pre-requisite for being a lawmaker? Not me!
My experience with Mr. Newell was not a positive one. I wrote him repeatedly concerning an extreme problem concerning how biased our family court was concerning single parents being fathers. I was experincing and observing much bias against single fathers and was contacting polititions about this. Berkholtz was the only one that took notice and responded with anything of substance. Newell not only blew me off by having one of his aids send me one of his campaign pamlets, he eventually hit me up for a donation (with I immediatley tossed in the appropiate file).
Eventually the FOC was shook up and a couple of the worst offenders were asked to find employment elsewhere but there still are some pretty incompetant workers in that part of our court system. Mr. Newell never did do anything that I could see about this problem and did not think enough of me (one of his former supporters) to ever speak to me about it (or anything for that matter).
To the County Board:
25 November 2006
Jail
“...let us prepare to honor the overarching conservative principle that government should never spend money it does not have for purposes it has not clearly articulated in order to generate results that cannot easily be evaluated.”
From “DiIulio's Law”, reprinted in Juvenile Crime: opposing viewpoints; from John J.DiIulio, Jr., “Arresting Ideas,” Policy Review, Fall 1995
While retired in Costa Rica, I have the time to do some reading on the subjects that seem to be of interest to the County Board. It would be easy for the Board to accept the simplistic viewpoint of an architect and spend other people’s money on quick fixes to our current jail. In previous writings I have given you my viewpoint on the misinformation supplied by Van Putten, etal. Hopefully you have done your own math by now and realize that the fear-mongering of an impending bulge in “crime prone youth” is not off over the horizon rumbling upon us, but has arrived and is being properly dealt with by our current facility.
Is this matter being dealt with in a responsible manner by the current County Board and within an easily understood organizational framework? From that perspective, a “Law Enforcement & Courts Standing Committee” would seem appropriate, but as long as the amorphous title of “Central Services” exists there will be no responsibility or accountability.
Who in County government should be accountable for this discussion and eventual establishment of this policy? Lacking any serious focus, the existing “Facilities & Property” committee is justified in recommending building a bigger and better jail, and an increase in crime will be dealt with by merely adding more cells for more incarcerated people. In my opinion this is spending “money it does not have for purposes it has not clearly articulated in order to generate results that cannot easily be evaluated.”
I also have to repeat, first of all, that the purchase of real estate, expansion of County-owned property, and other capital infrastructure improvement decisions are the proper issues to be brought forward to the general taxpayers who will pay for these improvements with millages against their property. Once these decisions have been made by the taxpayers and the improvements have been completed, the obligation to operate the facilities becomes a responsibility of general operational funding. Barry County, at this time, is upside down in this respect on all millage issues, and is prone to use General Fund operational money for investments in infrastructure. This is in main part due to the lack of ability of the current Board, and previous Boards, to clearly articulate its perceived needs to the taxpaying public. Hopefully, the newly elected Commissioners have better communication skills and will have the ability to use them.
Commissioners who are able to grasp a vision of Barry County many years in the future will realize that reducing the need for more jail cells, lowering the rate of incarceration and reducing crime will begin with an understanding of what causes criminal activity in the first place. This information cannot come from architects or from law enforcement personnel whose agendas occur after crimes have been committed. The most informed local expertise will come from people in the area of crime prevention. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of corrections.
Any decision to expand a jail should begin with a discussion of the funding of currently successful Safe Families programs. We have programs in our hospitals that begin as soon as a child is born that may not be properly funded. These programs are inexpensive and are providing assistance to the mothers whose babies would otherwise have a high risk of ending up in a future jail. It is well known that proper parenting is a huge factor in crime prevention.
By the time a child enters second grade in school an elementary teacher or counselor can identify children who will continue to consume more than average resources, and who, if not helped, will in all likelihood become the residents of our jails, and eventually will move on to a State funded prison. Merely building larger jails is unfair to society and especially to these children who could be helped before they become serious problems.
Many experts agree that adolescents and juveniles in trouble are primarily reacting to “... broad social, cultural, institutional and physical forces ...”, and “... an inability of families and communities to transmit positive values to young people, communicate a sense of hope about the future, or teach nonviolent conflict resolution skills.”
If you look around, you will see many church and school programs that involve young people who were properly cared for by parents, who were attentive and successful in the second grade, and who learn well in our traditional systems.
At the same time, those kids who will fill our new jail cells live in a different world. There are not very many of them. At any given time there are less than 100 people stored in our County Jail out of a population of nearly 60,000. That's about one kid from every school, or less. Can you convince me that we don't know exactly who these kids are, today? Ask any elementary principal, and they will pop the name right out of their head without any hesitation. How do the programs that we have deal with this kid, before he, or she, commits a criminal act? Is he or she living in a family that is caring, out of poverty, has hope for the future, is nonviolent and has positive values?
Suppose that “Crime” is directly related to unemployment, lack of education, poverty and a dysfunctional social system. Doesn't it follow that reducing crime might be one of the welcome results of a sound workforce development policy?
Perhaps you still prefer the alternatives of raising another generation of predators and playing “cops and robbers”. Will you feel the same way in twenty years when your grandkid becomes a victim?
1. Do you know all about the programs for new babies?
2. Do you know how many of the people in our current jail went to school in the Hastings School System in the second grade? Middleville? Nashville? Bellevue? Richland? Wayland?
3. Were any of these kids given special care during that time? What was it?
4. Did the families of these kids get any special attention during that time?
5. Are we doing anything different today that will make any difference?
6. Are you guessing?
You may want to do your own homework. I suggest an Internet search of the following:
• ABA Juvenile Justice Center
• American Correctional Association (ACA)
• Center for the Study of Youth Policy
• Committee for Children
• National Association of Juvenile Correctional Agencies (NAJCA)
• National Center on Institutions and Alternatives (NCIA)
• National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
• National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD)
• National Crime Prevention Council
• National Criminal Justice Association (NCJA)
• National School Safety Center (NSSC)
• Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
• Youth Crime Watch of America
• Youth Policy Institute (YPI)
If you should happen to have read down this far, I will add that some of the above have money to spend, and will add money to our Budget that doesn’t come from local taxpayers, directly. Have you ever wondered if Barry County is applying for as many grants as it should be?
Has getting millages passed for operating money and skimming the General Fund for more real estate and infrastructure become too easy?
27 November 2006
It is not inevitable that the cost of government must constantly increase. The only reason the cost of government would increase in direct proportion to increasing population is that those governing would ignore possibilities and opportunities to make changes in order to become more efficient.
Previous Commissioners have failed to follow the instructions they have adopted, which has lead to the current fiscal abuses of funding operating expenses from millages and purchasing capital assets with General Fund surpluses. This has caused the Budget to become “upside-down”.
Much of this abuse has not been intentional but has derived from a poorly designed organizational structure. The current structure fails to provide complete information to Commissioners who need this information to make wise decisions. In addition to this, changes have been inconsistently made to shift the power and control from the County Commissioners to the County Administrator and the Finance Committee.
The real debate at this time is whether to follow a Committee form of governance with a County Administrator, or to change our governance style to a County Manager form that weakens or eliminates committees entirely. From a political perspective, you might say that creating a County Manager form of governance would represent the way things currently are being done, and “Staying the course” is a “Conservative” approach. That would make reverting to the original Committee form a change to the way things are being done and it becomes the “Liberal” approach. My personal preference is to strengthen the Committee form of governance, and to require Commissioners to accept their responsibility to represent the electorate. Either way would be preferable to the current bastardized confusion.
The original intent of having a strong Committee form of governance is clearly stated on page 9 in the “Organizational Structure” section of the County Budget. If this process is followed as written, each of the “…boards, commissions and county departments...” are required to “make appropriate requests to their assigned liaison committee”.
However, if you turn to page 11, a different process emerges. The process is clearly contradicted, where the instructions shift the power from the Standing Committees to another form of governance which empowers only the Administrator and the Finance Committee. It is possible that the dysfunctionality of the County Board of Commissioners began when this change of control happened in the past. If you were to discuss this process with the current Director of Charlton Park, for example, you would find that he has no connection to any Standing Committee, but only answers to Michael Brown for his financial supervision. He may also fear certain other individuals due to the convoluted nature of the organization.
Now, these bodies are required to present their requests only to the County Administrator, and bypass the oversight of any committees. They now serve the Administrator and not the representatives of the electorate. Some might insist that the Finance committee represents the electorate, but the Finance committee assignments are strictly political and serve only to concentrate power and control, and have been proven to lead to fiscal abuse. Further proof of this is that 3 out of 5 of the committee members have not been re-elected, and the other two were not challenged. But, which will become the accepted way?
Gradually, as millages for operating expenses are defeated by the electorate, organizations like the Commission on Aging, the Transit Board, 9-1-1 Central Dispatch, and the Thornapple Manor County Medical Facility will follow the direction set by Charlton Park. They will be required to request their operating funding in the same way as the rest of the “…boards, commissions and county departments...” Currently, they would only be required to make their requests to the County Administrator with no oversight. Again, I prefer the following process, which was the original intent.
In the future, after the last welfare check has been paid to Charlton Park, the Director of the theme park would be required to prepare an annual General Fund Budget Request in the same way as everybody else. The new, but thus far not created, Charlton Park Board would approve this request and it would be presented to the statutory Barry County Parks & Recreation Commission, which in turn would present their combined requests to the “assigned liaison committee” which is currently not well-defined. It probably should be assigned, along with all of its various and assorted funds and accounts, to the County Development & Planning Standing Committee.
There are many operating expenses in a category called Special Revenue Funds that should be classified as General Funds. Even if current accounting procedures dictate this contortion, the funds need to be presented in such a way that Commissioners can see the whole picture. A well-informed Committee would not only be aware of every account that applies to a particular request, the members would also be aware of all the other sources of funding that come from federal, state and private foundation sources. This would inspire such questions as “What are you doing to get grants and gifts to support your activities?”, and “What do you plan to do to generate income besides living off welfare?”
“Oh, me! Oh, my!” the cry will come. “Headley prevents us from raising your taxes to cover these operating costs!”
“Oh, no, darling! As the millages fail, you will be able to replace the 2.5403 mills of operating expense millages with 2.5403 mills of capital investment millages, the way it should have been done in the first place.”
“But how will we find the money to buy more real estate?”
“By asking permission from the voters, my dear!”
“But they don’t think we need more land!”
“Well, then, perhaps you don’t!”
Obama fans are protesting a Clinton attack ad that seems to darken Obama’s complexion, inviting calls of racism. He’s substantially blacker in the attack ad than he is in real life or in other videos. Factcheck.org, an indispensable site, investigated and concluded that the ad did indeed seem to be unusually dark. march madness But it found that everything in the ad was dark, including Hillary. Apparently, it’s standard to run attack ads in dark hues, so Factcheck says that this was evidence more of negativism than of racism. Incidentally, I recommend signing up for Factcheck’s email notifications.
http://www.enterbet.com
Post a Comment