Michigan Democratic Party Wants To Know Why People Think It Sucks

Brandon Dillon is the new face of the Michigan Democratic Party, #MDP .

Thank goodness, because the MDP possesses a long, and dramatic  history of sucking.

Lend Your Voice: Path Forward Survey

The MDP needs your voice as we begin to undertake our strategic planning process to build a strong foundation for 2016 and beyond. Take the survey today at www.michigande...

MICHIGANDEMS.COM

BTW, there is no link to the survey on the YouTube video.  Here is the link to the survey.

Allow me to share with you a brief history of why the MDP has sucked for so long.

DETROIT                                    

Detroit and its municiple gems possess the largest concentration of a voting age population, yet, when it comes to state leadership, it has traditionally thrown its nose up in the air to the 13th and 14th Democratic Congressional Districts.

When Mark Brewer and Lon Johnson were both running for the seat of State Chair, neither of them wasted their time to even engage these Detroit districts when it came to the convention vote.  I was present to listen to the, well, let's just say "spirited discussions" on why these candidates would not come to stomp for their own vote in Detroit.

Ron Scott, of the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality attempted to run against Mark Brewer a few years ago.  Scott raised an interesting issue regarding the mandatory $1,000 filing fee to become a candidate for MDP State Chair.  He called it a "poll tax".

Now, why would he call a filing fee to run for office a "poll tax"?

Well, it seems that if you are poor, there is a strong likelihood that you will not be able to afford a run for office, so the $1,000 filing fee, imposed by the MDP, should be considered to be more like a "poll toll" because, in order to play, you must pay, and everyone knows the poverty rates in Detroit, the largest voting base of Michigan.

Considering the fact that Detroit and most of its surrounding communities wake up everyday to the smiling face of poverty, the poll toll functions as a filter for the MDP elite.

I call them the elite because all the contracts, and jobs, go to the same Lansing clique.

YOUTH

Youth, as I know it from federal codes, is typically until the age of 18, with exceptions in child welfare allowing the "youth" age ceiling to be raised to the age of 25.

The only thing The Michigan Democratic Party Youth Caucus is doing for youth is recruiting youth for more campaigning for their hand picked candidates.

Of course, Detroit youth and their struggles are never on the agenda.

JOBS

So far, from what I know and what I see, there are no jobs initiatives but there are lots of fundraising in Lansing.

SOCIAL NETWORKING

I believe it was some time during the 2008 election cycle that I was able to have a seat at the table with MDP leadership.  I was literally stunned with the lack of technological sophistication.

The MDP website was using a free Wordpress code which came with an astronomical price tag.  Why?  It was free, yet it really, really sucks.  There are so many web developers and SEO experts working, like myself, tirelessly on showing off their skills to win the opportunity to bid on contracts.

Now they use Drupal coding.

But of course, keeping to the MDP structure, there are no public bid announcements.

Advanced networking of the website does not exist.  Here is an example.  No where do you see an hyperlink to the District Parties, or any other participating group, websites.  This is pretty sad.

What is even sadder is the fact that the bloggers and other individual sites are excluded from being supported by the MDP.

The MDP should not strictly focus on sending out sensationally obnoxious emails to people they already know are too broke to hand over spare dollars and will not read them for lack of source links and citations, but extend their cyber arms to embrace others who are sincerely trying to give a voice to people who cannot afford to run for office.

Running for office is not always about getting elected, it is also about elevating an issuse to the public agenda and preserving the record of history.  Every tweet or facebook post is recorded in the Library of Congress.

Extranet public relations do not exist for the MDP.  There is no one to standfast to research and develop an internet presence with backlinks or keywords.

The site has no search option nor does it have archives.

God forbid I speak upon the cost of the development of its mobile apps, which were also free, of course.

Someone made goo goobs of money and it was not the people.  I wonder who the shyster is?

I would say more on how badly its SEO sucks, but I want the MDP social networking contract.

RECRUITING CANDIDATES AND NEW MEMBERS

If the MDP wants its leadership to reflect its base, it should come down from the ivory tower every once in a while and rub shoulders with the people.  All the funtions typically have an entry cost, as they are fundraisers, and, with extremely poor social networking, no one really knows what is going on.

I get a real hoot watching state candidates run for office.  You typically, immediately spot who will win the seat because the MDP will only support who they want, not what the people want.

Running for office is not always about getting elected. It is also about giving a voice to issues which are too contraversial for prime time politics, like child welfare.

With the advancements of technology, SEO has created the ability to reach many groups, instantly and progressively, from the palm of your hand.  I should know.  I am doing it with this post.

DIVERSITY

Little known fact, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee recently had to create a diversity recruitment division.  Seriously.

MCP former Chair Lon Johnson addressing Detroit
area party leadership

In regards to diversity, the MDP has a unique take on this topic.  During the 2014 election cycle Lon Johnson, former Chair of the MDP, came to Detroit to speak to local party leadership.

He left me utterly speechless.

Johnson came to promote the initiative to "make  African-Americans vote in Detroit so the MDP could put in its gubernatorial candidate, whom no one could ever pronounce, spell his name or pick him out of a police line up.

First off, the MDP practice of labeling, and even assigning forced labels upon people, based on a really skewed and archaic concept of forcing an individual to "pick one racial identity" is what has turned off Detroit voters.

I tried to speak upon the cultural amalgamation of a vote base which is historically ignored, but I guess it did not fit in with current party rhetoric.

There are so many individuals, who may not have English as their first language, who are illiterate, and who know nothing about civic participation, government structure and administration, the role of an elected official or even know about campaign finance.

I guess the MDP does not believe its base is important enough to be educated on voting rights and candidate rights.

With all said, well, not really, I am intentionally holding back specifics, one may be now in a position to understand why the Democrats lost the 2014 elections; it alienated its base.

I am posting this to encourage everyone to participate in this survey and to skew stats on the video and survey responses.

Again, #BrandonDillion is a wonderful person I have had the pleasure of working with him on child welfare issues.

Show him some love and share this post, alot.

And make sure you let the #MDP know when you fill out the survey that I should get the social networking contract.

http://www.michigandems.com/survey/ 

 Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Disenfranchisement of Many: Why Michigan Democratic Party Should Not Re-elect Mark Brewer

UPDATE: LON JOHNSON IS OFFICIALLY THE NEW CHAIR FOR THE MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY ~ Congratzi!

The views and opinions expressed in this post are strictly mine because I am an original source.

I do not encourage re-election Mark Brewer for Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party and this is why:  He is an asshole.

Mark Brewer: Disenfranchising from the podium

This description is harsh in tone but I speak from personal experience.  For sake of brevity, I  shall boil it down to one simple term:

Disenfranchisement of many.

Having been elected as a 14th Congressional Delegate I sat on the Resolution Committee.  I would write the resolutions to be submitted to the MDP to become, ultimately, part of the national platform.  Other members would present the resolutions to be voted upon for the state platform.  Brewer set the state platform, not the people because there was always money involved behind the scenes.  Through intimidation or basic ignoring, Brewer would not recognize the 13th and 14th Districts; the resolution members, and the Chair Rick Blocker of the 14th CD, submissively allowed the resolutions to be omitted from the vote process.

Brewer is not a fan of Detroit and could care less about its future because it has no money to funnel into his thiefdom by way of his political consultants.  He was recently supported by Mildred Gaddis on her local radio show, but then again, anyone who pays her price will get her thumbs up.  That was just about the extent of Brewer's ventures into Detroit over the last two years of his tenure in office.

He is not a fan of women, either.  Female political consultants are forbidden to participate in the all boys club.  Why?  I can only assume it is for the same reason the MDP was not supportive of female political candidates.  All I know is that he blatantly dismissed me on multiple occasions.

Then there is the last election for the Michigan Democratic Party Chair where Brewer, through his arrogance, did not go out of his way to even meet the elected members of the 13th and 14th delegation. Rumor has it he claimed "it was a waste of his time".

Then there is the other side of voting, running for office.  Brewer has a test formula for passionate individuals who wish to throw their hats in the ring and run for public office.  The test is called money. If you have no money to pay his political consulting cronies, for which there is a form of personal kickbacks for him, then you have no chance of garnering the support of the Michigan Democratic Party.  For more detailed dirt click here.

I was sent on a mission to represent on the MDP Advisory Committee, but actually I was there to 'observe and obtain' (to be explained later).  For almost two years I witnessed the exclusion of new faces and fresh ideas in the party.  In one of my final meetings with the group, I confronted Brewer about not supporting new candidates and excluding Hamtramck, Highland Park and Detroit Voting Age Population and youth in election education.  I shall quote his response, [sic] "We are conserving our resources for the Congressional races."  Considering the fact that the majority of the Michigan Democratic Congressional Delegation was sitting at the table, I considered that a smack in their faces because MDP did just about nothing for the southeastern Congressional incumbents during their term of office or for the election in general.

Lastly, there is chaos of rank and file. Brewer sold the unions out, mainly the Big 3, by not coordinating or working with them.  Brewer has been, for the last three years, selling woof tickets on how he is going to bring together the Democratic Party through social media.  I almost busted out laughing when he had the audacity to say this and I almost choked when the elected officials actually bought into his pseudo dog and pony show app.  Still, he attempts to use the promise of finally establishing a social network as part of his stomp speech for re-election.

As for the corruption in the Michigan Democratic Party that has flourished under Brewer's watch, all I have to say is look at the 13th and 14th Districts.  Need I say more?  Yes, but only under subpoena.

In short, the disenfranchisement of many is the reason why Republicans took control of the state.  They embraced anyone in any place who expressed an interest in participating in politics.  No matter how limited the background or the paucity of an individual's bank account, people were encouraged, unlike the MDP.

Make sure you let Mark Brewer know that I put some of his dirt out there.


Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

MDP Women's Caucus Excludes Poor Women and Their Issues, Again

Once again, the Michigan Democratic Party is having an absolutely fabulous #MDP Toll Fest.

Michigan Democratic Women's Caucus screening attendees

"What is a Toll Fest?", you may ask.  Allow me to explain.

A Toll Fest is when an elite group charges a fee, typically not a nominal one, to access entry into the group.  If you do not pay the fee, your voice is excluded.

Toll Fests are closed systems designed to exclude any social media exposure or input.

Think of it as a roaring groupthink party where they celebrate the fact that they came up with a national agenda once again without engaging the majority of the population it is suppose to be representing.

The event is in Detroit, the largest concentration of voters and poverty in the State of Michigan.

The event also does not seem to understand that the highest population of children in poverty rate in the industrialized world is in Detroit, where women are the primary caregivers.

The entry fee to the National Federation of Democratic Women Midwest Regional Conference and Issues Conference is $40, $50 with lunch.

Do not dare to even ask for daycare.  "The nerve!"

No hardship exceptions are offered but it does not matter.  Everyone knows poor people do not vote.

Join the Michigan Democratic Women's Caucus 

for the

National Federation of Democratic Women Midwest Regional Conference and Issue Conference

Saturday, October 24

8:00 AM to 4:30 PM

COBO Convention Center

Detroit, MI 

For more information and to purchase tickets click here.

Speakers include:

Jennie Blackton, Democratic Media Consultant and Award-Winning Writer (One Day at a Time)

Renee Branch Canady PhD, Every Woman's Business: Policy that Promotes Women, Infant, Child Health & Well Being

A'shanti F. Gholar, DNC

Christine Greig, Michigan State Representative

Anne Pope, Why the 1965 Voting Right Act Still Matters

Paid for by the Michigan Democratic State Central Committee, 606 Townsend St., Lansing, MI 48933,www.michigandems.com. Not authorized by any federal candidate or candidate committee.

Forward To A Friend

Michigan Democratic State Central Committee
606 Townsend St.
Lansing MI 48933 United States

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Bernie Sanders in Detroit, July 12, 2015

Bernie Sanders in Detroit, July 12, 2015

@HopCat

2:00p.m.

Take Cass due to Woodward construction.

Park and take bus for direct drop off.

• Show Map The Huma Room at HopCat - Detroit 4265 Woodward Ave, Detroit, Michigan 48201

https://www.facebook.com/events/1611778395770350/

(Notice how there is no announcement of the event from the Michigan Democratic Party #MDP)

(Notice how there is no announcement of the event from the Michigan Democratic Party #MDP or the 13th Congressional Democratic District or the 14th Congressional Democratic District #Mighty14th)

Detroit for Bernie - Weekly Meet-Up

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Michigan Democratic Party Asks Detroit Precinct Delegates Who They Want When Something Happens to Gretchen Whitmer

https://actionnetwork.org/

The following is a poll sent out by the Democratic National Committee to Precinct Delegates in the State of Michigan.

But, before we get into this poll with a foreboding chill of a pending legal calamity or death, let us take a look into The Action Network.

The Action Network, http://actionnetwork.org, is an inactive non-profit corporation registered out of Washington, DC. that is now a for-profit corporation registered out of Washington, DC. and has a history of not filing annual reports.

It also has a separate fund.

https://www.actionnetwork.com/

But, then, there is The Action Network, with its website registered through Amazon, where I have yet to find any corporate filings, even though its ICANN states it is out of Washington State.

It is an online sports betting database. 

Hmmmm....money laundering...predictive modeling? 

Anyway, I digress, back to Gretchen and the DNC, which looks like it has taken over the MDP.

I wonder why....not really...money laundering...predictive modeling for elections...same software intel programs...?

Gretchen is nothing but a DNC talking points mouth piece, who is willing to sell her soul to get the next spot in the DNC with sugar coated dreams of one day running for POTUS.

Gretchen has dismissed each and every query I have presented her, either to her face, or to her staff, about child welfare fraud, human trafficking, poverty and that god awful thing called privatization.

The silence from her is deathly, just like this poll.

This was not constructed by local Precinct Delegates, this came from Nationals because Detroit has the largest concentration of voters in Michigan, where voter fraud is rampant.

Voter fraud is not perpetrated by the voters and the only need to challenge voter identification is when the "Precious Ones" come in from out of town, like the suburbs, thinking they are funny trying to prove voter fraud by intentionally stealing someone's identity to cast a vote.

It is quite comical to see someone who is typically an elderly man who legally resides far north of Eight Mile Road, extremely pro-"keep the system the way it is" kinda guy from the traditional upper echelon of the socio-economic status tiered hierarchy of society, come into the hood and get loud when a poll worker, who knows just about everyone as the same people come to the same church to vote in every election, year after year, asks them to produce identification to vote.

Many of these voting fraud enthusiasts typically are known to carry firearms, making sure to coyly brandish, of course, so the poll workers just let them vote.

It is just an issue of safety and poor Wayne County Clerk training to report, if there is even an option to report because the Detroit Police have better things to do.

But, in reality, voter fraud is committed by the City and County Clerks through absentee ballots and voter registration schemes, not the voters in Detroit.

And yes, I can back up everything I say, or have I already? Hmmmm.....

If Gretchen Whitmer is the nominee. Who would you want to be the next Lieutenant Governor? 

Please consider these factors. 

1. What if something happened to the next Governor? 

2. Experience? 

3. Have they ever been elected? 

4. Who can appeal statewide?

• WHO DO YOU WANT OUR DEM NOMINEE TO PICK FOR LT GOV?

• Lt GovFlint Mayor Karen WeaverState Sen Ian ConyersState Rep Sherry Gay-DagnogoDr. Pamela Pugh (BOE. Health Director-Flint)Fmr Dist Atty Pat MilesUS Cong. Hanson ClarkState Rep Rudy HobbsWayne County Sheriff Benny NapoleonAbdul El Sayed
• Suggestion:

The following was my write in response:

John Conyers, Jr.  I just wanted to ruin your day.  Stay tuned.  Oh, and Happy Child Abuse Propaganda Month!

I only wrote his name in to see if they are going to pull the same voter purge like the did in the 2016 election.

I strongly encourage everyone to watch the 13th Congressional District race for U.S. House of Representatives in the Michigan 2018 election cycle because all my #Superfans are watching with me.

NOTE TO SELF: Drop off popcorn to my #Superfans.

MDP still sucks and so does Perkins Coie.

#perkinscoiesucks

Michigan Secretary Of State Jocelyn Benson Takes It Upon Herself To Negotiate Gerrymandering Public Private Partnership Lawsuit - Completely Forgets About SIGTARP

In the spirit of fuchsia...

Michigan Secretary of Usurpation
Jocelyn Benson

GOP asks Supreme Court to block Dem settlement in gerrymandering suit

Lansing — Michigan Republicans are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hit pause on a federal lawsuit alleging GOP gerrymandering, a move that could disrupt a settlement agreement announced Friday by Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.

Work with me on this one.  You mean to tell me that the Michigan GOP filed in SCOTUS to stay a lawsuit alleging they participated in gerrymandering through the Emergency Manager Law for the fake Detroit Bankruptcy where the Detroit Land Bank Authority was a creditor to put people out of their families' generational homes, based upon fake property tax foreclosure, asset forfeiture fraud schemes they introduced, and promulgated through money they laundered through their campaigns into their legislative back pockets, for the purposes of redistricting based upon the people who survived the reign of terror from the "Legal Geniuses" (trademark pending)?

Well, that is awkward, considering that there is another case in federal court, at the judicial threshold of the same exact matter, which means that this Detroit case could be, possibly, enjoined?

Benson's deal with plaintiffs would require Michigan to redraw at least 11 state House districts. It would likely force a recalibration of an unknown number of surrounding districts as well.

Stay with me because this is the part where I have serious privatization issues going on.  I need someone to explain to me why the Michigan Secretary of State can negotiate in a matter pending before the court, and not the Attorney General, without advise and consent of the Senate, from the Executive Branch, by disregarding existing law, where only the Legislature can make law.  That is called a usurpation, the last time I read my Michigan Petition for Writ of Quo Warranto. 

But attorneys for Republican lawmakers are asking the nation’s highest court to intervene and delay any action in the suit until justices consider arguments in similar gerrymandering cases out of North Carolina and Maryland they are expected to take up in March.

Looks like that Detroit Land Bank Authority case is going to be on hold until March.

“The Supreme Court will be ruling soon on the exact issues presented in this case, and this afternoon we asked the United States Supreme Court to stay this entire proceeding,” attorney Charlie Spies told The Detroit News by email.

State House Speaker Lee Chatfield of Levering, Rep. Aaron Miller of Sturgis and several congressional Republicans directed their request to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a Democratic nominee.

The Michigan lawsuit alleges maps approved by the Republican-led Legislature in 2011 intentionally diluted the power of Democratic voters by “packing” or “cracking” them into specific districts.

It did. It was called fake property tax and mortgage foreclosure schemes.  I was there when they came up with the idea.

The new districts would only apply for the 2020 elections. Voters last fall approved the creation of a citizen redistricting commission that will draw maps for 2022 and beyond.

That citizen redistricting commission is another one of those "Authorities", like the Detroit Land Bank Authority, a Public Private Partnership.

As part of the deal with Benson, which would require approval by a three-judge panel overseeing the case, plaintiffs agreed to drop challenges to congressional and state Senate districts, along with four other state House Districts.

I should file an amicus curiea monkey wrench just for fun. I always wanted to file in SCOTUS. I want to have fun making them waive the fees and giving me special powers in case law.  The Justices need to bond with me, anyway.

The 11 state House districts targeted in the agreement “represent some of the most egregious examples of the unconstitutional attempts by past legislators to draw legislative districts in an effort to rig the partisan outcomes of elections,” Benson told reporters at a Friday briefing.

Several neighboring districts would likely need to be redrawn as well, but “that’s going to be a question for the Legislature,” Benson said.

Districts in settlement proposal, in green here, are all south of Mt. Pleasant. So likely no changes needed to northern lower and UP pic.twitter.com/fASSrBs4FO

— Jonathan Oosting (@jonathanoosting) January 25, 2019

The Michigan gerrymandering case is currently scheduled to go to trial Feb. 5. In their application to the U.S. Supreme Court, GOP attorneys suggested federal judges are aware of settlement talks but made clear they do not plan to delay the trial for “any reason.”

Plaintiff attorneys submitted the proposed settlement Friday afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

“The next step is whether the court will accept it, and we’ll go from there,” Benson said.​​​​​​

February 5, 2019 is the magic day because it is not just the start of the gerrrymandering trial, it is also the State of the Union Address!

​Benson: Deal avoids 'upheaval' 

The Detroit Democrat said she pushed plaintiffs to drop congressional and state Senate district challenges to minimize “upheaval." But the deal still reflects her view that gerrymandering occurred in a way that violated the constitutional mandate of “one person, one vote.”

No, she is dropping the congressional and state Senate district challenges because she knows that stuff is criminal.  Who gave her the powers to negotiate settlements?

Benson has been the subject of considerable GOP scorn the past week after signaling her intent to settle the federal lawsuit brought by the League of Women Voters, a group of Democratic voters and attorney Mark Brewer, former chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party.

Ah, she is with the "Legal Genius" (trademark pending) Mark Brewer.

Michigan Republican Party spokesman Tony Zammit blasted the deal, saying Benson “has shown she cannot be impartial in this case, and therefore she must be replaced as it’s defendant.” Former Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, a Republican, had defended the GOP maps.

Can you smell the fear? Both Republicans and Democrats in Michigan are terrified right about now. #FreeMariaButina

Benson denied partisan motivation for settling the case she inherited after taking office this month, suggesting she did not want to waste taxpayer resources fighting a case she believes the state would lose. The deal would give the Republican-led Legislature the first opportunity to redraw the state House lines, subject to judicial review.

She was not partisan, she is desperately trying to preserve her freedom.

“It does not matter to me who or what parties drew the districts," Benson said. "What matters to me is whether they were drawn to circumvent the will of the voters.”

Technically, if you snatch people's homes, they will no longer live there, which means there are no longer voters, so I guess you can say the will of the voters were not circumvented if no one resides in the properties anymore.

The proposed consent decree would require the state to redraw state House districts 24, 32, 51, 55, 60, 63, 76, 91, 92, 94 and 95. Six of those seats are currently held by Republicans and five are controlled by Democrats. Republicans currently represent 58 of 110 state House districts, a six-seat majority.

I bet they picked those State House Districts arbitrarily and capriciously.

“The Democrats know it will be nearly impossible to redraw these 11 districts without affecting countless others causing electoral chaos,” Zammit said. “Worse yet, outdated 10-year-old data will be utilized to draw the new lines which will not accurately reflect the demographics of our state.”

All those data are corrupt.  Please. All you have to do is compare the voter rolls with a drive by of the addresses. 

The deal does not dictate how the Republican-led Legislature should redraw the state House districts, but it encourages them to do so in “transparent proceedings open to the public.”

Encouragement can be creative when you use terms like "should" and "may" because there is not statutory oversight to challenge anything coming out of the privatized redistricting commission.

The 11 targeted districts include two Republican-held seats in Metro Detroit, both in Macomb County, currently represented by Rep. Steve Marino of Harrison Township and Pamela Hornberger of Chesterfield Township.

I wonder if these negotiations took place in Michigan.

None of the settlement districts are north of Mount Pleasant, meaning seats in the northern Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula where Republicans are dominant are unlikely to be affected.

That is because southeastern Michigan, specifically Detroit, has the "highest concentration of voter potential", (my new term for what happens after the Michigan passes laws for stealin' the children, the land, and the votes.)

The federal court would be responsible for establishing a deadline for the redrawn state House maps and determining how it would judge the partisan fairness of the proposed districts.

The federal court should not be responsible for participating in a complex fraud scheme dealing with multiple, ongoing federal investigations.

Brewer ties blasted

Republican lawmakers have denied overt political bias in the district boundaries they approved in 2011, but emails between map makers revealed in the federal case have included partisan references and commentary on the prospects of maintaining GOP power.

If you go through my archive, you can find the links to what they were talking about and who were the biggest cheerleaders.

Benson told reporters she expected Republican opposition to the settlement despite its limited nature, which means state senators just elected to four-year terms would not need to run for re-election in 2020.

By what right does the Secretary of State, through a private attorney, unless Brewer is a Special Counsel, which he is not and should know better.  Well, on second thought, Brewer does know better which is why he is covering his arse for his engagements with Perkins Coie Sucks operations through the DNC and MDP.

“I think no matter what decision I made in this case, someone was going to be upset, whether we went to trial or whether we settled or not,” she said.

Well, I say you, my dear, shall be called to bear witness by what right you have to even hold that office, 

Republicans have blasted Benson for connections to Brewer, the former state Democratic party chairman who donated $500 to her campaign and is a lead attorney for plaintiffs in the case.

The lady doth have a reputation for just about anything to get elected.

Earlier this week, the Michigan GOP accused Benson and Brewer of trying to orchestrate “the greatest partisan power grab in Michigan history,” and attorneys for Republican lawmakers asked court permission to demand their communications donating back to 2017.

Michigan GOP is asking for the Wikileaks files and the DNC servers?  Oh, this is going to be interesting because the MDP was running shop in Detroit through lots of political campaigns.  This sounds like a call for the FEC.

Benson noted she raised more than $1 million for her campaign and received donations from both Republicans and Democrats.

Everyone does the nasty together in Michigan politics, you just do not know it...yet.

“If anyone giving me $500 can influence a decision I made when you raise that much money from thousands of people, then we’re in trouble,” she said. “And so that’s certainly not the case here.”

The settlement does not require any state payments to cover the cost of plaintiff attorneys but makes clear that the parties could agree to award fees at a later date.

“How much money are the taxpayers of Michigan going to be paying Mark Brewer’s law firm in this case?” Zammit said.

Excellent question!  I have one better.  Who approved Brewer's law firm to take on this case?

This is nothing but another Public Private Partnership takeover of Michigan.

And that ends my incredible ability of throwing legal monkey wrenches in cases dealing with SIGTARP.

League of Women Voters v Mi... by on Scribd

Again, the moral of the story is, "Do not be mean to my Sweetie. Period". 

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

SCOTUS Says "Stay" In Michigan 2016 Election Interference Evidence Tampering With Redistricting Maps

Judith Karandjeff

Ahoy!

Trump just gave Barr the OK to declassify.

Constitutional Crisis, full steam ahead.

Mark Brewer argued on behalf of the League of Women of Michigan to redraw "certain" districts.

Michigan GOP said, "We do not have enough time and besides, the same issue on gerrymandering is going on in other states.

So, here is my question:

If only "certain" districts have to be redrawn because there has been found substantial evidence to support the allegations of gerrymandering, well, I guess the public deserves to see what that is and how it happened.

I am going with my final answer to be stealin' the children, the land and the votes.

Here we have Judith Karandjeff, with all the accoutrements of being a trafficker of the tiny humans going all the way back to Jennifer Granholm, "Jenny from the Block", amongst other terms of endearment.

I smell Hillary, too.

It also seams Wayne County, Detroit was the birthplace for the League of Women Voters of Michigan launching constitutional ratification campaigns, the first being the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and the Parental Rights Amendment, both born from the lust to re-animate the residuals of the peculiar institution.

Basically, what I am trying to say is, if the court has found that there was gerrymandering leading into the 2016 election, well, that would mean that there was election interference, which is why they are only trying to change, "certain" districts, which everyone knows, that would be federal evidence tampering.

Besides, Trump just declassified and this is Memorial Day Weekend and Mark Brewer is trying to save his soul, because he was running the MDP going all the back to 2014.

U.S. Supreme Court stays decision ordering political redistricting in Michigan

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday said Michigan's Legislature should hold off redrawing the state's political boundaries pending appeal of a court order.

Republicans in the state Legislature had asked Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to grant a stay in the order requiring new political lines to be redrawn by Aug. 1.

In late April, a three-judge federal panel ordered the state Legislature to redraw nearly three dozen boundaries for congressional and state legislative seats, saying they were unconstitutionally gerrymandered in order to favor Republicans.

As a consequence, most of the state's legislative and congressional boundaries would have likely been redrawn or left to the court to redo ahead of next year's elections.

Republicans argued in their request for a stay that the timeline ordered by the court was unreasonable and that district lines were already set to be redrawn after the 2020 Census. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is already considering substantially similar cases from North Carolina and Maryland that could affect Michigan's case.

A decision in those other cases is expected by the time the court's term ends in late June.

State House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, and several Republican members of Michigan's congressional delegation had filed a request for a stay with Sotomayor — who oversees the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals that Michigan is part of — saying the order of April 25th "forgoes any semblance of respect for state sovereignty."

"Put simply, all of the mandates of the District Court's order must be done under unsettled legal principles that the Court is currently reviewing," that request said. Several others were filed by other Republicans as well.

Democrats, included Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, objected to the stay, with Attorney General Dana Nessel's office writing an objection on her behalf.

"The facts and circumstances of this case ... do not warrant a stay," Nessel's office wrote. "

(Republicans) have shown only that complying with the district court’s order would be inconvenient, not that it would irreparably harm them in any way."

With similar issues already before the court's conservative majority, however, it was almost certain that a stay would be granted. Ultimately, whatever is decided in the North Carolina and Maryland cases could either effectively overturn the Michigan order, pave the way for a successful appeal or bolster the three-judge panel's decision.

The order issued Friday afternoon by the court indicated that Sotomayor, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, did not rule on it herself but presented it to the whole court. At least five of the nine justices have to agree for a stay order to be granted.

In the earlier order, the three-judge panel concluded that Republicans in charge of drawing and enacting the political lines after the 2010 Census redrew lines by "packing" or "cracking" geographic blocs of Democratic voters, meaning they were either packed into one district or their numbers so diluted in others as to make their strength far less than it would otherwise be.

The court found that violated the First Amendment right to association and 14th Amendment right to equal protection under

The Supreme Court also issued a stay on a similar case in the 6th Circuit out of Ohio.

Michigan Voters Corrected Combined Response in Opposition to Applications for Stay 5-20-2019 by Beverly Tran on Scribd

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Tales Of The New Crown: Michigan Representative Karen Whitsett Has Illuminated Ire Of The 13th Congressional District

Jonathon Kinloch is illegitimately elected, you know.

Any dissent from the MDP talking points memos will interfere in cooties revenue maximization.


https://beverlytran.blogspot.com/2020/04/tales-of-new-crown-michigan-state.html

#maytheheavensfall

Detroit Democrats unanimously censure lawmaker who credited Trump for COVID-19 recovery

"The truth shall prevail once the sun
illuminates our spirits."

Detroit — Detroit Democrats unanimously passed a resolution Saturday to censure a Democratic lawmaker who credited President Donald Trump with advocating for the drug that she said cured her of COVID-19.

State Rep. Karen Whitsett, D-Detroit, broke protocol by meeting with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence during an April 14 meeting of COVID-19 survivors, where  she credited hydroxychloroquine for saving her life, a Democratic district leader said.

“Thank you for everything that you have done,” Whitsett told Trump at the meeting. “I did not know that saying thank you had a political line. … I’m telling my story and my truth, and this how I feel and these are my words.”

Whitsett's comments landed her in hot water with the 13th Congressional District Democratic Party organization, which unanimously passed the 15-delegate vote via Zoom Saturday ousting the first-term lawmaker representing the 9th Michigan House District.

"We have the ability to be the referee when we see our leaders out there attacking and not being willing to have a discussion to find common ground," said Jonathan Kinloch, chairman of the organization. "Based on her actions and recent statements, she's chosen to be a stand-alone Democrat with the goals of a Republican."

The resolution states Whitsett has "misrepresented the needs and priorities" of Democratic leadership to the president and public.

The resolution also notes she's participated in events with the Republican Women's Federation of Michigan to express gratitude to the president.

Whitsett, the resolution said, "has repeatedly and publicly praised the president's delayed and misguided COVID-19 response efforts in contradiction with the scientifically based and action-oriented response" from Michigan's Democratic leadership, "endangering the health, safety and welfare of her constituents, the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan."

The admonition means she will not get the group’s endorsement for this year nor will she be able to engage in the group’s activities for the next two election cycles.

Trump appeared to offer his support for the state representative late Thursday, tweeting, "Disgraceful. (Whitsett) Should join the Republican Party!"

The president also tweeted Friday morning about the controversy: "The Fake and totally corrupt News is after her as a means of getting to me. She’s smart and strong, knows the truth. Already a heroine to many!"

Until March, Kinloch was Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's community liaison to southeast Michigan. He saidthe censure "speaks to the heart of Democratic representation" and should she wish, Whitsett has seven days to appeal.

"This is done with unless she appeals," he said. "We will begin screening someone else to support that district."

The developments quickly drew the ire of Donald Trump Jr., who tweeted Thursday: "What a joke. Remember folks, the narrative can only be against Trump and if you break those rules the left will turn on their own."

'This is pettiness'
Whitsett, meanwhile, told The Detroit News after the vote Saturday that she would not engage in the "pettiness politics" of the Democratic organization because she is busy working for her district.

Whitsett said she has raised $450,000 in four days for resources in her district and is working to deliver food and cleaning products to those in need during the pandemic.

"I was asked to speak about my COVID experience," Whitsett said. "The board has various issues and I don't understand what this censure is this censure supposed to do?

"We are in the middle of a pandemic if anyone has forgotten, which is what Jonathan and the governor should be concerned about," she said, adding she didn't have any involvement with the Republican Women's Federation of Michigan.

Whitsett and her husband, Jason, both tested positive for the coronavirus. The pair took to Twitter Saturday morning to thank supporters.

"I have over 93,000 people that I'm responsible for so we're trying to still get resources out, finding resources and Home Depot, Lowes just did a delivery for us and I'm so excited about that," she told The News.

Past problems
Kinloch said the party’s problems with Whitsett date back to comments she made about House Democratic leadership and the Democratic legislative caucus at large.

In February, Whitsett told WWJ-AM (950) that House Democratic Leader Christine Greig of Farmington Hills was a racist because she wouldn’t consider an urban agenda for the caucus. Greig also pulled Whitsett’s communications staff because of an unfavorable vote on an early rendition of the no-fault auto reform bill, Whitsett said.

A later version of the no-fault auto reform legislation received overwhelming support in the state House and was signed into law by Whitmer.

Several lawmakers in Detroit or elsewhere have been censured in some way by their parties over the years because of "serious trouble with the law," but the idea of zinging a lawmaker for meeting with the president is "unheard of," said Bill Ballenger, a longtime political analyst, a Republican former state lawmaker and head of the online Ballenger Report.

"They obviously feel this is something that cannot be tolerated," he said.

Michigan State Medical Society President Dr. Mohammed Arsiwala prescribed hydroxychloroquine and an antibiotic for Whitsett after she visited one of his Michigan Urgent Care clinics in Wyandotte. She had symptoms of COVID-19 and an underlying condition, he told The Detroit News.

The Trump administration has deployed about 28 million doses of hydroxychloroquine from the federal government’s Strategic National Stockpile. While hydroxychloroquine is effective at treating lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, the drug can be dangerous for people with certain heart conditions.

On Sunday, after Whitsett continued to make negative comments about the party and Whitmer, the 13th Congressional Democratic group asked her to come in for a “screening” of candidates for her house district. Whitsett refused, Kinloch said.

“Don’t play with us,” Kinloch said. “This is very serious when we ask to have a conversation with you and you choose not to.

“We’re not going to accept that. How they handle you in Lansing as far as the Democratic caucus that’s on them. But how we handle you back at home, that’s on us.”

Whitsett said she didn't have time for the screening.

"I don’t have time for politics," Whitsett said. "That’s ridiculous, during a pandemic, that they think I have time for a screening. ... I have people that need me.”

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Michigan Redistricting Was Part Of The Emergency Manager Plan

I had those maps.

I had the data.

I went to D.C.

I went to the MDP.

I went to the Detroit NAACP.

No one cared because selling chattel is the oldest form of survival.

If you lose you home to fraudulent property taxes and fake ass mortgages, under laws promulgated by those who benefit, people must move, hence, redistricting, or rather forced migration.

The Detroit Foreclosure Crisis was intentionally manufactured through the Emergency Manager Law, whereby the model was lifted from the Michigan Children's Institute Superintendent Law.

Children and land are fungible under chattel law.

This was planned and I was there.

GOP pressure shaped state's district maps, court records show

Lansing — Republican mapmakers who drew Michigan's current political districts were pressured to appease lawmakers and made changes to help gain legislative approval, according to documents and depositions in a federal lawsuit.

The documents show mapmakers in 2011 gave top party officials the partisan vote history breakdowns of new districts, shared proposed maps with an interest group linked to the DeVos family, entertained suggestions from at least one GOP donor and faced backlash from incumbents vexed at how their districts were redrawn.

“I think your map protects all nine incumbents and it looks good,” GOP redistricting guru Bob LaBrant, then a Michigan Chamber of Commerce official, told congressional mapmaker Jeff Timmer in a May 2011 email. It came as pressure from within and outside the Legislature began to rise.

But Republican then-U.S. Rep. Thad McCotter of Livonia and U.S. Rep. Justin Amash of West Michigan, in particular, were “concerned and at times opposed or threatening to be opposed and disrupting the legislative process” by lobbying lawmakers against the plan, Timmer, a GOP consultant for the Lansing-based Sterling Corp, said in a sworn deposition.

The transcripts were revealed by attorneys for congressional Republicans as part of a motion to dismiss the suit alleging partisan gerrymandering. They reference emails that shed light on a redistricting process that Michigan law allows to be controlled by whichever party holds power at the start of any given decade.

Republicans led the process in 2011 and hired mapmakers who used advanced software to draw the lines. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Democratic voters, alleges Republicans drew maps to benefit their candidates by "packing or cracking" Democrats into a smaller number of winnable districts

Brian Began, a Republican staffer who helped draw state House districts, emailed Timmer and state Senate mapmaker Terry Marquardt in June 2011 with a “map that we will likely use as it doesn’t primary two Dems in Wayne County so long as they vote our way.”

Began, in a sworn deposition, said he did not remember “the context” of his email. But records show three Wayne County Democrats — then-state Reps. Doug Geiss, Andrew Kandrevas and Paul Clemente — ended up voting for the Republican-drawn maps.

The trio cut a deal with Republicans after learning Detroit Democrats were attempting to negotiate their own agreement with the GOP that would have carved up the Wayne County suburbs, including his hometown of Taylor, Geiss told The Detroit News.

"A pox on all of their houses," Geiss said, still frustrated by the process seven years later. "This is not what democracy looks like. It left a bad taste in my mouth and does today. Democrats and Republicans should not be in control of that process."

Timmer, the congressional mapmaker who is a prominent figure in the new court documents, did not respond to an interview request.

Records first reported by Bridge Magazine show his Sterling Corp. firm was paid $170,000 to draw maps and help raise money for the Michigan Redistricting Resource Institute, a nonprofit that does not disclose its donors but spent about $1 million on GOP redistrict efforts in 2011.

Congressional pressure

McCotter and his chief of staff Jack Daly regularly shared suggestions with Timmer as he drew congressional maps, according to the documents. In a previously reported message, Daly celebrated a proposed map that would make it “easier to cram ALL of the Dem garbage in Wayne, Washtenaw, Oakland and Macomb counties into only four districts.”

McCotter, who resigned in 2012 after a petition signature fraud scandal kept him off the primary ballot, wanted to preserve the shape of his district as much as possible, Timmer said. The Livonia Republican was keenly interested in how the new maps would affect potential opponents.

"I know that Thad felt he could get elected anywhere in that district, but he was more concerned about who might run against him in a primary,” Timmer said in his deposition.

Then-state Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, an East Lansing Democrat now running for governor, blasted the GOP congressional map prior to a 2011 vote, alleging districts were drawn to protect McCotter and suggesting that "future generations of school kids might learn about them as examples of gerrymanders.”

Republican lawmakers defended the map, noting it would preserve two African-American majority districts while minimizing districts that break up counties or municipalities.

“What we have in front of us is a fair, a legal and a constitutional plan for our new congressional districts,” state Sen. Joe Hune, R-Hamburg Township, said before the vote.

Timmer repeatedly insisted that his top priority during the redistricting process was adhering to the “Apol standards,” the court-ordered redistricting rules codified by the Michigan Legislature in 1996.

But he acknowledged legislative leaders “would make alterations” to secure votes and said the rules were not strictly adhered to on legislative maps in at least two instances.

Clinton Township was split in an unusual way after requests by Republican lawmakers from Macomb County, he recalled. Two more townships than necessary were added to a Livingston County district on the state Senate map, he said.

'Rock solid' Republican

In one 2011 email, Timmer said Amash was threatening to "scuttle" the plan by lobbying state lawmakers against it. The congressman and former state lawmaker had "concerns about territory" in Kent County and that the map also drew Democratic former U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer into his district, Timmer explained in his deposition.

Schauer had traded terms with GOP U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg of Tipton but did not run again after his home in Battle Creek was drawn out of the 7th Congressional District and into Amash’s 3rd District.

Greg McNeilly, a GOP strategist who works for the DeVos family's Windquest Group, wrote Timmer in June of 2011 to say that “Amash is concerned with Calhoun.” McNeilly, who told The News he was not working directly for Amash or on his behalf, told Timmer that LaBrant had suggested they talk.

Timmer provided McNeilly with what he said was requested information detailing partisan vote totals in the proposed Amash district from 2006 to 2010. In one email, Timmer said the seat was “still rock solid.” Republican operative Jamie Roe said in another email that Amash's district was “still the second best seat in the state” for Republicans.

The deposition revealed that Roe, who was chief of staff to GOP then-U.S. Rep. Candice Miller, celebrated in an email a draft map he said looked like it was “giving the finger” to U.S. Rep. Sander Levin, a Royal Oak Democrat.

Roe was describing a section of Sterling Heights that was included in Miller’s new district. No one lived in the area but it had “good companies,” he said in an email.

Roe asked Timmer to keep a strip between Mound and Van Dyke in Sterling Heights in Miller’s district “so that we can continue to represent General Dynamics, the Chrysler plant, and the Ford Transmission plant.”

Roe has been a vocal critic of a November ballot proposal that would create an independent commission to draw maps and has argued “politics is really not part of” the current process. He said he has not been a fan of Levin, who is retiring.

But his 2011 comments do not prove any effort to gerrymander, Roe argued, noting the “middle finger” created in the map was home to zero voters but was an important part of Macomb County’s defense corridor that Miller “liked fighting for" in Congress.

“I do politics for a living,” he said, explaining why he described proposed districts in terms of partisan voting histories. “Of course I’m going to note the partisan nature, but that’s not a determination of how it was drawn.”

The emails show Republicans were "quibbling over how gerrymandered their district would be, not whether it would be gerrymandered," said Mark Brewer, an attorney in the federal lawsuit and former chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party.

Advocacy group pressure

In one email, Timmer asked another mapmaker to forward a proposed district map and partisan voting history to the Great Lakes Education Project, an advocacy group founded by now-U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, a former major GOP donor and state party chair.

Another email described in the deposition showed GOP donor Jon Cotton, president of Meridian Health Plan Inc., offering input on legislative maps in an email thread that included Michigan Republican Party Chairman Bobby Schostak.

“Can we still have the map drawers draw a favorable Republican district with the Pointes all together?” wrote Cotton, who lives in Grosse Pointe Farms.

The suggestion was not incorporated because it would have reduced the number of majority-minority districts, said Timmer, who told attorneys he was likely referring to Cotton when he referenced “GP$$ folks” in one email to Schostak.

Timmer also said GOP operative Stu Sandler delivered draft maps and other information to Schostak during the redistricting process.

LaBrant, the former legal counsel for the Michigan Chamber of Commerce who helped shape GOP redistricting efforts for more than two decades, told Timmer in a May 2011 email that “Dale at the RNC has drawn a 10-4 map” for Michigan. It apparently was designed to help the GOP win 10 of the state's 14 congressional seats.

But "your map protects all nine incumbents and it looks good,” said LaBrant, who separately told a legislative aide to then-Congressman Dave Camp that "we've spent a lot of time providing options to ensure we have a solid 9-5 delegation in 2012 and beyond."

Michigan Republicans retained nine U.S. House seats in 2012 and have enjoyed a 9-5 delegation majority since the state lost one seat that year due to population losses.

Emails show that when Timmer provided draft maps to various interested parties, he often included election data charts breaking down how many Republican votes were cast within proposed districts during past elections.

“Any GOPer should fare quite well here,” he said of the way McCotter’s district was drawn in one draft map. “All GOP seats improve except Congressional Districts 2 and 3,” he said in another email. 

Timmer denied a political motivation in his own map making. He testified that he provided vote history data assuming the type of questions Republican lawmakers or staff would ask “once we satisfied the Apol criteria.”

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©