#michigan gop

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Eric Hananoki at MMFA:

While serving as chair of the Michigan Republican Party, Pete Hoekstra has also been working for the anti-Muslim Gatestone Institute, which has posted commentaries suggesting that Muslims are incompatible with the West, declaring “Islam is a Problem,” and claiming Europe may be facing “Great White Death” because of Muslim immigrants. Hoekstra himself has used his Gatestone Institute position to praise Geert Wilders, a far-right Dutch politician and leading anti-Muslim figure. The Michigan GOP chair also wrote that he has “often met” with Wilders, who he claimed is devoted to “religious tolerance.” (Wilders has claimed, among other things, that “Islam is not a religion”). 

Hoekstra is a former member of Congress and Trump administration ambassador who was elected the Michigan GOP chair earlier this year after a bizarre power struggle ousted far-right commentator Kristina Karamo. (Karamo has her own history of anti-Muslim remarks.) He has been a distinguished senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute since at least 2022. He has written dozens of pieces for the organization since 2021 and has continued to write for Gatestone since he assumed the Michigan GOP chair.  Observers have documented the Gatestone Institute’s anti-Muslim rhetoric. Reporter Heidi Przybyla wrote an April 2018 piece for NBC News that noted the institute “has promoted misleading and false anti-Muslim news.” The piece quoted then-Brookings Institution fellow Alina Polyakova, who “said Gatestone is ‘putting out content that was clearly anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim and was echoing some of the Russian disinformation propaganda’ being spread by internet trolls and on social media.” Przybyla added that “Gatestone has been a significant promoter of the disputed notion that ‘no-go zones’ exist in the heart of major cities where Muslims rule by Shariah law.” 

Newly-appointed Michigan GOP Chair Pete Hoekstra continues to work for the Islamophobic Gatestone Institute in which he praised right-wing anti-Islam Dutch politician Geert Wilders.

[nando161mando]

"Check out our latest #ThisIsAmerica podcast, featuring an action news roundup, including updates on the recent #StopCopCity struggle, an #IWW union drive at Peet's Coffee shops in #Oakland and #Berkeley, anti-pipeline actions, and how a week of action in #Michigan is kicking off against the expansion of a national guard facility.

Listen Here":

[scarletcarmensmith]

😹😹😹🤡🤡🤡

[queerism1969]

[mysharona1987]

[mikey-green-genx]

My fellow Americans...

That's a real "headline" from CNN.com. Here's a better deal: Russia get the fuck out of Ukraine.

Russia, you signed a treaty. Ukraine gave up their nuclear weapons so Russia would sign it. Russia get the fuck out of Ukraine. Period. Only deal.

As GenX, I've never lived in a "pro-Russian" USA. I have nothing against Russians, in general, "some I assume, are good people." Yet their nuclear weapons (still) point toward the United States of America. Ronald Reagan won the Cold War, but Trump/MAGA are determined to reverse Reagan and deliver the United States into the hands of the KGB without a single shot fired on either side of the Atlantic Ocean.

What does that mean?

Putin is a KGB Dictator. He wants all former Soviet-block countries back under "Russian" control. Estonia (literally the country of Estonia) and I followed each other on Twitter before Musk bought the platform. MAGA voters claim they want to live in Russia, but Estonians do not want to go back to the USSR. Neither do any former Soviet-Block countries including Poland. It's astounding, "either love your country (USA) or move (to Russia)" is now a Democrat phrase.

MAGA claims they are anti-communist. (I fully expect a few of them to call me a "commie/socialist Libtard." Ouch I'ma Libtard, and it is totally weird you think Ronald Reagan was a Libtard.) MAGA wears T-shirts proclaiming- "I'd rather be Russian than a Democrat!" No you wouldn't. You are simply jacked-up on KGB propaganda that has infiltrated American institutions, communities, and especially evangelical churches.

I volunteer my time to chat with you (MAGA). Yell at me, cuss at me, call me names. I'm here for you MAGA because Soviet KGB propaganda is a powerful thing. Contact me. We'll chat.

And please vote for Kamala Harris to restore American sanity to United States of America foreign policy. Do it for Ronald Reagan.

[easyearl]

[cinemaocd]

Anyone else notice the amount of Trump signs/flags etc. on abandoned houses/properties?

[tomorrowusa]

Apparently even the debate fly has abandoned Mike Pence. 🪰

He'll probably eventually endorse Trump just like the 99% of spineless Republicans.

Peter Meijer was a GOP House member who then lost his seat because of a MAGA primary challenger; BTW, a Democrat now holds that seat.

Meijer, now a GOP candidate for nomination to the US Senate, says he would support Trump in 2024 – even though his impeachment vote implied that he thinks Trump is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors. huh? 🤔

GOP Senate Candidate Says He Stands By His Vote to Impeach Trump Over Jan. 6, But Will Still Support Him In 2024

Republicans have lost all trace of scruples. Political courage in the GOP is on the borderline between highly endangered and extinct.

It might be fun to start a pool regarding what day (or week) Mike Pence finally endorses Trump. Perhaps Pence will announce, "I've decided to hang with Donald Trump!"

[nando161mando]

I wonder if he said it while he was fucking her?

[mysharona1987]

Off by a few years, but still quite accurate.

[mikey-green-genx]

Ladies and Gentlemen, GenX presents, The Presidents of The United States of America...

[meret118]

A Michigan Republican is being accused of misleading Black voters in a print ad that shows the wrong election date.

State Sen. Tom Barrett, who's running against Democrat Curtis Hertel for the seat left vacant by Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) as she runs for U.S. Senate, took out a full-page ad in the Oct. 2 issue of the Michigan Bulletin — a Lansing-based, Black-owned alternative weekly publication — that lists Election Day as Nov. 6, a day later than the correct date, reported the Washington Post.

[sanktaleksander]

Because of the fight to get good people on Michigan’s Supreme Court, the state minimum wage will be going up to over $12 next year, because they agreed to reinstate changes passed by the majority of voters but were then gutted by the legislature at the time. It’s also retroactive. So basically we get a second shot. Down ballot races matter.

Please don't tune out when you get to the non-partisan section of your ballot this November. First off, where state Supreme Court justices are elected, Republicans are trying their darndest to elect candidates who will destroy reproductive freedom, gut voting rights, and do everything in their power to give "contested" elections to Republicans. Contrast Wisconsin electing a justice in 2023 who helped rule two partisan gerrymanders unconstitutional, versus North Carolina electing a conservative majority in 2022, who upheld a racist voter ID law and a partisan gerrymander that liberal justices had previously struck down both of.

Second, local judicial offices will make infinitely more of an impact on your community than a divided state or federal legislature will. District and circuit courts, especially, are where criminalization of homelessness and poverty play out, and where electing a progressive judge with a commitment to criminal justice reform can make an immediate difference in people's lives.

It's a premier example of buying people time, and doing profound-short-term good, while we work to eventually change the system. You might not think there will be any such progressive justices running in your district, but you won't know unless you do your research. (More on "research" in a moment.)

The candidates you elect to your non-partisan city council will determine whether those laws criminalizing homelessness get passed, how many blank checks the police get to surveil and oppress, and whether lifesaving harm reduction programs, like needle exchanges and even fentanyl test strips, are legal in your municipality. Your non-partisan school board might need your vote to fend off Moms for Liberty candidates and their ilk, who want to ban every book with a queer person or acknowledgement of racism in it.

Of course, this begs the question — if these candidates are non-partisan, and often hyper-local, then how do I research them? There's so much less information and press about them, so how do I make an informed decision?

I'm not an expert, myself. But I do think/hope I have enough tips to consist of a useful conclusion to this post:

Plan ahead. If you vote in person, figure out what's on your ballot before you show up and get jumpscared by names you don't know. Find out what's on your ballot beforehand, and bring notes with you when you vote. Your city website should have a sample ballot, and if they drop the ball, go to Ballotpedia.

Ballotpedia in general, speaking of which. Candidates often answer Ballotpedia's interviews, and if you're lucky, you'll also get all the dirt on who's donating to their campaign.

Check endorsements. Usually candidates are very vocal about these on their websites. If local/state progressive leaders and a couple unions (not counting police unions lol) are endorsing a candidate, then that's not the end of my personal research process per se, but it usually speeds things up.

Check the back of the ballot. That's where non-partisan races usually bleed over to. This is the other reason why notes are helpful, because they can confirm you're not missing anything.