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Misquoting Dorothy Gale
"People Things come and go so quickly here!"
A week or so ago was when I first read about the possibility of housing Gitmo detainees in a soon-to-be closed max security prison here in Michigan.
WoooHooooo! Jobs! That was my first reaction.
My second reaction? I wonder who's gonna fuck it up?
Here's who....
Yeah, the genius representative that twittered his whereabouts on a trip to Iraq early this year, putting the entire party he was with in danger. He wants to run for governor of Michigan next year. I reckon he will get a few less votes now, seeing as how he will be doing everything in his power to keep jobs out of the state.
The Michigan prison under consideration is located in Standish, MI in Arenac County. Arenac is one of the poorest counties in the state. The financial benefits of housing and prosecuting the detainees would be a much needed boost to the economy there...to the entire state. A former governor has endorsed the move, as well as Carl Levin and Bart Stupak (as long as there is local approval), making it a bipartisan effort.
I'd like to go on the record saying I'm fer it. I reckon we're more than up to the challenge of keepin' an eye on the detainees. After all, we Michiganders let Timothy McVeigh run around the state for years before he blew up all those babies in the Murrah building. We done learnt our lesson and we ain't gonna let it happen agin.
Oh and by the way, Arenac County isn't even in the district you represent, Pete Hoekstra, so STFU! Well, at least I got that off my chest.
But, alas, already things have changed and now the Gitmo detainees might be heading to various other places along the eastern seaboard to be tried.
Of course, there is a GOP push back brewing...not in their backyard. Or ours. Or anybody's.
Well, I have this to say about it....
Regardless of who started this damn terrrrrst fear mongering, regardless of who started the wars...well, at the point where we now are, it just doesn't matter anymore. We're in it now... in it up to our mother luvvin' necks. We did it to ourselves and I was taught that if you make a mess, clean it up yourself. Don't expect somebody else to clean it up for you. We've got no business trying to coerce other countries, countries that are our friends for cryin' out loud....we've got no business asking them to clean up our shit. And they've got every right to tell us to go eff ourselves. I hope they continue to do so, because a friend you can bully into doing what you want makes for a whole lot of latent resentment. (My apologies to Palau and Ireland.)
A week or so ago was when I first read about the possibility of housing Gitmo detainees in a soon-to-be closed max security prison here in Michigan.
WoooHooooo! Jobs! That was my first reaction.
My second reaction? I wonder who's gonna fuck it up?
Here's who....
Yeah, the genius representative that twittered his whereabouts on a trip to Iraq early this year, putting the entire party he was with in danger. He wants to run for governor of Michigan next year. I reckon he will get a few less votes now, seeing as how he will be doing everything in his power to keep jobs out of the state.
The Michigan prison under consideration is located in Standish, MI in Arenac County. Arenac is one of the poorest counties in the state. The financial benefits of housing and prosecuting the detainees would be a much needed boost to the economy there...to the entire state. A former governor has endorsed the move, as well as Carl Levin and Bart Stupak (as long as there is local approval), making it a bipartisan effort.
I'd like to go on the record saying I'm fer it. I reckon we're more than up to the challenge of keepin' an eye on the detainees. After all, we Michiganders let Timothy McVeigh run around the state for years before he blew up all those babies in the Murrah building. We done learnt our lesson and we ain't gonna let it happen agin.
Oh and by the way, Arenac County isn't even in the district you represent, Pete Hoekstra, so STFU! Well, at least I got that off my chest.
But, alas, already things have changed and now the Gitmo detainees might be heading to various other places along the eastern seaboard to be tried.
Of course, there is a GOP push back brewing...not in their backyard. Or ours. Or anybody's.
Well, I have this to say about it....
Regardless of who started this damn terrrrrst fear mongering, regardless of who started the wars...well, at the point where we now are, it just doesn't matter anymore. We're in it now... in it up to our mother luvvin' necks. We did it to ourselves and I was taught that if you make a mess, clean it up yourself. Don't expect somebody else to clean it up for you. We've got no business trying to coerce other countries, countries that are our friends for cryin' out loud....we've got no business asking them to clean up our shit. And they've got every right to tell us to go eff ourselves. I hope they continue to do so, because a friend you can bully into doing what you want makes for a whole lot of latent resentment. (My apologies to Palau and Ireland.)
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Flowerchild - Terrific post. Endorse.
Please keep us posted on this!
Thanks for the update.
August 3, 2009 10:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, you betcha, Auntie. The Standish Correctional Facility is a mere 30 miles from where I live so when, or if, anything happens, I'm sure the local news will be on it like flies on poo...and so will I. ;o)
August 3, 2009 11:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Flower I am uncouth. Lines like this just make me jump. hahahaa
"Oh and by the way, Arenac County isn't even in the district you represent, Pete Hoekstra, so STFU! Well, at least I got that off my chest."
Sometimes we are confronted with truth. I love it. I mean I just love naked truth sometimes.
You are my hero. hahhaha
August 3, 2009 11:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have such a potty mouth sometimes,dd. I get so mad and frustrated....I think cussing is my safety relief valve. And that Hoekstra guy is werkin' my last nerve. Grrrrrrrrrr. Sigh. I'm gonna go look again at the flowers your Belle sent me. That'll calm me down a bit.
August 3, 2009 11:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't know why you always feel that you have to calm yourself down, Flower.....when you get pissed off, you're at your strongest, and so are your posts.
Keep that anger coming, honey. Just make sure you leave it at Josh's doorstep, and not your own. Meaning that once it leaves your head, and gets here, you leave it here. That's always been my saving grace.
Anna Nalick wrote a song called Breathe (2AM) wherein she writes:
Sometimes it's best to just get it out.
August 3, 2009 11:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
I always love that lyric. That and the 'winter just wasn't my season' one. Lived that too. Thanks for sharing.
August 4, 2009 2:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
Just breathe...
=D
(hands out pitchforks)
So, I saw a bumper sticker in Florida that said: "Quit bitching. Start a revolution."
There is something to that, but personally, I think one must bitch to start a revolution. Flower is doing just fine.
August 4, 2009 3:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
You crack me up, Bwak :)
August 4, 2009 9:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
There's more to swearing than meets the ears;
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-tc-health-pain-curse-0812-08aug02,0,3796502.story
August 4, 2009 10:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
God, I love the smell of vindication in the morning.
So, all my cussin' is how I get relief from all the pain in the ass politicians? Cool.
Thanks, jonnie. ;o)
August 4, 2009 10:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yep. Get it out. Let it fly. Wave yer hand. Say goodbye. ;o)
Thanks, Lis.
August 4, 2009 12:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
Wasn't it our grandmothers and mothers who taught us when we were -- say, three or four -- that if we spilled milk, knocked something over, made a mistake that hurt others, that it was our job to clean it up, set it right, apologize and just fix it? You're right about the resentment it would breed in allies already resentful if we tried to pass on the fixing of this mess on them.
Can we grow up now, please, Mr. Hoekstra?
August 4, 2009 9:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh! Grown ups representing us in government! What a great idea! If it would only come to pass, Wendy. If it were only true, what a great day it would be.
August 4, 2009 9:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Here's a great article with local reaction to the idea of bringing Gitmo detainees to Michigan.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090804/ap_on_re_us/us_guantanamo_detainees_prisoners_2
A quote from Standish City Manager Michael J. Moran III :
See? We've got it covered. Bring 'em here. We'll do our share to clean up America's mess. ;o)
August 4, 2009 10:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
I have so many mixed feelings about this post.
I don't support building prisons (they just get filled up), and what have we come to when small towns and rural areas across the country lobby for a prison in their community so they will have jobs? We have this in Oregon as well. It is a recurring "discussion." While areas with resources scream "not in my backyard," areas that have been stripped of the ability to survive clamor for everything from prisons to toxic waste sites because they provide jobs. It is the national version of economic colonization of the "developing" world. Make people desperate enough and they will risk almost anything to survive.
I am outraged about the whole concept of "indefinite detention." I think is is very dangerous to the rights and (few remaining) Constitutional protections we have. However, I would rather have our illegally detained terrorist suspects in the U.S. than in quasi-territory at Gitmo.
I would not be at all surprised if - after thinning the ranks of detainees by sending them off or releasing them - all the remaining were put on one plane to head towards their final U.S. destination. Then, as that plane flies through the Bermuda Triangle, it suddenly "disappears" off radar. No survivors and no debris - just gone.
I fully agree with you that it is not a good idea to strong arm our "friends." I also wonder what we are promising them to take in our inconvenient captives.
August 4, 2009 1:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Rowan, believe me....I had mixed feeling writing it. The whole time I'm reading the links and writing the blog, in the back of my mind, I'm thinking, "Why has it come to this? How has it come to this? Where did this desperation come from? Why are people here happy to host detainees that pose such danger, the rest of the world turns their back on them?"
Well, I know the answers to these questions and I could fill a yard or two of blog space setting the answers down. We probably all could.
But, in the end, what it comes down to, is exactly what you have written...."economic colonization".
Michigan is starting all over again for the third or fourth time. First we trapped out all the game. Then we cut down all the trees. Then we mined. Then we farmed. Then we built cars. 17% unemployment here. We are flat out desperate for jobs. Is it any wonder I'm cussin' a blue streak? We've been more or less forced into becoming the equivalent of a national dump, literally in the case of imported trash from Canada.
When I think about the Gitmo detainees, read how these are some of the most dangerous people on the planet, I don't really know if the real story is coming through. We've been lied to by our own federal government for so long, it's hard to trust what we're told. If these are truly evil and desperate people then I cannot help but think "indefinite detention" is the best we can do. Again, it's a matter of perspective....which measuring stick are we supposed to use for these guys?
I am going to let the more learned take on the Constitutional protections and rights issues you mentioned, Rowan. Thanks for stopping by. You've given me some things to think about.
August 4, 2009 3:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Michael Parenti (I believe) spoke long ago about the plan to make the U.S. a "third world country." I think that isn't quite the real plan. Just to make the majority of folks focused on surviving - to be pliable and compliant. Klein writes about the "shock doctrine." They lead to a similar place. A population driven to near desperation who complies and accepts what's happening. Is continuously willing to settle for less (even hazardous less) because there are no other options.
If the mechanisms of control work so well when implemented elsewhere, why not here? If all else fails, you can fractionalize the population so that they fight each other rather than those who are benefiting.
People have been kept from developing local economies that would have cushioned the blows of monopolistic capitalism - which we and the world are paying for now. There are pockets of such in the U.S., extensively in Australia, and here and there is South America. However, even mention such concepts here and most folks are either totally blank, or assume one means "communism."
The belief is there is no way but the one we are on. No structure without massive economic inequality (it "motivates" people). No world without corporations. No life without money between the person and everything needed to survive.
Sorry, I have entered a depressing spiral here.
It doesn't HAVE to be this way, and I truly wish people would stand up and say "It WON'T be this way!"
August 4, 2009 4:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Rowan,
Re: your first paragraph. I have blogged about that.
Re: you second paragraph. I have blogged about that, too.
And I have read about local economies....Traverse Bay Bucks is one such economy located in Traverse City, MI. (Michael Moore's adopted home.) You're right about the blank looks if you mention it. It's just not real to anyone outside their community. It might as well be Monopoly Money. ( Type baybucks dot org/ into your browser to get info if interested.)
Changing the mindset of people locked into the status quo is near impossible, Rowan. That is the depressing part. Oh, it can be done. But it is usually the result of some catastrophic happening.
If only wishing made a better life so.
One cannot feed ideals to their children, though. No nutrition to be found in wishes at all, sad to say. It is a depressing topic when all is said and done, is it not?
Trapped.
Trapped like rats.
August 4, 2009 7:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry...that first link should be
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/flowerchild/2009/04/the-long-slow-goodbye.php
And I previewed, too!
August 4, 2009 8:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for the links to your other articles. Damn right it is easy to get depressed. Mother knows we all got cause and more. Depressed or not, we got to go on. Too damn much at stake to quit.
On the bright side, there are pockets of hope - sometimes big pockets. Here at TPM, across the country and around the world.
Love you flowerchild.
August 4, 2009 10:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
"WoooHooooo! Jobs! That was my first reaction."
Pretty scary.
August 4, 2009 7:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Scary times here in Mich, adelfarb. Scary, indeed.
August 4, 2009 8:03 PM | Reply | Permalink