Folks, get this clear. The "Obama-with-Hitler Mustache" signs were sponsored by the LarouchePAC - which had a number of its members in force at the Gary Peters event tonight. I'll have handouts and visual evidence online shortly.
Yes, read that headline right. Lyndon LaRouche has run for the Democratic Party presidential nomimation 6-7 times since 1976. And even though he opposes Obama and the Obama health proposal - its as much of a grudge-match as anything. Does that make the Democratic Party or honest Democrats responsible for Larouche's antics or the signs picturing Obama as Hitler? Absolutely not.
OaklandPolitics.com takes the rare editorial opportunity to officially condemn the LarouchePAC, the signs of Obama with a mustache, and those who oppose Obama or health care reform with the strange and odd tactics of comparing him to history's worst criminal and mass-murderer. Even if there were some tiny grain of truth in the Larouche claims or that he has somehow, like a broken clock is twice a day, ended up on the correct conclusion for this issue --- the comparison fails in magnitude because of the degree of Hitler's crimes against humanity. An honest or even somewhat dishonest policy difference doesn't make you or your opponent Adolph Hitler.
But we also take the opportunity to here to condemn anyone who tries to use the Larouche extremists to paint-by-associational-guilt "right-wingers" or "Republicans" as extremists or even the loose coalitions of anti-federalization-of-health-care individuals as responsible for Larouche's nutdom. Individuals are responsible for their views and actions, but if groups were responsible Larouche is far more tied to the Democratic Party than Republicans as the good summary of Larouche on Wikipedia demonstrates. His own supporter - whom I'll YouTube in a moment - fashions him to be the next "Franklin Roosevelt" (I don't think he got the question that I asked about whether FDR would have supported federal health care or not, but ...) and Larouche himself is a former Trotskey-ite. Again, the irony of the debate and media coverage that ignores these details (rather than completely ignoring Larouche) and reports only that anti-health-care protesters are making Nazi linkages.
Well, here it is. The Exclusive Audio Interview of Paul Welday announcing his challenge to Gary Peters.
Special thanks to Nick Deleeuw for a fine job co-hosting and to RightMichigan.com, and thanks to Paul for thinking of the internet first. He specifically noted that his choice of initial release style to include new media is part of the style and grassroots guerilla approach he'll take. To naysayers like our giant-headed friend, it may be an uphill battle - but boy, will alot of people enjoy the look they imagine on your face after the seat is taken back from Gary Peters.
Here's MP3 audio of Welday's interview. via my TalkShoe RSS Feed link. It is I-Tunes compatible and can be downloaded to your I-Pod or Mp3 player. I believe it was about 20 minutes (7.9MB). He gives us plenty of specific policy answers and confirms a solid knowledge and grounding in fiscal conservativism. Welday concludes that "it's spending, stupid," and that's the first issue of his campaign.
For reporters, contact information for the campaign is in the press release below. I field half a dozen calls yesterday for that information and will be happy to answer other questions on the issue, but Welday's direct campaign contact along with some biographical, etc., is the phone number in the press release below the fold.
The Detroit News is reporting in its "briefs" section that Dr. Jack Kevorkian has rented a room in the Troy Community Center this evening from 7pm-10pm.
Troy: Kevorkian to hold talks
Independent congressional candidate Jack Kevorkian is inviting all voters in the 9th Congressional District to attend a discussion from 7-10 p.m. Thursday at the Troy Community Center, 3170 Livernois. Topics include prison reform, crime control, access to universal health care, and affordable energy supplies and sources. Kevorkian is running as an independent against U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg, R-Bloomfield Hills, and former Michigan lottery czar Gary Peters, a Democrat from Bloomfield Township.
Gary Peters' decided to Photoshop/Airbrush out the "Polo" logo on his shirt in his literature. Not that I have anything against Photoshop, but using it to deceive, rather than enhance (lighting techniques, cropping, etc. all seem reasonable), is at least questionable ethically (while there is no rulebook in political literature design, common sense should apply). The "Polo" brand carries with it a somewhat "elitist" image which doesn't with the common-guy image Gary might prefer.
The funnier thing is that they did it to one of the pictures on the same piece of literature but forgot to do it to the other picture with the same shirt.
No surprise here, but Joe Knollenberg has filed his signatures. His press release:
For Immediate Release
April 25, 2008
More than 2,000 petition signatures put Knollenberg on the ballot
Pontiac, MI - Congressman Joe Knollenberg filed for re-election today with more than 2,000 petition signatures from supporters in every corner of the 9th congressional district.
Knollenberg, who represents 22 communities across Oakland County, says he is eager to return to Congress to continue fighting to build a stronger, brighter future for families throughout his district.
"Families in Oakland County are worried about this economy, the job market, and the price of health care," Knollenberg said. "I'm confronting these challenges head on and getting results. I'm confident that by working together, we can build a new Michigan economy with a promise of better lives for our families."
Prior to serving in Congress, Knollenberg built a career as a businessman and community leader in Oakland County. He and his wife of more than 40 years, Sandie, have raised two sons, Marty and Steve.
Nancy Skinner has dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination for the 9th District for US Congress, leaving the annointed Gary Peters.
It should be no surprise that Democrats don't believe in competition (some do actually, and they'll be the ones disappointed at this news). I'm a believer in the primary process as a way of strengthening candidates, so I will take the unconventional wisdom here in arguing that this is a benefit for Republicans and Joe Knollenberg.
As promised, here is the full hour plus of Gary Peters debating Nancy Skinner.
This should be something that both Republicans and Democrats in my audience should find interesting. OaklandPolitics.com provides it as a public service. Our comment can be found below...
The debate was held Wednesday night at 730pm, Feb. 13, 2008, in Pontiac at the Oakland County Commissioners auditorium.
Saul Anuzis was in Pontiac at the Commissioner's auditorium earlier this week with a giant milk carton of "where's Gary Peters" at a press conference.
Picking up on work done by CMU student Dennis Lennox, Saul has properly pointed out the ridiculous amount of money Peters makes for his 8 hours a week public teaching job, and the contradiction with Peters own words - that a public employee should step down when running for major office. Peters just happened to step down from his full-time job to take another public job that gave him more free time.
And that's why its a fleecing of the taxpayer. I wouldn't have an issue if he kept his Lottery Commission job - just give the taxpayer a full-time effort. But to try to have your cake and eat it too by taking a cush, low-work job on the taxpayer dime, to make it easier for you spend more time running, is wrong.
OaklandPolitics.com will publish a full length version of the Skinner v. Peters debate on Wednesday night. Pictured are some still shots (we were experimenting with multiple exposure modes, and the black and white mode is particularly effective in the red-distorted environment of the Commissioner's Auditorium which is difficult to get a natural look out of in color due to a large amount of redwood and soft lighting, plus, black and white is sometimes just more cool).
Gary Peters is pictured at left, and he'd punch your lights out with a nationalized "Medicare-for-everyone" universal health care coverage. The sharpest contrast between the two candidates, when they weren't engaged in routine rhetoric calling Republicans fear-mongerers (while they themselves engaged in the same thing), was on health care.
Nancy Skinner actually surprised me and offered up a universal health care program with some choice and competition (of course, the government literally was both, but it was an appeal to moderation on the issue) - she argued for a system where government enters the insurance business and offers everyone a choice between its program and the current market. She compellingly argued that Republicans talk about competition and choice all the time and would have a hard time arguing against those words (of course, the devil is in the details, and its not the words that bother me but misapplication or perversion of them, but on the face of things I'd be far less opposed to the general outline of the idea by Skinner than Peters expansion of the Medicare bureaucracy to everyone).
On the other hand, while both argued that the war in Iraq should be ended immediately, Peters argued for a "responsible" withdrawal and appeared to put much less of a timetable on the withdrawal than Skinner. His detailing of exactly what that meant was about as precise as most of his platform, and its not clear whether he intends to triangulate on that issue for the general election or really believes the war should be ended. Skinner was much less equivocal.
Neither had a cogent offering for the Iranian threat - Peters particularly said the "only" thing we could do was negotiate and would limit our choices severely. While I would strongly oppose action against Iran at this moment and without a diplomatic attempt, we can't take the option of force off the table. It's never a good negotiating position to take the option of force - or any option for that matter - away.
Even if you hate Bush and believe the Iraq war was a mistake, each situation much be treated separately and we shouldn't "over-learn the lessons of history" or over-react because of our most recent failures. It could be argued that World War II was the mis-learning of history from World War I, and similar points could be made about Vietnam, the Cuban Missile Crisis (handled well), etc.
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Saul Anuzis was in Pontiac at the Commissioner's auditorium earlier this week with a giant milk carton of "where's Gary Peters" at a press conference.
