And the crying from the West Michigan media commences...
LANSING - The first real fallout from the midterm election became apparent Tuesday as Republicans chose their new Senate leader, and the Democrats made their choice for the House.
A definition of "fallout": Any adverse and unwanted secondary effect; The radioactive particles that settle to the ground after a nuclear explosion.
These words come to you from Rick Albin. Already he has painted a negative picture in the very first sentence.
The GOP chose Mike Bishop to replace term limited Ken Sikkema as their new Majority Leader. Bishop, from Oakland County, bested Wayne Kuipers from Holland for the spot.
The new Democratic Senate Minority Leader is Battle Creek's Mark Schauer, who explained what it is that job entails.
"Well, my job is to corral all the Democrats in the State Senate and make sure we're focused and headed in the same direction."
In the House, the new Speaker is Andy Dillon, a Redford Township Democrat who got the nod after a spirited battle with Rep. Andy Meisner. Dillon pledged to work with the Republicans to move Michigan forward.
The Republicans re-elected Craig DeRoche to be Dillon's counterpart as House Minority Leader.
I'm hearing some rumbling about Dillon being too conservative; I'm willing to start off giving him the benefit of the doubt.
Granholm II: This Time I'm Paying Attention. And if the Legislature continues on with their previous nonsense, I'll yell louder. Granholm herself has to reach down and find her "inner Engler" and whip these guys into shape. We've had some problems with House Dems in the past- I don't expect this to be a breeze, either.
Dillon said he's not motivated by revenge for when the Democrats were in the minority. "They'll have an agenda every day and they will be recognized on the floor. We look forward to a very bi-partisan House of Representatives."
Revenge? Gee, Rick, are you admitting here that maybe some revenge needs to be taken for previous Republican actions? Is this a confession that they were acting in an extreme partisan manner?
And this ominous closing-
Of the top four leaders, only Schauer is from West Michigan. Come January, there will be a decidedly east-side influence in the Michigan Legislature.
The video emphasized the east-west divide a bit more, but late word tells us that Cropsey (gag) and Sak (no comment) will also have leadership roles.
The Press has yet to weigh in on this, but I already know what their response will be. I can probably even write it for you...
Here's a message to the West Michigan media- time for you guys to have a big 'ol cup of "STFU". We don't need to hear your incessant whining about how the west side of the state is ignored. They are not going to totally cut us off, even though they probably should after we tried to foist DeVos on them.
So, knock it off. You embarrass me.
And besides, you will be very happy when Madonna is appointed head of the Michigan Council on Family Values, won't you?