Owashtanong Short Attention Span Theater

Or, "Things That Happened While I Was Watching Scrubs"- I can't figure out a good title for this, so ripping off Comedy Central was the best I could do.

And stop laughing at me because I picked the Lions. Yeah, you. I see you out there.

Cleaning out the Favorites list from this week-

DeVos continues his thank-you tour with the headline story in the GR Press today. Imagine how happy I was to see his not-so smiling picture on the cover of the paper this morning. Quote that shows that Dick still doesn't understand-

The difficulty, of course, in a political campaign is that your image is not just what you present but is impacted by what the other side presents. And the other side went out of their way to run what some said was the most negative campaign by an incumbent they've ever seen.

First, Dick claimed his defeat was because the Republicans had a bad year, now he tries to pass it off on negative campaigning. Um, yeah, OK, whatever you say. That comes from the guy that went negative first in August, not with one ad but two, and had, what, five or six different negative ads running at the end? Not to mention the all nasty flyers and robocalls and signs on public property?

Just like his defeat with the vouchers back in 2000, Dick will point his finger at everyone and everything to avoid the possibility that people just don't like his ideas.

One more note on the election- $56 million was spent in total, $41.6 million by DeVos, $14.6 by Granholm. Truscott seems to think it was about even-

Truscott said DeVos' money advantage was overrated. After factoring in spending by labor unions and the Democratic Party plus matching state funds Granholm received, "it comes pretty close to equaling what we spent in total," he said.

And Chris DeWitt sets him straight-

"In his dreams," De Witt responded, noting that DeVos also had help from outside groups such as the Republican Governors Association, the state GOP and the Michigan Chamber of Commerce. "There is no way in God's green earth that we matched them in spending or came close."

Denial is an amazing thing.

Speaking of those who live in the Land of Delusion, Saul Anuzis gets the Quote of the Week honors with this gem on Carl Levin running in '08-

"(Levin) has a long record that he has to defend and it's a record that's very vulnerable in Michigan," Anuzis said.

Thanks go to Zack at Pohlitics for pointing this one out. Still laughing.

The Rapid, GR's public transit system, made the national news with a story that happened back in July- a woman was denied a bus ride for wearing a veil. Look, this was an isolated incident, this is NOT how the people that work for The Rapid generally behave. They are some of the nicest people I have ever encountered out in the public, and they have a very tough job. I think she just caught a driver having a bad day, and The Rapid has since apologized and changed their rules on religious coverings. It was something they didn't consider when they made a policy that requires passengers faces to be clear for the surveillance cameras.

Jack Lessenberry had an interview with Governor Granholm, Nirmal at Capital Viewpoint found an audio version from Michigan Public Radio. "The governor is sounding a new note of energy and confidence", according to Jack, and it shows on the tape. Hope she can keep it up- new reports show we might need more budget cuts due to a shortfall in tax revenue. All the more reason to replace all of the SBT.

Saturn unveiled the Astra this week- this is the car that will replace the gawd-awful looking Ion. The only reason I mention this is I have a Saturn SC2 and I love it- the best American car I have ever owned. I was disappointed when they stopped making that model and hoped they would come out with something similar. The Astra looks cute. The bad thing about it? They are importing them from Europe. Why not make them here?

Unions seem to think they will make some gains when the Democrats take over Congress. The "Employee Free Choice Act" will make it easier to form a union and is supposed to be on Pelosi's hot list of Things To Do in early 2007. In other labor news, UAW membership is expected to drop below 500,000 after buyouts- one third of its peak level 30 years ago.

Voting is now open at Michigan Caucus for "Michigan's Worst 25". I challenge them to do "Michigan's Best 25" next. ;-)

The Great Lakes Loons will use solar energy to help power their new ball park in Midland. Hope I can go see it this year.

That's all for now-