Last week, Matt Walsh posted a particularly disgusting Twitter thread,
claiming that “the trans agenda” was invented by “pedophilic
psychologists, degenerate quacks, lunatic sexologists, literal Nazi
scientists, and other assorted deviants.” He lists five researchers from
the 20th century, some of them good people with problematic traits, and
some of them thoroughly bad. He then props them up as the five men
supposedly responsible for the creation of trans people. The thread is
an extremely dishonest rhetorical tactic, similar to attempts to “prove”
that Jews secretly run the world by naming five random Jewish leaders.
This kind of rhetoric is designed to delegitimize trans people, erase
their ancient global history, and whip up hate against them.
It’s also, infuriatingly, the latest example of bigots using the Holocaust to mean whatever they want it to mean.
A
quick history lesson: 6 million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust,
along with up to 15,000 gay men, up to 500,000 Roma people, and hundreds
of thousands of others. The inclusion of gay men in the Holocaust is a
detail that modern-day homophobes and transphobes like to gloss
over—especially because queer communities were one of Nazism’s main
targets.
Matt
Walsh is a known liar. Matt Taibbi's defense of Mr. Walsh goes to Mr.
Taibbi's own immense short comings. I used to highlight Katie Halper. I
am done. She does not address the war on LGBTQ+ and she is Mr.
Taibbi's friend and former co-host. Those of us with LGBTQ+
grandchildren do not find her silence cute. She may or may not be a
transphobe herself but I have no reason to advance someone who may not
be an ally or anyone, honestly, who is silent in the face of this huge
wave of hate that will directly target my grandson Jayson.
If
it hurt me to step away from candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., let me
assure I did not have a moment's hesitation about stepping away from Ms.
Halper. Here is Rebecca from Sunday's "Roundtable" at THIRD:
Rebecca:
Then let me go because I won't sugar coat or spare any feelings. I've
already Tweeted to, for example, Katie Halper las week telling her that
she was letting people down by refusing, month after month, to cover
this story. Let me go because I don't give a damn and I don't give a
damn about some YOUTUBErs hurt feelings. This is about people rights
and their very lives and I'm not in the mood to play. Katie Halper on
THE KATIE HALPER SHOW is a huge disappointment. This is me speaking no
one has to come after and clean up. She's supposed to be a feminist.
Yet Katie, month after month, brings on more male guests than females.
In two years and counting, I don't remember her every addressing LGBTQ+
issues. And even when she had the guy from the group The Ballet --
C.I.: Greg Goldberg.
Rebecca:
Thank you. Even when she had him on as a guest, he's gay, she wasn't
addressing LGBTQ+ issues. I'm tired of it. Are you left or not? Are
you a feminist or not? I'm tired of it. Now with the garbage that is
USEFUL IDIOTS, fine. You've got screwball Aaron Matte -- living through
his last 30 minutes of being semi-attractive before he starts looking
exactly like his father. You're not responsible. But you
damn well are responsible for your own, solo show and you're failing.
If you're not aware, now you are, fix it. If you are aware? You've
committed a huge betrayal and I don't forgive. And she's already on
thin ice with me because she's Matt Taibbi's former co-host and there's
no denying that he's a transphobe. Translation, you've got a lot to
make up for, Katie Halper.
Trina:
I support every word that Rebecca just said. I have a son who's gay.
I'm watching this unfold, these hate merchants, in horror and wondering
what the hell happened to our country? We had been moving forward and
maturing and now we're left with Ron DeSantis and "Don't Say Gay"? It's
outrageous and it's unacceptable and I don't need some ugly witch named
braying, "We
can debate whether or not teenage girls should have to share locker
rooms with biological males later. If the US continues down this war
path, those questions won't matter." F**k you, Anya.
Jim:
We farm the audio of this out to HILDA'S MIX so they'll get to hear it
but for those reading. There was just this obvious silence that seemed
to hang on for several minutes as we all just absorbed Trina's use of
the f-word. Trina's not Polly Purebread and we've certainly seen her
heated before but this was huge time heated.
Trina:
Well it is huge time to me period. How dare that pompous witch.
Forget teenage, it's rude to all trans people and it's ignoring them
all. But when you think about it and about how at risk trans teenagers
are? I know this witch was mocking the striking writers so I know she's
garbage. But she's also garbage for that nonsense.
Cedric:
And, if I may, Trina, what war? I'm sorry, she acts like she's the
only person in the world. First off, there's no war on Iran right now.
I'm coming back to that. Second off, US troops are still on the ground
in Iraq and in Syria, but she's not talking about that. She's worried
about Ukraine. I'm to the point that these people are about to lose my
support. I have been against the proxy war from the start. And --
This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for today:
Thursday, June 29, 2023. We look at the 2024 presidential circus.
Marianne
Williamson is running for the Democratic Party's presidential
nomination. She spoke yesterday with Maebeagirl who is running for
Congress. US House Rep Adam Schiff is leaving his seat to seek the
nomination for US senator out of California. Maebe came in second to
him in the race last time and she is running again. Marianne Williamson
spoke with her yesterday.
Marianne
Williamson: Tell me how you see clearly -- we've got a targeted group
in the United States, right? I mean, one of the things I've talked
about is, if elected president, I will confer a special protection
status onto the transgender community. You are transgender yourself.
Tell me how you see the situation and what we need to do.
@Maebe_A_Girl: Absolutely.
So, first of all, thank you for having this chat with me. I think it's
so important -- especially considering that you're running for [sic]
president of the United States. I think that people need to hear about
your stances on these things and hear that you're having conversations
with real trans people about this because historically -- or at least in
the last five to ten years -- trans people have been left out of the
conversation about trans legislation which is so twisted in my mind. As
a good friend of mine always says, "If you are not at the table, then
you are on the menu." And trans people -- queer people in general -- are
very much on the menu right now. And we do not have nearly enough
representation for people like me in governments all across the United
States. So, for me, it's interesting because I've been running since
2019. The first election that I ran for was 2020 for the US House and,
you know, during that time we were seeing a lot of anti-LGBTQIA
sentiments and rhetoric. And, you know, I think with the election of --
going back to a Democratic president back in 2020, I think a lot of
people thought that would ease up in a bit. But unfortunately, it's
gotten worse. This has been an upward trend since about the mid-2010s.
Pretty much since Trump was elected to office and it keeps getting
worse because every year I find myself saying, "This has been the worst
year in history for anti-LGBTQIA." 2023 totally surpassses 2022 which
totally surpassed 2021, etc. There's over half-a-thousand anti-LGBTQIA
bills moving across the US -- everywhere from state legislatures to also
the federal legislature. We're seeing far right representatives like
Marjorie Taylor Greene introducing legislation at the federal level
which would severely restrict the rights -- and in recognition of queer
people, you know, these are anti-LGBTQIA bills in general but, more
specifically, most of them are anti-trans bills. There's been a number
of anti-drag bills that have been introduced. What many people probably
don't recognize is that anti-drag bills are also anti-trans bills.
When you introduce a bill that requires you to dress according to your
gender assigned at birth, that is not only going to effect drag
performers but it's directly going to effect trans people. And as the
famous drag queen and trans person from RUPAL'S DRAG RACE, Monica
Beverly Hills, always says, "Drag is what you do but trans is who you
are." So we are attacking not only people's occupations but we are
attacking people's identities. And I think we have often think [. .
.]. You don't even have to be gay or queer to do drag. Anybody can do
drag. In fact, a number of trans people do drag. Me, myself, I
discovered my trans identity when I started doing drag. Drag is
oftentimes a sort of safe way to experiment safely with your gender
identity in a way that doesn't feel so permanent. And, for me, I
discovered that I was a trans person early on because I started to
realize while everybody else was taking off the makeup and the hair and
the costumes after a gig, I wanted to keep it all on because it felt --
it made me feel more like myself.
Marianne Williamson: Right.
@Maebe_A_Girl: And that's a realization that a lot of folks have.
Marianne
Williamson: Okay, I have several questions I want to ask. You were
talking about Marjorie Taylor Greene and anti-trans bills. I wanted to
ask abou tthe anti-trans bills, I wanted to ask about the anti-drag
bills and I also want to ask more about you -- your journey to this
point. You just mentioned your journey -- how much being in drag shows
had to do with it but I think all of us are more interested in what the
personal story is there?
@Maebe_A_Girl: You
should say that it is okay to be you as you are. We will love you and
we welcome you to be you as you are. We're not saying, "Come to our
side, come join us and be queer and trans." That's not the case. In
fact, it couldn't even work like that. You know, I grew up in the late
90s, early 2000s. I graduated high school in 2004. And I remember what
it was like to be a young queer person without any sort of queer
representation in the media aside from WILL & GRACE and QUEER AS
FOlK. And I remember how othered I felt and how different I felt and
how afraid I felt to come out as a queer person at that time because of
the fact that it felt so othered. I can't even imagine what it is like
in 2023 for somebody who is in middle school or high school who is
coming into their queer gay trans identity and looking around and not
just seeing that there are some people that support but there are so
many people that don't and the fact that there is legislation to try to
erase us and to try to stop us from existing. When laws attempt to
restrict gender affirming healthcare, they're trying to restrict the
existence of trans people. And this is not just a legislative issue but
it's also a social issue because when laws -- when bills are being
introduced and when they're passed into laws particularly in states like
Tennessee, Florida, Texas, it also gives a pass to people to then
continue othering LGBTQIA people. So it's not just a legislative thing,
but it's a social thing. And when people don't feel safe going out at
their true authentic selves, is that freedom? No, it's not.
Marianne
Williamson: You know, I was contacted a few months ago about a bill
that was about to take place -- anti-drag show bill in Tennessee and I
was asked to attend a protest the night before the bill was meant to go
into effect at East Tennessee University and I went and it was very
inspiring. And there was so much protest and there was so much energy
around it and ultimately a judge did strike down the law which was, of
course, a very, very good thing.
That's
a little over half the posted video. We'll open with the second half
tomorrow. We're not treating this as a one day thing. LGBTQ+ people
are being targeted and have been for months now.
You
have hate merchants expanding the targeting because it just starts with
LGBTQ+, then it moves outward. They are the American Taliban. In
Texas, for example, the GOP has moved towards definiing what a woman can
wear and what a man can wear. This has nothing to do with lesbians or
gays or transgendered people. This is about their hate and their need
to control. I can not believe that Greg Abbott's regime thinks it can
impose clothing choices on adults and get away with it but I also can't
believe how mild the reaction nationally has been to this.
The
GOP isn't afraid to trash LGBTQ+ people. In fact, outside of Chris
Christie, they're all doing it as they run for the Republican Party's
presidential nomination.
Elsewhere?
I
see Joe Biden stepping up. I see Joe Biden ready for this fight. I've
waited and waited to see others. Like Marianne, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
also wants the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. He and
Marianne have both argued that the party needs a televised debate on
this nomination. Why?
Until today, I haven't seen a need. Marianne's demonstrated a need.
Mrs.
Max Blumenthal is a hateful piece of trash and she's stupid. She
thinks the issues above don't matter when they go to exactly who we are
and what we do.
Don't kid yourself that we can
other at home and not other overseas. Don't kid yourself that this
othering isn't what forsters war. You've got get your own house clean
to tackle other things.
Respect starts at home.
Marianne's ready for the discussion. Love Robert, but he's yet to show anything to demonstrate that he is.
And
let's rope in Cornel West who is not a presidential candidate. He is
running for the Green Party's presidential nomination and he may get it,
he may not. But I don't want his garbage of 'brother and sister'
nonsense where he preaches at length but never says a damn word worth
anything.
Marianne demonstrated she can have
the needed conversations to get this nation back on track. If Robert
and Cornel think they're up to it, it's their move now.
Noted transphobe Jonathan Turley Tweeted a confession yesterday:
The Hill is out with my column on the Court's ruling in Moore v. Harper and "the coup" that never was......Liberal
law professors and pundits have filled the media with dire predictions
that the Supreme Court was about to carry out a long-planned “coup” and
“power grab”--one even wrote that the court could be on the brink of
establishing “one-party rule” in the United States.
The
bigot of George Washington University must feel very comfortable at FOX
"NEWS" is he's publicly copping to what we already told you: He's not
of the left or liberal. You caught it, right, he Tweeted "Liberal law
professors and pundits" -- he pointed the finger at them . . . from
beneath his rock. Everyone let Lawrence Tribe know. He called it long
ago. Thanks for finally confession, Swirley, but, no, thanks for lying
in your Tweet. His analysis is wrong and he knows it. I can't speak
until the Court decides on the bigot lawsuit out of Colorado -- one
Turley was an 'unofficial' advisor on -- disclosure, Turley, try
practicing it -- but after that decision is reached, I'll explain why
things are actually worse. Don't let Turley's lies lull you into a
false sense of security.
Let's
wade back into the race for presidential nominations in various political
parties. The Greens do not have a nominee yet. Cornel West wants to be
that person and, thanks to Bri-Bri's misleading 'reporting,' some don't
grasp that. Check out Betty's site where she noted replies to Bri's
pimping of Cornel and the explosion that followed her trying to play the
race card. (Betty is correct, I have long said Bri's not authentic to
African-Americans because she came up the White side of the media.
She's not a crossover artist because she can't crossover. MOTOWN
artists, in the 60s, for example crossed over -- having success on the
soul charts and -- this is the crossover -- on the pop charts. Bri
can't get near the soul charts. She's basically this decade's Pat Boone
with all that entails.
Emily Jacobs (WASHINGTON EXAMINER) reports that
Donnie says Ronnie's immigration plan (to persecute immigrants) isn't
that impressive and just copies his own. In addition to squabbling over
who has the bigger one, the two are also fighting over a boy, Pedro
Gonzalez. Donald had him first. But now he's Ron's steady. And, now
that he's no longer in the safety of Big Don's arms, poor Pedro, group
chats have emerged revealing what a disgusting and and racist twerp
Pedro is. But who leaked them? Who would have leaked them? Who? Tracy Connor (DAILY BEAST) notes the Little Ronnie's camp is pointing the finger at . . . Donald:
DeSantis
has not publicly commented on the story about Gonzalez’s messages, but
Breitbart noted that the Never Back Down PAC, which backs DeSantis,
called the messages “inexcusable.” Meanwhile, DeSantis’ campaign
mouthpiece, Christina Pushaw, liked a tweet about how “nasty” the Trump-DeSantis feud has become.
“And
to be clear I’m mostly talking about the Trump side,” the tweet read.
“I’ve seen some comments from people on the DeSantis side I don’t care
for too, but it’s consistently the Trump surrogates who seem to have no
bottom to how low they’ll sink to support their candidate.”
Chronicles
also had not commented publicly on the Breitbart revelations, but it’s
worth noting that when Gonzalez was accused last year of
antisemitism—after he made crude comments about the “physiognomy” of two
prominent Jews—magazine executive editor Edward Welsch wrote a defense of him titled, “That Old Anti-Semitism Smear.”
On
Tuesday, Gonzalez tweeted that he was grateful for the support he was
getting, including from some Trump supporters. One backer of the
ex-president, however, was not in that category: Donald Trump Jr.
retweeted the Breitbart story three times Tuesday night.
Meanwhile Oliver O'Connell (INDEPENDENT) notes
that Paul Ryan (who at least takes an attractive photo) has declared
nominating Donald for president again to be "a disaster" and that
"anyone not named Trump" would be better. Do voters agree?
The public holds a less favorable view of Donald Trump's actions following his recent legal battles, according to one poll.
A survey of 1,500 voters, conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies exclusively for Newsweek on
June 25, found that fewer people now believe the legal issues facing
the former president are "politically motivated," compared to a poll
from April taken weeks after Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 felony
charges as part of the falsifying business records investigation in New
York.
In
the June poll, a further 38 percent believe the investigations are the
result of "politically motivated attacks" by Trump's opponents, down 19
points from the April results (57 percent).
Jared Glans (THE HILL) cites a "poll from National Public Affairs released Wednesday [which]
showed Trump with 41 percent support among likely GOP primary voters in
the state, up from 39 percent last month. DeSantis came in second with
18 percent, a 5-point drop from the 23 percent he had last month. Former
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) came in third with 12 percent,
followed by South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott (R) with 10 percent. All other
candidates included in the poll had support in the single digits." DeSantis dropped 5 percentage points in the poll?" Doo Doo Ron Ron must be throwing another fit.
Did someone say DISNEY?
If
you missed it, the tiny tot is said to be less than five feet and seven
inches and possibly is actually so short that he was refused admittance
on the It's A Small World After All ride, hence his war on DISNEY.
Having destroyed Florida's economy with his corruption and incompetence,
Little Ronnie needed something to distract Florida voters -- especially
from the huge bills for his never-ending lawsuits. So he declared war
on DISNEY.
He has since
used that war on the campaign trail trying to portray himself as big and
tall -- or taller than his shrimpy height -- but now . . . a twist.
Attorneys
for The Walt Disney Co. and Ron DeSantis are proposing very different
timelines for the start of a federal trial over the company’s claim of
retaliation by the Florida governor.
Disney
proposed a timeline with a trial to start on July 15 of next year.
DeSantis’ attorneys, along with those of other defendants in the case,
want it put off to Aug. 4, 2025, after next year’s presidential
election, according to a court filing. DeSantis launched his White House
bid last month.
No, no, no, no.
Ronnie's used his battle with DISNEY to prove he's fit for the
presidency. Wouldn't be fair to voters for them to have to wait for the
outcome. Ronnie's made it his own performative measure. America
deserves to know what the court will find. He's wasted millions of tax
payer dollars on this fiasco. Is he right, is he wrong? He's running
for president now. He's no longer just defrauding Florida's population
and leaving them deeply in debt while harming their tourist economy.
He's trying to be in charge of all the states. So, sorry, he shouldn't
be allowed to delay the hearing. It needs to happen before the
presidential election so the American people can see what they might be
in store for and vote accordingly. Of course, he could always drop out
of the race if he wants. Then he can argue to push the hearing back.
But having flitted back and forth across the country, singing his own
praises while touting his fight with DISNEY, he's made this a criteria
for judging whether or not he would be an effective US president.
Should we note polling? AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds
Joe's approval rating to be 41% The poll has a margin of error of +/-
3.9. Most interesting finding in the poll? It's about Vice President
Kamala Harris. Favorables are 37% while 50% have a negative opinion.
That seems bad. It may be. But she's gotten nothing but negative
publicity -- whether it's warranted or not can be discussed by others.
The interesting factor is that 12% "don't know enough about her to
say." She's in her third year as vice president and some are still
withholding judgment. That's rather interesting. If she managed to
enthrall all of the undecided she's be basically split down the middle
in terms of positive approval and negative approval.
THE NEW YORK TIMES has a very poorly fact checked piece on Robert. If you want to read it, click here to read is on MSN
and not at THE TIMES. I have neither the time nor the desire to repeat
myself. We covered NYT and all their errors and lies -- Yes, it is a
lie to credit someone in your piece with a title that they do not have,
the title on the masthead is the title they hold, you can't explain that
away. But the writer was a friend of the person he interviewed -- not
disclosed in the article -- so his friend got whatever he wanted -- even
a made up title. It's these basic lies -- not errors, these are lies,
I've confronted them offline, they know it's a lie and they think it's
funny and giggle -- that destroy the paper's reputation time and again.
It's refusing to accurately report on Janet Jackson when you decide to
wade in. If you're going to cover her, you better get her number of
number one hits right, for example. But you just lie and we're all
supposed to be okay with that. It's the lying, not just the errors.
It's the scope. Coretta Scott King passes away -- a historical figure,
an activist, someone most of us looked up to and admired. And? Gail
Collins is writing unsigned editorials about her friend -- minor
playwright Wendy -- passing away and featuring one column after another
about Wendy. How many columns and editorials did Coretta get?
Zero.
Gail
didn't figure Coretta warranted attention. And I'm at the end of my
ropes on tip-toeing around this topic. If wehadn't shamed Bob Herbert,
he never would have (briefly) noted her in a column many weeks after she
died.
So not a fan of
the paper, fully aware of it's racism, of it's new anti-trans spin,
aware of so much. But I don't do greatest hits. This isn't a jukebox
musical.
We'll note this and see if you can catch what a huge error it is:
“The
New York Times, which is in this room today,” he said, as an audience
member pointed down at the Times reporter’s seat, prompting a chorus of
boos so angry, Mr. Kennedy’s campaign manager — the former Democratic
presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich — told the audience member to
stop it.
Dennis Kucinich was the Democratic presidential candidate?
Wow. I must have dropped acid that whole year because I'm pulling a blank on that.
Oh,
wait, it's not an issue of acid, it's an issue of the paper getting it
wrong again. Dennis tried to get the Democratic Party's presidential
nomination -- in 2004 and 2008. He didn't. John Kerry and Barack Obama
were the Democratic presidential candidates in those two presidential
election years.
Again, NYT
offers an error, a lie or just racism/transphobia or some other hatred
for others that they try to dress up in a guise of sophistication.
Forty-four
percent of registered voters say they are willing to consider
supporting a third-party or independent presidential candidate if
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are the two major
party nominees in 2024 — and the group includes more Democrats than
Republicans, according to new NBC News polling.
You
think Donald ran with conspiracy nut job nonsense when he refused to
acknowledge he was beaten fair and square in the 2020 election?
Meet
Dario Hunter, Jill Stein, Ajamu Baraka and other nut jobs who insisted
that Dario was robbed! Robbed! Lazy ass couldn't even Tweet once a
week but there was a conspiracy, he insisted, and they conspired to
steal the nomination from him.
Who did?
Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers!
Having spread lies about Margaret, Jill Stein has a lot of nerve trying to invoke Margaret to sell Cornel to actual Greens.
Dario
and that denial gang went all over the place and they'd hint in
interview after interview that it was Kevin and Margaret. Then Dario went on air with Cindy Sheehan -- a nice person but a lousy interviewer
and not real strong when it comes to facts. They went to conspiracy con
and back again. And that was the last straw for me which is why we called them out.
Kevin
and I were not friends and I never met him. He read Kat's site and I believe they
exchanged e-mails. My only e-mails from him were to tell me I was too
negative to the Green Party (Ava and I long ago dubbed them ineffective
because they're too busy trying to be the kid sister to the Democratic
Party instead of an actual political party). And that was fine, it
didn't bother me one way or another.
But
after I called out the nonsense Jill and company were pulling, the lies
they were spreading, I got a very kind e-mail from Kevin thanking me
for defending his wife. Kevin's no longer around to defend his wife. I
will defend her on this until the end of time. Jill Stein is a nut
job. She was a lousy presidential candidate -- see Ava and my ""Let the fun begin (Ava and C.I.) -- and
I'm not about to let a lot of liars come along and rewrite history.
Cornel
doesn't believe in democracy -- as his taking a presidential nomination
from The People's Party without (a) being a member or (b) actually
campaigning for the post. And he's not very smart because he was so
eager to get the nomination Chris was negotiating that he never did the
actual work required to find who The People's Party was.
They
do grasp that, right, these idiots whoring for Cornel, that any sane
person is asking how Cornel could be with one political party for nearly
a week and then dump them while claiming he was qualified to be
president? People who are qualified to be president don't end up with a
political 'party' that is racist and has one sexual harassment claim
after another against it.
BLACK
POWER MEDIA interviewed Cornel yesterday. You can check that out at
their YOUTUBE channel. If I stream it, we'll note it tomorrow.
We will wind down with this press release:
For Immediate Release
---------------------
DATE: June 27, 2023
CONTACT: Committee for Marshall – Not the Megasite
--------------------------------------------------
Name: Regis Klingler, Glenn Kowalske, or Mark Robinson
Marshall Advocates Take Legal Action After
City Council Illegally Denies Referendum Petition
=================================================
Marshall, MI – June 27, 2023 – Marshall residents battling to stop the
Marshall Megasite took legal action in Calhoun County Circuit Court
against the City of Marshall today to compel the City to put the
Committee’s referendum on Ordinance # 2023-08, for which they collected
810 signatures, on the ballot. The ballot question committee, “Committee
for Marshall—Not the Megasite”, its members, and two additional
petitioners initiated a lawsuit seeking a writ of mandamus, a
declaratory judgment, and an injunction order after the Marshall City
Council denied a request for a review of the Certificate of
Insufficiency issued by the City Clerk on the group’s referendum
petition. To be clear, the referendum met every legal requirement of the
City Charter, and the City Council’s refusal to accept this violates the
law.
The Committee was required, according to the City Charter, to be the
committee to “commence . . . referendum proceedings” and be “responsible
for” circulating the petition and filing the petition in the proper
form, all of which the Committee did properly. The City Clerk, however,
invented a new requirement that ruled out counting any signatures on
petition sheets collected by circulators other than the five committee
members who filed the initial organizing paperwork. This eliminated the
voice of another 35 circulators, including City of Marshall residents
and Marshall Township residents. This was a direct violation of the City
Charter, State Law regarding petition format, the Michigan and US
Constitutions, and well-known court decisions affirming that every US
citizen has First Amendment rights to “core political speech.” Those
decisions and documents guaranteed that any US citizen at least 18 years
old may circulate petitions.
The petitioners also contend that the ordinance included an illegal
addition of a second subject, an appropriation of money, which was not
included in the title. This violated the City Charter’s single subject
title rule, as well as a restriction on passing appropriations via
resolutions only. Residents warned the City Council that the
appropriation provision was illegal at the May 1 and June 15 council
meetings, but those warnings were ignored.
The lawsuit asks the Court for an order to direct the City Clerk to
immediately issue a certificate of sufficiency on the referendum
petition filed on May 30, 2023, and to suspend Ordinance # 2023-08, as
required by the City Charter. Residents have requested that Megasite
issue be brought to a vote of the people on multiple occasions. The
petitioners feel that local elected officials in the City of Marshall
are now purposely blocking resident voices by declaring the referendum
petition insufficient. That ends today.
The Committee’s attorneys, Robby Dube and Mark Blando of Eckland &
Blando LLP, have decades of experience fighting illegal government
actions and protecting citizens’ rights. They feel that the Committee
has a clear and strong case and are confident the Court will put a stop
to the City’s illegal actions.
The legal documents are available upon request.
Donation checks to the “Committee for Marshall – Not the Megasite” to
cover legal and election expenses can be sent to P.O. Box 641, Marshall,
MI 49068. Online contributions may be made to the Committee at
The Committee for Marshall – Not the Megasite can be found on Facebook at:
The Committee for Marshall – Not the Megasite E-mail:
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The following sites updated: