Maybe Now Bridge Owner Will Pay Attention

Matty Moroun, the owner of the Ambassador Bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor, has had things his way for a long time. His money, distributed in the form of campaign contributions to Michigan lawmakers, helped him block attempts to build a publicly-owned bridge across the Detroit River to Canada earlier this year. His personal greed stood in the way of a project that many businesses see as vital to continuing trade between Canada and the U.S.

But his money didn't keep him out of jail. A judge Thursday ordered Moroun to jail for contempt of court because he hasn't complied with an agreement with the state of Michigan regarding construction of approaches to his existing bridge.

There may still be further delays, and his money may get him out of jail sooner than someone else. But still, it's nice to know that the court system is still just a little bit blind to money, that not every lever of power in our society is controlled by those with the most money.

Maybe Rick Snyder Can Back This Occupy Wall Street Demand Now

Republican Rick Snyder may not have much in common with the Occupy Wall Street protestors but after his fellow Republicans defeated his plan to build a new bridge across the Detroit River he might want to re-think that.

Outside the Occupy Ann Arbor encampment recently there has been a sign that reads, "Get $ Out of Politics." After the piles of cash that were spent by opponents of the proposed bridge, Snyder might agree with that sentiment.

Livingston County residents received multiple mailings asking Republican Sen. Joe Hune to vote against the bridge, and they had to endure countless television commercials, paid for by the owner of the private Ambassador Bridge, as well. Americans for Prosperity even posted fake eviction notices on homes in the vicinity of the proposed new bridge to scare people into opposing it. Backers of the bridge had nothing similar.

Construction of the bridge would have meant jobs for Michigan workers and was backed by businesses as well. Ford Motor Co. has complained that delays at Matty Moroun's privately-owned Ambassador Bridge cost it hundreds of dollars per car. But because Moroun is a billionaire, he will maintain his stranglehold on bridge traffic, at least for now. His money makes the un-elected Moroun more powerful than the governor.

Time to get money out of politics, for sure.

Far-Right Propaganda Creeping into News Stories

One of the tactics the far-right has used for years is to repeat the same phrases so often that they eventually acquire a negative connotation. We know that happened with the word "liberal," but there is a host of others, including referring to the Democratic Party as "the Democrat Party," a grammatically incorrect construction.

Some of the phrases become so familiar to far-right extremists that they carry special meaning that others don't immediately pick up on, referred to as "dog whistle" politics. Sometimes, people have heard them so often that they start to use them even if they don't agree with the coded message.

One of the words that has become burdened with negative meanings is "government." Far-right extremists use it instead of "public," as in "government schools" instead of "public schools."

Americans For Prosperity, for example, has tried to smear the prospect of a public bridge over the Detroit River between Michigan and Canada by calling it a "government" bridge.

And now the Detroit Free Press's Dawson Bell appears to have joined in, referring to the bridge proposed by the state of Michigan and the Canadian government as a "government-sponsored bridge" rather than a public bridge.

It's a subtle difference, but an important one. The Free Press should let opponents of the publicly-owned bridge pay for their own propaganda, rather than spread it for them.