Former Livingston County GOP Chair Makes News

The former chair of the Livingston County Republican Party is making headlines, but not in a good way.

Allan Filip, who was chair of the local party during the 2008 election, was hired as director of external affairs by Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson last December. But now the Michigan Democratic Party says Filip was caught on taxpayer time hiring people to collect signatures to recall Democratic lawmakers. MDP Chair Mark Brewer has filed a complaint over the matter.

Filip says he left the Secretary of State's Office before coordinating the recall signature effort.

Even if that's true, shouldn't there be some sort of "cooling off period" between the time someone leaves the Secretary of State's office, which oversees Michigan elections, and the time the ex-employee takes a partisan job? This situation seems as bad as the revolving door between government and lobbyists. It just doesn't look right.

Former GOP Chair's Comments Shows Need for Obama's Jobs Bill

Sometimes your political opponents make your case for you. That's certainly true of former Livingston County Republican Party chairman Mike Murphy's comments about the state of public safety.

In an article in the Livingston Press and Argus on Tuesday (Nov. 1, 2011), Murphy complained that the county does not have enough deputies on the road to answer many emergencies. It won't get better "until people decide they want to pay to have more deputies out there."

And as his boss, fellow Republican and county Sheriff Bob Bezotte said about the lack of officers and its impact on public safety, "It's important to me, but it doesn't seem to be important to the bean counters up town because they've cut us so much."

The "bean counters" would be the all-Republican Livingston County Commissioners, whose budgets have resulted in the loss of 18 officers from the sheriff's department in recent years. And who, with Murphy's help, have bragged about having the lowest property tax rate in the state.

But Murphy doesn't seem too happy with the services that his very own "lowest property tax rate" politics produce. Perhaps if his leadership, and that of the county commission, had been different, the county might not be facing a situation in which suspected drunk drivers are not pursued because no deputies are available. Voters don't just "decide they want to pay more" taxes. Sometimes leaders need to explain to them why it is necessary, but local Republicans will never do that.

Nevertheless, Murphy's comments are useful because they help make the case for President Obama's American Jobs Act. The measure, which Republicans reject, would provide $5 billion nationally so that financially-strapped communities could keep firefighters and police on the job.

If local Republicans can't come up with the money to keep us safe, maybe they could ask Rep. Mike Rogers to vote for the American Jobs Act so that drunk drivers don't roam free any longer in Livingston County. Mike Murphy probably would like to have some of that money to hire more deputies.

Yi-ha Turd Blossom!

So Karl Rove is coming to Livingston County to talk to Republicans. Welcome, Karl!

I'm glad to hear you are coming to remind Michigan of all the good times under George Bush. You know, how he read the memo about Al Qaeda planning to attack the U.S. and ignored it a month before 9/11. Yeah, those were the days. Then there was the U.S. Attorney scandal, when federal prosecutors were fired because they didn't prosecute Democrats with significant zeal. What a great moment in American democracy! Oh yes, then there was the Valerie Plame scandal. Who could forget that triumph over tyranny? Leaking the name of a CIA agent to the media so that her mission was destroyed and the lives of all her contacts put in jeopardy. Boy, we haven't seen leadership like that lately.

That's just the domestic side. My gosh, I hope Americans never forget The Bush-Rove administration's accomplishments in foreign affairs. Those phony claims about Iraq's WMD's were absolutely essential to starting an unnecessary, unfunded war in Iraq that we're still paying the price (read that "borrowing the money") for. And the way you guys turned Gen. Colin Powell into a pimp for the big lie, what great TV that is for future generations.

And saving the best for last, how about that September 2008 financial scandal? Absolutely fantastic! Not very many presidents can claim to have presided over the near collapse of the world's financial system. I'll bet you have some great "fly-on-the-wall" memories from those heady days that I hope you'll share with the audience. Be sure to remind everybody that the multi-billion-dollar Wall Street bailout that everybody is so upset about happened under Bush. Those tea-baggers have such short memories, don't they?

Wow, I almost forgot. One other thing I really hope you'll do, Karl, is remind everybody about how the deficit really exploded under George. A lot of people forget how he inherited a budget surplus from Democratic President Bill Clinton and then proceded to turn it into
a $5 trillion dollar deficit. Let's not give all the credit to that Kenyan in the White House.

With so much to talk about and so many great memories to re-live, I really think Michigan residents are going to need more than just a little after dinner speech. So I think it's great that they'll get a free copy of your book just for showing up. That way, you can claim phony book sale figures that are lots higher than if people had to actually shell out money for it.

I do hope you'll come back real soon! Like in October 2012, just so people won't forget how great things were in the Golden Age of George.

Another Government Job for a Government Hater

There's nothing like having the best of both worlds, especially if you're Allan Filip.

Filip was chair of the Livingston County Republican Party a few years back -- you know, the party that hates government and wants to drown it in a bathtub.

But the ink on the 2010 election results was barely dry before Filip landed a new job -- working for state government. Filip will be director of "external affairs" for Secretary of State Ruth Johnson.

So now Filip, who worked for a party that hates government, has got a job in government.

"I'm happy to receive the appointment," the Livingston Press and Argus quoted Filip as saying.

Of course he is. Most professional government-haters can't wait to land a job feeding at the public trough.

It's a Little Late to be Worrying About This

A far-right Republican from Livingston County says he's running for governor of Michigan because the Republicans in the race aren't conservative enough.

Bruce Nichols says he wants to "sway the party to the right," according to the Livingston Press and Argus.

And the head of the Livingston County Republican Party says most people agree with Nichols about veering farther to the right. Mike Murphy says "we can't be fanatical either."

It's too late for that. The Republican Party passed that line a long time ago, what with making up lies about government death panels, phony birth certificates "proving" President Obama was born in Kenya, and on and on.

Were the Birthers All Busy?

Livingston County Republicans are demonstrating just how far right they have become with their choice of a speaker for an upcoming event.

Joe the Plumber, who is not really a plumber at all, will give the keynote address at a November dinner. You can spend $50 to hear him ($100 if you want to get up close and personal at a VIP reception).

But why would anybody spend $50 to hear him when they just heard him for free at the teabagger hate-fest at the mill pond earlier this month?

Why invite him back?

Was birther queen Orly Taitz booked?

GOP Disease -- Infighting -- Spreads to County Commission

Looking at the way Livingston County elected officials are getting along, you'd never know they were all members of one party. Every week there's a new board that, instead of doing the public's business, is engaged in out-and-out fighting with each other.

Everybody knows about Hamburg Township. How can I even summarize that dysfunctional morass of incompetence, jealousy, pettiness, and bizarre behavior?

But then the Howell School Board got into the act, with the firing of the superintendent, the beginning of a recall, allegations of "spying" against people monitoring the recall, and who knows what next.

In between was the fight on the Brighton Fire Authority, culminating in the departure of the fire chief.

And now, we have the Livingston County Commission and Sheriff Bob Bezotte clashing to the point that the sheriff stomped out of a meeting over county demands for massive cuts to public safety, followed by Commissioner Jack LaBelle claiming he was "threatened."

Remember, those are only the disagreements we know about so far this year.

It's pretty clear that Republicans in this county are having major difficulties getting along with each other, and the public's business is hurting as a result.

Livingston Independents Cool to GOP Personal Attacks?

One robin does not a spring make, or something like that. And one letter to the editor does not represent a trend.

Yet it was heartening to read a recent letter to the Livingston Press and Argus sternly criticizing Undersheriff Mike Murphy, chair of the Livingston County Republican Party, for his letter to the editor calling President Obama a traitor for merely stating that the U.S. will follow its own laws and not torture detainees.

The letter, written by someone who is in no way affiliated with the Livingston County Democratic Party, says that "Murphy's comments and opinions regarding President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party warrant his immediate resignation as undersheriff."

It goes on to suggest that Murphy's bias toward the Democratic Party poses a conflict of interest in his job as undersheriff. "Would he protect and serve an outspoken Democrat?" asks the writer, adding that Murphy "should pretend to show a little respect for the president."

I have only met Mike Murphy once and he seemed genial. There may be some projects we can cooperate on down the road. But I thought his letter was over the top and I tried to reply with one based as much as possible on facts.

As to whether he should resign, I'm not suggesting that. His dual role does raise a red flag, but I've seen nothing so far to cause me any concern. I'll be on the look out for anything, of course, and I'm sure he is well aware of that.

The more important message that the writer is sending is his concern about hyper-partisanship in this country that results in the perpetual campaign as practiced by Karl Rove and the Bush White House.

The letter may well be a sign that independents are rejecting negative campaigning and personal attacks on political figures. Or it may be just one person's disgust.

I'm hoping it's a trend.