By Shane G. Trejo
(Special Contribution To West Michigan Politics)
The
Michigan Republican establsihment has been desperately trying to improve their
public relations in lieu of a recent Hillary-esque streak of crushing
scandals.
From the Todd and Cindy's sexcapades to the rape of Democracy
by changing the ballot rules in the middle of the process to the immense
environmental calamity in Flint, the establishment is truly giving the
Democrats a run for their money.
However, a
chance for redemption recently emerged. A YUUUGE no-brainer was sitting
the legislature and gave Republicans the perfect opportunity to save
face. A binding
resolution was proposed last year by Rep. Jim
Runestad (R-White Lake) that would have put the question on the ballot
in November allowing voters to approve common sense language in the
state Constitution that would give explicit privacy protections for
electronic data and communications.
If HJRN was approved, voters could have amended the state Constitution to read as follows:
The
person, houses, papers, and possessions, and electronic data and communications of every person
shall be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures. No warrant to
search any place or to seize any person or things or to access
electronic data or communications shall issue without
describing them, nor without probable cause, supported by oath or
affirmation. The provisions of this section shall not be construed to
bar from evidence in any criminal proceeding any narcotic drug, firearm,
bomb, explosive or any other dangerous weapon, seized by a peace
officer outside the curtilage of any dwelling house in this
state.
This effort was
an obvious slam dunk for Republican lawmakers. HJRN breezed through its
House committee hearing, and was approved in the House by an
overwhelming 107-1 vote. It had tremendous bipartisan support, and was
all set to make headlines and generate a great deal of good publicity
for Republican efforts. All that stood in its way was the will of one
man: <B>Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof.
Regular
readers of West Michigan Politics should be very familiar with
Meekhof's despicable antics. Although it is fairly obvious that Meekhof
doesn't give a damn about the rights of the people he is supposed to
serve, it was hoped that Meekhof could see the big picture and
understand the positive ramifications for his own political future
within the GOP if he scheduled this measure for a vote in the Senate.
Of
course, Meekhof's myopia and brazen disdain for the masses took
precedence over all else. Meekhof ultimately lacked the courage to even
put an issue to the voters. He was personally responsible for killing
the bill, in spite of his obfuscatory behavior.
"The
Michigan house overwhelmingly approved HJRN in June by a 107-1 vote.
But the measure ran into trouble in the Senate. The Sen. Mike Kowall
moved to have the normal process suspended and place HJRN on general
orders, meaning it could go straight to the Committee of the Whole (the
entire Senate) for further consideration instead of going through a
standing committee. But the process stalled from there.
According
to activists in Michigan, Senate Majority Leader Sen. Arlan Meekhof
didn’t want to bring the bill before the Committee of the Whole and
essentially buried it. Activists say they launched a phone call and
email blitz urging Meekhof bring the bill up to no avail. One activist
said his office told her, “Meekhof has his attorneys looking at this
bill to make sure that it is Constitutional – that they do not want to
sign on a bill that is unconstitutional, so that is what he is doing for
the people he represents.”
The constitutional
questions Meekhof had remain unclear. Missouri voters approved an almost
identical constitutional amendment in 2014. There were no
constitutional questions raised.
The
audacity of Meekhof to raise constitutional questions, as he has spent
wastefully and shown nothing but disdain for the rights of his
constituents at every turn, is the height of hubris and hypocrisy. But
would we really expect anything less from our Republican leadership
team?
Far from experiencing a comeback, the
Michigan Republican establishment is in a beleaguered, dismal state after the
environmental catastrophe of the century was caused directly by the
negligence of Gov. Rick Snyder. Whether partisan Republicans are willing
to admit it or not, Snyder's dictatorial edict to enact the emergency
manager program undemocratically against the will of the voters was the
root cause of this easily-preventable disaster.
Thanks
to Gov. Snyder, our state's shame is now a worldwide phenomenon.
Conservatives always knew what an embarrassment he was, but he was able
to gloss it over with his "Tough Nerd" propaganda. He bought off the
liberals with Medicaid expansion and the Detroit bailout to get their
votes while pissing in the faces of the conservative grassroots. Because
so many rank-and-file Republicans held their noses and accepted his
nonsense, the establishment has never been weaker our more reviled.
That
is what happens when good men and women sell their principles down the
river and accept the sorry excuses from mealy-mouthed politicians. They
watch their freedoms go up-in-smoke. HJRN or a similar measure may be
revived during a future legislative session. Hopefully, by that time,
whoever is in leadership will actually have the courage to allow the
people to decide.
>>>Shane Trejo is a conservative activist from Southeast Michigan
__________________________________________________________________Brandon Hall is a lifelong political nerd from Grand Haven, and is the Managing Editor of West Michigan Politics.
>>>Email him at WestMiPolitics@Gmail.com
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| Photo By Darlene Dowling Thompson |
