Recalling Snyder: Doomed From the Start

The attempt to recall Governor Rick Snyder is looking more and more like the failure everyone knew from the start it would be. They need too many signatures in too short of a time, and are hampered by an ending date of their own making. They don't have money, they lack professional leadership, and they are naive to the point of being merely comedic. They must collect enough signatures to ensure that they will have enough to overcome the challenges which shall surely occur in the ever so tiny chance they come within even a whiff of success.

Mr. Snyder need not worry about that. The effort cannot succeed; truth be told, it was doomed from the start. Say what you will, and we say this with a certain pity for those involved (for it tough to wholly dislike persons who mistakenly feel they have a legitimate cause), the entire process and type of people involved demonstrate that the whole concept has been the work of simplistic rabble-rousers and shallow knee jerks.

Consider one of those circulating a petition. One such circulator was a twenty something parent of two who attends a community college, and who even voted for Snyder by their own admission. The person seemed to have a vague belief that 'voting is important' and that Snyder is 'indifferent' to education. Knowing (we presume) that Snyder was a Republican who was likely to cut education from the start, why did this person cast a ballot for him to begin with, or change their mind so (relatively) quickly? The obvious answer is that they really didn't think things through before last November, despite the feeling that 'voting is important'.

Even some of the big boys who have to come to support the recall effort have little more than the odor of self interest wafting from their corner. The Michigan Education association has come out in favor of the recall, interestingly after the legislature had passed new rules making it easier to fire teachers. It becomes fair to ask whether theirs is a principled (a pun, sort of) stand or merely what has to be done to please the dues payers. But at least the naive person can be excused their naivete. The teachers' union are mere shills.

It is fascinating that the group has employed a famous phrase from a great conservative on their website. The banner proudly displays the wonderful quote of the English Whig Edmund Burke: The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil ...
is for good men to do nothing. It is akin to Hillary Clinton's 'It takes a village' scheme: yes, it in certain ways takes a village. But a village based on traditional mores, not on liberal claptrap aimed only at selling a political package. In the immediate case, we doubt the esteemed Mr. Burke would agree with the recall, thus extending a laughable irony to the situation, as well as supporting the argument that organizers themselves haven't thought things through.

At the end of the day, the Recall Snyder effort is actually rather cute. We simply hope that when the cuteness wears off, the folks involved may mature a bit. Short of that, the whole thing is merely sad.