Recall Snyder Again?

There is another effort in the works to recall Governor Rick Snyder. That's not surprising; there are groups of far left radicals who simply don't like the democratic process and will do anything to undermine it. In this case, it's really the same group but with a different name.

They were originally the Committee to Recall Rick Snyder. Now they're called Michigan Rising. But call them what you like, or let them call themselves what they like; the bottom line is that they're simply trying to disrupt the business of the state for no useful purpose.

Why try again, after their first initiative fell far short of the necessary signatures? Because you have to 'chop the head off the beast to slay the dragon', says Marty Townsend, the head of her own beast. What has that other beat been up to, the beast she's fighting? Cuts to education, and the emergency manager law, among other things.

It's interesting hat there were no such efforts to recall then Governor Jennifer Granholm while she too was cutting education budgets. This is important, because this recall group, reorganized into Michigan Rising, claims to be non-partisan. But a look at their website shows that they are anything but. The charges against Rick Snyder dominate the site, and they argue that there are 80 anti-union bills before the legislature. In short, their non-partisanship is fully anti-Republican.

Their leadership is dominated by community activists, social justice seekers, and worriers about corporate politicians (whatever they are). And interestingly enough, their CEO, one Julius Muller, doesn't even live in Michigan. He lives in Florida. But he lived here for eight years, so apparently he's qualified to keep his hat in the Michigan ring.

This effort is as doomed as the first. Those wanting to recall Snyder are simply a group of dissatisfied liberals who eat at the slops of the government trough and are seen by the voting public as such. Michigan Rising is doomed to fall hard.

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.