Up North Progressive

Lee Chatfield (R-TSA agents think I’m cute), Speaker of Michigan’s State House, and representing the 107th district has never once met a gun he didn’t like. Remember when he introduced a bill to eliminate handgun registration in Michigan? A year later he was handcuffed in a TSA agent’s office at Pellston Regional Airport after trying to take a loaded, unregistered handgun onto a plane. He paid a tiny fine and became State Speaker of the House.

Lee Chatfield spent the past year using the GOP playbook established in Washington DC in 2009 to “work with” the current Democratic Party Governor. “Work with” of course means stall and obstruct everything the Governor needs to do to heal the state recovering from 8 years of complete GOP control.
Cough cough Flint.

On March 20, 2020, Rich Studley of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce demanded Governor Whitmer not to issue a shelter in place order. With the alarming number of Michiganders contracting COVID-19 and dying, Governor Whitmer made the correct decision and issued stay home orders for the state. Naturally, the GOP in Michigan accused Governor Whitmer of being a weak follower because she did this after several other states issued stay at home executive orders.

In early April when perpetual national embarrassment Trump called Governor Whitmer, “that woman from Michigan” the Michigan GOP seized the opportunity to go from calling the governor a weak follower to a lawless tyrant forcing people to starve because they couldn’t go back to work and the GOP-gutted unemployment system became overwhelmed with millions of people filing for benefits.

The rhetoric, fueled by Lee Chatfield, Mike Shirkey, FOB Trump and the rest of the Michigan GOP clown show, now includes Governor Whitmer is Hitler, deserves to be lynched, dragged out into the street and shot and plenty of other threats of violence that motivated the covidiots to show up at the state capital dressed in Hawaiian print shirts and heavily armed with Chinese knock-off assault rifles. On April 15, 2020, Lee Chatfield showed support for this behavior.

This is your state Capitol right now. I will always support the right of the people to protest their government and make their voices heard. That’s why I wave the American flag. #OldGlory pic.twitter.com/n7qZ6ZsPJp

— Lee Chatfield (@LeeChatfield) April 15, 2020

Two weeks later,  more armed thugs arrived, entered the capital, shouted threats from the Senate chamber gallery, and screamed at security demanding the right to terrorize the state legislature as well. While the world read the news and asked how on earth are people allowed to carry guns into Michigan’s state capital, the people with functioning brains capable of critical thought stepped in and did everything possible to put a stop to it. With only days until the next covidiot rally happened, Lee Chatfield tweeted a flaccid condemnation, qualifying it with a Trump-like ‘both sides’ phrase.

I disagree with many of the governor’s decisions. I’ve been very open about that. I also support the right to protest. But as I’ve said before, those making physical threats (to both parties) are out of line and should be punished. It’s despicable. It’s wrong. It needs to stop.

— Lee Chatfield (@LeeChatfield) May 11, 2020

Too late, Lee. Thanks to you and the rest of the state GOP, people defy the constitutional executive order. These business owners are losing their state licenses. That’s on you and the rest of the Michigan GOP. It took the Attorney General and the Michigan State Police to enforce the safety of the State Capital on May 14, 2020, encouraging the majority of the covidiots to stay home when they found out they couldn’t have their guns or threaten people in the capital this time.

Social Media de-platformed the covidiots making death threats, astroturfed websites are exposed, and with only 200 people showing up at the state capital yesterday, let this be the end of Michigan GOP-sponsored domestic terrorism.



Do you really want to work with Governor Whitmer, Lee? Then put the people of Michigan first and work on a plan that keeps people safe. We can’t start up an economy when people still get sick and spread the disease to others. Fully reopening the economy now will only make things worse. The Governor will have to extend the stay home stay safe executive order.

Here’s your choice Lee: Join the rest of the adults working to get Michigan back up and working again, or stick with the whiny conspiracy theory, snake oil peddling children and cause even more misery for the state.

Oral arguments have concluded before the Court of Claims. Thank you, Judge Stephens, for your careful consideration and a deliberative process. The Legislature & people of Michigan were represented well. We should be choosing partnership over partisanship. That’s all we want.

— Lee Chatfield (@LeeChatfield) May 15, 2020

Ah, well, so it goes …