The AR-15 Deserves the Stigma

Wednesday , 19, June 2024 Up North Progressive Election 2024, MAGA, MIGOP Leave a comment



Only days after yet another mass shooting happened in Michigan, this time at a water park in Rochester Hills, state media reported a dozen Republicans in Lansing sponsored a bill to make the AR-15 the official state rifle.

Adopting state emblems began in the late 19th century. Michigan adopted the apple blossom in 1897. Over time, the robin became the state bird, the white pine became the state tree, and the Petosky stone became the state stone. Today, Michigan has a state fossil, the mastodon, a state soil, Kalkaska sand, and, in 2023, a state grain, manoomin, or wild rice.

Residents of Michigan choose symbols because they are significant to the history and culture of the state. This is true for all states. What is substantial culturally or historically about the AR-15 in Michigan? If you consider the assault rifle itself, absolutely nothing.

Ten states in the United States have firearms as official state symbols. Most of the guns have historical significance or are manufactured in the state. Utah was the first to adopt, but not everyone in the state legislature was happy with the adoption.

The AR-15 isn’t manufactured in Michigan. It has no historical significance, and it is not a symbol that unifies the people of Michigan; it does just the opposite.

The AR-15 is the phallic compensator of choice for the gravy seals, y’allqada, and ammosexuals of Michigan. You know, these idiots:


Republicans sponsoring this bill do not want to unify the state with a new official symbol. This is a dog whistle to the weekend warriors.

This bill has no chance of reaching the House floor for a vote. The audacity of introducing a bill to add the AR-15 to the same list as the white pine, the Petoskey stone, and the apple blossom when we have a mass shooting as recently as four days ago shows the Republican party’s lack of empathy for Michigan. The cruelty is the point. Read the list of sponsors. Find out who is running against them. Vote for their opponents on August 6th and November 5th.

Decoration Day 2024

Monday , 27, May 2024 Up North Progressive Community Leave a comment

 

May the world be blessed with peace.

Embezzlement Kickbacks and Overcharging Mileage: Lee Chatfield is Back in the News

Tuesday , 16, April 2024 Up North Progressive LGBT Rights, Michigan Republicans, MIGOP 1 Comment



It seems only a year ago that a former Republican Speaker of the State House was found guilty of taking bribes for medical marijuana dispensary licenses. That’s because it is! Today, Attorney General Dana Nessel read the charges against Lee Chatfield and his wife in Lansing. Both are charged with misusing social welfare account contributions and stealing from taxpayers. Happy crooked Republican Speaker of the House anniversary!



Lee Chatfield was charged with:


  • One count of Conducting a Criminal Enterprise, a 20-year felony;
  • Four counts of Embezzlement from a Non-Profit Organization, $1,000 to $20,000, a felony punishable by 10 years’ incarceration and/or a $15,000 fine;
  • Three counts of Embezzlement by a Public Officer Over $50, a felony punishable by 10 years’ incarceration and/or a $5,000 fine;
  • One count of Conspiracy to Commit Embezzlement from a Non-Profit Organization, $1,000 to $20,000, a felony punishable by 10 years’ incarceration and/or a $15,000 fine and an additional $10,000 fine;
  • Three counts of Embezzlement, $1,000-$20,000, a felony punishable by 5 years’ incarceration and/or a $10,000 fine; and
  • One count of a Felony Violation of the Charitable Trust Act, a felony punishable by 5 years’ incarceration and/or a $10,000 fine.

Stephanie Chatfield was charged with:

  • Embezzlement from a Non-Profit Organization, $1,000 to $20,000, a felony punishable by 10 years’ incarceration and/or a $15,000 fine; and
  • Conspiracy to Commit Embezzlement from a Non-Profit Organization, $1,000 to $20,000, a felony punishable by 10 years’ incarceration and/or a $15,000 fine and an additional $10,000 fine.



The flaccid Michigan Campaign Finance Act makes it easy for politicians to receive contributions and use them any way they want. Chatfield’s 501(c)(4), The Peninsula Fund, was not so much a social welfare fund but Lee and Stephanie’s personal slush fund. They used voters’ donations to go to Vegas, Universal Orlando, the Bahamas, and Maine. They bought expensive gifts and wine and paid off $132,000 in personal credit card expenses.


The Michigan Automobile Dealers Association, a lobbying firm headed by Terry Burns, also provided Lee Chatfield with a $775 monthly apartment rented from Walnut Tree Properties. Chatfield sublet one of the bedrooms for $250.00 per month and, as Speaker of the State House, had control over the bills he put up for a vote.


Kickbacks, embezzlement, charging Michigan taxpayers over twelve grand for miles he never drove. Lee Chatfield used his position and power to enrich himself and his family financially. Never forget that Chatfield got involved in politics because his state rep, Frank Foster, was going to vote in favor of including LGBTQ people in the Elliot-Larson Civil Rights Act. That video of him handcuffed at the Pellston airport after he tried to board a plane with a loaded, unregistered handgun still holds up for high entertainment value.

Michigan campaign finance needs an overhaul. So does our state legislature. Vote the rest of the MAGA bastards out in 2024.

The X Space Where It Happened: @MIGOP Endgame Agenda For Trans Michiganders

Monday , 29, January 2024 Up North Progressive LGBT Rights, MAGA, Michigan Republicans Leave a comment



While most Michiganders were looking forward to the Detroit Lions playing in the NFC championship game last weekend, some of our elected representatives spent their time on Twitter Spaces discussing how to deny life-saving medical care to trans youth (and adults) in Michigan. A state representative from Ohio and a de-transitioning person named Prisha talked about the dangers of youth transitioning and the money-hungry doctors and clinics preying on the innocent to provide that care.



Prisha told their story in helping get the anti-trans law passed. Michigan state reps added their commentary and asked questions.

Josh Schriver (R – Endgame guy) was the first to speak. He immediately demanded the ban on gender-affirming care to include adults.

My whole thing is, in terms of endgame, why are we allowing these practices for anyone? Why would we stop this for anyone under 18, but not apply this for anyone over 18? It’s harmful across the board, and I think that’s something that we need to take into consideration in terms of the endgame.

If you’re not familiar with him, Josh Schriver represents the new 66th State House District in Macomb County. So far this year, he’s vowed to have all religions, not conservative evangelical Christianity, stripped of their tax-exempt status, insists God elected him, not the voters, and tried to hand Governor Whitmer a bible last week at the State of the State Address. He’s a big fan of Nick Fuentes.

Gary Click (R – Jungle Journalism) is the Ohio State rep who spearheaded the trans ban law in Ohio. He praised Schriver for his “very smart thinking” but then suggested that “we need to take small bites,” meaning we need to ban access for people under 18 before we include adults. Click mentions, however, that with the closing of gender care clinics, adult trans patients also lose access to the medications they need. He talks about how this was an unintended positive outcome of the trans ban law and finishes with the statement, “Puberty is the cure for gender dysphoria.” Click is a church pastor who became infamous when offering a prayer at a Trump rally where he asked God to protect Trump from the evils of jungle journalism.

100 State House Rep Tom Kunse(R – Ask me about HB 4080) asked Click what was the timeline? Was this a two-year fight or a five-year fight? Click explained the process started before he was elected and that it took about three years. Tom Kunse thinks fetuses need tax-exempt status. He tried to steal land from Isabella County in 2006 and is currently under investigation for his part in a 25 million-dollar health clinic construction deal. Before taking office in Lansing, his family’s real estate business sold land to developers.

Michigan State Senator Lana Theis of the 22nd State Senate district was the last to speak. She touted her bachelor’s degree in biology as giving her expertise in how youth brains are still developing and, therefore, unable to comprehend what they’re going through as they mature fully.

Theil insists parents of trans children are also victims. A cosmetic surgeon friend of hers confided in her that gender transition surgery is just cosmetic and provides no fulfillment. She ends her comments by saying young people with gender dysphoria must be told:

You were born in the correct body. You were perfect the way you were born. Let’s work with making you okay with it.

Lana Theil is one of the loudest voices in the state senate working to kill the Gotion factory deal and calls her co-workers pedophile groomers.

Brad Paquette (R – really has pronoun issues) hosted the online meeting. He thanked everyone for being there and then promised Josh Schriver they would talk about the good stuff offline before signing off.

Find people to run for office in your districts. Suppose the Republicans somehow manage to take over the state house or senate despite the infighting, dueling party chairs, and bankrupting themselves. In that case, the Ohio trans-ban bill will migrate north to Lansing. The endgame is the final solution.

A Children’s Treasury of WTF is Going On With the @MIGOP: Great Schism Unlocked

Monday , 15, January 2024 Up North Progressive Election 2024, Sad! Leave a comment

In case you pay no attention to local politics (and you really should), the Michigan Republican Party seems to be in disarray. Since Kristine “f*** it! I’ll kill us all!” Karamo came under fire for allegedly mishandling funds and the abysmal Mackinac Island hoedown, the MIGOP, who can’t gather anywhere without a fight breaking out, have now decided it’s time for a change in leadership. Or at least some of them have. Or least some of them have decided it’s time to give Karamo the boot.

In the past week, warring factions of the MIGOP have voted each other off the island. Karamo is out, although she says nah. Malinda Pego was voted in, but the Karamo camp banned her from the GOP for the next 5 years.

 

 

And that’s not all. The MIGOP is broke too.

This is not over. Stay tuned.

January 1, 2024

Monday , 1, January 2024 Up North Progressive Community Leave a comment

Sharing Some Thoughts With Congressman John Moolenaar

Wednesday , 20, December 2023 Up North Progressive Constitutional Sheriffs, Election 2024, Gotion, MAGA, Michigan Republicans 2 Comments



United States Congressman John Moolenaar (R-中国; 中國) loves to misinform his constituents. His emails, media ad buys, and social media are rife with outright lies. His devotion to lying makes it curious that in his email dated December 18, 2023, he explains he voted ‘Yea’ to open an impeachment investigation for President Biden on December 13, 2023, because he wants to “uncover the facts.”
Moolenaar doesn’t share what any of those ‘facts’ could be in the email, but he does reach out for constituent comments. The subject of the email is “Do You Support Impeachment?”


Guaranteed, if anyone bothers to click that link and complete the survey, no one will read it. Engaging with John Moolenaar in any way is also pointless and counterproductive. The more you pay attention to him, the more people think what he says matters. Moolenaar’s survey does ask, “Share Your Thoughts,” so why not? Just don’t do it there. Moolenaar couldn’t care less what you think.

The best way to share thoughts about this lying sack is on your platform. Therefore, here are Up North Progressive’s thoughts about Seditious Prick John Moolenaar and all of the lies he tells you.

John Moolenaar, with 105 others, signed the Amicus Brief in support of Texas’s lawsuit to invalidate the 2020 election results. If the Supreme Court had voted in favor of this case, John Moolenaar’s victory would have been invalidated. Maybe he didn’t think that through.

In 2023, however, Moolenaar doubled down on “the 2020 election was stolen” rhetoric by inviting Constitutional Sheriff Kim Cole to attend the State of the Union Address as his guest. It doesn’t take much to guess Moolenaar’s motivation for impeaching President Biden.

Moolenaar’s congressional conduct goes beyond the 2020 election. John Moolenaar is actively working to defund the WHO because … ? Moolenaar in March of 2023, told Health and Human Services Secretary Yellen that if the COVID emergency is over, $90 billion in ARPA funds should be used to pay down the national debt instead of funding veteran pensions. Moolenaar is well-known for claiming he supports veterans.

Moolenaar’s voting record is a laundry list of his blatant lying. From voting in favor of resolutions to denounce the horrors of socialism to the Save Our Gas Stoves Act to voting no to eject fellow habitual liar, George Santos, Moolenaar votes for supporting his falsehoods instead of what the people of the Second Congressional District need. You know, like jobs?



John Moolenaar has lied the loudest about the Gotion battery plant coming to Big Rapids, Michigan. With a business willing to go to a job-starved region of the state with billions in investments for the community and over 2000 jobs, you would think that in a state with 50 Chinese co-owned businesses operating, that one more wouldn’t matter. According to Moolenaar, this one factory will not only force employees to join the Chinese Communist Party, but it will also be a spy base for the Chinese military to keep tabs on Camp Grayling 100 miles to the north. Scary things like spying, stealing technology, then kicking the Americans out of business, and ultimately, intelligence gathering for the ultimate goal of the Chinese – declare war on the United States – are the goals of the Gotion battery plant.

Ironically, John Moolenaar appeared in a video created by the EV Taxpayer Task Force. The YouTube channel and website can be traced back to a company based in France called Avisa Partners. One of their partners is Syngenta, based out of …. wait for it …. CHINA!

How much Chinese money did John Moolenaar receive to appear in that video? Did John Moolenaar have to join the CCP first? Perhaps we must extend Moolenaar’s anti-Chinese legislation to include John Moolenaar’s activities.

Just scratching the surface of the thoughts Up North Progressive would love to share with John Moolenaar.




The Beginner’s Primer to Running For Public Office: Online Platform

Saturday , 25, November 2023 Up North Progressive Candidates, Election 2024 Leave a comment

So, you’ve decided to run for public office. Wonderful. You’ve committed the next 12 to 24 months to campaign staff strategy meetings, public appearances, media interviews, and meeting your future constituents face-to-face. It would help if you listened to what they had to say.

That means time spent knocking on doors, holding coffee cloches, meet and greets, attending events, etc. You will have little time for family as you travel to every township hall, political party office, holiday parades, tables at the fair, and fundraisers. Especially fundraisers.

The modern political candidate’s platform includes an online presence. It’s unthinkable even to consider a campaign without an internet platform. This is where you will outline your background, a list of issues you will focus on once elected, endorsements from organizations (lots and lots and lots of questionnaires), keep future constituents informed about your campaign, public appearances, and contact information so people can volunteer to help. You will need lots of help.

An online platform consists of a website, a secure email client, a dedicated campaign email address, and accounts on as many social media platforms as you can manage. You will likely need a team of tech-savvy folks to work that part of your campaign.

But once you have that all set up, you’re ready to rock. Here’s a list of all the neat things you can do with your online platform:

Please make sure the person running your social media is such a self-centered, narcissistic egomaniac they make Donald Trump look magnanimous. This will be important when said pathological narcissist uses your social media to promote and stroke their ego, post the same nonsense on your platform they post on theirs, and even use the account that has your name on it to troll and flame-war anyone who disagrees with them. If people who encounter your social media were on the fence about who to vote for before, they sure as hell will make their choice now, thanks to your online platform manager. Bonus tip: When your egomaniac social media volunteer blocks party members from seeing your social media, the votes for you will reflect that professional move.

But that’s what your campaign staff can do for you. What about you? How can you use social media to win the hearts and minds of your voters?

Scroll through future constituents’ posts with your judgmental attitude dialed to eleven. When you find a post you disapprove of, leave a profanity-laced comment on it to let the author know how much you support their content.

Afterward, head over to your social media profile and let your inner Karen bloom into a rant about how disgusted you are with people sharing content with their families and friends. Stomp all over that proud parent’s offspring’s accomplishment, comparing it to the Palestinian genocide. Sarcastically include a droll comment about learning how to hunt for when the zombie apocalypse begins. Kill all the joy registered voters felt; after all, you’re running for political office. This will establish rapport with voters who will not forget your unsolicited opinion when they go to the polls.

Remember, you only need a majority of votes cast to win. How you run your online platform – the part of your campaign outreach that will provide the first and most lasting impression of your candidacy with most voters – will be the part that will make or break your hopes of winning the election. Choose wisely.

Labor Day 2023

Monday , 4, September 2023 Up North Progressive Community Leave a comment



Writers and actors are still on strike. The <A HREF=”https://www.upnorthprogressive.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Detroit-News-As-anticipation-builds-over-a-potential-auto-strike.pdf”>UAW</A> may be on strike in 11 days. Workers in many jobs and professions are organizing. Please do whatever you can to support them. May you have a restful Labor Day. Tomorrow, let’s get back to work.

16 Fake Electors Receive Felony Charges in Michigan: 2020 election hindsight

Wednesday , 19, July 2023 Up North Progressive Candidates, Election 2020, MAGA, Sad! Leave a comment

When the news broke yesterday afternoon that Attorney General Dana Nessel filed criminal charges against 16 fake electors who tried to overturn the 2020 election in Michigan illegally, the first name that popped into the Up North Progressive’s head was Gary Eisen.



Gary Eisen was the old 81st State House district rep in 2020. He signed the amicus brief for the dead-in-the-water Texas lawsuit that went to the Supreme Court. On the morning of December 14, 2020, he also had a radio interview with Lansing AM station WPHM. During this interview, Eisen hinted that the Michigan Republicans would use their constitutional plenary powers to toss a “hail mary” at the state capitol that day. He also said live on air, “Nope,” when asked if he could assure there would be no violence at the capitol.

We all know what happened next:



After the radio interview, the State Legislature punished Gary Eisen by stripping him of his committee assignments for the few remaining hours of the 2020 legislative session.

As we watched this group of people march to the capitol on December 14, 2020, only to be denied entry into the closed building, people wondered why Republicans kept trying to undermine an election that was ruled the most above-board free and fair election ever executed.

We found out a few weeks later the lengths Republicans would go to steal the 2020 election from the people who won – including the Republicans who won seats – because a narcissistic sociopathic septuagenarian insisted on lying that the election was rigged. Michigan’s 16 fake electors were part of a multi-step Republican plan.

That septuagenarian will be charged with more felonies soon.

About damn time. It will be good to see everyone else involved with the criminal conspiracy go down with him.