Denying a quarter million Michiganders a political voice was NEVER about the fonts

[mfcorey1]

If you think elections just don't matter, this should wake you up

Thursday of this week, two Republican men denied a quarter million Michiganders their political voice, a voice guaranteed by the constitution of the state and firmly-rooted in the basic tenets of our democracy.

Two men.

It's astonishing that our system is set up to give two men this much power.

The excuse that both men gave was that, because the the heading on the petition was too small, the petitions were invalid.

But this was not and never should have been about the fonts.

During the hearing Thursday, the Board of State Canvassers heard from font experts about how you cannot measure the capital letter "N" in order to determine font size (as their opponents "experts" did.) They heard about how the law doesn't govern which font to use and how different fonts are differently sized for a given point size. They heard about "leading" and about how to fonts are actually measured.

But none of that was important. In fact, none of what I have written at Eclectablog about comparing fonts has been important.

After all of the testimony that the Board heard Thursday, only one person's testimony mattered. That was the testimony of Bruce Hack of Inland Printing. Bruce Hack is the man that printed the petitions. He has signed a sworn affidavit saying that the font was 14 point and gave testimony at the hearing confirming this. He even brought them screenshots to prove his veracity.

In other words, the petitions WERE PRINTED IN THE CORRECT FONT. This really wasn't a matter for discussion. The fonts were correct. They have the Printers Affidavit and his testimony to prove it.
And, yet, because friends of the two Republicans on the Board -- a coworker for one of them! -- raised the question, it gave them what they seemed to feel was room to vote "no".

But remember this: their votes were based on a completely fabricated lie.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/04/28/1087149/-Denying-a-quarter-million-Michiganders-a-political-voice-was-NEVER-about-the-fonts

[Liberal_in_LA]

1. wtf

[MrScorpio]

3. Yep, we no longer have any democracy in this state, thanks to our fucking Republicans

If this shit can happen here, it can happen anywhere.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

5. "If this shit can happen here, it can happen anywhere"

That's my concern. This shit will be done in other states too - if it's allowed to stand in MI.

[malaise]

2. THey are going to lose in court

They should be sent to prison for treason

[James48]

11. Nope.

The Michigan Supreme Court is a partisan body that currently has a 4-3 republican majority and votes 4-3 along party lines as a matter of routine. I would bet they'll uphold the "font" ruling and say no to the voters.

it is enough to make a voter really, really, really angry.

[Ruby the Liberal]

4. Its down to fonts now?

Crimeny. Make Comic Sans 14 point the official state font then and be done with it.

[malaise]

6. Rachel had great coverage of this two days ago

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#47198428

[Ruby the Liberal]

9. Missed that - thanks!

[Spazito]

12. My jaw literally dropped when Rachel explained about one of the four board members...

Last edited Sun Apr 29, 2012, 10:19 AM - Edit history (1)

who voted on this. His name is Jeff Timmer, a partner with the Sterling Corporation, a republican political consulting firm. The same firm whose address houses the Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility which, surprise, surprise, is the organization that filed the legal challenge against petition saying it's flawed ie the font is too small.

Rachel reported that if you phoned the number listed on Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility it is answered by Sterling Corporation.

So Mr. Jeff Timmer, the partner with the Sterling Corporation and the corporation that 'houses' the Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility is also one of the four board members being called upon the make the decision on the legal challenge. The board has four members, 2 Democrats, 2 repubs including Jeff Timmer. The two Democrats supported the petition, the two repubs against.

Rachel expressed it best when she said this:

" So this guy is like the pitcher and he's also the umpire at the same time. You've got Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility challenging the positions from inside a Republican consulting firm and getting represented by the senior counsel for that Republican firm while one of the firm's partners serves on the board that is going to impartially decide whether Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility gets to stop this act of democracy in Michigan because the font on the petition is a hair too small."

Edited to take out the extra "being" in a sentence.

[malaise]

13. These ReTHUG scumbags should be in prison

This is criminality on steroids

[Spazito]

19. It is beyond me how this can be allowed to happen...

where all the rights of the public, including their right to vote, in these cities and towns can be simply wiped away by the State government. It is the complete destruction of democracy and yet little is said and nothing is done nationally.

What's to stop other republican state governments from doing the same? If Michigan is any example, it seems to me, this is only the beginning.

Scary stuff.

[malaise]

20. Rachel Maddow is the only person giving this national coveratge on TV

This should be a huge issue

[Spazito]

21. That, too, is kind of stunning to me...

My expectations for the mainstream media to actually cover serious issues is low but, damn, it is like there is a "no-go" order out there on this. I hope Al Sharpton does more on this, he has raised it on his show but nowhere near the level Rachel has. Lawrence O'Donnell hasn't touched on this yet that I have noticed but I could have missed him doing so as I don't always catch his show and the same for Ed Scholtz.

It's well past time, imo, that this should get major coverage from the media on all sides.

[dtom67]

7. Pure corruption...

This is the true state of our democracy; corrupt whores who bend over and say "ahhh" for a few bucks from their masters. Trashing governmental budgets so they can destroy unions,social programs and weaken democracy was their aim all along. I bet that if someone looked into the finances jeff timmer (r) and norman shinkle(r), they would find corruption that would make Coleman young look like a saint.

[dmr]

10. One of the important things about gov't employees & their unions -

they are the keepers of the citizen's property. It's difficult for politicians to sell off or give away public property when public employees are the gatekeepers to our assets; they are there assuring laws are obeyed, & to stop crooked politicians from breaking the rules.

The only way for them to fight against our public gatekeepers, is discredit the workers, and then to dismantle the public unions & lay off the workers.

It is the beginning of executing the perfect scam - wiping out or selling off public assets. Once they gut a town of their assets, there is nothing left for the town to prosper on their own again. But what do they care?

While all this is legal on paper, I think because of the collusion of those greedy assholes, they should be indicted using the RICO act. I can dream ...

[COLGATE4]

8. It's even worse than that

It's the Rethugs believing that they hold all the levers of power now and feel free to show their total contempt for the Democratic process. The entire 'font' controversy was contrived by a law partner of one of the two Rethug Commissioners who voted to deny the petition, circulated in an e-mail and broadcast by Rachel some days ago. It was just a stick to beat the dog - if it hadn't been the font, it would have been something else. They are drunk with power in Michigan now, and will heed no limits. The only hope is that there are some good Circuit Court Judges in Lansing who will hear the case. They may be able to throw a temporary monkey wrench into this fiasco. However, both the Michigan Court of Appeals and particularly the Michigan Supreme Court are packed with RW'ers, so any victory at a lower court level will probably be overturned on appeal.

Michigan is what the rest of us can look forward to if Rethugs keep control of the House, win the Senate and win the Presidency.

[malaise]

14. And everyone should be terrified of that thought

It's frightening!

[99Forever]

15. As JFK so elegantly put it:

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."

John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)

[Snotcicles]

16. Have the feds totally given up on Michigan? nt

[Scuba]

17. Yeah, font size should trump the will of the People every time, right?

[Scuba]

18. It's so bad in Michigan that Wisconsinites feel sorry for Michiganders.