Culture wars over? Not even close

I didn't blog yesterday because I went to the Detroit Film Theater to see the Oscar nominated Short Films, both animated and live. The live film titled Henry hit rather close to home. It tells of an elderly man whose dementia is advanced enough he can't figure out why he is in an institution and what happened to his wife (she died the year before). All the others were, of course, very well done and worth the evening. They'll be showing at the DFT for another two weekends. The animated films are rather short (combined about 45 minutes), but the live films take the whole event over 3 hours.



Last time I wrote I included this little tidbit:

David Kochel, former Romney advisor, admits, "The culture wars are over. And the Republicans, largely, lost."

I relish the thought, though my friend and debate partner would caution doing the happy dance too soon.

My friend and debate partner responded, vigorously asserting the culture wars are not over. Not even close. The GOP is still waging a strong battle. Though perhaps not all of these issues are "cultural" my friend lists these battlegrounds: abortion, community (as practiced through government), public schools and prohibitive cost of college, minority Americans, confidence in the safety net, climate change, and gun violence.

My friend is correct. The GOP in Michigan just resurrected a few bills that didn't pass in their high-volume lame-duck session. One bill is about restrictions to abortion. If state law says an abortion must wait until after so many (perhaps 19?) weeks and Roe v. Wade says it should happen before so many weeks (check me if I'm wrong) is there any time between the two limits? Of course, the reason for a delay is so there is a fetus in the required ultrasound. Another bill is to "guarantee the religious rights of the provider" (translation: if the doctor doesn't like your sorry gay ass, he can refuse to treat you).

Which leads to a question. Why did Kochel make that claim? What would the GOP gain by floating the idea the GOP is about to lay down their arms? Any ideas out there?



I've been writing about the plan to switch the Electoral College votes in Michigan and other states to be by congressional district. A few days ago the Detroit Free Press had both an editorial and news article about that.

In the news article Gov. Rick Snyder seems skeptical, but then says a better time to do it is just before the 2020 census. Which means if a bill was plopped on his desk he would probably sign it.

Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville says the bill is not on the Senate's agenda and he thinks the current system makes the state relevant in presidential elections. Why fix a system that isn't broken?

Even so, Rep. Pete Lund plans to introduce the bill soon so it can be discussed at the state party convention later this month.

State Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer is glad Snyder and Richardville are stepping back from the plan, though he notes both said similar things about the Right-to-Work bill before passing and signing that one in a flurry of activity.

In the editorial, the paper notes that back in 2004 Kerry took the state with 51% of the vote, but under this proposed scheme Bush would have taken 10 of 17 Electoral College votes. In 2008 this scheme would have given Obama 14 of 17 EC votes, magnifying his win (but still giving McCain 3 votes).

The editorial calls the proposed scheme unfair. Should the state reward Electoral College votes proportionally? Perhaps, especially if lots of other states do it. But don't do it by congressional districts until a non-partisan commission draws the boundaries.

The Freep included large maps of how this scheme would have affected the last 3 prez. elections. In the 2012 map the swirl of the 14th district can be seen.

The last word on this issue goes to Mike Thompson, the Freep's cartoonist.