matt0550
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2019
- Messages
- 271
This is not a rant. Not a rant. This is however my opinion and actual observations here where I currently live - this needs to be seen by others so that others can be watchful for what may very well develop where they live.
Approximately 15,000 Michigan residents rallied in the states capital today to bring attention to what the governor here has done and is doing. The Ill informed and misinformed have already begun labeling these people as "militia" and trouble makers - and though I was not there, I take issue with that labeling of those people.
Our system of government while not simple, has some clear divisions and lines. One of these hard lines is the constitutional obligation that provides for a legislature for the creation of law on the behalf of the people. In Michigan over the last 3.5 weeks, the governor has taken it upon herself to enact laws from her desk live on camera without a moment's discussion, debate or action of the legislature. The governor has promised and committed to punishing anyone found to be violating her order to stay IN your home and to leave the confines thereof only for the purpose of medicine, necessary food and medical care. All other reasons for being beyond the curtilage of the home are suspect and many are now criminal and punishable by arrest and $1000 fine. At every retail store in this state you will find an abundance of caution tape and barricades preventing you from shopping in particular areas of the store - these areas contain merchandise that the governor has decided that you no longer need - and let's be honest, the government always knows exactly what everyone needs. I went to the Walmart store near my home because I knew if I arrived right at opening time I would be able to get my hands on some badly needed cleaning supplies (I had given much of mine away to others who needed it badly - elderly neighbors). I was amazed at the items in the "banned" areas of the store and the oddity of the things that I could have purchased should I have decided to. I could not purchase a pillow, however I could've purchased an entire stereo system and tv screens for my pickup truck. I got the supplies I needed and found out about the pillow law when I watched the 70 something lady in front of me in line attempting to purchase a pillow and being told by the clerk that she was not allowed to sell it to her because it was "not for sale due to the new law". A Michigan resident can purchase booze (thank God), recreational marijuana (dont care), cigarettes and lottery tickets which are all deemed "necessities". You CANNOT however purchase paint, lumber, lawn care products, landscaping, fasteners, fencing, concrete, tile, flooring, roofing or any other hardware. You can go to a lake (by yourself) with a canoe or a kayak in your truck and paddle til your heart is content but you CANNOT take your 19ft fishing boat to that same lake and operate it for the sake of fishing (even by yourself). You may walk your dog and when doing so you AND your companion may walk your dog together - but you are not allowed to go turkey hunting, hunting is illegal.
Enough of that, you get the point if you even stuck with me this far. I would like to come right out and say that in metro Detoilet the "stay at home" order seemed more appropriate and the illness and death rate here has handsomely made the case for it like it or not (just my opinion). BUT, people who live 350 miles north of that dump where they have 1 or 3 cases in an entire county (all had traveled to Detoilet for work etc or use of the airport there - side note: DTW was one of the last airports still allowing flights from China after the travel ban due to business travel and auto manufacturing) - these people who live 350 miles away in a rural environment where the population is low and the economy is absolutely fragile cannot go to work, they cannot hunt and they cannot fish - even the ones who basically live partially off the land and stock their freezers from those lakes every year. The Coho salmon will be schooled wildly in the perfect shallows of lake Superiors South shore and all of us can sit at home and watch BS on tv...and dream about one day being an American again - a FREE American.
There are problems brewing here...a quiet majority beginning to boil underneath the calm surface. Neighbors and friends have taken to encrypted text messaging apps and begun planning stages of "what-ifs".
Personally, I appreciate my lifestyle and I like to not be a problem to anyone - I will not however walk quietly with my head down.
I have served my Nation, my State and my local community as a Marine and as a career police officer, SWAT officer and SWAT team leader - I tell you this ONLY to offer some proof to a reader here that I do know how my government actually operates - I dont hold my opinion out of ignorance but rather out of my 30 years of education from within it. Please dont take that any other way - it's for context. My point is that I am more likely to support my government than most, EVEN when I take issue with its methodology and tact...in this case though I have turned a page. I am not sounding an alarm, but rather raising a concern - I have not been this concerned for the wellbeing of my society in my 30 plus years of service to it.
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing"
Approximately 15,000 Michigan residents rallied in the states capital today to bring attention to what the governor here has done and is doing. The Ill informed and misinformed have already begun labeling these people as "militia" and trouble makers - and though I was not there, I take issue with that labeling of those people.
Our system of government while not simple, has some clear divisions and lines. One of these hard lines is the constitutional obligation that provides for a legislature for the creation of law on the behalf of the people. In Michigan over the last 3.5 weeks, the governor has taken it upon herself to enact laws from her desk live on camera without a moment's discussion, debate or action of the legislature. The governor has promised and committed to punishing anyone found to be violating her order to stay IN your home and to leave the confines thereof only for the purpose of medicine, necessary food and medical care. All other reasons for being beyond the curtilage of the home are suspect and many are now criminal and punishable by arrest and $1000 fine. At every retail store in this state you will find an abundance of caution tape and barricades preventing you from shopping in particular areas of the store - these areas contain merchandise that the governor has decided that you no longer need - and let's be honest, the government always knows exactly what everyone needs. I went to the Walmart store near my home because I knew if I arrived right at opening time I would be able to get my hands on some badly needed cleaning supplies (I had given much of mine away to others who needed it badly - elderly neighbors). I was amazed at the items in the "banned" areas of the store and the oddity of the things that I could have purchased should I have decided to. I could not purchase a pillow, however I could've purchased an entire stereo system and tv screens for my pickup truck. I got the supplies I needed and found out about the pillow law when I watched the 70 something lady in front of me in line attempting to purchase a pillow and being told by the clerk that she was not allowed to sell it to her because it was "not for sale due to the new law". A Michigan resident can purchase booze (thank God), recreational marijuana (dont care), cigarettes and lottery tickets which are all deemed "necessities". You CANNOT however purchase paint, lumber, lawn care products, landscaping, fasteners, fencing, concrete, tile, flooring, roofing or any other hardware. You can go to a lake (by yourself) with a canoe or a kayak in your truck and paddle til your heart is content but you CANNOT take your 19ft fishing boat to that same lake and operate it for the sake of fishing (even by yourself). You may walk your dog and when doing so you AND your companion may walk your dog together - but you are not allowed to go turkey hunting, hunting is illegal.
Enough of that, you get the point if you even stuck with me this far. I would like to come right out and say that in metro Detoilet the "stay at home" order seemed more appropriate and the illness and death rate here has handsomely made the case for it like it or not (just my opinion). BUT, people who live 350 miles north of that dump where they have 1 or 3 cases in an entire county (all had traveled to Detoilet for work etc or use of the airport there - side note: DTW was one of the last airports still allowing flights from China after the travel ban due to business travel and auto manufacturing) - these people who live 350 miles away in a rural environment where the population is low and the economy is absolutely fragile cannot go to work, they cannot hunt and they cannot fish - even the ones who basically live partially off the land and stock their freezers from those lakes every year. The Coho salmon will be schooled wildly in the perfect shallows of lake Superiors South shore and all of us can sit at home and watch BS on tv...and dream about one day being an American again - a FREE American.
There are problems brewing here...a quiet majority beginning to boil underneath the calm surface. Neighbors and friends have taken to encrypted text messaging apps and begun planning stages of "what-ifs".
Personally, I appreciate my lifestyle and I like to not be a problem to anyone - I will not however walk quietly with my head down.
I have served my Nation, my State and my local community as a Marine and as a career police officer, SWAT officer and SWAT team leader - I tell you this ONLY to offer some proof to a reader here that I do know how my government actually operates - I dont hold my opinion out of ignorance but rather out of my 30 years of education from within it. Please dont take that any other way - it's for context. My point is that I am more likely to support my government than most, EVEN when I take issue with its methodology and tact...in this case though I have turned a page. I am not sounding an alarm, but rather raising a concern - I have not been this concerned for the wellbeing of my society in my 30 plus years of service to it.
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing"
