I will admit that I had no idea today is Michigan’s birthday. A state with 177 years of history. I will also be brutally honest and admit that I cannot wish Michigan a “Happy Birthday.”
I see little to be “happy” about.
The State that I was born in and have called home for 54 years is no longer a State that I recognize or can be proud of.
Everything that I care about, and believe that other Michiganders care about has been chipped away and destroyed. The Headlee Amendment, the Term Limit Fiasco of 1996, John Engler, John Engler, John Engler…And for 3 painful years, Rick Snyder has continued to put some heavy duty nails into our coffin.
I believe that Michigan is dying a slow and steady death. It is dying from apathy, complacency and neglect. Michigan has never been truly viable without a viable Detroit. Governors, legislators, mayors and We the People have allowed Detroit and its populace to implode over the past sixty years.
Michigan does not have to die. Michigan can have a “Happy 178th Birthday” next January 26, 2014. Vote your heart, your conscience and your soul next November. Vote for a governor and legislators who will fight for the Michigan that you want to call home and can be proud to stand up for.
Vote so that Michigan children, our future forever, will live in a State in which they can prosper, instead of a barren wasteland of gutted public schools, disappearing community services, a nation’s leading unemployment rate…And a Detroit no better off through a darkly historic bankruptcy.
So to Michigan, I won’t say “Happy Birthday.” What I will do is to wish My State, Our State, Our Children’s State, a healthier, happier and brighter year.
What does Michigan want for its birthday. It wants a Legislature with the courage to pass a joint resolution for a ballot proposal in November 2014 to rid itself of the Term Limit-Albatross.
Hello,
Love the posts. I would like to read the special education history piece, as well. Thanks,
Ruth Cassar