The Michigan Conservative Dossier

Today the Michigan Right to Life has revoked it’s endorsement of Jerry Zandstra for a couple of reasons. They claim that he has talked negatively about the RTL by saying that they “do not own the abortion issue.” This is not an attack, but a matter of fact. To me, the RTL does not own the issue, and if someone must own it, I would say that that person would be Cal Zastrow or someone like Joe Scheidler.

The second reason they used to revoke Zandstra’s endorsement was that he said he was being “principled”. This of course is saying nothing about the RTL but is a tasteful way of mentioning his primary opponents (Bouchard and Butler) who are not supporting the petition drive.

About an hour ago I called the state and local RTL offices and told them that I was upset about this and that I would like to be taken of their mail list and also that I would not donate to the group so long as Barb Listing is the leader of the organization.

When the issue first came about the RTL sent letters to legislators telling them not to support the petition drive. In their pleas that they sent out their was no clear reason of why it couldn’t be supported, nor any real reason how this would “hurt the movement.”

The statement “hurt the movement” in itself bothers me. I am not in the movement for the sake of being in the movement, I am in it to end abortion. It will be a good day in America when Listings position is no longer necessary.

Shortly after venting to the State RTL in Grand Rapids, I called the local affiliate (Of whom I respect immensely) and they brought up the fact that it could drive out opposition. I said something to the effect that it will drive out their people, and ours both so bring it on! Recent Rasmussen polls suggest that an overwhelming number of people believe that life begins at conception.

Not only do a majority of people believe this, but the RTLs very own mission statement says they support life “from conception to a natural end.” The people behind the petition drive are not radicals; but I will say that the people at RTL have betrayed their very mission statement. At the very least, they should have stayed silent on the issue. If they believe it’s going to flop, then so be it, but to actively oppose it will create a rift that will be felt for decades to come.

Happy St. Patricks Day from the Delta College Republicans!

MichiganLiberal.com has censored me for using the term “femiNazi” to describe EMILYs list members, check it out…

MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH

Amendment would establish life at conceptionCitizens in Michigan gain backing for effort to put measure on ballot
Posted: March 7, 20061:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
Richard Thompson

Citizens have proposed an amendment to Michigan’s constitution establishing that a person exists at the moment of conception.
The designation would give any unborn child constitutional rights of due process and equal protection.
A backer of the proposal, Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, said the petition drive is “vitally important if we are to insure that Michigan becomes a pro-life state after Roe v. Wade is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.”
The landmark 1973 decision did not actually ban abortion but nullified all state laws prohibiting the procedure. Most legal analysts agree that a Supreme Court ruling against Roe would return the issue to the states.
The proposed amendment, Thompson said, would “clear the ground of all issues dealing with interpretation of previous state precedent and statutes.”
Thompson said he’s “deeply disappointed that after 33 years and 45 million babies murdered,” some pro-life leaders have said they don’t believe the time is right to for such a dramatic step.
“If one truly believes a human being exists at the moment of conception and shortly thereafter suffers excruciating and prolonged pain while being sliced and torn apart in the mother’s womb, how would they not do everything they can to save that child – even though there is no guarantee of success?” he asked.
“The extreme caution exhibited by some pro-lifers reminds me of what Lincoln said about his reluctant General McClellan during the Civil War: ‘He has “the slows,”‘” too fearful of losing to risk winning, Thompson said.
He pointed out that last week, Pope Benedict XVI told a gathering of scientists and medical professionals Catholic teaching proclaims life begins at conception.
The pope said the Catholic Church “has constantly proclaimed the sacred and inviolable character of every human life, from its conception to its natural end.”
Rev. Stephen T. Anthony, superintendent of the Eastern Michigan District of the Church of the Nazarene and chairman of Michigan Chooses Life, a newly formed inter-denominational group of prominent Michigan pastors, is supporting the petition drive.
“It is a biological, medical, and spiritual fact that a new and precious human life begins every time a child is conceived in the womb,” Anthony said.
Thompson met a few months ago with leaders of Michigan Citizens for Life, the organization spearheading the petition drive.
The Law Center agreed to represent the group in any future lawsuit challenging the amendment, if adopted by Michigan voters.
The ACLU already has stated it will sue if the amendment passes.
The petition drive needs 317,000 valid signatures by July 10 to be placed on the Nov. 7 ballot.
Thompson said the Michigan-based group Right To Life–Lifespan and Michigan’s two Republican National Committee members, Chuck Yobb and Holly Hughes, also have endorsed the petition drive.
Michigan is one of several states that did not repeal its pre-Roe anti-abortion statute.
But Thompson said pro-abortion lawyers already have devised an additional counter-measure to a post–Roe situation, arguing the concept of “implied repeal.”
They will attempt to show that subsequent acts of the legislature, such as regulating the abortion industry, are irreconcilably in conflict with a state’s previous ban, and thus the latest statute has repealed the earlier one by implication.
Thompson said pro-lifers will have to be ready to defend against that argument.
“We should not refrain from direct challenges to Roe v. Wade simply because some pro-life strategists caution “wait” – the [Supreme Court] is not ready,” he said. “Directly challenging Roe does not mean we should abandon other pro-life legislative proposals aimed at chipping away at abortions.”
Thompson argued no one can know with certainty the ideal time to challenge a decision.
“Under those circumstances, all pro-life organizations, regardless of their opinion on a specific proposal, should work together in a spirit of unity,” he said. “We should mount an assault on Roe from all directions.”

By STEVE HARTSOE, Associated Press Writer Mon Mar 6, 7:19 PM ET
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – A University of North Carolina graduate accused of running down nine people on campus told an emergency dispatcher he wanted to “punish the government of the United States for their actions around the world,” according to a 911 recording released Monday.
Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, a 22-year-old native of
Iran called 911 to surrender Friday a few minutes after a sport utility vehicle sent students scurrying to escape. No one was seriously hurt.
Taheri-azar was later charged with nine counts of attempted murder and nine counts of assault, and his bail was set at $5.5 million.
University Police Chief Derek Poarch said Taheri-azar told investigators he intentionally hit people to “avenge the deaths of Muslims around the world.”
At his first appearance Monday in Orange County court in Hillsborough, Taheri-azar told the judge he planned to represent himself and was “thankful for the opportunity to spread the will of Allah.” He was assigned a public defender, but ignored the lawyer’s advice to stop talking.
“In this case, they’re gonna ultimately allow him to represent himself,” District Attorney Jim Woodall said after the hearing. “It’s clear to me that that’s what he truly wants to do.”
Taheri-azar spoke politely when he called emergency dispatchers.
“Yes, sir. I just hit several people with a vehicle,” Taheri-azar said on the recording. “Right now, I’m standing, you can come arrest me.”
Taheri-azar graduated from North Carolina in December after studying psychology and philosophy. Investigators believe he has spent most of his life in the United States, Poarch has said.
On campus, UNC students held what they called an “anti-terrorism” rally on Monday.
“We don’t want terrorism here, and we’re not gonna stand for that where we live and where we go to school,” said Kris Wampler, a member of the College Republicans, which helped organize the rally.
About 50 students attended, including a group of Muslim students who debated with organizers and said Taheri-azar had not been linked to any terrorist group.
“When you think of terms of a global context, this was an isolated incident,” said Khurram Bilal Tariq, a 22-year-old junior.
The Muslim Students Association, which criticized the university’s student newspaper last month for publishing a cartoon that depicted the Prophet Muhammad, has said Taheri-azar was not a member of the group and denounced his alleged actions.
Stephen Mann, an 18-year-old freshman, said he wasn’t singling out Islam. He said a driver of any religion who did what Taheri-azar is accused of should be called a terrorist.

This group protests funerals including soldiers’ because of the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Policy.” They also drag the American flag on the ground at protests and say that Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II are in hell. They also have a memorial tallying the days that Matthew Shepard has been in hell.
The leader of this group (Fred Phelps) endorsed Al Gore for President and was disbarred for not having any ethics.
In a nutshell everyone is going to hell except for the members of Westboro Baptist Church because of gay related issues.
www.godhatesfags.com

Anti-gay group protests soldier funeral
Group claims soldier deaths related to acceptance of gay culture
By Dawn Jones
Mid Michigan – (03/06/06)–As family and friends gathered inside a church to pay their last respects to a fallen Michigan soldier Monday, protesters gathered outside.
The protesters were believed to be a group from Kansas which is crossing the country protesting at military funerals, spreading their anti-gay message.
The group is from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. They protest things they believe are a direct result of America’s acceptance of gay culture.

But what does that have to do with America’s fallen war heroes? The group believes that soldiers are dying in Iraq because God is punishing the United States for its acceptance of homosexuality.
Inside the Bristol Road Church of Christ, dozens of mourners paid their final respects to 21-year-old Pvt. First Class Allan Morr of Byron.
Morr was one of three soldiers killed last month in an explosion in Iraq. As friends and family remembered Morr and his ultimate sacrifice for his country, a handful of protestors were outside the church.
The group was believed to be members of a Kansas-based church. On their Web site, they announced plans to picket the funeral of Private Morr.
The group also had plans to picket another soldiers funeral in Indiana, but didn’t show up.
Indiana has recently passed a law making it a felony for any person or group engaging in disorderly conduct within 500 feet of a funeral.

S.D. governor signs abortion ban into law
By CHET BROKAW Associated Press Writer

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Gov. Mike Rounds signed legislation Monday banning nearly all abortions in South Dakota, setting up a court fight aimed at challenging the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.
The bill would make it a crime for doctors to perform an abortion unless the procedure was necessary to save the woman’s life. It would make no exception for cases of rape or incest.
Planned Parenthood, which operates the state’s only abortion clinic, in Sioux Falls, has pledged to challenge the measure in court.
Rounds issued a written statement saying he expects the law will be tied up in court for years and will not take effect unless the U.S. Supreme Court upholds it.
“In the history of the world, the true test of a civilization is how well people treat the most vulnerable and most helpless in their society. The sponsors and supporters of this bill believe that abortion is wrong because unborn children are the most vulnerable and most helpless persons in our society. I agree with them,” Rounds said in the statement.
The governor declined all media requests for interviews Monday.
The Legislature passed the bill last month after supporters argued that the recent appointment of conservative justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito have made the U.S. Supreme Court more likely to overturn Roe v. Wade.
South Dakota’s abortion ban is to take effect July 1, but a federal judge is likely to suspend it during a legal challenge.

Rounds has said abortion opponents already are offering money to help the state pay legal bills for the anticipated court challenge. Lawmakers said an anonymous donor has pledged $1 million to defend the ban, and the Legislature set up a special account to accept donations for legal fees.
Under the new law, doctors could get up to five years in prison for performing an illegal abortion.
Rounds previously issued a technical veto of a similar bill passed two years ago because it would have wiped out all existing restrictions on abortion while the bill was tied up for years in a court challenge.
The statement he issued Monday noted that this year’s bill was written to make sure existing restrictions will be enforced during the legal battle. Current state law sets increasingly stringent restrictions on abortions as pregnancy progresses. After the 24th week, the procedure is allowed only to protect the woman’s health and safety.
About 800 abortions are performed each year in South Dakota. Planned Parenthood has said other women cross state lines to reach clinics.

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.

SPECIAL REMINDER!
Mike Cox 4th Annual Everybody’s Irish – St. Patrick’s Day Party!Irish Music, Irish Dances, Irish Spirits, and Irish FunFriday, March 10, 20067:00 P.M. – 10:00 P.M. – General Reception6:30 P.M. – 7:30 P.M. – VIP Photo ReceptionLaurel Manor39000 Schoolcraft RoadLivonia, Michigan$100 – General Reception$500 – VIP Photo ReceptionContact Deloris Newell – 248-465-1653 – dn@renaissancestratagies.us

The prolife movement is not supporting the initiative to amend the Michigan constitution to define life as beginning at conception.

The anti abortion activists are!

Which are you?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Joe Sylvester
cheneygun@gmail.com

New Abortion Poll Released

Rep Glenn Steil Bill to Reduce Size of Legislature

Study ranks Michigan Legislature as sixth-costliest in nation

Lawmakers Rake It In

My Job Over the Summer

Would You Be In Favor of a State Constitutional Amendment Banning Abortion In Michigan?
(Detroit News Poll)

March 05, 2006
Laura Berman:
Political opposites unite against ‘civil rights’ initiative

Now that it’s March, November can’t be far behind. In that spirit, five prominent Michigan business leaders are taking a giant step: They’re enlisting corporate heft to support a political effort of the most tricky kind.
On Friday, a letter signed by DTE Chairman Anthony Early, former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer and three other southeastern Michigan business heavies went into the mail.
The target is the confusingly titled Michigan Civil Rights Initiative — the ballot referendum that, if passed in November, will make Michigan nationally famous, or infamous, for rejecting affirmative action of all kinds.
“No more grids, points or plus factors,” is the way the initiative’s Web site advertises itself. Also, no more state-funded scholarships for young women seeking science careers. Or sports careers.
‘Preserve diversity’
Because the ballot language is sweeping and reactionary — it undoes existing laws, like Michigan’s Title IX — its opponents aren’t only the usual suspects.
They’re the usual suspects and, seemingly, almost everybody else: Gov. Jennifer Granholm andDick DeVos. The Catholic Conference and the National Organization for Women.
The letter from One United Michigan calls on its recipients to publicly “lend your name as a co-chair of this vital effort to preserve diversity and outreach programs.”
The letter is just one indication of how seriously civic leaders are taking the ballot proposal — and how worried they are about its future.
In a state that’s financially battered and racially divided, the ballot initiative is widely viewed by corporate powers as a threat to the state’s economy.
But voters are another matter: Polls have consistently shown voters warm to the idea of ending affirmative action. And while the poll numbers have gotten closer — support dwindled from 70 percent two years ago to 53 percent in December, according to one poll — the referendum backers are still ahead.
Economy needs diversity
Yes, you’ve heard before that diversity is a key to doing business in a global economy. But the so-called civil rights initiative could also pose huge problems for companies headquartered here that operate not only in Michigan, but also throughout the world.
They need to hire all kinds of workers — women, blacks, Asians, gay people — and aren’t anxious to see the supply lines to their work force cut.
Corporations live in the real world, not the world of ideas. They’re not newspaper columnists: Dumb ideas cost real companies real money. Yet two of three auto companies filed briefs supporting affirmative action when the University of Michigan defended itself — mostly successfully — before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Opponents of the legislation have a strategy. The letter soon to hit CEO mailboxes is part of an effort to play mentor to Michigan voters.
Of course, there is that lingering question: If our leaders are so smart, how did we get into this mess?
You can reach Laura Berman at (248) 647-7221 or lberman@detnews.com.

A little while ago the Students for Life of Michigan Chair contacted me to tell me the reason why SFL MI is not supporting the petition drive.

Reasoning: They are seeking tax exempt status and cannot take a stand.

Response: Why would you file for tax exempt status? Students for Life is a unique organization. Let Right to Life do their own thing. Let the RTL raise their own money and fund their own projects. We are the activists, the movers and shakers. Why on earth would a so called prolifer not help with the petitioning? I would say to hell with the tax exempt status, it’s time to end abortion!

The organization exists to end abortion, not for abortion to give an organization a cause.

Students for Life Chair Katie Wilcox also told me that if I cared I would promote her upcoming conference.

Well, I do care. And I won’t promote a half hearted prolife organization. The time has come to act!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,186747,00.html

The Chair of the Michigan Students for Life, Katie Wilcox has said that her group does not plan on helping to circulate the petition to let Michigan citizens vote on a constitutional amendment to define life as beginning at conception.

I think that this is a terrible shame, and I will echo what I said a few months ago in response to MSU SFL Chair Ken Curells moderate position on abortion; we don’t need ice cream socials, just real prolife activism!

Half measures are not what is needed to end abortion, real prolife activism is!

I will be at the Birch Run expo this Saturday with Cal Zastrow, the man leading the charge to amend the constitution. We will be their from 10-4 if you can make it out and help us get signatures.

http://www.mlive.com/news/bctimes/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1141229786242690.xml&coll=4