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By RightMichigan.com Posted in Breaking News | Democrats | Ethics | Michigan — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Cross-posted on Right Michigan at www.RightMichigan.com.

With everything that's in the news this morning political junkies find themselves with the makings of a gripping television crime procedural.  Just browsing the wire stories about various public figures in various degrees of hot water we've got a veritable episode of Law and Order on our hands.  

Or at the very least a new edition of Democrats behaving badly.  Something in the water at the DNC filtering out into the broader Dem community?  Like every episode of the NBC flagship the Democrats are starting at the top with an investigation and an arrest.  This time it's a Senate Democrat staffer in Washington finding himself at the center of a sting, caught looking for sex from a pre-pubescent boy and, thank God, getting nabbed by the police before he destroyed another life.

After the arrest you've got the preliminary court business and for that we find Democrat money man and Stabenow and Granholm donor Norman Hsu a little bit further along in the judicial process.  He was just formally indicted for his crimes.  You remember, funneling millions from foreign national into Democrat candidate coffers while already on the lamb?

And like the best editions of the show we're going to end with a conviction, this time right here in Michigan:

A jury has convicted former Saginaw Mayor Wilmer Jones Ham McZee of insurance fraud while acquitting her of arson.

Saginaw County authorities accused the 57-year-old Ham McZee of setting her 1986 Mercedes-Benz on fire in March 2006 and trying to make a false insurance claim.

Ham McZee is the mother of ex-Detroit Pistons player Darvin Ham. She serves on the City Council and is mayor pro tem.

Wilmer, c'mon.  Darvin could have purchased you a new car... or at least a new used car.  

And while it may not technically be criminal activity the Ivory Tower is at the very least being intellectually dishonest this morning, too.  Or did they have an epiphany?  

Take a look at this missive from today's lead editorial:

The truth is that at a time when everything is supposed to be changing so Detroit and Michigan can break from their past and move into a brighter economic future, this kind of stuff still goes on way too often. There are still too many public officials who see their place at the table of authority as a trough rather than a privilege. Too often there are no rules, other than grab it while you can, and no accountability, other than to themselves.

Amen, right?  They must be talking about Governor Granholm or Andy Dillon or Mark Schauer.  They must be talking about the fact the Democrats just rammed through the biggest budget in Michigan history and paid for it with the biggest tax hike in Michigan History.  Or maybe they're talking about the new Michigan State Police headquarters being built by a top Granholm fundraiser at an expense of well over $100 million to taxpayers even though it's not needed and MSP says they don't want it.  Or about the Governor providing a full staff for her husband.  Or maybe the governor's infamous turtle fence over here in west Michigan.

Yeah, you'd think so but then you'd be wrong.  The next paragraph:

If airport chief Robinson can't do better, can't devise a structure that respects the money and responsibility that come with leading one of this region's most important economic drivers, the airport authority board ought to find someone who can.

They're worried, and rightly so, about inefficient use of dollars at the airport in Detroit.  But remember, this is coming from a newspaper that's never met a spending program it didn't like or a big government liberal it couldn't defend.  Well, as long as that big government liberal is in a position to affect some sort of social change the rag finds meaningful or important.  If you're just John Q Taxwaster and can't do anything for them they're more than willing to throw you under the bus.  

Take that last paragraph and rework it a little bit.  Try this one on for size:

"If the state's Chief Executive, Jennifer Granholm can't do better, can't devise a structure that respects the money and responsibility that come with leading one of the nation's most important State economies the voters out to find someone who can."

Don't hold your breath waiting for that editorial.  Although, sometimes miracles do happen.  Take the story in this morning's Detroit News about the potential for change in the way the entire nation goes about the Presidential primary process come next cycle.  There are actually Republicans working with Democrats and, best of all, and unlike some Democrat's in Congress who think government is always the answer, they're looking for a "private" solution.

The proposal, from state Republican Party Chairman Saul Anuzis and Democratic National Committee member Debbie Dingell, calls for both national parties to adopt a plan for the 2012 campaign similar to one U.S. Rep. Sander Levin, D-Royal Oak, has proposed for years.

"We need to end the monopoly of some states that always enjoy earlier contests while protecting every state's right to be relevant in the process," Dingell said.

The plan would divide the nation into six regions, with one or two states from each region holding a contest on each of six Tuesdays during a campaign year. A lottery would decide which states would go first...

The plan Anuzis and Dingell announced Tuesday seeks to address some of those political questions. Unlike the federal legislation Levin has proposed, they've called on the national parties to adopt reforms -- avoiding constitutional questions sure to be raised if the federal government tried to enforce internal party processes.

If power players in the Republican and Democrat parties can work together on this then... well... maybe miracles can happen.  After all, it is Christmas time.  My wish list for Santa includes: