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This is what the Legislature won’t take lying down?
Should you eat meat this Saturday? That is the important question the Michigan Legislature grappled with today!
I’ve had the distinct pleasure of working in Lansing politics for over four years now, the vast majority of that time was on the inside of the state Legislature. Over that span of time, I’ve witnessed firsthand some inspiring days when true public servants that appreciate the importance and responsibilities associated with their positions would come together to address head-on the serious issues facing our state during these historically trying times. On those days you can’t help but feel some ray of hope for our democratic system, and the idea that our state will right its path.
I’ve also had the opportunity to witness firsthand some absurd days that made me question the basic principles of our representative democracy. Those days left me, and pretty much all the other participants, absolutely convinced that it was a matter of time before Michigan was about to snap off from the rest of the union and unceremoniously sink into the Great Lakes.
There’s no point rehashing all of those memories right now since I need to save something for the memoirs. But let’s just say that there has been way too many of the latter days and not enough of the former days.
For some reason today really has gotten to me. In case you missed it, Governor Granholm proclaimed this coming Saturday, “Michigan Meatout Day” when Michiganders are supposed to refrain from eating meat to highlight the healthiness of a vegetarian lifestyle and explore new dietary options for a day.
You may or may not agree with the governor’s proclamation. Personally, I come from a long line of cattle and sheep ranchers—I love meat! But honestly, even I, and my cardiologist would concur, that it’d probably be in my best interest not to eat meat 365 days of the year. The point is it doesn’t really matter in the big scheme of things as it’s a pretty empty gesture.
You probably weren’t aware of it, but pretty much every month, week, and a good number of days have been designated something by the governor or the Legislature. For example, here are some of my personal favorites just from March 2010 alone:
- The week of March 1, Michigan Weights and Measures Week
- March 6, Michigan Curling Day
- March 10, Registered Dietician Day
- March 15 and beyond, Safe Passage of the Great Lakes Days
And for those folks always planning ahead, April is simultaneously: Safe Digging Month, Michigan Wine Month, and Jewish Sports Heritage Month, among several other distinctions.
The point is these proclamations are pretty innocuous and go without much notice except for the interest groups that bring them to the governor and Legislature’s attention.
But the Michigan Meatout Day really got some people all riled up and probably raised their already high blood pressure to unsafe levels. Now little things like this happen fairly regularly, but what got me today was how much attention this actually got from the Legislature and the speed to which they acted.
The Michigan Senate, known throughout the land for its quick responses to the pressing issues of the state, promptly passed a resolution demanding the governor rescind the proclamation.
According to published reports, the senate actually spent 20 minutes deriding the governor for encouraging people to refrain from eating meat for one day out of the year. One senator declared “Great Americans eat red meat,” (apparently lesser Americans eat white meat).
The most alarming comment came when one senator stated, “It’s important to send a message to the agricultural community that we’re not going to take this lying down.”
WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!
This is what the Legislature won’t take lying down!?!?!?
Our highways are crumbling, our economy is struggling to rebound, our tax structure is antiquated, nearly half our college graduates are leaving the state within a year of graduation, our cultural institutions are withering, and our cities are being forced to cut core services ranging from police and fire to libraries and parks. And an innocuous proclamation by the governor asking people to forgo eating meat for one day out of 365 is what the Legislature is up in arms about?
These are historic times in Michigan and honestly we can’t turn this state around without politicians in Lansing being on board. We truly need to see historic efforts from Lansing that equal the challenges of the times to address these problems and to get the state moving forward, not theatrics, distractions, and horse and pony shows that just waste another day when we could be taking a step forward.
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