Week in Review: the Raw Mongrels of Hillsdale
September 23, 2023
Week in Review
City Council, September 18
See the packet here.
Street Light Letter
After Hillsdale resident James Thomas wrote a letter to Council requesting a that the bright white LED bulb perpetually illuminating his garden and home be blocked, replaced, or both, the BPU has determined to install a new bulb, and possibly add a larger lamp shade to shield Thomas’s land and home. Councilman Paladino requested that the BPU ensure that bulbs do not stick out below the shades not just in Thomas’ locale, but throughout the entire city—apparently one of the issues with this particular structure and some others around town.
Pets & Cemeteries
The raw mongrels of Hillsdale continue to poop, unleashed, on the graves of the dead. In their owners’ opinions, such places were created as playgrounds for their fur babies/best friends. But this attitude is not limited to cemeteries. Walking throughout the city, day or night, one can be certain of being berated by the fiends, large and small alike, yammering and yelping, every step of the way.
The Council will take up a potential ordinance to place limitations on the right to have one’s cur defecate on tombstones of others during the October 16 meeting.
Assessment Vehicle
The BPU representative said that though the technical mileage of the car in use by the city assessor is approximately 130,000, the effectual usage is over 400,000 (according to the Ford Dealership’s formula. . .) due to the extensive time spent idling. Given the warranty that can be had on the car, he recommended buying new.
Councilman Wolfram, an economics expert, supported the purchase of a new vehicle. Councilman Paladino recommended not spending frivolously, especially for a car which receives limited use. Councilman Sharp seconded that opinion. Wolfram and Vear went for the new car; all others were nays.
The money will now be spent dealing with the destruction of decrepit homes around town, some of which present a danger to the surrounding structures.
Joint Early Voting Site Agreement
The Abe Dane, who is both TRAINED and EXPERIENCED, attended the City Council meeting to explain to his underlings the nuances of compliance with the Michigan bureaucracy. He gangled over the podium, answering questions with maddening vagueness.1
During the Council’s discussion, Paladino argued for political entities running their own elections. Others on the council were not amenable to asking city employees to do more work. The agreement passed, Stockford and Paladino against, all others for.
If you worry about such things as “early voting periods,” you’ll be amused to learn that the state of Michigan will kindly cover the cost of the voting tabulator machines. In any case, the county and city will now work together in compliance with the new dictate of the “people” of Michigan. Dane quite sensibly passed off the blame, arguing that very few people in Hillsdale County wanted this—including the County Clerk—and yet it is now a part of the state constitution.
Public Comment
Ginger Novak, a Hillsdale resident, opposed the proposed food truck tax on the ground that small business owners “should not ever be your tax target.” Novak called the proposed tax the “Fairness Tax.” Another resident used the same anti-fairness language later on.
Jack McClain thanked the council for approving the automatic door openers that will be installed at City Hall for $15,000. This issue was very important to him. He would also like the handicap parking spaces to be closer to the building.
Upcoming Events
Monday, September 25: Homeless Task Force.
Tuesday, September 26: County Commissioners.
External Links
“A Hillsdale couple under federal investigation for their alleged crimes on Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington surrendered to federal authorities Tuesday, Sept. 19, in Grand Rapids.” Corey Murray on the plight of Karla and Dustin Adams.
“There’s just a pervasive sense that the values that the western side of the state holds are being imposed, in a kind of oppression, on the east.” The Washington Post sends a reporter to look into the Greater Idaho Movement. Where is the Greater Indiana Movement?
“Unfortunately, however, we live in clown world. Leftists get away with accusing their enemies of doing what they, in fact, are guilty of doing. They love to rub it in their political opponents’ faces. The ritual humiliation is part of the fetish.” Josiah Lippincott.
“Let me make one thing very clear: Transphobia, homophobia, and biphobia have no place in this country. We strongly condemn this hate and its manifestations, and we stand united in support of 2SLGBTQI+ Canadians across the country.” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responds to what state media can only scare-quote as “parental rights” protests.
“The notion that Russia cannot be negotiated with or that a workable settlement cannot be reached is only attributable to political radicalism. Americans are not crazy, heartless, or shortsighted to foresee yet another sinking pit of U.S. blood and treasure. The host for this parasitic endeavor would be the same as it always is: a riving heartland and a demoralized people.” Dominick Sansone, writing at The American Mind.
“What Prof. Gottfried, the integralists, and others on the dissident right seem to desire here, or at least what the logic of their argument points toward, whether they desire it or not, is a complete upheaval, not just of the present corrupt American regime, but if the entire ‘sect’ or civilization in which it was born and once thrived.” Michael Anton has finally put aside some small portion of his characteristic prudence in addressing Paul Gottfried. In response, Gottfried suggests that the origin of natural rights theory in “contrivance” limits its capacity to be traditional (or, to put it simply, to be-at-work-staying-itself-qua-the-founders-understanding).
“The fact that Democrats responded with visceral dislike to a song that expressed the complicated populist views of an actual working-class person shows how unwelcoming the party has become to actual working-class people, as opposed to mythological proletarians who combine hatred of (Republican) corporations with reverence for ‘Bidenomics’ and careful usage of all the approved intersectional language . . . one has to wonder what kind of party the Democrats are becoming. Is this really the party they want to be, where the views, priorities, and values of the educated take precedence?” Ruy Teixeira.
“In what Catholics call her human element, the Church had evidently bitten off more than she could chew. The Council said that she ‘carries the responsibility of reading the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel.’ Catholic functionaries responded by seeing a movement of the Holy Spirit in every secular trend. That was the path of least resistance, since it let them ingratiate themselves with secular powers while wrapping themselves in the flattering mantle of prophecy. So they took it.” James Kalb on the state of Catholicism.
“God’s universal will to save, which we encounter in Christ, the only Mediator between God and man, and which is realized historically and eschatologically, is the future program of His Church and not the Great Reset of the atheist-globalist ‘elite’ of billionaire bankers who hide their ruthless personal enrichment behind the mask of philanthropy.” Cardinal Muller on how he intends to address the Synod on Synodality.
“Moreover, most political questions are not a matter of moral absolutes. When it comes to the form of government, for example, I hold with Pope Leo XIII that monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy (as well as mixtures of the three) can all be just, as long as they pursue the true human good. On such questions I think we should indeed conserve the traditions of particular places and peoples. Even in the application of moral absolutes, we should be gentle and cautious.” We have always said that integralism would be a lot more appealing if Pater Edmund were its chief spokesman.
“The Left will do what it takes to downplay the ideological capture of American institutions and the surge of violence following the Black Lives Matter revolution. No doubt embarrassed by the rising chaos and murder victimizing the residents of American cities, and especially poor black men, they would prefer to act as if 2020 never happened.” Rufo.
Despite, or maybe because of, his training, we can hardly blame Dane.
Abe Dane is one of the interesting Establishment Republicans who has become aware of the value of doing what he is told, because it gets him into better “situations” in the government employee power group, also known as the Brent Leininger led Self-described “Republican” party (who along with Dane were thrown out of the Michigan GOP at the spring state convention for corrupt actions in a super majority vote by the over 2000 delegates).
He used to be more concerned with protecting citizens rights, transparency and public safety, but his tenure in the clerk’s office have made him a willing subordinate to the demands of Secretary of State Benson’s use of executive orders to corrupt the voting system and its built-in safety mechanisms - Abe was the “action figure” in taking Stephanie Scott’s election equipment for destruction of the data bases with a database update (against the laws requiring maintaining these records for 22 months). Abe is a fully willing arm of the Whitmer election management process. His “nobody likes this” and the classic “I was only obeying orders!” are light cover for his active enablement of the destruction of election integrity - and he knows it.
But he has already had problems with election integrity following corrupt acts of discretion he and Marney Kast took suing the last primary election (which will be addressed soon). After that coup, Abe and Marney became elected leaders of the Leininger group who gained many delegates based on the results...
And he remains silent as his “Republican” group PR chair calls for the removal of city council members from leadership positions for their efforts to stop the placement of sexualizing books in kids sections in the Hillsdale library, actively preferring activist LGBTQ-supporting Democrats to follow the worst of Joe Biden’s demands to push “gender” education.
Why would Abe Dane and the other officers of his “Republican” group stand aside in such a gut-wrenching fight for children and parents rights?
The apparent evidence is that Abe and the other in Leininger’s group aren’t concerned with acting according to Judeo-Christian moral guidance, or even the defense of children provided by elected officials like Josh Paladino standing up to do the right thing. For most of them, it appears to be instead they focus on maintaining power. For Abe, perhaps it is that the benefits of doing what he is told drives him to do many things that should not be done.