I love Michigan

Michigan Public Radio and Detroit Public Radio are doing a fabulous job of honestly pointing to the challenges and problems of Southeastern Michigan but also spotlighting the things and people who are making efforts to move the area well as the State through this crisis. I am glad SOMEONE is answering my question, "How can a city on a river and across the street from another country be this fucked up?" and doing so by demanding pro-active steps forward. My only problem is that they aren't demanding anything substantial considering that we are so far beyond pleasantries.

This traditional liberal approach is outdated. We need to be a loud, obnixious, and as crazed as the right-wing. We need to demand that IF abortion is to be banned then all unmarried women and men must submit to monitorable, mandatory birth control Parents who fail to properly register their teen children with the local community health center services would face jail time). IF war is the way to get the Taliban in place, the draft is to be reinstituted with no exceptions and the children of privalege must serve in QA evaluated, combat command. And IF we are going to allow public education to die, then law enforcement is enhanced while informal ghetts are created to protect those of us , no matter their race, who did get out(close the gates of London!).

Lately, I have been enlightened about two ways about how to make things better. One was a speech by Jack Lessenbery (Metro Times/Michigan Public Radio) at my synogogue, Temple Emanu-EL and my reading of Michigan Radio's Generation Y web series. I will complain about the latter first. IF your goal is to influence young people to stay, grow, and belong here, you're talking to the wrong age group. You need to talk to the 14 to 17year olds as they form their needs, fears, and baseless claims about their future. Maybe if we give them a genuine education about what is here and what needs to change to make it sustainable as well as full their heads with a sense of dedication toward, to accompany their connection to this State (*sounds of dying, breathless words to a large, broad inhale lastly startled loud, pressed declaritive noises) , then MAYBE they would not only stay, but invest in making a future for this State and remind it of its rightful place on American if not on the World Map.

As to Mr. Lessenbury-thank you for reminding me of my angish and fitting a painful glove around my cold, arthretic hands. I agree, we need a crew of states(wo)men, a gangle of "Wise Men" to pull us out of this rut. However, we really need a herd of sheep willing to accept that this is what they need to follow.