Letters
What next?I just heard that Traverse City Light & Power will have to find another
location for the bio-mass plant because the currently proposed site will
interfere with the sight-lines for a new control tower at the Cherry
Capital Airport.
Since its apparent that the board of directors of TCL&P have pretty much
decided that a biomass plant is in our future, one has to wonder what
other important facts theyve failed to properly consider?
Dennis Bean-Larson Kingsley
The flames of division
Mr. Tuttle, in response to your editorial of May 3.
Firstly, dont call me friend. My friends dont talk to me in
condescending words.
Secondly, you tell us not to call Obama a Marxist or a socialist, yet you
call us sobbing, lamenting, vile spewing, fringe elements, birthers,
truthers, denialist, anti-immigration haters, white supremacists, deluded,
angry, unfocused extremist, and of course... nuts.
Okay, I can live with that. It isnt true, but I can live with a Kool-aid
drinking, elitist thinking that is what I am.
Now its my turn to talk. I am not any of the above. Nor am I a domestic
terrorist or any other names that liberals fan the flames of division
with.
I simply want my elected representatives to follow the U.S. Constitution.
It is what our country is founded on, or was founded on, until Obama and
the Congress started shredding it.
I am a realist, and know that the Republicans arent the answer. However,
if I am to get the country back to its roots, I need to work to get one
of the parties to represent Americans with conservative values. The
Democratic leaders are too far to the left, so I decided that the best way
to affect change was to become a precinct delegate.
Bush the youngers term in office increased our deficit, but Obama and his
socialist ilk have increased (in one year) what Bush did (in four years)
by 10 times. He also rammed an unpopular health care bill down our throats
that we cant afford. Does Greece ring a bell?
Oops, I called Obama a socialist in my last paragraph. Even though there
is ample evidence to show his socialist tendencies, and surrounds himself
with a cabinet riddled with avowed communists, I shouldnt call names. Not
like the left does. Ill take the high road. My bad.
Until you really study the U.S. Constitution, or talk to me directly,
dont tell me what I am or with whom I should associate. My message is
dont tax more... spend less, but why is it such a mystery to see
Obamas birth certificate and college transcripts? My guess? A lot.
Marxism doesnt happen overnight. It comes in stages, so if you think we
the people arent being denied our rights or that the Marxist elements of
the administration wouldnt like to have control of the media, youre
mistaken. Have you ever heard of the abuse of something called The
Fairness Doctrine?
Look up Swat team, Quincey, Illinois on YouTube. A swat team marched on
protesters that... egad... were singing The National Anthem! We cant have
patriotism like that! The next thing they are going to do is recite The
Pledge of Allegiance. What is this world coming to?
Karen LaCross Vice-President of Tax and Spend Has to End
Socialist worries
Stephen Tuttles May 3 article, An Open Letter to My Tea Party Friends
is so full of disingenuous-ness, mis-information, and straw-man arguments
that it is beyond the scope of a short response.
Let me simply say this: To claim that President Obama is not a socialist -
because the things that he says he wants to do are not presently in place
- is like saying that a plane plummeting from the sky is not in trouble
because it has not hit the ground yet.
Mr. Tuttles tea party friends are trying to prevent Obamas socialist
world view from being implemented.
Michael LeButt Cheboygan
Marijuana saga
Last July, the Northern Express featured the story of a vocal medical
marijuana patient/caregiver. A few weeks later, the Traverse Narcotics
Teams helicopter was hovering over Archie Kiels property near Kalkaska.
Kiel was ultimately arrested and charged with growing more plants than
Michigans medical marijuana law allows. TNT only confiscated around half
of Kiels marijuana plants, which left him with about 30.
Within the confines of this letter, it would be impossible to adequately
summarize all of the complex allegations and disputes that are at issue in
the Kiel case. Its obviously been difficult even for legal scholars to
make sense of the newly enacted medical marijuana law.
During a recent hearing in the Kiel case, Circuit Judge Janet Allen
acknowledged that the acts ambiguity was troublesome. It may have
misled people to think that they could do certain things and take their
chance in front of a judge later, said Allen.
Anyone who is interested in becoming more familiar with this case can
watch the interviews that I recently conducted with Kiel and the director
of TNT - Michigan State Police Lieutenant Kip Belcher.
The two hour special will be aired on Up North TV (Charter Cable channel
97) on Wednesday, May 26, at 8:30 a.m. and Friday, May 28, at 3:00 p.m.
You can view the streaming video online at:
http://www.upnorthmedia.org/upnorthtvshows.asp
This production includes a discussion with Kiel as we tour what remains of
his marijuana growing operation. It also contains an in-depth discourse
with Lt. Belcher as we examine some of the difficulties law enforcement
officers and the courts are confronting while they attempt to interpret
and apply Michigans medical marijuana law. The piece concludes with
footage of a May 17 court hearing in the Kiel case and an interview with
his attorney.
Eric L. VanDussen Beulah
Wings of Wonder support
As a long-time employee of an association dedicated to the preservation of
private property rights, I am appalled by the recent actions of the
Leelanau County Road Commission.
The commission, it seems, would like to declare a trail which meanders
between a house and a garage and past a recognized wildlife sanctuary, as
a seasonal roadopening dirt and gravel single lane to cars, logging
trucks, snowmobiles and other motorized vehicles.
In truth, Leelanau County has not improved this road in the memory of
anyone living on it or close to it, and can produce no documentation of
legal ownership. Don and Rebecca Lessard, property owners and operators of
the Wings of Wonder Raptor Center, have received building and business
permits and long ago signed an agreement to maintain the .7 of a mile-long
driveway, which they have done. The Lessards have operated in good faith,
as compliant citizens of our community.
If the road commission is successful in its efforts to commandeer Greenway
Drive, the Raptor Center may have to closeit will be in violation of
federal laws, and relocation will be too expensive for the non-profit
organization.
To my mind, the actions of the Leelanau County Road Commission is
unconscionable, a flagrant violation of a homeowners private property
rights and the implicit agreement of our government to protect and
preserve those rights.
Judith Lindenau TC
Corrections
NMEAC‘s “Peoples‘ Energy Session“ to explore alternative energy for
Traverse City has been pushed back to September from June, as reported in
last week‘s Express.
Also, Knot Just a Bar in Omena was omitted from last week‘s list of al
fresco dining spots in Northern Michigan.
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