Thursday, June 29, 2023

Melody Thomas Scott's Always Young and Restless: My Life On and Off America's Number 1 Daytime Drama

I finished Always Young and Restless: My Life On and Off America's Number 1 Daytime Drama. Melody Thomas Scott has played Nikki on The Young and The Restless and, in this book written with Diane L. Davis, she looks back on her time there and on her life.


Nikki has been in a cult, she's been a stripper, she's been a murderer, she's been any number of things.  The surprise here may be that Melody's personal life can rival that.  She shares stories of a brutal childhood including abuse from her grandmother -- a woman who watched as Melody was molested.  It's a rough experience and Melody doesn't pull punches.  She's not going to let anyone shame her for events that a child should never experience.  If you think, "Well the grandmother has to have some redeeming qualities, I'm sure she was kind to Melody at other times . . ."  No.  She was not.  And Melody doesn't try to provide a tidy ending with a big shiny bow.  Also in the house are a dazed teenager (her uncle) and a grandfather who haunts the attic.  

Melody was a child actor.  Among other things, she was in The Beguiled with Clint Eastwood and stabbed him on the set but waited until there was a tribute for him decades later to tell him it was her.  She was in Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie with Tippi Hedren and Sean Connery.  Hitting 18 would free her from her grandmother and she continued acting (but no longer had to take her grandmother with her).  She was memorable in Brian De Palma's The Fury, for example.


Remember the big hit Animal House?

She's not in that.  She was supposed to be.  But then she was told she had to do nudity.  She said no.  And they tried everything to turn her head around on that but she stood her ground.  

When The Young and the Restless came calling, she was on The Waltons in a recurring role.  She got the soap offer at the same time as she got an offer to tape a pilot for a sitcom.  She dropped everything to do The Young and The Restless and it's become a marvelous career for her.  It's allowed her to raise her family -- two daughters -- and work.  It's allowed her to meet people and travel the world.  It's allowed her -- from time to time -- to be like her hero Lucille Ball and be drop dead funny.   Nikki has been a great role for her to play because it's allowed her to explore many different themes and emotions.  


It's a great book that addresses the above and more, her marriages, a very bad health scare . . .

I thought it would be a nice read.  I ended up loving the book --  hating Melody the first night because I stayed up forever reading and was dragging through work the next day.  After that, I learned to pace myself but it's hard because this is such a great book.  If you like memoir's make a point to pick it up, if you like the world of entertainment (including learning which game show was rigged) make a point to pick it up and if you've ever watched The Young and the Restless make a point to pick it up.


This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


Thursday, June 29, 2023.  We look at the 2024 presidential circus.


Marianne Williamson is running for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.  She spoke yesterday with Maebeagirl who is running for Congress.  US House Rep Adam Schiff is leaving his seat to seek the nomination for US senator out of California.  Maebe came in second to him in the race last time and she is running again.  Marianne Williamson spoke with her yesterday.





Marianne Williamson:  Tell me how you see clearly -- we've got a targeted group in the United States, right?  I mean, one of the things I've talked about is, if elected president, I will confer a special protection status onto the transgender community.  You are transgender yourself.  Tell me how you see the situation and what we need to do.  

@Maebe_A_Girl:  Absolutely.  So, first of all, thank you for having this chat with me.  I think it's so important -- especially considering that you're running for [sic] president of the United States. I think that people need to hear about your stances on these things and hear that you're having conversations with real trans people about this because historically -- or at least in the last five to ten years -- trans people have been left out of the conversation about trans legislation which is so twisted in my mind.  As a good friend of mine always says, "If you are not at the table, then you are on the menu." And trans people -- queer people in general -- are very much on the menu right now.  And we do not have nearly enough representation for people like me in governments all across the United States.  So, for me, it's interesting because I've been running since 2019.  The first election that I ran for was 2020 for the US House and, you know, during that time we were seeing a lot of anti-LGBTQIA sentiments and rhetoric.  And, you know, I think with the election of -- going back to a Democratic president back in 2020, I think a lot of people thought that would ease up in a bit.  But unfortunately, it's gotten worse.  This has been an upward trend since about the mid-2010s.  Pretty much since Trump was elected to office and it keeps getting worse because every year I find myself saying, "This has been the worst year in history for anti-LGBTQIA."  2023 totally surpassses 2022 which totally surpassed 2021, etc.  There's over half-a-thousand anti-LGBTQIA bills moving across the US -- everywhere from state legislatures to also the federal legislature.  We're seeing far right representatives like Marjorie Taylor Greene introducing legislation at the federal level which would severely restrict the rights -- and in recognition of queer people, you know, these are anti-LGBTQIA bills in general but, more specifically, most of them are anti-trans bills.  There's been a number of anti-drag bills that have been introduced.  What many people probably don't recognize is that anti-drag bills are also anti-trans bills.  When you introduce a bill that requires you to dress according to your gender assigned at birth, that is not only going to effect drag performers but it's directly going to effect trans people.  And as the famous drag queen and trans person from RUPAL'S DRAG RACE, Monica Beverly Hills, always says, "Drag is what you do but trans is who you are." So we are attacking not only people's occupations but we are attacking people's identities.  And I think we have often think [. . .].  You don't even have to be gay or queer to do drag.  Anybody can do drag.  In fact, a number of trans people do drag.  Me, myself, I discovered my trans identity when I started doing drag. Drag is oftentimes a sort of safe way to experiment safely with your gender identity in a way that doesn't feel so permanent. And, for me, I discovered that I was a trans person early on because I started to realize while everybody else was taking off the makeup and the hair and the costumes after a gig, I wanted to keep it all on because it felt -- it made me feel more like myself. 

Marianne Williamson:  Right.

@Maebe_A_Girl:  And that's a realization that a lot of folks have. 

Marianne Williamson: Okay, I have several questions I want to ask.  You were talking about Marjorie Taylor Greene and anti-trans bills.  I wanted to ask abou tthe anti-trans bills, I wanted to ask about the anti-drag bills and I also want to ask more about you -- your journey to this point.  You just mentioned your journey -- how much being in drag shows had to do with it but I think all of us are more interested in what the personal story is there?

@Maebe_A_Girl:  You should say that it is okay to be you as you are.  We will love you and we welcome you to be you as you are.  We're not saying, "Come to our side, come join us and be queer and trans."  That's not the case.  In fact, it couldn't even work like that.  You know, I grew up in the late 90s, early 2000s.  I graduated high school in 2004.  And I remember what it was like to be a young queer person without any sort of queer representation in the media aside from WILL & GRACE and QUEER AS FOlK.  And I remember how othered I felt and how different I felt and how afraid I felt to come out as a queer person at that time because of the fact that it felt so othered. I can't even imagine what it is like in 2023 for somebody who is in middle school or high school who is coming into their queer gay trans identity and looking around and not just seeing that there are some people that support but there are so many people that don't and the fact that there is legislation to try to erase us and to try to stop us from existing.  When laws attempt to restrict gender affirming healthcare, they're trying to restrict the existence of trans people.  And this is not just a legislative issue but it's also a social issue because when laws -- when bills are being introduced and when they're passed into laws particularly in states like Tennessee, Florida, Texas, it also gives a pass to people to then continue othering LGBTQIA people.  So it's not just a legislative thing, but it's a social thing. And when people don't feel safe going out at their true authentic selves, is that freedom?  No, it's not.

Marianne Williamson: You know, I was contacted a few months ago about a bill that was about to take place -- anti-drag show bill in Tennessee and I was asked to attend a protest the night before the bill was meant to go into effect at East Tennessee University and I went and it was very inspiring.  And there was so much protest and there was so much energy around it and ultimately a judge did strike down the law which was, of course, a very, very good thing.


That's a little over half the posted video.  We'll open with the second half tomorrow.  We're not treating this as a one day thing.  LGBTQ+ people are being targeted and have been for months now.

You have hate merchants expanding the targeting because it just starts with LGBTQ+, then it moves outward.  They are the American Taliban.  In Texas, for example, the GOP has moved towards definiing what a woman can wear and what a man can wear.  This has nothing to do with lesbians or gays or transgendered people.  This is about their hate and their need to control.  I can not believe that Greg Abbott's regime thinks it can impose clothing choices on adults and get away with it but I also can't believe how mild the reaction nationally has been to this.

The GOP isn't afraid to trash LGBTQ+ people.  In fact, outside of Chris Christie, they're all doing it as they run for the Republican Party's presidential nomination.

Elsewhere?

I see Joe Biden stepping up.  I see Joe Biden ready for this fight.  I've waited and waited to see others.  Like Marianne, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also wants the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.  He and Marianne have both argued that the party needs a televised debate on this nomination.  Why?

Until today, I haven't seen a need.  Marianne's demonstrated a need.  

Mrs. Max Blumenthal is a hateful piece of trash and she's stupid.  She thinks the issues above don't matter when they go to exactly who we are and what we do.

Don't kid yourself that we can other at home and not other overseas.  Don't kid yourself that this othering isn't what forsters war.  You've got get your own house clean to tackle other things.  

Respect starts at home. 

Marianne's ready for the discussion.  Love Robert, but he's yet to show anything to demonstrate that he is.

And let's rope in Cornel West who is not a presidential candidate.  He is running for the Green Party's presidential nomination and he may get it, he may not.  But I don't want his garbage of 'brother and sister' nonsense where he preaches at length but never says a damn word worth anything.

Marianne demonstrated she can have the needed conversations to get this nation back on track.  If Robert and Cornel think they're up to it, it's their move now.

Noted transphobe Jonathan Turley Tweeted a confession yesterday:



The Hill is out with my column on the Court's ruling in Moore v. Harper and "the coup" that never was......Liberal law professors and pundits have filled the media with dire predictions that the Supreme Court was about to carry out a long-planned “coup” and “power grab”--one even wrote that the court could be on the brink of establishing “one-party rule” in the United States.



The bigot of George Washington University must feel very comfortable at FOX "NEWS" is he's publicly copping to what we already told you: He's not of the left or liberal.  You caught it, right, he Tweeted "Liberal law professors and pundits" -- he pointed the finger at them . . . from beneath his rock.  Everyone let Lawrence Tribe know.  He called it long ago.  Thanks for finally confession, Swirley, but, no, thanks for lying in your Tweet.  His analysis is wrong and he knows it.  I can't speak until the Court decides on the bigot lawsuit out of Colorado -- one Turley was an 'unofficial' advisor on -- disclosure, Turley, try practicing it -- but after that decision is reached, I'll explain why things are actually worse.  Don't let Turley's lies lull you into a false sense of security.  



Let's wade back into the race for presidential nominations in various political parties.  The Greens do not have a nominee yet.  Cornel West wants to be that person and, thanks to Bri-Bri's misleading 'reporting,' some don't grasp that.  Check out Betty's site where she noted replies to Bri's pimping of Cornel and the explosion that followed her trying to play the race card.  (Betty is correct, I have long said Bri's not authentic to African-Americans because she came up the White side of the media.  She's not a crossover artist because she can't crossover.  MOTOWN artists, in the 60s, for example crossed over -- having success on the soul charts and -- this is the crossover -- on the pop charts.  Bri can't get near the soul charts.  She's basically this decade's Pat Boone with all that entails.


On the Republican side, we need to applaud the ones vying for the nomination for their stamina.  See, they're not only running for the party's nomination, they're also running to see who can outcrazy the others.  The crazy includes a large number but chiefly boils down to Donald Trump and Doo-Doo Ron Ron DeSantis currently.  And it's a real mud wrestle for the boys.  In fact, were Donald to say, "It's no big secret that Ron and I are no longer friends.  Ron knows what he did," it would be perfectly in keeping with everything else about this tired reality TV show.


Emily Jacobs (WASHINGTON EXAMINER) reports that Donnie says Ronnie's immigration plan (to persecute immigrants) isn't that impressive and just copies his own.  In addition to squabbling over who has the bigger one, the two are also fighting over a boy, Pedro Gonzalez.  Donald had him first.  But now he's Ron's steady.  And, now that he's no longer in the safety of Big Don's arms,  poor Pedro, group chats have  emerged revealing what a disgusting and and racist twerp Pedro is.  But who leaked them?  Who would have leaked them?  Who? Tracy Connor (DAILY BEAST) notes the Little Ronnie's camp is pointing the finger at . . . Donald:



DeSantis has not publicly commented on the story about Gonzalez’s messages, but Breitbart noted that the Never Back Down PAC, which backs DeSantis, called the messages “inexcusable.” Meanwhile, DeSantis’ campaign mouthpiece, Christina Pushaw, liked a tweet about how “nasty” the Trump-DeSantis feud has become.

“And to be clear I’m mostly talking about the Trump side,” the tweet read. “I’ve seen some comments from people on the DeSantis side I don’t care for too, but it’s consistently the Trump surrogates who seem to have no bottom to how low they’ll sink to support their candidate.”

Chronicles also had not commented publicly on the Breitbart revelations, but it’s worth noting that when Gonzalez was accused last year of antisemitism—after he made crude comments about the “physiognomy” of two prominent Jews—magazine executive editor Edward Welsch wrote a defense of him titled, “That Old Anti-Semitism Smear.”

On Tuesday, Gonzalez tweeted that he was grateful for the support he was getting, including from some Trump supporters. One backer of the ex-president, however, was not in that category: Donald Trump Jr. retweeted the Breitbart story three times Tuesday night.



Of all of them, Donald Trump will always stand the best chance of being declared criminally insane.  That's why his never-ending list of complaints and whines include that FOX "NEWS" is out to destroy him,  "The coloring, distortions, everything are just so bad.  They must sit and look at 100 different shots, and then take the 10 absolute worst."  He's accusing FOX "NEWS" of deliberately selecting and using the worst photographs of him.  The big surprise there is that, after all this time, Donald believes that good photographs of him exist.  He has looked in the mirror, right?  


Meanwhile Oliver O'Connell (INDEPENDENT) notes that Paul Ryan (who at least takes an attractive photo) has declared nominating Donald for president again to be "a disaster" and that "anyone not named Trump" would be better. Do voters agree?   


The public holds a less favorable view of Donald Trump's actions following his recent legal battles, according to one poll.

A survey of 1,500 voters, conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies exclusively for Newsweek on June 25, found that fewer people now believe the legal issues facing the former president are "politically motivated," compared to a poll from April taken weeks after Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 felony charges as part of the falsifying business records investigation in New York.

When those responding to the survey asked which statement they agreed with more, 47 percent said that the legal issues Trump is facing are "primarily the result of his own actions which appear to have been illegal"—a 13-point increase from the April survey (34 percent).

In the June poll, a further 38 percent believe the investigations are the result of "politically motivated attacks" by Trump's opponents, down 19 points from the April results (57 percent).


Jared Glans (THE HILL) cites a "poll from National Public Affairs released Wednesday [which] showed Trump with 41 percent support among likely GOP primary voters in the state, up from 39 percent last month. DeSantis came in second with 18 percent, a 5-point drop from the 23 percent he had last month.  Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) came in third with 12 percent, followed by South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott (R) with 10 percent. All other candidates included in the poll had support in the single digits."  DeSantis dropped 5 percentage points in the poll?"   
Doo Doo Ron Ron must be throwing another fit.




Did someone say DISNEY?



Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Ron's Disney World Tantrum" and, yes, Little Ronnie's battles with DISNEY continue.  


If you missed it, the tiny tot is said to be less than five feet and seven inches and possibly is actually so short that he was refused admittance on the It's A Small World After All ride, hence his war on DISNEY.  Having destroyed Florida's economy with his corruption and incompetence, Little Ronnie needed something to distract Florida voters -- especially from the huge bills for his never-ending lawsuits.  So he declared war on DISNEY.  

He has since used that war on the campaign trail trying to portray himself as big and tall -- or taller than his shrimpy height -- but now . . . a twist.  



Attorneys for The Walt Disney Co. and Ron DeSantis are proposing very different timelines for the start of a federal trial over the company’s claim of retaliation by the Florida governor.

Disney proposed a timeline with a trial to start on July 15 of next year. DeSantis’ attorneys, along with those of other defendants in the case, want it put off to Aug. 4, 2025, after next year’s presidential election, according to a court filing. DeSantis launched his White House bid last month.


No, no, no, no.  Ronnie's used his battle with DISNEY to prove he's fit for the presidency.  Wouldn't be fair to voters for them to have to wait for the outcome.  Ronnie's made it his own performative measure.  America deserves to know what the court will find.  He's wasted millions of tax payer dollars on this fiasco.  Is he right, is he wrong?  He's running for president now.  He's no longer just defrauding Florida's population and leaving them deeply in debt while harming their tourist economy.  He's trying to be in charge of all the states.  So, sorry, he shouldn't be allowed to delay the hearing.  It needs to happen before the presidential election so the American people can see what they might be in store for and vote accordingly.  Of course, he could always drop out of the race if he wants.  Then he can argue to push the hearing back.  But having flitted back and forth across the country, singing his own praises while touting his fight with DISNEY, he's made this a criteria for judging whether or not he would be an effective US president. 

As Joe Patrice (ABOVE THE LAW) observes,"  DeSantis decided to bolster his doomed presidential bid by launching a culture war against Disney over its pro-vaccine and anti-bigotry stances."  Too late to back down now, tiny Ron. 


Should we note polling?  AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds Joe's approval rating to be 41%   The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.9.  Most interesting finding in the poll? It's about Vice President Kamala Harris.  Favorables are 37% while 50% have a negative opinion.  That seems bad.  It may be.  But she's gotten nothing but negative publicity -- whether it's warranted or not can be discussed by others.  The interesting factor is that 12% "don't know enough about her to say."  She's in her third year as vice president and some are still withholding judgment.   That's rather interesting.  If she managed to enthrall all of the undecided she's be basically split down the middle in terms of positive approval and negative approval.



THE NEW YORK TIMES has a very poorly fact checked piece on Robert.  If you want to read it, click here to read is on MSN and not at THE TIMES.  I have neither the time nor the desire to repeat myself.  We covered NYT and all their errors and lies -- Yes, it is a lie to credit someone in your piece with a title that they do not have, the title on the masthead is the title they hold, you can't explain that away.  But the writer was a friend of the person he interviewed -- not disclosed in the article -- so his friend got whatever he wanted -- even a made up title.  It's these basic lies -- not errors, these are lies, I've confronted them offline, they know it's a lie and they think it's funny and giggle -- that destroy the paper's reputation time and again.  It's refusing to accurately report on Janet Jackson when you decide to wade in.  If you're going to cover her, you better get her number of number one hits right, for example.  But you just lie and we're all supposed to be okay with that.  It's the lying, not just the errors.  It's the scope.  Coretta Scott King passes away -- a historical figure, an activist, someone most of us looked up to and admired.  And?  Gail Collins is writing unsigned editorials about her friend -- minor playwright Wendy -- passing away and featuring one column after another about Wendy.  How many columns and editorials did Coretta get?

Zero.

Gail didn't figure Coretta warranted attention.  And I'm at the end of my ropes on tip-toeing around this topic.  If  wehadn't shamed Bob Herbert, he never would have (briefly) noted her in a column many weeks after she died.  

So not a fan of the paper, fully aware of it's racism, of it's new anti-trans spin, aware of so much.  But I don't do greatest hits.  This isn't a jukebox musical.  

We'll note this and see if you can catch what a huge error it is:



“The New York Times, which is in this room today,” he said, as an audience member pointed down at the Times reporter’s seat, prompting a chorus of boos so angry, Mr. Kennedy’s campaign manager — the former Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich — told the audience member to stop it.


Dennis Kucinich was the Democratic presidential candidate?

Wow.  I must have dropped acid that whole year because I'm pulling a blank on that.

Oh, wait, it's not an issue of acid, it's an issue of the paper getting it wrong again.  Dennis tried to get the Democratic Party's presidential nomination -- in 2004 and 2008.  He didn't.  John Kerry and Barack Obama were the Democratic presidential candidates in those two presidential election years.

Again, NYT offers an error, a lie or just racism/transphobia or some other hatred for others that they try to dress up in a guise of sophistication.


NBC NEWS' Ben Kamisar has some potentially good news for Robert if he doesn't become the party's presidential candidate:


Forty-four percent of registered voters say they are willing to consider supporting a third-party or independent presidential candidate if President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are the two major party nominees in 2024 — and the group includes more Democrats than Republicans, according to new NBC News polling.


That could be good news for Robert.  It's not good news for Cornel West.  The real media's not interested in Cornel and the YOUTUBERS don't know the Green Party.  Cornel's not a Green Party member and, as we knew it would, that is becoming an issue.  Greens are also offend by Chris Hedges -- both by his recent insults of the Green Party made to the giggling Bri-Bri and by his backdoor and deceitful manuevers to get the Green Party's nomination for Cornel -- the same way he, weeks ago, secretly got the People's Party's presidential nomination for Cornel.  In addition, I'm not the only one bothered by liar Jill Stein going on YOUTUBE and, desperate to sell Cornel for the nomination, and uttering the name of Dr Margaret Flowers.  She thought she could get away with it and she did among the YOUTUBERS, you know, idiots who don't know a damn thing about the Green Party.

You think Donald ran with conspiracy nut job nonsense when he refused to acknowledge he was beaten fair and square in the 2020 election?

Meet Dario Hunter, Jill Stein, Ajamu Baraka and other nut jobs who insisted that Dario was robbed!  Robbed!  Lazy ass couldn't even Tweet once a week but there was a conspiracy, he insisted, and they conspired to steal the nomination from him.

Who did?

Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers!

Having spread lies about Margaret, Jill Stein has a lot of nerve trying to invoke Margaret to sell Cornel to actual Greens.  



Dario and that denial gang went all over the place and they'd hint in interview after interview that it was Kevin and Margaret.  Then Dario went on air with Cindy Sheehan -- a nice person but a lousy interviewer and not real strong when it comes to facts.  They went to conspiracy con and back again.  And that was the last straw for me which is why we  called them out.  

Kevin and I were not friends and I never met him.  He read Kat's site and I believe they exchanged e-mails.  My only e-mails from him were to tell me I was too negative to the Green Party (Ava and I long ago dubbed them ineffective because they're too busy trying to be the kid sister to the Democratic Party instead of an actual political party).  And that was fine, it didn't bother me one way or another.

But after I called out the nonsense Jill and company were pulling, the lies they were spreading, I got a very kind e-mail from Kevin thanking me for defending his wife.  Kevin's no longer around to defend his wife.  I will defend her on this until the end of time.  Jill Stein is a nut job.  She was a lousy presidential candidate -- see Ava and my ""Let the fun begin (Ava and C.I.) -- and I'm not about to let a lot of liars come along and rewrite history.  

Cornel doesn't believe in democracy -- as his taking a presidential nomination from The People's Party without (a) being a member or (b) actually campaigning for the post.  And he's not very smart because he was so eager to get the nomination Chris was negotiating that he never did the actual work required to find who The People's Party was.

They do grasp that, right, these idiots whoring for Cornel, that any sane person is asking how Cornel could be with one political party for nearly a week and then dump them while claiming he was qualified to be president?  People who are qualified to be president don't end up with a political 'party' that is racist and has one sexual harassment claim after another against it.  

BLACK POWER MEDIA interviewed Cornel yesterday.  You can check that out at their YOUTUBE channel.  If I stream it, we'll note it tomorrow.

We will wind down with this press release:


For Immediate Release
---------------------
DATE: June 27, 2023


CONTACT: Committee for Marshall – Not the Megasite
--------------------------------------------------
Name: Regis Klingler, Glenn Kowalske, or Mark Robinson



Marshall Advocates Take Legal Action After
City Council Illegally Denies Referendum Petition
=================================================
Marshall, MI – June 27, 2023 – Marshall residents battling to stop the
Marshall Megasite took legal action in Calhoun County Circuit Court
against the City of Marshall today to compel the City to put the
Committee’s referendum on Ordinance # 2023-08, for which they collected
810 signatures, on the ballot. The ballot question committee, “Committee
for Marshall—Not the Megasite”, its members, and two additional
petitioners initiated a lawsuit seeking a writ of mandamus, a
declaratory judgment, and an injunction order after the Marshall City
Council denied a request for a review of the Certificate of
Insufficiency issued by the City Clerk on the group’s referendum
petition. To be clear, the referendum met every legal requirement of the
City Charter, and the City Council’s refusal to accept this violates the
law.

The Committee was required, according to the City Charter, to be the
committee to “commence . . . referendum proceedings” and be “responsible
for” circulating the petition and filing the petition in the proper
form, all of which the Committee did properly. The City Clerk, however,
invented a new requirement that ruled out counting any signatures on
petition sheets collected by circulators other than the five committee
members who filed the initial organizing paperwork. This eliminated the
voice of another 35 circulators, including City of Marshall residents
and Marshall Township residents. This was a direct violation of the City
Charter, State Law regarding petition format, the Michigan and US
Constitutions, and well-known court decisions affirming that every US
citizen has First Amendment rights to “core political speech.” Those
decisions and documents guaranteed that any US citizen at least 18 years
old may circulate petitions.

The petitioners also contend that the ordinance included an illegal
addition of a second subject, an appropriation of money, which was not
included in the title. This violated the City Charter’s single subject
title rule, as well as a restriction on passing appropriations via
resolutions only. Residents warned the City Council that the
appropriation provision was illegal at the May 1 and June 15 council
meetings, but those warnings were ignored.

The lawsuit asks the Court for an order to direct the City Clerk to
immediately issue a certificate of sufficiency on the referendum
petition filed on May 30, 2023, and to suspend Ordinance # 2023-08, as
required by the City Charter. Residents have requested that Megasite
issue be brought to a vote of the people on multiple occasions. The
petitioners feel that local elected officials in the City of Marshall
are now purposely blocking resident voices by declaring the referendum
petition insufficient. That ends today.

The Committee’s attorneys, Robby Dube and Mark Blando of Eckland &
Blando LLP, have decades of experience fighting illegal government
actions and protecting citizens’ rights. They feel that the Committee
has a clear and strong case and are confident the Court will put a stop
to the City’s illegal actions.

The legal documents are available upon request.

Donation checks to the “Committee for Marshall – Not the Megasite” to
cover legal and election expenses can be sent to P.O. Box 641, Marshall,
MI 49068. Online contributions may be made to the Committee at


The Committee for Marshall – Not the Megasite can be found on Facebook at:



The Committee for Marshall – Not the Megasite E-mail:



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