Op-Ed Columns
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Lessenberry: An 'outstate' view of Detroit
Over the holidays, a retired couple who had a home next to where we were staying had us over for a little holiday cheer in this small northern Michigan town.
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George Weeks: Granholm to end TV 'very fun adventure'
Ex-Gov. Jennifer Granholm has been one of the most visible personalities on Current TV, the low-visibility cable network co-founded by former vice president Al Gore that has been bought for a reported $500 million by the Pan-Arab news channel Al-Jazeera backed by the government of Qatar.
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Phil Power: Boundaries feed partisanship
Most people agree that our politics and government today are too often severely dysfunctional. And there's one big reason why:
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George Weeks: A notable book for a notable governor
Stevens T. Mason, who led Michigan to statehood as our first governor, achieved young and died young in the 19th century but in the 21st remains a compelling story for those who follow and pursue politics, with all of its highs and lows.
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Jack Lessenberry: Crystal ball couldn't have predicted weirdness
Imagine if my crystal ball had predicted a year ago that native son Mitt Romney would win the GOP nomination easily — but lose to President Obama in an electoral college landslide. In Michigan, the result would be even more one-sided than nationally, with the president even beating Romney in the affluent county where the former governor's son grew up.
Continued ... - Sunday, December 23, 2012
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George Weeks: Latest snapshots not flattering to Gov. Snyder
At the outset of this commentary on a negative poll about Gov. Rick Snyder, I emphasize that political polls are but snapshots in time and, as ex-Gov. Jim Blanchard was fond of saying, "like yo-yos."
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Jack Lessenberry: The colonel lays it all out
Col. Colin Chauret was a fighter pilot who served his country in three wars — World War II, Korea and Vietnam. He grew up in Bay City, where he spent his high school years daydreaming about being a Spitfire pilot in the Battle of Britain.
Continued ... - Thursday, December 20, 2012
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Phil Power: When change is not good
Like many other dogs, my black Lab, HomeTown, has a bed in the back hallway.
Continued ... - Sunday, December 16, 2012
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Jack Lessenberry: Control of Detroit just a blip
If you want a measure of how crazy things are in Michigan these days, consider this: On Monday, the state signaled its intention to take control of Detroit, probably next month. Yet thanks to the right-to-work wars, that dramatic development involving Michigan's largest city got barely any attention.
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George Weeks: Contrasting roles of Murphy, Snyder in labor
There is little in common between Republican Gov. Rick Snyder and 1937-38 Democratic Gov. Frank Murphy — enshrined in history as Michigan's "labor governor" — other than their passion for the University of Michigan.
Continued ... - Sunday, December 9, 2012
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Cons, ex-cons: New underclass
You might think last month's presidential election proved one thing: That there are no longer any racial barriers to success in America.
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Snyder reversal sparks big controversy
Before Gov. Rick Snyder's abrupt flip-flop last week on legislation to make Michigan the 24th right-to-work state in the nation, he said it was too divisive an issue for it to be "on my agenda." Now that it is high-profile on his agenda, just how divisive it is has became quickly apparent in a state that is a cradle of the union movement.
Continued ... - Thursday, December 6, 2012
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Phil Power: Don't miss this 'Messiah'
These are the opening lines of "The Messiah," an oratorio written by George Frideric Handel in 1741 and one of the best known and most frequently performed choral works in the Western world.
Continued ... - Sunday, December 2, 2012
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Jack Lessenberry: More Glendas for Detroit
Glenda Price is exactly the type of person Detroit needs. A Philadelphia native, a former scientist turned university administrator, she arrived in 1998 to become the president of Marygrove College, a small, struggling liberal arts school. Within a few years, she had turned the school's bleak finances around, partly by setting up an innovative distance learning program.
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George Weeks: Snyder pushes more links
Every once in a while over a span of three centuries, a governor has played a role on links between Michigan's two peninsulas.
Continued ... - Thursday, November 29, 2012
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Phil Power: Reform in 'lame duck' world
The Legislature opened its 2012 "lame duck" session this week. Where's that phrase come from, anyway?
Continued ... - Thursday, November 22, 2012
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A survival guide to the 'fiscal cliff'
Now that the election is finally over, the national news these days is totally dominated by the specter of the coming "fiscal cliff."
Continued ... - Sunday, November 18, 2012
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Jack Lessenberry: Matty Moroun
Suppose the day after the presidential election, Mitt Romney had his spokesman announce that he didn't accept the verdict, that he believed President Obama wasn't a legitimate president because he was born in Kenya, or maybe on Pluto, and hinted he was going to sue to prevent him from staying in office.
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George Weeks: State leaders remember Helen Milliken
Leading political figures voiced well-deserved tributes last week upon the death of former first lady Helen Milliken for her contributions on behalf of the arts, environment and women's issues.
Continued ... - Thursday, November 15, 2012
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Phil Power: Democracy still best way
Sixty-five years later, it's clear that Churchill's comment has stood the test of time. Last week's election provided two underlying reasons why his remark is still so appropriate.
Continued ... - Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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Phil Power: Voters made wise calls
No doubt about it --- this year's national election was a close one, with many cross-currents surging under the surface and the vote count. We now know who won and who lost.
Continued ... - Tuesday, November 6, 2012
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Phil Power: Center helps bridge info gap
This election is unlike any in my memory — and since I was born in 1938, that goes back a long way.
Continued ... - Thursday, November 1, 2012
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Phil Power: McGovern was an education
Last week's news that George McGovern, the longtime South Dakota senator and presidential candidate had died triggered a flash of memories going back to the terrible summer of 1968.
Continued ... - Sunday, October 28, 2012
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Jack Lessenberry: Genius of Stan Ovshinsky
Edward Teller, father of the H-bomb, came to consult with him. So did physicist I.I. Rabi and a host of Nobel Prize winners. Ovshinsky was granted more than a thousand patents worldwide.
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George Weeks: Who's next as a state cabinet appointee?
Many Michigan business leaders joined cabinets, including, from the auto industry, Defense Secretaries Charles E. Wilson in the Eisenhower Administration and Robert S. McNamara in the Kennedy-Johnson Administrations.
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Lessenberry: An 'outstate' view of Detroit
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