Editorial Roundup:

Detroit Free Press. October 9, 2020

Call and response: Extremists take Trump’s provocations seriously. So should we.

Last April, hours after Donald Trump exhorted his supporters to “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” from the lock-down Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had imposed to slow the spread of COVID-19, a former assistant attorney general in the U.S. Justice Department’s national security division suggested that the president was inciting insurrection in violation of federal law.

“It’s not at all unreasonable to consider Trump’s tweets about “liberation” as at least tacit encouragement to citizens to take up arms against duly elected state officials of the party opposite his own, in response to sometimes unpopular but legally issued stay-at-home orders,” Mary McCord, the attorney, wrote in an op-ed published in the Washington Post. She noted that “private armed militias had recently expressed eagerness to support the president’s veiled call to arms” when he suggested that his conviction on impeachment charges could lead to civil war.

Like many Michiganders, we were appalled when demonstrators protesting the governor’s stay-at-home orders carried assault rifles into the public gallery overlooking the state House chamber two weeks after Trump’s battle cry. Even so, we hesitated to equate the president’s over-heated tweets with sedition.

As journalists, we are mindful of the distinction between angry words and violent deeds, and we are suspicious of efforts to confuse the two, as the president does when he asserts that mostly peaceful protests against police violence pose an urgent, widespread threat to public safety.

But the timeline revealed in an FBI affidavit detailing the plot to kidnap Whitmer and put her “on trial” for her emergency orders — the alleged ringleader was said to have been particularly outraged by the state’s closure of private gyms — compels us to at least acknowledge the unfortunate convergence between Trump’s escalating rhetoric and the alleged conspirators’ determination to overthrow her, preferably before next month’s presidential election.

We know now that a few of the armed protesters who flocked to Lansing to protest the governor’s stay-at-home orders last spring discussed the practicality of an armed assault on the Capitol itself. Even so, House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, and Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, have steadfastly refused to take up legislation that would bar visitors from carrying firearms into the chambers where lawmakers convene. The two legislative leaders must have been relieved to learn that Whitmer’s would-be attackers eventually concluded her vacation home would be a softer target.

Shirkey and Chatfield have been full-throated in their condemnation of previous threats on Whitmer’s life, and were quick to praise the federal and state law enforcement effort that took down the latest plot. But they’ve been equally consistent in insisting, as the misogynistic crew that plotted to abduct Whitmer did, that the governor’s emergency orders are an attack on democratic rule with no basis in law.

In fact, the legislative act Whitmer has cited as authority for extending her state of emergency stood undisturbed for three-quarters of a century until four Republican state Supreme Court justices declared it unconstitutional last week. The canard that Whitmer has acted with dictatorial disregard for the law is a distortion those who advocate armed resistance have eagerly embraced.

Still, Shirkey and Chatfield were likely blind-sided by the months-old plot revealed Thursday. It will be interesting to learn whether President Trump, who encouraged white supremacist groups to “stand by” even as law enforcement closed in on Whitmer’s would-be abductors, was equally surprised.The president’s dog whistles to extremists will appear even more irresponsible if it turns out he was briefed in advance about the FBI’s investigation.

Like Whitmer and her legislative colleagues, we are relieved and encouraged by the coordinated law enforcement effort to foil her attackers’ plans. But we also share her conclusion that elected leaders who encourage or fraternize with extremists are morally complicit in the threat they pose to democracy.

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The Mining Journal. October 7, 2020

‘Forever chemicals’ need to be addressed

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has sent a letter to Congressional leadership calling on Congressional committee leaders to protect service members, defense communities and the general public from PFAS, — or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — contamination associated with defense installations when they finalize the National Defense Authorization Act.

Nessel urged the leaders to include protective provisions already passed by the House of Representatives in the final version of the fiscal year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act.

Nessel was joined by a coalition of 19 other attorneys general in the effort.

PFAS contamination in groundwater and surface water has been identified at dozens of sites in Michigan, including near military installations such as K.I. Sawyer, a former Air Force base.

The situation bears watching. Exposure to PFAS has been shown to correlate with adverse health effects including developmental defects, kidney cancer, liver damage and impacts on the thyroid and immune system, Nessel said.

Nessel has filed lawsuits against manufacturers of PFAS and PFAS-containing products to hold those companies accountable for the injuries and damages from which they profited.

“I am fighting here in Michigan to get toxic PFAS out of our drinking water and our natural resources, and the other attorneys general who signed this comment letter are fighting the same battle in their own jurisdictions,” Nessel said in a statement.

PFAS chemicals are used in a variety of consumer products including nonstick cookware; waterproofing treatments for fabrics, carpeting and upholstery; food packaging; and firefighting foam, according to the Nessel’s office.

She stressed that PFAS does not break down easily in the environment, which is why they are called “forever chemicals.”

Nessel said that when the U.S. House of Representatives finalized its version of the NDAA, it included the following protective provisions that the coalition calls on Congressional leadership to include in the final version:

≤ Require the Department of Defense to abide by state standards when removing or remediating PFAS when those state standards are more stringent than federal standards, and regardless of whether a cooperative agreement is in place;

≤ Provide additional funding and authorization for PFAS cleanup and research into development of safe PFAS disposal mechanisms and alternatives to PFAS-laden firefighting aqueous film-forming foam;

≤ Require the Department of Defense to provide PFAS blood testing for all interested service members;

≤ Limit what PFAS-containing products the Department of Defense can procure; and

≤ Require the Department of Defense to engage in meaningful stakeholder communication, including promptly publishing results of drinking, surface or groundwater PFAS testing.

As with many complicated scenarios, transparency is crucial. People want to know about measures being taken to remedy contamination.

A strong NDAA is an important step, and we hope Congress takes a strong stance on PFAS in the military budget.

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The Alpena News. October 11, 2020

Lessons on diversity from cross country trails

Alpena Community College is the hub of higher education for places like Metz, Posen, Lachine, Glennie, and Lincoln.

When it comes to college athletes, you can often add other places around Michigan as well, places like Saginaw, Newberry, or Ludington.

Those all I understand.

But, for the life of me, I can’t explain ACC being a magnet for the countries of Turkey, Liberia, and Japan.

In what certainly has to be a first at ACC, cross country Coach Mark Jacobs has created an internationally diverse team this year, with three of his runners hailing from the countries above.

While Jacobs spends many hours of preparation, research, and scouting into prospective recruiting, he would be the first to tell you that, sometimes, it just boils down to hefty dose of good fortune.

Such was the case with that international trio.

“Actually, they kind of did fall into my lap,” Jacobs answered when asked about how he recruited them.

“Last year, I came upon a young man named Musa Kubbah,” Jacobs said. “Musa, who is from Voinjama, Liberia, was a former foreign exchange student at Alpena High. He enjoyed his experience so much that he wanted to come back to our community and go to college. Musa was a high school soccer player who wanted to get involved in as many activities at ACC as he could. He joined the cross country team and had an outstanding season last year. He has been my international recruiter.”

Jacobs said that, over the summer, Kubbah worked at the college with Runi Demirkol, who is from Istanbul, Turkey. Demirkol’s story of ending up in Alpena is a convincing one as to just how small the world can be at times.

“Runi and his family worked at the Vatican embassy in Istanbul Turkey,” Jacobs said. “Runi got to know Archbishop Paul Fitzpatrick Russell, who is an Alpena native. Russell was instrumental in bringing both Runi and his sister, Mary, to the U.S. to study. Musa persuaded Runi to start running with him and got him interested in joining our team.”

The third piece to the puzzle is Yuki Nishibashi, from Ostu City, Japan. Best friend of the other two, once Nishibashi found out his friends were running, he immediately joined the team, as well. Jacobs said Yuki was a foreign exchange student at Alcona High and still lives with his original host family in Harrisville.

At this time in history, when we all are trying to understand diversity better, what an opportunity those three present to the ACC community.

As Jacobs said about coaching foreign students: “I love learning about their cultures and what makes these kids tick.”

I always have appreciated Jacobs for the life lessons he teaches young athletes. While a solid athletic coach, it is the maturity he instills in young men and women that I find refreshing and important.

And, with his team this year, he has the opportunity to break down many stereotypical barriers on the campus and in the community.

“These guys have brought so much to not only to the team but to the college and community,” he said. “We learn so much from them, not only our differences in cultures, but also our similarities. It goes to show that it doesn’t matter what country you are born in, what color your skin is, or what your primary language is, these guys all have the same hopes and dreams for their futures as my other student athletes.

“They never have excuses and have taken advantage of every opportunity presented to them,” he added. “As a coach, I have very high standards and expectations, and these guys check all the boxes.”

Who would have thought lessons on diversity could come from the trails of a cross country course?

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