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Fake Culture War brewing in Macomb County, MI [1]

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Date: 2023-05-05  

Not St. Clair Shores, but looks like it could be. St. Clair Shores' claim to fame is having one of the largest freshwater marinas.

This is a very local and minor story. In fact, this is just a drop of spit in the polluted sea of Right-Wing hypocrisy, lies and corruption, but I am writing for a friend who is fighting the good fight. The story takes place in a city of Macomb County, MI, where reporters go to find aging ‘Reagan Democrats’ to talk to during election time. Last fall, Dan Farr, lifelong resident of St. Clair Shores, noticed “In God We Trust” stickers on the bumpers of some city police cars. When he asked the PD about the stickers, the answer was essentially, “It’s no big deal, they are small, and if you ask again, you will be sorry!”

Dan then called 39 other police departments in Michigan to find that the Shores was the only department with these stickers. He asked the PD, the city attorney and the mayor who authorized the stickers. The mayor, Kip Walby, said he was not aware of the stickers, but supports them after the fact. The PD told him that he needed an FOIA request for the documents, so Dan filed a FOIA. From the FOIA, Mr. Farr learned that the decision was made by then Chief of Police, Todd Woodcox, in the dark, just before he was about to retire and collect his pension. Woodcox wrote to Sgt. Matthew Steppy that any officer who objects to the stickers is “free to surrender to me any items they possess or will possess that have the same motto on them” referring to U.S. currency. Funny guy.

There is legitimate debate about the use of “In God We Trust” for government entities. It is a national slogan but if used for religious purposes, it is a violation of separation of church and state. Full stop. Mr. Farr has the documents that show that Chief Woodcox, 20-year Police veteran after graduating from Hillsdale College (surprise!), intent was completely religious and had no intention on informing the Council.

[Let’s take an aside on how stupid these stickers are. Would you board a bus with a “In God We Trust” sign on it? ‘No need to train our officers, we trust in God.’ ‘Non-Christian with a police emergency? You should have trusted in God.’ etc.]

After the story broke in the local paper and local TV news, the cover-up started, if you can call it that. When asked by a WDIV reporter of their purpose, current Chief Jason Adams replied that they were to improve police morale during the pandemic. However, the sticker purchase order date preceded the pandemic. If one wants to improve Police morale, a pay raise, a foosball table, or a “Hang in there, Baby” poster would produce better results. As such, Adams has shown himself to be a liar, perhaps why the stickers did not say “In Cops We Trust”.

When Mr. Farr approached the supposedly non-partisan City Council (full disclosure, I have a relative on the Council), they could have resolved this easily by agreeing to ‘look into it’. Instead, the Council, leaning far right these days, saw the opportunity for a nice culture war in a city that also leans right, and accusing Dan Farr of being both anti-Police, and anti-religious. He is neither. At a recent council meeting, they added to Adams’ lies with things like Police have to deal with a lot with guns in school and all (I did not quite get the connection) and that the Parks division also does not report all their purchases. Of course, no proof of their claims was provided, but the RWNJs in the audience didn’t care.

And so, this is just another case of whether the post-truth culture of the GOP has filtered down to the lowest levels of government like a post-apocalyptic fungus. Truth and facts are not so important when your marching spot in the Memorial Parade is at stake.

Council, beware. Dan’s fight continues.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/5/2167649/-Fake-Culture-War-brewing-in-Macomb-County-MI

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