Politics breeds strange situations. The last couple of years in fact, have seen the worst fraud in elections ever, purposeful divisiveness perpetrated by media, and has essentially turned common sense, reasoning, and logical thought into subversive ideas.
As a result of the Chinese virus fears, government deliberation has frequently been brought to you as bedroom productions. Grand Traverse County commissioners have entertained the public in ways never before dreamed, by creating an anything goes environment, and bending over backward to let the people speak on a number of topics. Many of those topics made even more divisive by one of the board members accelerating the negative commentary while off screen, yet supposedly remaining a part of the video conference production known as a board meeting.
However, no good deed goes unpunished – as can be validated truth with regard to the extraordinary efforts made by the board of commissioners as they kept up transparency and extraordinary communication with the public. One public commenter who insisted on complaining about proud boys, and all the crazy right wing nonsense going on with the board became terrified when one of the commissioners, Ron (Yosemite) Clous, pulled a hunting rifle out and pointed it at the camera and …oh wait ..that never happened.
Although the rootinest tootinest commissioner this side of the Pecos did actually pull a rifle out in order to illustrate some of the finer points of the 1st and 2nd amendments, it was almost immediately put away without the conversation intended. It WAS public comment after all, she was on the phone, and generally the commentary flows one-way ..during public comment anyhow.
Of course the commenter never saw the gun! And it was only after the Traverse City Record Eagle fish-wrap-philosophers culled a single image frame out of context from the 3 seconds where the rifle was on display, and after the commenter was contacted and persuaded by her fellow activists did she even know that such an event happened. Clearly mortified and willing to make an example, the 74 year old left wing activist decided she MUST take action.
After an absurdly misguided (and hardly prophylactic) attempt by another commissioner to shame an apology out of Yosemite Clous, the activist did what activists do. She didn’t let a ‘crisis go to waste.’ Convinced by the diseased mentality of her ideology and the scatterbrained cohorts, she has filed a lawsuit claiming her 1st amendment rights were violated, and that free speech is now “chilled.”
The lawsuit targets the County board, which has bent over backward to provide an open venue for her (and other) rantings, and also the rootinest tootinest County Commissioner (this side of the Pecos) who never interrupted her, and as a result could become the victim of her abuse of process.
Clearly, she does not have a case. Anyone with more than two neurons working in their calcified craniums could look at the video, and see that not only did she have no idea of what was going on, but also that the ‘brandishing‘ claim falls as flat as a 30 year old Ginger Ale. If there was a spot of legitimacy about the brandishing claim, Michigan’s insane AG would have been all over it in less time than she could say “bailiff whack his pe ….“
Commissioner Clous needs to twirl up his handlebar mustache and turn this nonsense on its head where it belongs. It is actually the act by the perpetually aggrieved leftist in her lawsuit which is an attempt to abuse our laws in order to silence those she disagrees with. It is an attempt to send a message to those who might speak favorably about gun rights that they are no longer relevant and had better shut up.
The Chilling is quite contrary, and needs to be answered with a lawsuit for money damages from this person who has no claim against Clous OR the county, and would use our courts to pursue her radical left agenda. It is wholly one thing to use the 4th estate in abusing free speech and exercise of constitutionally protected rights, but yet another to employ the mechanisms of government in a highly partisan attempt to punish opinion.
In short ‘Jane Doe’ AKA Patricia Macintosh needs to have her pants sued off for willful abuse of process and frivolous suit.
