As I’m sure most everyone knows by now,  Federal, State, and local authorities here in Michigan thwarted an attempt to kidnap and harm Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. This was a great effort by all these law enforcement agencies to prevent any harm befalling her or another innocent bystander. Here is a brief recap from the Detroit Free Press…

The federal government has charged six people with conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in an alleged domestic terrorist plot, according to newly unsealed court records.

Seven others face state charges, brought by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. All 13 are in custody, officials said.

Whitmer thanked law enforcement and prosecutors for thwarting the plot and pursuing criminal charges “to bring these sick and depraved men to justice.”

“As the mom of two teenage daughters and three stepsons, my husband and I are eternally grateful to everyone who put themselves in harm’s way to keep our family safe,” Whitmer said.

No matter your personal view of how the Governor has run this State, we all need to be on the same page that this is a good day for Michigan. We can NOT allow the clash of ideas to morph into a physical form of violence where people and or property are harmed or destroyed. If we continue down that road than we are just encouraging more of the same behavior that has been seen this past summer with the rise of Antifa and BLM and the results of their “peaceful” marches.

Which brings me to this point.

Thank God that the “Defund The Police” movement here in Michigan has not gained steam as it has in other parts of the country. Since the death of George Floyd back in May in Minneapolis this empty-headed notion of somehow defunding police departments would stop tragic events like Floyd’s death has permeated our culture. This of course is the wrong solution as the people of Minneapolis are finding out: Minneapolis City Council alarmed by surge in crime months after voting to defund the police. Empty slogans meant to appease emotional people and the situations they create are never a good idea in any circumstance.

This leads us to what Governor Whitmer said back in June about the “Defund The Police” movement. From the Detroit News…

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Tuesday she supported the “spirit” of efforts to defund the police in the wake of George Floyd’s death last month at the hands of Minneapolis police, a statement that her office later clarified did not indicate support for eliminating funding for law enforcement.

The conversation surrounding the “defund the police” movement is really about reprioritizing resources, the Democratic governor told The Root in a Tuesday interview broadcast on Instagram.

“The spirit as you just articulated is really just about reprioritizing and rebuilding communities, not just policing,” Whitmer said.

State budgets are overwhelmingly focused on law enforcement and criminal justice, the governor told the African-American-oriented online publication, but they should be focused on education, health care, skills training, public transit and “leveling the playing field,” she said.

Thankfully for the Governor and her family and the rest of the State, the vapid talking points she spoke of above have not gained any foothold here.

When you say DEFUND something it does not mean anything else other than that. DEFUNDING does not mean retraining police, giving them sensitivity training, or whatever other insane definition you want to assign to it to try and appease whatever group you are talking to. Words have meaning and thankfully we have had cooler heads here in Michigan working with our law enforcement community that has continued to take the job seriously of protecting and serving.

Do we need reform in all phases of our government?

Yes.

We can start that process by taking a serious look here in Michigan by starting with the Governor’s office and going right on down the line and see what needs to be reformed and if there are areas that need defunding. Yet, we need people who are not Pez Dispensers for talking points to get serious about this and do it starting today. The people of this State and the hard-working law enforcement officials deserve it.

Thankfully for the citizens of Michigan and the Governor’s family and staff, these men and women of law enforcement have been here doing their jobs admirably and drowned out the nonsense of “all cops are bad” verbiage from shallow politicians trying to score points during a tragedy.

Otherwise, we might have had another tragic incident on our hands and we truly do not want that to ever happen.

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