Two Brave Republicans: Chatfield and Shirkey

 

You know you're in a fix when you need to praise two Michigan Republicans for not being intimidated into overturning an election for partisan control.

Lee Chatfield on the left with Mike Shirkey beside him. 
Photo Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press

See, Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield, they got summoned to the Oval Office by the President of the United States, who just wanted a friendly chat about what the chances were that they could make the Michigan state legislature overturn the election results and name Trump electors for the Electoral College vote on December 14.

Instead, Messrs. Shirkey and Chatfield said no thank you and instead hit the president up for Federal aide to combat the coronavirus. Then they issued a press statement that was the equivalent of a door-slammin':

"We have not yet been made aware of any information that would change the outcome of the election in Michigan and as legislative leaders, we will follow the law and follow the normal process regarding Michigan’s electors, just as we have said throughout this election."

There was more -- a deliberate slap at Trump surrogate Rudy Giuliani (and by implication a slap at Twitterman himself):

"Michigan’s certification process should be a deliberate process free from threats and intimidation. Allegations of fraudulent behavior should be taken seriously, thoroughly investigated, and if proven, prosecuted to the full extent of the law. And the candidates who win the most votes win elections and Michigan's electoral votes. These are simple truths that should provide confidence in our elections.”

Now, I judge those two guys about the bravest elected Republicans in the nation right now. Also strategic operators, like many Midwesterners, as they took command of the meeting for an opportunity to get some help for Michigan in this COVID crisis. "...They focused on COVID-19 assistance, not the president's ongoing efforts to overturn the results of the Nov. 3 election." Michigan's virus spike is straining every resource. On the very day that they visited the president in his den, Michigan reported 9,779 new cases and 53 additional deaths.

So imagine the scene: Trump, who by reputation usually does all the talking and expects people to snap to, gets shut down by these two gentlemen from Michigan -- they either used the actual word "No" or otherwise indicated they weren't there to play. Instead, they grab the moment to plead for help for their beleaguered state. Trump sits there, steaming. But the gentlemen are ready and have a definitive printed statement on "threats and intimidation." 

Has Trump trashed them yet on Twitter? Dunno. Will find out by and by (see footnote).

In the meantime, I put Messrs. Shirkey and Chatfield up against Lindsey Graham and just laugh.

Footnote

I went and looked at Twitterman's Twitter feed. At 8:15 this morning, he retweeted the Shirkey/Chatfield press release with the bizarre comment, "Massive voter fraud will be shown!" How, where "massive voter fraud" gets outed -- that's unexplained, along with what the fraud consists of. One wonders if he actually read the press release before he retweeted it. 

So maybe the meeting went like this: "Massive fraud will be shown!" Chatfield and Shirkey: "Call us when you've got something real. Now, we have this other thing going on...."

For Trump it's massive "fraud" when Black people vote in large numbers.