The Governor had lunch with her daughter on her birthday? That's her sin? You have a problem with that?

 The Senate Republicans rejected the Governor's plan to balance the budget without one of their own more than a month ago on Feb. 14. When they finally came up with this alleged plan of their own they took such extraordinary measures to keep the Top Secret plan from the public that Senators and staffers could not even write it down for fear of the public knowing about it. And you're criticizing the governor for taking an hour to have lunch with her daughter on her birthday?

 You're sad.

The MML knew her remarks were going to be brief. She was back at the budget meeting after having lunch that lasted until 6 p.m., according to Gongwer. GOP staffers where there having lunch, why shouldn't the Governor be allowed the same privilege?
You're bitching about an hour when Mike Bishop could not find one single hour in the 36 days since the Senate Republicans irresponsibly rejected the EO last month?

You are sad.

I hope you noticed that in the piece here and in the update today noone's been critical of the Governor spending time with her daughter.

That's awesome!  Seriously, I applaud it.  I remember when I was in school we always got to do the same thing.  On our birthday my dad would leave his office for lunch and come to our school to pick up, get us an excused abscence for the afternoon and then take us to lunch.  I've got a lot of great memories from those birthdays.  It made them that much more special.

The issue here is the lying.  The deceit.  Why not just admit you were going to lunch with your daughter?

As I mentioned in the story, Granholm's spokesman Liz Boyd told the press that her schedule had been "cleared" through 3pm today (Thursday) when she's due to submit her latest EO.  Of course, she told the press this while they were trying to make a point about Mike Bishop's inability to reschedule Monday meetings on a weekend's notice.  

Well, it turns out that wasn't true at all.  The governor's schedule hadn't been cleared.  

I mean, who would have scolded her if she'd said "her schedule is clear except for a lunch date with her daughter on Wednesday?"  Not me.  I'd imagine noone would.  And if they had I'd have called them a cold hearted son of a gun.  

Then the governor herself ducked out of the MML meeting after 30 seconds saying she had to get back to those closed door meetings.  Again, not true.  In one word, a lie.  

Why not just be honest?  

And they may very well have expected a short speech, but they weren't expecting 30 seconds.  She was the KEYNOTE speaker.  Short by keynote standards is what, ten minutes?  A standard would be 25 to 45?  And their was palpable surprise in the room when she announced she had to run and took off.

Then there's the whole issue of the disguise.  What's the point of wearing a Yankee's cap?  And you know what, I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt here.  MIRS is reporting that her office insists it was a Tigers cap.  OK, 8 witnesses disagree but I won't argue the point.  It's still a disguise.  Why try to avoid being spotted unless you're up to something you know won't go over well?

In the end, none of this would be an issue if she'd just been up front and honest.  But she wasn't.  She lied.  Between Boyd's statement that was proven wrong twice in one afternoon to the governor's statement to MML and then the disguise that's three and a half or four attempts at deceipt right there.  

Not bad for a day's work, huh?  

Nice attempt at spin, but that's exactly what it was. You are petty and grasping at straws, and it just shows how petty you are.

Lie? Where? Who says the "governor's schedule hadn't been cleared?" Better yet, what does it matter? You have no idea what the Governor's schedule was, and you don't know what Bishop's schedule was. But I know this: the Governor was in Lansing all day on Monday at work. Session was not held Monday, nor is it ever for the Republician-controled Senate; so where was Bishop? Why could he not have sent a representative to the meeting if he couldn't find time to break away from meeting with lobbyists in the district or sitting at home on his couch in Rochester?

Bitching about taking an hour for lunch is petty at best. Regardless of what her schedule is for the day I would think she is entitled to a lunch break, or it's on the schedule everyday. You are playing word games, and you know it. Legislators and politicians make brief appearances at events all the time. You are not going to allow her to eat lunch and then get back to the meeting? The fact also remains she had at least three qualified people there negotiating on her behalf. The CEO of a company does not deal with every singe detail or they would not be the CEO very long.

Why not just be honest? Good question. Why aren't you?

You were at the MML meeting? You must have been there because I have not read one report that said there was "palpable surprise in the room" when she left, or it was only 30 seconds. I did read where it was understood it would be a brief appearance.

I'm not sure wearing a hat is exactly a disguise, but considering how popular the Governor is it's not out of the question she wanted some alone, quality time with her daughter on her birthday without interruptions because she had to get back to work Would these eight alleged witnesses be the Republican staffers who blew the lid off this hot story? Well, if that's the case there's' no credibility there.
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The only deceit is on your part. If you want to read the real story come on over to Michigan Liberal or the Conservative Media. You can also get some good ideas on how to run a blog and read some quality writing.

That's cool.

Look, we'll have to agree to disagree I guess.  I have zero problem with a family lunch.  I just don't like it when the governor lies about it.  And when you say your schedule has been "cleared" and then you tell the good folks at the MML that out of respect for the seriousness of the budget negotiations that you won't be able to stay but decide instead to put on a disguise and sneak out for something else, well, that's a lie.  

I'll say it again.  Noone is arguing she can't have some family time.  Or that she can't have some family time right now in the middle of the budget negotiations.  Which is why it's that much more surprising that she lied.

Simple as that.

No, I will not agree to disagree. Even more so when you can't refute a single point I have made. This rant of yours was petty, frivolous and Mickey Mouse. Not only that, it's an outright lie. Yes, some one is arguing she can't have some family time: you. You are also arguing she can't have lunch.

Perhaps Bishop should trust some of the other Senators in his caucus and bring them in on the negotiations, or is his alleged plan so secret no one can be trusted with it, no one else is qualified or his ego is so big only he knows what's right for the state. How can taking lunch break harm the budget negotiations when Bishop has kept that alleged plan of his Top Secret for more than a month?