On July 3rd, tomorrow morning at 10 AM, a bunch of people will gather together down at Stearn's beach, and threescore other locations around Lake Michigan, in an event called "All Hands on Deck" (AHOD).  At the hour, these groups will all hold hands and give Lake Michigan a symbolic hug, as they will do around the other Great Lakes. 

According to the AHOD website, the event is non-political and non-partisan, likewise it is a celebration not any sort of protest.  This reflects also the overall message of local event organizer, our beloved SS Ludington Captain Lorrie Dykstra, who assured us it wasn't political, partisan or any sort of protest in the June 12 LCC meeting minutes.  Their Facebook presence and all other press releases stresses those ideals, because we all know that politics, partisanship and protesting is not pretty to the people.   

But as noted in the minutes and evident in the meeting's video, Councilor Mike Krauch was concerned that the event seemed to be something other than what it was billed, something that was chock full of politics and had the potential to make some people uncomfortable or otherwise be controversial.  Dykstra defended the event as the epitome of apolitical and apartisan activity that was not protesting anything.

At the very next meeting on June 26, Ludington Board of Review member Lyla McClelland made a point to object to the event in even more strident terms in her comment to the council, a copy of which was put into the City of Ludington Daily News (COLDNews) opinion page the very next day.

 

With less than a week to go before the AHOD, two people helping organize the event took to the same medium to set the record straight, at least in their opinion.  The first was a recent transplant to the area named Carol Christiansen:

Further down on that same page was an even more vigorous and longer defense of how AHOD and opposing the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline somehow rose above politics and partisanship (AFFEW Pres Chambers opinion).  If you note, both mention Lyla McClelland by name, and you may discern that both cite Lyla's position as being incorrect, while Carol incorrectly says Lyla was not in favor of the gathering (Lyla's letter reflects her problem is with the process the city took). 

But as the title of this article indicates, Boardswoman Lyla McClelland and Councilor Krauch are the ones who are correct here.  All Hands on Deck is a political, partisan protest.  And the proof of that is found in their own words and websites.  Here's how to get to that conclusion.

AHOD is Political

Let's prove by contradiction, and assume that AHOD is not political.  If we come to an irrational statement, then the opposite (AHOD is political) must be true.  If no politics are involved, then all they are doing in their actions is giving the Great Lakes a big hug, and then going home.  But their webpage does not leave out politics in their home page I linked to before and look under the Why? anchor. 

"In 2010 the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative began efforts to protect and restore the lakes... It has taken the unified effort of the Restoration Initiative to provide that funding, regulations, and research necessary to keep the Great Lakes. We must fight to maintain this Initiative of Unity in good times and in bad."

Then:  "On Mar. 2nd, 2017 at a time of political division, All Hands on Deck was formed... This is a time when the Restoration Initiative has been threatened. At the time of this post we do not know the outcome of that threat."

These are political goals that run counter to the current administration's policies, which is to dramatically cut what they see as waste in the GLRI.  The federal government puts $300 million annually into the GLRI where the money is disbursed through hundreds of grants to state and local governments, universities, Indian tribes and others, often for activities that have little to do with the lakes.  Some believe it is worthwhile making sure that the GLRI is relevant and on its point, not bloated and inefficient, but AHOD looks at any cut to the GLRI as threatening and their extra layer of regulations as necessary. 

So clearly there are political drives behind this event that they admit to, which shows that their motives are, at least in part, political.  But even their local captain shows the politics of those invested in AHOD when she comments about her apathy towards the jobs of over 250 Michigan citizens and the business fortunes of a major supplier of oil and gas:

Lorrie Dykstra: June 12 LCC meeting video (21:30 in) "I really don't care if Enbridge goes broke, and I don't really care if gas and oil costs go up, because then we'll be forced to do something other than continue to pull more fossil fuels out of the ground.  Leave them in the ground, start making a change."

I wonder how Captain Dykstra will arrive from her home in Summit Township to Stearn's Beach tomorrow morning?  Will she cover the many miles while on her bicycle or by walking?  She doesn't appear to have been doing a lot of either.

AHOD is Partisan

As noted, the positions of AHOD that are political such as funding the GLRI, operation of Line 5, the Clean Water Rule, etc. their organizers and members are set in their positions, and those positions are partisan.  Both parties want clean water, clean air, and other ecological goals, however, they have different approaches. 

Democrats are more apt to support shutting down Line 5 to protect the Straits of Mackinac from a potential disastrous spill, while Republicans are more apt to see that if the pipeline was shut down, there would be not only a significant economic cost, but also no benefit from pollution since the trucks used to transport the oil and natural gas will put more gas and oil into the environment than a significant leak would. 

Republicans generally eschew the additional level of bureaucracy and the potential for waste and fraud in the GLRI budget and would prefer a lean and mean organization, while Democrats often believe additional regulations and expenditures indicate the organization is working.  They see the Clean Water Rule as additional rules to assure clean water, while Republicans look at the rule as unnecessary, costly to economic development, and an infringement to property rights. 

AHOD embraces the symbolism and the viewpoints of the left, and will only attract those from the right who are ignorant of the event's themes and goals.  Were we to assume that the event was non-partisan, then their stances would not be set in stone, but negotiable. 

AHOD is a Protest

protest is defined as "a public demonstration or organized effort to show disapproval about something, especially a governmental policy or practice".  As noted in the 'politcal' section, this event was created in March, in large part because Donald Trump was planning on cutting nearly all of the GLRI.  This is part of the 'fight' to save the 'threatened' GLRI. 

It is clearly stated on their home page that AHOD is organized to show disapproval of those threats of GLRI cuts as part of government policy under President Trump.  Ergo, absent pleasant semantics of celebrations and passing marbles aside, AHOD is a protest. 

McClelland and Krauch are absolutely right, All Hands on Deck is troubling because it is a political, partisan protest, held during the busiest weekend of the summer.  And that City Manager John Shay should be reprimanded for okaying such a controversial event without consulting any of our other elected officials.

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EVENT DAY UPDATE:  With my counterclaims to the organizers stated apolitical and non-partisan objectives on the table, I had to go to the event today and further check out what's the truth here.  I rode my bicycle, despite having the LPD with a BOLO on me for reckless sidewalk riding, LOL. 

I arrived at 8:48 and saw Lorrie, her husband and a few other of her organizers setting up.  Lorrie had come in a Toyota Tacoma, which is able to travel almost 20 miles per gallon of gas, pretty odd that she calls for all fossil fuels to be left in the ground at a public forum and travels with this gas guzzler.  The other organizers had also come in their SUVs, and while more people came, by the time of this event, there was not a bicyclist among any of the participants-- everybody came in vehicles with nary an electric car or hybrid to be seen.

At 9:36, new city councilor Wally Cain arrived to participate.  Shortly thereafter the sidewalk near their pavilion was totally blocked by the people arriving for about 10-15 minutes, while those not involved were seen going into the busy street to go by that area. 

They rehearsed a mantra before heading to the beach:  "All hands on deck, our lakes we will protect" less than a hundred proceeded there, this was to grow over 100 by the end.  They held hands starting at 9:58, they didn't break their stranglehold of the beach until 10:11.  I saw a family of five heading down the beach and having to go around the mass, a few early beach goers were trapped between the water and the conga line. 

The COLDNews covered the event and their early release, corroborates my observations yesterday and today, that this was a political demonstration. 

Good update X, yes, it's definitely a political event. Did anyone get pictures of the event as it happened on the beach? That and some interviews with other non-participants would be nice to hear too, thanks. 

Here's a link to the COLDNews picture archive of the event.  In the day after this took place, many of these same people enjoyed the fireworks down at the beach.

Did you know that the chemicals and heavy metals used in fireworks also take their toll on the environment, sometimes contributing to water supply contamination and even acid rain. Their use also deposits physical litter on the ground and into water bodies for miles around.  As such, some U.S. states and local governments restrict the use of fireworks in accordance with guidelines set by the Clean Air Act. 

Who knew?  But as long as they hold hands, chant a mantra, do the wave, and lambaste Line 5, they're okay with that.

Aquaman, I didn't conduct any interviews, but I did overhear one of the passersby say something to the effect that "those damn hippies are ruining this place".

I almost forgot, Carol Christiansen, whose opinion was in the COLDNews, was acknowledged as the 'first mate' to Captain Lorrie before they hit the beachfront.  Both had their time (Lorrie before the city council) to introduce the event to the public, both neglected to tell the public or the inquisitive Councilor Krauch about the underlying political overtones of the event.  I would bet that most of the 100+ people thought it was just a symbolic show of love for the lake and clean water. 

Pictures are forthcoming, and another anecdote too.

Thanks for the update X. This shows the typical hypocrisy of the left. Showing up in their SUV's and protesting against that which provides the power to use those SUV's. Hug a lake is such a meaningless  gesture. I hope they show up after the annual dumping of firework debris into the water on the 4th and fill their SUV's with all the debris floating in the water. The beach is such a mess on the 4th after all the fudgies have abused it.

Looks like the "All Hands on Deck " after event in Grand Haven was more fun what with the cops being called and all.

http://woodtv.com/2017/07/03/reports-of-unruly-crowd-at-grand-haven...

To be fair, the fighting broke out about six hours after the All Hands on Deck event was over (at least in symbolic gestures) with Senator Debbie Stabenow participating.  After AHOD cleaned the beach up, they later appear to have left quite a mess.  I'm sorry for generalizing without knowing all the facts, but this is typical of the messes left over after many a leftist protest in this era. 

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