Thoughts for the Day, February 25, 2025: A sad day in our family.

Zane Berge

At 5;20 tonight my brother-in-lay Zane Berge passed after an 8-month battle of various health issues. My sister Nancy and Zane celebrated forty years of marriage last fall. Nancy, and her two adult children, Jenna and Mark were with Zane when he passed.

As I have mentioned in this blog many times, Nancy is special to me. She is more than a sister. She is a great friend to me, Leah, my daughter Katy, and my son Christopher. Just last Thursday, I gave Nancy the Orchid of the Day for all the work she had done over the past eight months to finally get Zane settled into an assisted living facility only five minutes from their home in Columbia, MD.

My heart aches for Nancy, Jenna, and Mark. Nancy has a strong family which provides great support and comfort. Jenna, her husband Craig and their son Harley are always there for her. As is Mark and his wife Z.

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What are they hiding from us?

Onion of the Day: Michigan Speaker of the House Matt Hall has steadfastly refused to take up a Senate passed government reform bill making the legislature and the governor subject to public records requests under the Freedom of Information Act. This bill has enjoyed bipartisan support for a decade but the legislative leaders in the House, have no desire to act on the Senate approved bill and send it to a governor:

As I have mentioned repeatedly in this blog, Michigan is ranked 49^th in government transparency. Whitmer made this a campaign issue when she first ran for governor in 2018. She indicated that she would open the governor’s office to FOIA requests, even if the legislature did not pass any laws. We are still waiting for her to do this.

For the last two years, the Democrats controlled all three branches of our state’s government, , The Democrat Speaker of the House Tate refused to bring the bi-partisan senate approved legislation forward in the House. Now the House is controlled by the Republicans and Republican speaker Hall refuses to bring it forward to the House.

Ten years, they have been screwing around with this. For ten years they have known that we are ranked 49^th in transparency. Ten years and nothing has been done.

It leads to the Question of the Day. What are the governor and state legislators hiding from us?

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Speak up and speak out.

Devin Scillian is a recently retired Detroit television news anchor who appeared on WDIV-TV (Channel 4) broadcasts for nearly 30 years. I have the greatest respect for Scillian. He has been an impartial newscaster since day one. His opinion carries weight with me. Here are excerpts from his opinion letter which was published in the Detroit Free Press yesterday.

We’re a month into Trump 2.0, and I find myself still transfixed by a hallmark of Trump 1.0: You have to marvel at the way his supporters are so all in for him.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be all in. It’s been a fixture in our vernacular for the last decade or so. People have been all in for all kinds of things — their faith, a new TV series, pants from Lululemon, their favorite cocktail. Recently, it was the slogan for my colleagues and me at WDIV-TV for our Lions coverage. (I am still all in, by the way.)

Is anybody all in for you? Does anyone in your life find you perfect in every way? If so, don’t be so sure that it’s a blessing. Someone needs to love you enough to tell you those shoes are hideous, or that you might want to rethink that tattoo idea….

During my four decades as a journalist, I continually reminded people that I was not in the opinion business. Rather, I was in the truth and transparency business. That remains true. I don’t see either of these frustrations as being based in politics. I see them as clearly based in, wait for it, the Constitution.

And while Donald Trump does not care one whit what I say (I‘m a journalist) or what Democrats say (they’re politically motivated) or what anti-Trump Republicans say (ditto), he does care what his most ardent supporters think.

And that’s why they, like a good parent or a good friend, need to call out bad behavior and nonsense when they see it. It would also go a long way toward helping those who didn’t vote for Donald Trump see his supporters as critical thinkers who can see beyond the blinding dashboard.

So let’s consider the limits of “all in.”

I love my Detroit Lions. But I can still take issue with asking a wide receiver to throw the first pass of his career in the second half of a playoff game when you’re trailing by 10. I think being truly “all in” means I have a responsibility to speak up.

And if you love Donald Trump, I think you do, too.

Please call your members of Congress today. The U.S. Capitol switchboard is 202-224-3121. Tell the operator where you’re from and the operator will connect you to your representatives and senators. I tested this out today. It is very simple. They will ask for the congress member you want to contact. They will then switch you to that office.

Winning Ugly is better than losing

Michigan men’s basketball team beat Nebraska 49-46 at Nebraska to move into a tie for first place with the MSU Spartans. I chose not to watch the game. It is a good thing; I probably would have been throwing things at the TV. Here are some interesting facts from the game.

· Nebraska’s Bruce Williams scored 26 points, while the rest of the team scored. 20 points.

· Michigan shot 29% over all and 18% from behind the arc yet, still won a road game.

· Nebraska only had 5 assists on 16 Nebraska baskets for an assist rate of 31% as compared to Michigan’s 12 assists on 18 Michigan baskets for an assist rate of 67%

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Quote of the Day: One person, who said they were a federal employee, posted on Bluesky, “to recap: a Musk grouper told me to send 5 bullets about my work, my agency said to do it, my department said not to, the OPM director said to, my department hasn't responded, there's a vague threat of firings, and there's preexisting guidance saying I'm not required to do shit.” That about sums it up. From Joyce Vance today. FUBAR.

Orchid of the Day: The Detroit Pistons for winning their seventh game in a row last night. After going 14-68 last year, the Pistons are 32-26 this year and are only one game out of fourth place in the Eastern Conference. A fourth-place finish would give them home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Onion of the Day: Michigan Speaker of the House Matt Hall. See above.

Lyrics of the Day: Lying close to you Feeling your heart beating
And I'm wondering what you're dreaming. Wondering if it's me you're seeing. Then I kiss your eyes And thank God we're together. And I just wanna stay with you In this moment forever, forever and ever.

If you think you know the answer, send me your answer in the comments section of the blog.

Answer to Lyrics of the Day for February 24, 2025: Here I go again, by Whitesnake. See my Video of the Day.

“Question of the Day: What are the governor and legislators hiding from us?

Video of the Day: Whitesnake - Here I Go Again 2004 Live Video

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