Absolute power corrupts. Absolutely. We’ve heard that said since childhood, but we’re living it today in Michigan. The Democrats who run Lansing have all the power in the world. They hold all the gavels. And they couldn’t be more miserable.
Going into election day, Democrats had passed half as many laws as they did last year.
Then Democrats lost the House, turning them into lame ducks. Come January, every bill that passes will need Republican support. Come January, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer becomes a lame duck herself.
The lame duck period of lawmaking comes after election day, and before the current group leaves office. Democrats waited until the lame duck session to show their true selves. Last time they lost power, they didn’t get it back for 40 years—and now we see why.
And so in the last 40 days, they’ve tried to write every wishlist item into law.
Some of it is giveaways to friends. Some are pointless regulations like outlawing blue or pink guns.
But much of it is outright destructive, like the push to give driver’s licenses to illegals. This will open the door wide.
The purpose of a system is what it does. The purpose of Democrat governance in Michigan is to open our borders and our schoolyards and our voting booths to people who shouldn’t even be in this country.
With 2026 and the battle for Michigan just two years away, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, leader of Michigan’s biggest city, has fled the Democrat Party.
By running as an independent, Duggan offers Michigan a choice. Running independent means he won’t be weighed down by questions on abortion and boys and girls locker rooms the way he would in a Democrat primary.
Duggan’s problem in 2026 won’t be branding, it will be reality.
Duggan governed as a Democrat. At best, he’s trans-independent. But in politics, as in life, saying it doesn’t make it so.
Rep. Karen Whitsett, also from Detroit, wears the Democrat label but actually acts as an independent. If there were an independent party in Michigan, its avatar would be Whitsett, not Duggan.
And so with the Democrats pushing through an agenda that will be political suicide for anyone who votes yes, Whitsett voted with her feet. She left Lansing, and she went home. She says if the Democrats aren’t serious about governance, she won’t come back.
In a single act of bravery, a little-known lawmaker became the most powerful woman in Lansing. By saving the Michigan Democrats from themselves, Whitsett has also saved Michigan from the Democrats.
Karen Whitsett is a profile in courage. She is the independent that Duggan claims to be.
Benson, meanwhile, fears the light of transparency. Her run for the governor’s office is off to a tough start. She’s already announced plans to ban reporters from her events. I’m not sure what Benson is afraid we will find when the 10 million people of Michigan begin to scrutinize her. But it’s clear she’s afraid of something.
Whitmer, our governor, remember her? She spent Thanksgiving week in Spain, supposedly on an economic mission. She returned from her time in the sun to find Lansing in chaos.
With her own lame-duck status days away, and a future to preserve in politics, Whitmer pulled a Whitsett. She followed a back-bencher down the road to sanity.
Whitmer now says she’s only going to sign the big important bills. This means that the Democrat wish list is dead. This means that the lame ducks are cooked. This means it’s time to call it a Sine Die in Lansing.
Democrats are unfit to lead this state. Just ask them.
James David Dickson is host of the Enjoyer Podcast. Join him in conversation at @downi75.
