Pure Michigan says Michigan makes history with passage of right-to-work law

A full-page “Pure Michigan” ad appearing in today’s Wall Street Journal boasts “Michigan makes history” as it extols “Michigan is the newest right-to-work state.” After I coughed up the hair ball and washed the bad taste from my mouth I had to agree, Michigan did make history with passage of the recent Right-to-work law and it got me thinking about the idiom often attributed to Winston Churchill: “History is written by the victors.”

And as anyone who has studied even a modicum of history knows not all history finds itself on the plus side of the good versus evil equation. Let’s take this as an example of what could’ve been turned into a great ad:

Bennett’s thugs beat labor to a pulp at Battle of the Overpass

Or how about this one:

Michigan has the most conservative worker protection laws in the country

I was sorry to see the “Pure Michigan” campaign sullied by this both insensitive and outrageous ad. The “Pure Michigan” campaign, which according to most accounts has been the state’s most successful promotional campaign for both business and tourist attraction, might be seen in a different light now by a significant population of Michigan.

The ad also said “this once in a generation transformation has Michigan poised to become a preferred place to do business.” Personally, I would’ve rather seen our Republican dominated legislature working on issues that can have a positive impact on education.

The ad concludes by referring to the recent “transformation” as the “perfect storm.” I can’t agree more and perfect storms by their nature are incredibly destructive. I would also like to offer up another idiom up for our Republican dominated politicos “history has a way of repeating itself.”