The state director of the conservative group Americans for Prosperity offered no apologies today for papering homes in Detroit’s Delray district Monday with fake eviction notices.
Bearing the words “Eviction Notice” in large type, the bogus notices told homeowners their properties could be taken by the Michigan Department of Transportation to make way for the New International Trade Crossing bridge project. The NITC is the subject of debate in Lansing, and Americans for Prosperity is lobbying heavily against it.
“It was meant to startle people,” Scott Hagerstrom, the group’s state director, said today. “We really wanted people to take notice. This is the time that their opinions need to be heard. We wanted people to read it.”
The fake eviction notices sparked outrage in Southwest Detroit, with State Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who represents the area in Lansing, complaining that the tactic has created chaos among the district’s residents.
Seriously, is there any other place in the country except for maybe Vegas, Cleveland, Maricopa County and parts of Florida where it would be a worse idea to put up fake eviction notices than Detroit? What the hell is wrong with these people?
The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik
That shit has to be illegal, right?
…..right?
tbogg
Weird.
I just found a flyer on my car that said that some guy named Scott Hagerstrom is infecting Detroit-area hookers with STD’s.
I don’t know if it’s true or not…but it’s out there.
AAA Bonds
It will work because Republicans are sadistic and will enjoy hearing about this if it didn’t personally happen to them.
kgus
Do you really have to ask what is wrong with those people? For the record, they don’t see a difference between “extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice” and “the ends justify the means.” And they’re stupid.
ArchPundit
Not to mention the idiots are against a fairly large infrastructure project that should help the economy in that area. Even Rick Snyder backs it.
PeakVT
From 2003 to 2007 AFP was led by Nancy Pfotenhauer (Koch Industries’ chief lobbyist from 1996 to 2001), who left to become an adviser for the 2008 John McCain presidential campaign. Link.
Catsy
@The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik:
My first thought too.
Seriously, isn’t there typically some kind of law against faking an official notice or document like this? This is way, way over the line.
rob!
“The Koch Brothers: Filling the ‘Evil-as-Fuck Gap’ since January 20, 2009”
numbskull
The comments at the DFP are generally running against this tactic, but those that are for it, or don’t see anything wrong with it, or see some sort of false equivalency with something some hippy did (but not really) back in the 60s are just so…precious.
Hell, couple of ’em even declare that Americans For Prosperity is NOT, I repeat, NOT a conservative group. Further, when corrected by links to Wikipedia, they declare that you can’t trust Wikipedia because some people have made changes to entries unrelated to this issue based on politics.
You cannot make this shit up.
Zifnab
@AAA Bonds:
Will it work? Who in Detroit is going to look at an eviction notice and think “I hate trains”? Once people realize they were bullshitted, they’ll boomerang right back on AFP. Nobody likes getting a near heart attack so some holier-than-thou political jerk can score a point.
Villago Delenda Est
@kgus:
Their main problem is that they’re neo-feudalists, they hate the idea of egalitarianism, and they think that wealth confers moral superiority over those who for whatever reason don’t have it.
Which is why when the tumbrels roll, I won’t weep for a one of them.
bemused
Stupid and mean. Progeny of Scut Farkus.
beltane
Before we get too upset, it pays to remember that GOP fundraising mailers are similarly fraudulent and emotionally abusive. That’s just how the wingnut mind works.
Are 2nd Amendment remedies warranted in cases where someone is serving you with a false eviction notice? Please discuss.
geg6
What is it with these people and trains?? Seriously. Do they not know that in the Randian literary tradition, trains are the cool thing?
bobbo
This is why we are doomed. There are just too many rich people who will stop at nothing to have their way. Illegal? Whatevs.
The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik
@bobbo:
And just enough proles who will purposely stab their fellow proles in the back out of some misguided loyalty and hope that they, too, will become one of the gilded class in the future.
Ash Can
Boorish insensitivity is a feature, not a bug, with these people. They are sociopaths.
DFH no.6
Good comments all around, but I’ll just point out, in answer to JC’s question, “What the hell is wrong with these people?” that they are:
Operative word, of course, being “conservative” (means the same as “fascist” anymore – no difference).
SATSQ.
Marcellus Shale DIscount Sale
i would think this qualifies as shouting fire in a crowded theater.
i suppose fake wedding announcements, or engagement announcements of members and donors of americans for prosperity, and people who were threatened by eviction notices, would be out of the question.
Suffern ACE
I thought you should know that the police just stopped by to tell you your spouse was killed in a car accident. Thought you should know.
Now that I have your attention. How do you feel about that new bridge.
tomvox1
I totally get the asshole behavior about the fake notices. Hey, that’s who these fuckers are, right? Here’s what I don’t get about this story:
Private bridge ownership? Was Detroit so deep in it that they sold their infrastructure to private entities? Was it a sop the to the “superiority” of private sector competition over government services? Or was it ever so? Sounds like a really bad idea to me (“It fell down–so sue me!”) but I only really know (generally) from NYC so feel free to clue me in on the setup.
beltane
@tomvox1: Private bridge ownership is bad enough, but when the owner is a Moroun such ownership is a recipe for disaster.
Villago Delenda Est
@tomvox1:
Ah, yet another “free market” advocate who hates the actual mechanisms of the free market.
I’m shocked, shocked, I tell you.
Catsy
@Zifnab:
This is a good point. It reminds me a bit of those anti-smoking commercials with the people eating dog poo or other similar gross-outs to try to jackhammer home the message that smoking is gross and lethal. Uh, yeah. We were aware of that, but thanks for ruining my family’s dinner all the same.
Seriously, I quit smoking about 7 years ago and those commercials filled me with an irrational desire to have a cigarette just to blow smoke in the face of the assholes who signed off on those commercials. You are not scoring points with me or helping your cause by making my family and I want to barf.
See also, anti-abortion and anti-fur activists and their counterproductive, assholish gross-out tactics.
ArchPundit
@tomvox1:
No, this was a bridge that an act of Congress authorized years ago. Because it was somewhat risky at the time, they authorized a private company to build it.
It’s not nearly as common anymore, but this was fairly common up through the New Deal (this one was right before the New Deal).
One has to wonder if the Ambassador Bridge Owner isn’t backing the efforts by Americans for Prosperity. He claims he has exclusive rights to the crossing, but nothing from what I can tell gives exclusive rights–just rights to build and maintain.
DonkeyKong
Scott Hagerstrom has been seen driving around in a van advertising “free cockpunching, ask me how.”
Detroit Glibertarians..I HATE Detroit Glibertarians!
Villago Delenda Est
@ArchPundit:
Adam Smith would hold this asshole in disdain.
The man is demanding that he is entitled to a monopoly.
Martin
Cool! Let’s do a Medicare Voucher mailing to seniors. Something official looking with a big coupon inside good for one free bypass surgery. Valid only at participating locations. May not be combined with other treatments.
Cain
@tomvox1:
What private entity would be stupid enough to buy a bridge? I mean really..
j
They are sociopaths. They have no conception of right or wrong. Whatever fits their aim is “right”.
It’s the Libertardian/GOP rule of “the ends justify the means”.
I hope they all drown while driving over a “Tim Palenty Memorial Watery Grave” bridge.
Jager
Off topic but my brother in law sent me this link to flooding on the Missouri River in ND
http://kenyetter.smugmug.com/Events/2011-Flood/17375744_qMnG4K#1320689728_k8rCPKR
Bro in law says “its far from over”
rob!
I say we put up notices that say “Warning: The Koch Brothers have sex with each other.”
ArchPundit
@Villago Delenda Est:
Agree with the point in general, but if you go back to say the early 19th Century the practice was common because it was the only way to get someone to invest in a bridge. That someone thinks they get a monopoly without a direct grant under the Congressional legislation is a bit loopy.
There’s a famous case about this in New Jersey in the late 18th Century I believe and for the life of me I can’t remember it.
Though, to be really pedantic, Smith would be fine with the grant of a monopoly in such a case–all the market fundamentalists since wouldn’t be.
D-Chance.
RIP, AutoTrader magazines.
I was the local distributor for this magazine group for a couple of years in this region of Texas. Got out in 2008, just before the print ad money dried up. Even in 2005-2008, the print ‘zine was the red-headed stepchild of the company… they were already concentrating their efforts to the dot_com side of business.
Villago Delenda Est
@ArchPundit:
Yeah, but Smith would caution that such a monopoly must be carefully monitored to insure it doesn’t impede the free flow of commerce.
This guy doesn’t want any competition. Like most corporate assholes in this country.
cbear
OT—Tweety and the dickwhisperer had a lengthy discussion of the Wiener situation on Hardball tonight.
There’s a joke in there somehere.
tomvox1
@ArchPundit:
Hey, thanks. That’s interesting. Found a good article about it, as well:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/12/us/12bridge.html?ref=us
(hope you can get behind the paywall with the link)
@Cain:
Don’t get your point. If Triborough (now RFK), for example, and all its toll revenue were put on the block for private ownership, the line for bidders from the private sector would circumscribe the globe. Why do you think this Moroun guy is fighting so hard to be the only toll bridge in the hood? They are nothing if not profitable, have been since ancient times. In fact, I’m sure I’ve just described some sort of GOPer wet dream.
Bill
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118880/quotes?qt=qt0388653
El Cid
First, this is the district that AFP is pretending to give a shit about.
This is from a decade ago, but it was a quick Googling.
Where ever you find a community like this, you know that Americans For Prosperity will appear there to save them with the wonders of supply and demand.
However, this isn’t to dilute any of our appreciation from the national treasure stemming from Delray, the Insane Clown Posse.
El Cid
This is why the owner and AFP are so against the new bridge — it’s not the toll revenue, so much.
What are a few fucking flyers and bad PR compared with that incentive?
El Cid
OK — I get stuck in moderation, but I don’t see any of the scare words.
Since apparently I can’t post anything, the deal is that the owner has the exclusive rights to sell on his existing bridge d_u_ty-fr_ee diesel and gas which makes his product cheaper than any local competitor.
So it’s about millions of dollars per year in fuel sales in a monopoly, not toll revenue so much.
There are articles in the Detroit Free Press, but I’m not going to try and link.
Bullsmith
Might = Right.
Freedom = Money.
Bout sums it up.
rikyrah
lowdown, no good dirty muthafuckas.
plain and simple.
Thoughtful Black Co-Citizen
Legality will hinge on how far the signs go in claiming to be from a government entity. However, “Hey it’s perfectly legal for us to make you cry and throw up,” won’t win them any friends.
This guy’s last name is the only good thing about this story.
Interrobang
I was gonna say, Delray is a bad part of Detroit, which is saying quite a lot, although that really doesn’t surprise me. When ever in the history of, oh, forever, has a right-winger ever missed a chance to crap on poor people and/or black people (bonus points for poor black people!) in the process of trying to score political points?
That said, I’m surprised Detroit hasn’t been taken over by a “financial manager” and sold off to the highest bidder yet.
Gus diZerega
I think we see evidence of a persistent psychological shortcoming among many on the political right. Some are simple sociopaths, with no ability to empathize with another. But more (I hope) simply have enormous difficulty putting themselves in shoes much different from their own. They have a deep failure of the moral imagination.
For the well paid hacks who design these publicity stunts, those who are not sociopaths probably thought it a clever and humorous way to get their message across because THEY never faced any such threat. But had they had ANY demonstrated capacity to understand and care for people different than themselves, a red flag would have gone off immediately when the idea was broached.
I am reminded of David Koch’s generous donations for research on cancer – after he got it. The sympathy and generosity is likely sincere, but it took getting cancer before this man who has experienced a lifetime of wealth and privilege could make a strong connection with a cause of widespread suffering and fear. Before then, as I understand it, he donated to cultural things that folks like himself liked but most could not afford. I may be wrong, but that’s my take.
El Cid
@Gus diZerega: These residents are poor, elderly, and heavily minority in a polluted burned out area, and the bridge that would come to their area would interrupt a monopoly on duty-free fuel sales by the existing bridge’s owner.
They hate these people. They see them as worthless, as stupid, as easily duped morons, as herd animals to be led.
Given that any millionaire can hire up some group like AFP or similar to gather minions to go out and do work in his interest and think they’re doing it for freedom and individual entrepreneurialism, I guess these AFP people know herd animal behavior pretty well.
dr. luba
Re the AMbassador Bridge, per Wkipedia, “It is the busiest international border crossing in North America in terms of trade volume: more than 25 percent of all merchandise trade between the United States and Canada crosses the bridge.”
I have also read that the tolls charged are the highest anywhere on the US border.
The bridge connects directly to freeways on the US side; on the Canadian, it dumps traffic onto Windsor city streets. The Canadians want to build a second bridge further downriver to divert traffic onto Highway 401; Maroun wants to build a second span right next to the first, and mess up Windsor traffic even more.
The Canadians have offered Michigan a deal which would pay our share of the costs of building a new bridge from tolls collected (i.e. no cost to us). Maroun and his henchman have been fighting this tooth and nail.
FWIW, Maround is the same jerk who has allowed Michigan Central station to rot.
El Cid
@Gus diZerega:
A ha! I think I know the relevant moderation trigger phrase here!
These residents are poor, elderly, and heavily minority in a polluted burned out area, and the bridge that would come to their area would interrupt a monopoly on dooty-free fuel sales by the existing bridge’s owner.
They hate these people. They see them as worthless, as stupid, as easily duped morons, as herd animals to be led.
Given that any millionaire can hire up some group like AFP or similar to gather minions to go out and do work in his interest and think they’re doing it for freedom and individual entrepreneurialism, I guess these AFP people know herd animal behavior pretty well.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@ArchPundit:
Not quite.
It was a private enterprise all along. Detroit’s charter didn’t allow for it to build/own an international bridge in the 1920s, so a private group that wanted to build it sunk the initial moorings as the city government was duking it out. Congress, seeing that the moorings were sunk, approved the proposal.
There have been periods where the ownership has been contested, but the parties directly involved have never included the city of Detroit.
asiangrrlMN
@rikyrah: Yes. This. And evil. Pure evil.
hells littlest angel
What the hell is wrong with these people?
I believe the scientific explanation is that they’re rotten motherfuckers.
Cerberus
Huh, seems like passive-aggressive terrorism to me.
Oh, hey, we just happen to be the mouthpieces for all those banks that just happen and we’re just so worried about what will happen if we don’t get our way, mmm hmm.
And the thing is, the right wing has been getting so much more blatant so much more quickly than usual that I’m not fully convinced that was just snark. I think if these fuckers thought they could get away with it they’d be openly threatening homeowners with foreclosure and “fire insurance” if they didn’t join their jihad against good governance.
Well, that’s not fair…the mafia actually tended to provide something in return for the threats.
Cliff in NH
Fixt
http://thinkprogress.org/report/koch-oil-speculation/
AAA Bonds
@Zifnab:
Go back and read what I wrote. It’s only one sentence, just let your eyes travel all the way to the period at the end.
Joe Lisboa
Nancy Pfotenhauer: I would call her a Cylon, but that is offensive to fascists. Seriously: die in a fire, lady. You are the problem.
Joe Lisboa
And thanks to all of you setting the record straight on this bullshit. As a Detroiter, this is simply infuriating to me.