Cheney visits town -- quietly (Ann Arbor, MI)

[Cocoa]

who's Big Time hiding from?

http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-9/1086430438327060.xml

<snip>

Dick Cheney slipped in and out of town Tuesday afternoon but why the vice president was in Ann Arbor appears to be one of best kept secrets around.

The visit late Tuesday was not announced to the news media or posted on Cheney's itinerary on the White House Web site, yet three local police agencies provided security for his motorcade from Willow Run Airport to Ann Arbor Township from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Members of the vice president's family also toured the popular Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum.

A Detroit radio station reported its traffic helicopter was prohibited from entering Washtenaw County airspace Tuesday while the motorcade was en route.

The nature of Cheney's visit remains unknown, but it appeared to be private since no one promoted any campaign events locally and not even party officials were aware of his visit.

more...

[asjr]

1. There are ducks in Ann Arbor.

[last1standing]

2. And one of the best hospitals in the world. n/t

[Bozita]

5. That was my thought too.

[Dover]

16. Yep, maybe so. His family was with him

touring the "hands off" museum. Seems an unlikely site seeing stop.

[Bozita]

19. The museum is less than a mile from the hospital

walking distance

[VolcanoJen]

11. lmfao, asjr!

"There are ducks in Ann Arbor."

[salin]

3. Not a terribly welcoming place for ole Dick.

After the second presidential debate in 1992, held in Lansing, Michigan President Bush (sr) held a rally in East Lansing (home of Michigan State), and Governor Clinton held a rally in Ann Arbor. I was in a VIP section (was on the board of a local organization that received some passes) that was cordoned off to the side of the speakers. The crowd, if I recall, was expected to be about 5,000 but ended up being more than 10,000. The big players each spoke: Gov. Blanchard, Senator Levin, Senator Riegle (who got boos - this was just after the Keating Seven involvement ended his political career), then... Clinton - absolutely mesmorizing but very hoarse - so he spoke relatively briefly - but Hillary spoke much more at length - and she was just as strong with the crowd as he had been.

I have had the opportunity to hear each speak in California at seperate events (he, during his reeletion campaign, her - stumping for Senator Boxer in 1998). They are great speakers. But the thing was - I believe there was very little pre-press about the event in Ann Arbor ... but the turnout was huge. There were continual fears that people in the crowd would get crushed as the much larger than expected crowd kept pushing forward (and was continually reminded to step back a bit to give people room.)

Unless things have changed dramatically in Ann Arbor - this is definitely NOT Cheney country. But there are a few very wealthy GOP contributer types (think: Tom Monighan - former owner of Dominos who started up his own Catholic Law School - to train lawyers more on catholic theology as a basis for law than on the constitution... ) My bet - Cheney trying to ramp up some big bucks but avoid the real people (again) to avoid the embarassment of a huge anti turnout in one of the swing states.

[Tellurian]

9. Interesting you're mentioning Tom Monighan after discovering this site

http://www.papalreich.com/

Where the developing hypothesis is the world will be ruled by religions rather than nations. Sounds pretty dangerous to me..

Do you have anything more on Monighan?

[salin]

18. Just working from memory

I lived in that area in the early 1990s. He still owned Dominos and was known to fund far religious right organizations (kind of like the Coors family.) What follows is from my memory from local news coverage circa 1992/93 (it was in the planning stages when I left - but I think opened a number of years later... and - I may have read that the "law school" was being relocated - maybe somewhere in Florida?) He decided that law schools were too secular - and decided to found a law school that trained lawyers to think along the lines of Catholic Theology - contending that this was not in opposition to the Constitution. It was really odd. Haven't heard much about Tom since I left Ann Arbor - and since he sold Dominos - though I haven't eaten a Dominos pizza in more than 12 years (more due to my taste towards pizza which thinks dominos is awful, but in part due to not wanting my dollars to filter back to him - though it no longer would since he sold out a while ago.)

Might be worth trying google with his name (I think I am spelling it correctly) dominos pizza and law school.


Interesting about that book - the contact info (fax number) is local (to where I live) ...

[salin]

20. Found this old Detroit News item

http://www.detnews.com/1999/religion/9905/21/05220013.htm

includes some quotes:

family: "I would hope that more mothers would stay at home with their kids. I think the greatest luxury you can give a kid is a full time mother. I think we need stricter divorce laws. It takes two people to get married and only one to get a divorce.Marriage should be permanent, for better or for worse."

and

Abortion: "I am hoping that with education, the pro abortion people can no longer say life doesn't begin at conception. This country is committing a million and a half murders a year. If I were God I would send another flood."

Charming - eh. Back then (article was written in 1998) he claims not to be a democrat nor a republican - just a pro lifer. Might just be appropriate for a role in that book.

[Bozita]

21. Clarence Thomas (SCOTUS) spoke at the Ave Maria Law School for 50 grads

http://www.freep.com/news/education/clar17_20040517.htm

Thomas tells law grads at Ave Maria to use principles


May 17, 2004

ASSOCIATED PRESS

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas told students graduating from Ave Maria School of Law on Sunday to make decisions by principle first and told them never to quit.

In a commencement speech for the conservative Catholic school, Thomas said his initial difficulty finding a job in his native Georgia after graduating from Yale Law School eventually put him on the path to the nation's highest court.

"I retained all those rejection letters in my basement," Thomas told a crowd of hundreds at Frederic H. Pease Auditorium.

He said he persevered without complaint, crediting that work ethic to his grandparents, who helped raise him after his family home burned down when he was 6.

more...



photo of Monaghan and Clarence Thomas and more here:

http://www.detnews.com/2004/metro/0405/17/c01-154909.htm

Tom Monaghan, former owner of Domino’s Pizza and founder of the ultraconservative Catholic law school in 1999, called on the school’s second graduating class to be “spiritual warriors.”

“With what you’ve been given here at Ave Maria School of Law, you’re obligated to get off the sidelines,” Monaghan said.

more...

[Tellurian]

28. Good lead, Bozita..

thanks for posting it-

Going to read up on Ave Maria School of Law..

your input is greatly appreciated..

[T Bone]

33. Ave Maria University ?

so is 'Ave Maria' also their sports' teams fight song?

[Tellurian]

27. Thanks salin for sharing your personal history with us...

To me it is very disturbing thinking about the prospect of religion transcending the separation of church and state. Bush has set the example and from what we've seen so far, the consequences can be devastating to the intent of the Constitution and our Bill of Rights.


There is much on Monaghan at google and will require some serious reading sifting through his philosophy determining what his aims and goals represent. Then verifying if there is any correlation between the fictional novel Papal Reich and Monaghan's school of thought running directly to the Papacy in Rome as a strategic player in the New World Order's alignment of governance by religious law rather than the law ruling sovereign nations.

This link seems to be a decent initial outline of his biography:

http://www.ad2000.com.au/articles/2000/feb2000p13_21.html

Thanks again for sharing..

[Bozita]

29. Any look at Monaghan should include a peek at Opus Dei

The secret Catholic society. Partial results of a google search on the pair:


OSS.Net, Inc. Home Page
... This University, associated with Opus Dei, could reasonably be expected to serve as a ... The founder of Ave Maria, Tom Monaghan, is better known as the founder of ...
www.oss.net/extra/news/?id=734 - 23k - Cached - Similar pages

Boston.com / News / Boston Globe / Magazine / The Crusaders
... In 1982, the pope raised the stature of Opus Dei by declaring it to be a ... In the United States, Catholic laymen like Tom Monaghan, the millionaire founder of ...
www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/ articles/2003/11/02/the_crusaders/ - 56k - Cached - Similar pages

Priorities & Frivolities: The Vast Right-Wing <em>Catholic</em> ...
... Most notably, Opus Dei's stated mission concerns the sanctification of work ... for instance, do the likes of Domino's Pizza founder Tom Monaghan, papal biographer ...
www.tagorda.com/archives/001955.php - 13k - Cached - Similar pages

Domino's CEO uses company funds to finance cult
... Tom Monaghan, Domino's sole owner, supports both economically and ideologically anti-choice ... with groups such as Spirit of the Sword, Opus Dei, and the Knights ...
www-tech.mit.edu/Issue/V111/N18/birnby.18o.html - 5k - Cached - Similar pages

Faithful Single Catholics Meet and Marry at AveMariaSingles.com!
... C. John McCloskey, III, STD Priest of the Prelature of Opus Dei, Head of ... Tom Monaghan, Founder of Domino's Pizza, Founder of Ave Maria Foundation To date, (4 ...
www.avemariasingles.com/ Prominent-Catholics-appreciate-Ave-Maria-Singles.cfm - 24k - Jun 3, 2004 - Cached - Similar pages

PAPAL POLITICS AND WOMEN by Ann Pettifer
... One major investor, Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino’s Pizza, has long promoted the Pope’s agenda. Opus Dei’s imprint will be inevitable, given its ...
www.population-security.org/pett-98-10.htm - 41k - Cached - Similar pages

[Tellurian]

34. On a preliminary examination...

Monaghan is an extremist with a Right Wing agenda..

Reading the link Politics and Women.

These paragraphs just about say it all.

"While programming will target the 70 million U.S. Catholics, the audience is also expected to include those on the Protestant and Orthodox Christian right. The operation will be professional: slick and well-funded. One major investor, Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino’s Pizza, has long promoted the Pope’s agenda. Opus Dei’s imprint will be inevitable, given its experience in print and broadcast journalism around the world, and its control of Vatican media. Morning and evening, these shows will stay on message. The drumbeat of propaganda against contraception, reproductive choice, and sensible sex education will be incessant.

In his epilogue to Their Kingdom Come, Robert Hutchison wrote that Opus Dei’s drive to dominate the Roman Catholic Church “is of a determination not seen since the Counter Reformation.. . . This makes its existence a matter of concern to everyone, whether the holder of a Catholic baptismal certificate or a simple pedestrian in the secular city.” (Hutchison also reports that Opus Dei has been accused of financing anti-abortion commandos during the 1990s here in the US.)

There are increasingly well-organized dissident groups within the Roman Catholic Church--two such are the Call to Action and Catholics for a Free Choice, mentioned at the beginning of this essay. They are challenging Vatican dogma on several fronts, demanding the ordination of women, an end to priestly celibacy, and a reversal of the sanction against artificial contraception. But these folk are no match for the forces arrayed on the other side.

Rome is intimidating and will clobber the faithful opposition with the formidable sanctions at its disposal, including excommunication, which a bishop in Nebraska has already invoked against members of Call to Action in his diocese. In my judgement, it is going to take a determined political coalition of religious and secular progressives to thwart this aggressive re-assertion of patriarchal ideology."

..Opus Dei is the outside driving force from within the Vatican, moreso than the Pope. I think Pope John knows and understands the gravity of Opus Dei's planned takeover and it is he that is acting as a only buffer standing between the Catholic Church and the full sway of Opus Dei. And basically the reason for the assassination attempt on his life.

It has been predicted, it is the next Pope (already chosen) who will consolidate Opus Dei with the papacy as the fundamental power of the Catholic Church.

Thanks salin, for saving me the trouble of researching. I need not look any further into Monaghan's priciples and purpose. I will purchase the novel "Papal Reich" for a better understanding of how they intend to accomplish their goals, even though the author designates the book fiction, most likely in avoidance of the label "crackpot" in getting her book published.

[Hawkeye-X]

32. Plus..

Domino tastes like horse shit. I religiously avoid it, much like the local piss they call Coors. I prefer Blackjacks or Papous.

[Lefty48197]

22. I was there!

What a great night that was! I was lucky enough to get inside the fence and was very close to the stage during the speeches. You are absolutely right about the threat of being trampled. After the speech, Bubba walked along the front of the crowd shaking hands, and the crowd kept surging forward! I wanted to try and shake his hand, but I was afraid that my 250 lb frame was going to get hurt, so I got the hell out of there. Things were a lot more orderly in Sterling Heights the next week, when I finally got to shake the Big Dog's hand.

[salin]

26. Maybe we crossed paths

getting to or from the venue! It was a great event.

I didn't get the chance to shake his hand either time I saw him speak, but I did get to shake Hillary's at the Boxer fundraiser in 1998. That event was terrific as well. Last minute fundraiser (fears that Boxer might not be able to pull it off) - scheduled days before the election - pulled together in a couple of days. Sold out quickly - filled up a ballroom at a SF hotel, and they had to create a second "spillover" ballroom which would have audio piped in from the main event so we could hear the speakers. The second room was completely full as well. Speaking were Boxer, Clinton, and local Congressional reps (including, I believe, Pelosi.)

After the speeches were finished the speakers came into the spillover room, ostensibly to shake hands. But instead they came up front to give speeches - but since we had heard the prepared speeches - they each "winged it". Phenomenal energy that I hadn't seen since that speech in Ann Arbor (maybe even more?) and which I haven't seen... until recently.

Doubt they are getting any of that kind of energy going at Cheney or Bush crowds.

[llmart]

30. To both of you...

My husband, my daughter and myself all got to shake hands with him in Sterling Heights! I'll never forget it. I wouldn't walk across the street to even see *.

[diamond14]

4. cheney grabbed a bunch of money from the pharmaceutical companies

that SURROUND the University of Michigan, with their new 'Merill Dow' Chemistry Building....


DOW Chemistry building...brought to you by Dow Chemical Corporation

[Lefty48197]

23. There's a big Pfizer complex in Ann Arbor

maybe Cheney stopped in to pick up a check? ...or a bag full of cash?

[Tellurian]

6. Quiet visit-- out of fear thousands of protesters showing up to meet

and greet him...hahaha!

[TahitiNut]

7. Willow Run? Avoiding even Detroit Metro?

Harkening back to WW2 days? That's telling. (Yes, I remember that Willow Run was the airport serving the Detroit area prior to Metro ... and recall flying in and out of there on commercial flights in the early 50's.)

[MercutioATC]

8. Depending on where he was going, it might have been closer.

It's certainly lower-profile than DTW or DET.

We bitch when the Prez or Vice shuts down a major airport to fly in. At least he didn't do that.

[TahitiNut]

10. Well, YIP (Willow Run) is about 8 miles closer to Ann Arbor.

:shrug: But its heritage as an aircraft plant during WW2 is interesting.

I guess ARB's 3500' runway 6/24 wasn't good enough for him. He needed YIP's 7500' probably.

[Bozita]

14. They still fly cargo out of Willow Run ... 747's aplenty

certainly suitable for Cheney's ride.

[phoebe]

15. website - strange front "page"

http://www.willowrunairport.com/

[Lefty48197]

24. Clinton flew in and out of Willow Run airport all the time

It' s much easier to secure than Metro airport, it causes far less disruption etc. Finally Cheney did something right.

[pinniped]

12. "Quietly" is the way those jerks do things.

What a bunch of turds.

The last "quietly" thing I read in regards to this POS * misadmin was the "quietly" OKing of the importation of Canadian beef.

It was too late to post this story in LBN:

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/05/20/MNGTF6OMJD1.DTL

U.S. quietly OKs imports of banned Canada beef

Washington Post

Washington -- The Agriculture Department allowed American meatpackers to resume imports of ground and other processed beef from Canada last September, just weeks after it publicly reaffirmed its ban on importing those products because mad cow disease had been found in Canadian cattle.
------
more:

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/05/20/MNGTF6OMJD1.DTL

[booksenkatz]

13. I was wondering what that rancid odor was

I'm over here in Canton... still trying to air out the house, peeeee-yoooooo! Keep that Repub stench in the RED STATES, why don'tcha!?

[Robbien]

17. Seems Cheney did a quick stop in Grand Rapids for a Police meeting

http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-15/108643071419150.xml

Ha, but the meeting wasn't quiet enough, there were also people there to protest:

Outside the Amway, a small crowd of protesters stood at the corner of Pearl Street and Monroe Avenue as Cheney spoke.

"I'm opposed to the war," said Katherine Marty, 22, as she held a sign that read: "Stop the Corporate War Crimes -- Arrest Cheney."

Marty said she opposes just about everything the Bush administration has done since in office.

"I can point to no single initiative that they have put forward that hasn't ended in disaster," Marty said.

[Lefty48197]

25. Raymond Tanter is a big fund raiser for the GOP around here

Robert Teeter too. Cheney may have stopped in to pick up big bags of money from them too.

[llmart]

31. It had to be secret...

Ann Arbor is where all the anti-bush protests are held and they are huge.