Quote Originally Posted by gnome View Post
Well Kraig, let me unpack this for you.

If the protest was held in Dimondale or Livonia or Petoskey one could rightfully assert that it was so much hollering by a group of uninformed cranks. My grandfather would have said that they were pissing in the wind if the gathering had taken place somewhere other than where it did.

Likewise, if the press had not covered the event, it would have been like a tree falling in the woods with no one there to see it. No press, no event.

But the event shut down an international border. The press did cover it. It did happen and it happened with the promise that it will happen again.

Now, maybe you don't think shutting down an international border is no big deal. The Detroit police, the US Border Patrol and the Wayne County Sheriff think otherwise as they sent upwards of 50 officers.

At issue here is Moroun's refusal to complete the ramps he has previously agreed to build. He promised the people of Michigan to build those ramps so as to create a more effcient and effective international crossing. The people of Michigan agreed help him in meeting that goal by investing millions of dollars by redesigning I-75 and building the Gateway project.

This Gateway Project would get semi-trucks off of city streets and out of the surrounding neighborhoods. Quality of life would be enhanced, ease of commerce would translate into increased economic activity and everyone would win.

But the Moroun family has decided they do not want to honor their commitments. They have not built their part of the project and the result is that international trade is being stymied, trucks are driving pass homes and quality of life is diminshed.

Now, I have not mentioned the ceasing of a city park, a city street, defying a court order or anything not related to Moroun not honoring his previous agreements.

If Moroun does not want his bridge shut down in the future, I suggest he build what needs to be built and then the story will end.

As a side note, I do want to thank Rashida Tlaib, Joe Rashid and the cadre of lawyers who showed up at the event yesterday. Also, I appreciate the police in keeping their powder dry and being a friendly force of reason.
So, in protesting that his unfinishing of the bridge project, which, as you've stated, keeps the trucks on our streets. The protest shut down the international border that those trucks cross. Which, in turn, kept those same trucks on our streets longer than they would have.

Is anyone familiar with the term "defeating the purpose"?