There was near-total disarray at the Michigan Republican state convention in Lansing, this week. Republicans for Trump and virulently against; Christian-conservatives vs libertarian-liberals; those for war in the mid-east and against. I was proud to serve as a delegate amid the chaos, taking comfort in owning a piece the madness. We managed to pick delegates to the RNC convention in Cleveland, and managed to pass two resolutions, one in favor of Israel and one in favor of the 10th amendment — state’s rights.

At first glance, support for the 10th amendment seems superfluous, it’s already part of the constitution, and doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. What did the assembled accomplish by voting for the 10th? Perhaps it addressed the contentiousness of the convention. Each of the many groups here wanted something, and few would get it. Support of the 10th, in a sense, promoted all of them, without supporting any explicitly. The 10th guarantees states’ rights over anything that isn’t directly in the constitution or other amendments. That leaves the door open for the committed in our state to challenge or change most federal law if we had a mind to and support in Lansing.

The Christian conservatives want to challenge abortion and same-sex marriage, while the libertarians would like to expand them; support of the 10th is support for both sides here. Libertarian Republicans want looser marijuana laws, shorter jail sentences and higher speed limits. Law ‘n order Republicans want the opposite. Support of the 10th supports both. Then there is the squabbling between conservatives and business Republicans. I enjoyed it all. Angry as it got, and see it as Democracy in action. The end result, I think, is sound if messy. There is also our unfortunate tendency to look silly and lose elections. Supporting the 10th gets the mental juices flowing, but it doesn’t solve any real arguments nor get anyone elected.

Gravity dam along the red cedar river. It adds retention, stops floods, and looks nice.

I ran for water commissioner of Oakland county, and as a result I’m on the MI Republican executive committee, a board with no power beyond the right to propose contentious, state-rights proposals. I could do something pointless, like ask the GOP to support a change of the state bird from the robin to the turkey. Or I could try to end daylight savings time so that Michigan would be on New York time in winter and Chicago time in the summer. Not totally pointless: we’d avoid the jet-lag feeling every time we change the clock, and we’d avoid the heart attack deaths and a significant loss in productivity. Then again, I could do something normal, like nudge the county to improve flood management, and run again. Or just run my engineering firm, REB Research-hydrogen energy solutions.

Robert Buxbaum February, 2016. I’m a PhD (Princeton *82) and a professional engineer: I taught engineering a Michigan State. When it comes to water, I think I can do a better job than is being done now.