In May 2019, Michigan Representative Larry Inman (R-104, Williamsburg) was indicted for extortion, bribery, and lying to the FBI.
Inman denies all wrongdoing.
In August 2019, the Michigan House voted 98-8 to call for Inman’s resignation.
As of October 15, Inman has not resigned. Accused and indicted on multiple felonies, he refuses to leave his seat.
His case has gone to a jury trial.
Since the House vote, Inman was removed from committees, removed from the Republican caucus, and his office has been closed while Inman completed treatment for opioid addiction.
Now the people of Northern Michigan have to go to the trouble of recalling their representative so that they can have actual representation in the House.
Progressive organizations are also calling for Inman’s ouster.
Why should the citizens of this House district have to do the right thing when the one person elected to represent their best interests continues to operate for his own ends? The recall, which started September 23, requires 12,000 signatures in 60 days.
Inman should uphold his oath to serve the people of his district and make room for someone who isn’t deceiving them through shady double-dealing and selling his vote to the highest bidder.
Is this where we are now as a nation? No crime is so great that money, power, and/or stature cannot save you from consequences? Is this the result of reality television and personality cults? Are we addicted to the guilty pleasure of the drama, preferring being shocked to being bored?
Aside from the social need for adults to recognize consequences to their actions, life has consequences in other ways. Every action in the physical world has an opposite and equal reaction.
Toddlers engage in outrageous behavior for attention (good or bad attention) because of their raging egos. They do not know how to empathize with anyone else’s emotions. It is foreign to them that anyone else even has emotions.
Inman is refusing to acknowledge that his actions: 1) have any consequences; 2) have negative effects on others. The doctrine of deny, deny, deny seeks to create reality not only for himself but also for his constituents.
He’s also using his addiction as an excuse for his behavior.
I wonder how many convicted felons in Michigan prisons today would like to use the same defense.
This state needs adults in the room who understand that the hallmark of a true public servant is selflessness: doing what’s best for others, not just for oneself; assuming responsibility rather than casting blame.
Rep. Inman is not that adult.
