Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough from "Morning Joe"
4:57 PM: The mayoral debate event begins at 5:00, but the debate itself begins at 5:30. We'll be live then.
2:33 PM: And so concludes the Morning Joe portion of the program. We'll be back at 5:00 PM to live blog the mayoral debate.
2:30 PM: Morning Joe will be in Detroit, probably next week.
2:29 PM: Sean Hannity, Michele Bachmann, Allen West, Ted Cruz, et al are playing roles in the Conservative-Entertainment Complex says Scarborough.
2:26 PM: Infrastructure spending is an investment in our nation's future, says Scarborough. On the federal level, he points out, amount to a very small portion of public spending. He praises Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell's willingness to raise taxes to pay for road improvements.
2:24 PM: Scarborough says Rick Santorum's anti-birth control statements gave his conservative Republican wife pause about whether she could continue voting for this Republican Party. "Our problem is we've forgotten how to win. They've forgotten how to treat people." He said Ronald Reagan was conservative ideologically but had a moderate temperament.
2:21 PM: Devin Scillian: We used to find things that are important and make them interesting. Now we find things that are interesting and try to make them important.
2:18 PM: They are reliving the moment when she burned the Paris Hilton script on air to protest the idea that they should treat Paris Hilton's life as newsworthy. It really was fantastic.
2:16 PM: This thing got really good when Devin Scillian came on stage to conduct the Q&A about ten minutes ago. Scarborough says we've made the mistake of believing/allowing others to portray political opponents as evil.
2:13 PM: When these two get beyond the shtick and old war stories, Scarborough and Brzezinski have some insightful things to say about public policy, the Washington process, and the talk radio/cable news-driven political conversation. "When we didn't dumb it down...viewers came and revenue came." - Scarborough on the Morning Joe style.
2:08 PM: Republicans shouldn't expect that we return to prosperity by cutting infrastructure, scientific research, and education spending, according to Scarborough. He says the GOP needs to stop listening to talk radio hosts and start working with Democrats on public investment while pursuing entitlement reform.
2:04 PM: Scarborough just dropped a big ROLL TIDE and then asked a Notre Dame fan if he, like Manti Teo, has an imaginary girlfriend. Well done, sir.
2:00 PM: Scarborough says enemies of compromise and consensus are Washington's greatest problem.
1:56 PM: Lots of old war stories with the Morning Joe presentation. Scarborough recalls Bill Clinton calling Newt Gingrich on the day of the impeachment vote to talk foreign policy. He says a short memory is a key attribute for leadership.
1:43 PM: Apparently, Mika Brzezinski has a low SAT score and that's a subject of great humor within the Brezezinski clan. Clearly that mean Mika Brzezinski is not a successful human being because Michelle Rhee just explained to us that standardized test scores are really important!
1:39 PM: Joe and Mika are very different people but they still get along. And that's why they click with their audience!
1:37 PM: They're making fun of Harold Ford Jr.'s constant presence at Mackinac conferences as part of their fun witty banter to open the show. Shtick!
1:34 PM: Hey, kids! The liveblog is back with Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough, "Morning Joe Comes To Mackinac."
Michelle Rhee
11:49 AM: Rhee says that just because something isn't ideal is no reason not to do it. We should just stop over-thinking these things and just do what Michelle Rhee says we need to do. Over-thinking seems to be defined as any robust debate on a critical issue. Rhee comes across as having a bureaucrat's soul and a bureaucrat's contempt for the dissent and debate that exists in an open society.
11:45 AM: In the post-speech Q&A, Craig Fahle asks her about incentivizing the teach to the test/Atlanta-style gaming the system issues that arises from incentivizing test scores as the primary measure of education. Her answer can be summed up as derp derp morals derp. This is the second time I've accused Rhee of derping but the derp is strong with this one.
11:32 AM: Rhee says too many politicians support education policy for society that they wouldn't support for their own kids. Doesn't that include Rick Snyder's private school educated children and his Skunk Work's "value schools" developed by a failed Indian reservation charter operator and public contractors who aim to profit off the value school model they're crafting? Probably not.
11:28 AM: This entire thing about feelings and self-esteem is one of the most artfully constructed strawmen you'll ever see. Korea ranks kids and China is kicking our butts and blah blah blah. I'm pretty sure that one does not learn the same way a college football team wins a national championship. Ranking kids assumes that learning is a monolithic process, that every kid learns the same way at the same pace, and that somebody wins something at the end of the day. This mindset completely ignores the interconnected nature of economies and societies. There will never be a point where a scoreboard says USA wins, China loses or vice versa. The US and China are trading partners. This is a symbiotic relationship. It's embarrassing to see so many seemingly smart people fall for such vapid rhetoric and dumb metaphors.
11:19 AM: To sum up that last couple minutes of Michelle Rhee's presentation in six words it's derp derp 'Merica is soft derp. I don't know what America these well-groomed, privileged Babbitts live, but I'm pretty confident that most Americans haven't gone soft. It's an insulting and bogus canard.
11:17 AM: Rhee says every classroom needs a "highly-effective" teacher in every classroom and the way to do that is merit pay. And that's cool, but how do we define merit and achievement. We should have that conversation at some point.
11:11 AM: Rhee: We must honor the teaching profession. Jon Stewart, any thoughts on this?
11:05 AM: We're about to move on to Michelle Rhee, she of education reform fame.
Entrepreneurship Panel
11:03 AM: One thing we don't need is another non-profit. - Carla Walker-Miller. She's actually praising Detroit's non-profit community and says entrepreneurs and business owners looking to help the community shouldn't reinvent the wheel and work with existing institutions. Fair or not, I don't people think of Detroit entrepreneurship (cough White Detroit Entrepreneur Guy cough) they don't often think of an African-American woman running an energy business, but Walker-Miller should be/could be the face of Detroit entrepreneurship. I've sat through so many of these Detroit start-up panel things over the years and she's easily the most impressive participant I've seen at these things. There's no naval gazing or self-satisfaction from her, just plain talk about what her business does and how new businesses can benefit Detroit.
10:49 AM: Carla Walker-Miller is really impressive. She's calling on established businesses and older entrepreneurs to reach out and mentor aspiring business owners.
10:47 AM: Dave Egner says the media doesn't cover entrepreneurship in Detroit. Does he read or watch anything? I just spend five seconds on Google to discover the stories listed below about Detroit entrepreneurship. In fact, searching Detroit entrepreneurs in Google News yields 16,000 results.
http://dailynightly.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/30/17988877-entrepreneurs-find-success-in-detroit?lite
http://www.fastcompany.com/3007840/creative-conversations/how-young-community-entrepreneurs-rebuilding-detroit
http://www.npr.org/2013/05/13/176659544/an-entrepreneurial-seedling-sprouts-in-detroit
http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/05/30/michigans-urc-alumni-becoming-entrepreneurs-at-twice-the-national-rate/
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20130513/BLOG108/130519966/ingredients-of-successful-entrepreneurs-10-things-to-know
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130417/METRO01/304170354
10:44 AM: Carla Walker-Miller says the entrepreneurial community needs to do a better job making sure that everyone--she uses the phrase "the least of these"--are aware of the opportunities and support available to them. Great point.
10:42 AM: "I say we're Detroit Labs and people ask where are you located?" - Paul Glomski
10:38 AM: Carla Walker-Miller, President and CEO, Walker-Miller Energy Services, says her company makes a concerted effort to recruit employees from Detroit-proper. "It takes a little bit of work, but it's worth it."
10:35 AM: Jacques Panis of the watch maker Shinola says his company builds engines. Tiny quartz engines. It's kind of an interesting/odd way to think about a watch. Is it's a valid description? I'd love to hear engineers weigh in.
10:31 AM: Caitlin James from DROUGHT, a raw juice producer, says Michigan's agricultural output is a huge asset to entrepreneurs launching food businesses.
10:22 AM: We're at the "Encouraging Entrepreneurship: The Catalyst for Continued Economic Growth in Michigan" featuring Paul Glomski, Co-Founder and CEO, Detroit Labs, Caitlin James, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, DROUGHT, Jacques Panis, Director of Business Development and Strategic Partnership, Shinola, Carla Walker-Miller, President and CEO, Walker-Miller Energy Services, LLC and moderated by Hudson-Weber's Dave Egner.
10:00 AM: Good morning! The Deadline Detroit Mackinac Policy Conference is back. A panel on entrepreneurship is set to begin in about 15 minutes. In the meantime, someone asked on our Facebook page over the weekend if there was a public list of conference attendees available. The Chamber releases that list to attendees, including those of us in the media, so I'm making an executive decision to make that list public to everyone else.
