Before I moved to Vermont I lived in Michigan for about twelve years, and it was there that I cast my only vote for a Republican.

The year was 1978 and the candidates for governor were William Milliken, a very moderate, Nelson Rockefeller-style incumbent, and William Fitzgerald, a conservative, Catholic, anti-choice Democrat. Because of the choice issue I voted for Milliken, who won easily, and I've never regretted that vote.

But look at Michigan today. They still have a Republican governor, but it's Rick Snyder, a vicious conservative, and today they pushed through a new anti-woman measure, narrowly defeating a provision to give the bill immediate effect.

The new bill provides that abortion can't be covered by health insurance. A woman who wants coverage for abortion will have to buy that coverage separately. And get this: pregnancy is a pre-existing condition, so you can only buy the coverage before you're pregnant (or before your father raped and impregnated you, say).

 Snyder has appointed an emergency manager for Detroit, and he has praised that manager's attack on retired city workers in his bankruptcy filing. These are terrible times for a once-great state.

By the way, Governor Milliken is still alive and 91 yars old. He supported John Kerry in 2004, endorsed McCain in 2008 but changed his mind after McCain's attacks on Obama, and has said   “Increasingly, the party is moving toward rigidity, and I don't like that. I think Gerald Ford would hold generally the same view I'm holding on the direction of the Republican Party.” He supported Snyder in 2010 but I doubt he would approve of what he's done lately.