Only the governor between me and the virus

Ah, Michigan. I’ve just enjoyed two days of sunshine and highs above 60F. The weekend is to be even warmer. I would have been on my bicycle but decided it was too windy. The trees are showing color, though still a ways from their peak. After my walks on the last couple days I sat on my porch with a book. Quite pleasant. Ah, Michigan. The state was hit hard by the coronavirus in March with over 1500 cases a day and, in April, deaths hitting 160 a day. I’ve been downloading the state’s official case and death tally every week. Both cases and deaths per day dropped by early June, with 300 cases a day and deaths down to 15 a day. We can attribute those drops to our governor Gretchen Whitmer mandating closing of non essential public places and the use of face masks. The GOP, which controls both parts of the state legislature were quite annoyed. But Whitmer has renewed her mandate every four weeks since March, though she has been allowing certain types of businesses to reopen – next is movie theaters at limited capacity. Those steps to reopen do show up in the case data. Starting about the last week of June the number of cases per day jumped to a range of 450-750 and stayed there with some days up to 900. Thankfully the number of deaths per day has remained low, under 15 a day, though there was a small rise to mid August and a drop since then. The GOP leaders of the legislature filed suit against Whitmer’s use of executive orders. The suit is before a state Court of Appeals, which asked the state Supreme Court for an advisory ruling. The Supremes, currently with a conservative majority, ruled the law on which the executive orders are based violates the state constitution. The legislature isn’t allowed to cede power to the governor. Since the ruling is advice to a lower court it doesn’t have immediate effect – well, that’s what Whitmer says. GOP leaders disagree. In the meantime, she is scrambling to find other laws that will allow her to mandate measures to keep citizens safe. Yeah, I get that such a law allows the governor to act in an emergency because a governor can act more quickly than a legislature can. The law is written so that such orders can be in effect for only a month, which should give the legislature a chance to catch up. But this legislature, because it is controlled by the GOP, is refusing to act. At times it feels like the only thing between me and the virus is our governor. In the background a campaign collected enough signatures to ask the legislature to overturn that same law. They turned in way more signatures than needed. Once the signatures are verified the legislature can ratify the proposal language. If they don’t it goes on the ballot. If they do, the state constitution says the governor does not have the ability to veto. In a sharply divided state where the legislature and governor are from different parties this is a way of getting a law passed while avoiding a veto. They tried doing that for an abortion ban, though I think it failed because of too many duplicate signatures. Ah, Michigan. Back in May a militia protested on the Capitol steps. They were responding to a nasty guy tweet to “Liberate Michigan!” A while later armed men entered the Capitol and went to the Senate gallery as a show of intimidation. Democratic lawmakers called the Capitol Commission, which runs the building, to ban firearms. When they met, more than a month later, they said they didn’t have the money for the detectors needed to enforce a ban. So there is no ban. The GOP didn’t jump in to offer the money because they were pretty confident armed men in the gallery wouldn’t be shooting at them. It appears those efforts weren’t just a show of force. Today the FBI revealed that they captured the members of a plot to kidnap the tyrant Whitmer, try her for treason, and perhaps murder her. The plans were elaborate and included training exercises. Thankfully, one of the group was an informer and recorded their meetings. The rattled Whitmer held a press conference. From a Michigan Advance article by CJ Moore:

“So let me say this loud and clear: Hatred, bigotry and violence have no place in the great state of Michigan,” Whitmer said. “If you break the law or conspire to commit heinous acts of violence against anyone. We will find you. We will hold you accountable, and we will bring you to justice.” Leaders who refuse to condemn white supremacists and hate groups legitimize those groups’ actions, Whitmer said. She referenced President Donald Trump’s refusal to outright condemn white supremacists during the Sept. 29 presidential debate. “‘Stand back and stand by,’ he told them. ‘Stand back, and stand by.’ Hate groups heard the president’s words, not as a rebuke, but as a rallying cry. As a call to action,” Whitmer said. “When our leaders speak, their words matter. They carry weight.”

The Democratic lawmakers called this terrorism and are again calling for a ban on guns in the Capitol. There was an anti-Whitmer rally at the Capitol today. It wasn’t in support of the terrorists because rally organizers said they condemned violence. Even so, it was a chance for GOP leaders to rail against the governor at the end of a really bad day for her. Ah, Michigan.