Republican lawmakers in Michigan, as well as a growing number of residents, are fed up with Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s use of the coronavirus pandemic to increase her power at the expense of constitutional liberties.
On Thursday, the GOP legislative majority refused to extend Whitmer’s current stay-at-home order and even voted to allow a lawsuit challenging her outsized authority to declare further action.
The moves came as hundreds of liberty-minded activists, including some openly carrying rifles, returned to the state Capitol in Lansing to protest against her order.
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The Associated Press reported:
Whitmer wanted lawmakers to extend her emergency declaration by 28 days. It expires late Thursday. But at the same time, she believes she has other powers to respond to the crisis and does not need a legislatively-approved extension except to ensure that health care workers would continue to have special legal protections. She has said the state of emergency will continue regardless, which Republicans dispute and plan to challenge in court.
As of this writing, Michigan has the seventh-most coronavirus cases in the United States, according to WorldMeters.info. But most of the cases are concentrated in the state’s urban regions, especially Detroit, where there is an international airport that gets a great deal of international travel.
For her part, Whitmer wants to extend the state’s stay-at-home order until May 15, which has already had “a devastating effect on the economy,” the AP notes.
The GOP-led House and Senate passed its measure along party lines, though Whitmer is going to veto it. The measure codifies several of the measures she has put in place but does not authorize an extension. Restaurants could begin dine-in service by on May 16, at which time bars, casinos, gyms, and other places of business and public accommodation would reopen. Those businesses would nevertheless have to practice social-distancing measures until May 30.
Republicans are sick of Whitmer ignoring their input.
“We can no longer allow one person to make decisions for 10 million people,” said Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey of Clarklake.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Lee Chatfield, of Levering, said that while death toll is “terrible,” the lives of most other Michiganders have been “negatively impacted unnecessarily because of how we have handled this pandemic. We believe we you can prioritize public health yet be reasonable in your approach to fighting COVID.”
As Democrats groused inside the Capitol Building, protesters outside took turns addressing the growing crowd as drivers passed by blowing their horns in support, like they did during the last protest April 15.
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The AP noted:
Protesters’ placards read, “Shut down the lockdown,” “No work no freedom,” and “Tyrants get the rope.” Some people wore the “Don’t Tread On Me” flag as a cape. Others chanted, “Lock her up,” in reference to the governor. Some wore President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” hats or carried signs supporting him.
“The virus is here. It’s going to be here. … It’s time to let people go back to work. That’s all there is to it,” Joni George, of Flushing, told the newswire service.
Whitmer has been blasted for her goofy, increasingly tyrannical orders keeping Michigan business shut down, as Tucker Carlson of Fox News noted recently.
Also, while Whitmer and Democrats claim the governor has the authority to keep her state locked down, the law — and the Constitution — may be on the side of Republicans. Attorney General William Barr has said the Justice Department stands ready to intervene against states seen as being overly authoritarian.
Maybe Michigan will be DoJ’s first case.
