OPINION:
Nearly 400,000 Michigan residents have signed a petition to reel in the executive authorities of their state’s governor, the Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, over her abuse of power under umbrella of coronavirus protections.
Good. She needs the slap-down.
Whitmer has been the face of “I am zee law” style of politicking for months now. Worse, she pretends as if it’s all due to care and concern for the American people on behalf of COVID-19 protections. And worse than that — she acts as if the American people are too stupid to see her pretensions for what they are: pretensions.
She’s shuttered businesses.
She’s closed schools.
She’s forced face masks onto the faces of men, women and children — even when social distancing was easy-peasy to perform.
She’s even reigned supreme over seeds sold to farmers and planters.
“Michigan Bans Many Stores From Selling Seeds, Home Gardening Supplies, Calls Them ’Not Necessary,’” wrote Forbes in April, of one of Whitmer’s many COVID-19-tied executive orders.
The text of the story went like this: “Whitmer ordered all stores larger than 50,000-square feet to cordon off their garden centers and plant nurseries, blocking customers from shopping in those sections through April 30. ’If you’re not buying food or medicine or other essential items, you should not be going to the store,’ Whitmer said when announcing her order.”
How nice. How nice the good governor cares so much about the seed-planters of the state, yes?
Under pressure, she reversed the ban before the April 30 date.
But the fact a governor would even see fit to issue such a ban in the first place speaks volumes. It says, in essence: I’m smart. You’re not. Listen to me. Do as you’re told without question.
Not a good look for a public servant, is it?
And more than 400,000 “Unlock Michigan” voters say enough’s enough. They’re petitioning the Republican-controlled legislature to repeal a 1945 law that would dramatically limit what their governor could do without legislative approval during declarations of emergency.
“No one should think that allowing a politician to have unlimited power for an unlimited duration is a good idea,” said one spokesperson for “Unlock Michigan” to The Associated Press.
That’s a fact, Jack.
But Whitmer’s not going down without a fight.
“Each governor since 1945 has had these same powers, and I’m going to fight to make sure that every governor after me has these powers if, God forbid, they find themselves in a situation where they have to be used,” Whitmer defiantly told the AP.
Well, the voters will have the final word, won’t they?
Just as the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution limiting the president to two terms came about because of the overreach of Franklin D. Roosevelt — who broke with American tradition and ran for a third term — so, too, very likely will come the smack-down to governors in Michigan for the foreseeable future.
And they’ll have the tyrannical Whitmer to thank for it.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter by clicking HERE.
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