In a typical election year, incumbents pound the lectern bragging about the successful policies they believe will earn them reelection. It is one of the advantages of incumbency. They can brag about what they have done while their opponents can only tell us what they plan on doing. In a typical election year that can spell the difference in victory and defeat. This is not a typical election year. Especially in the state of Michigan.
As an “elderly” life-long resident of Michigan, I can state first hand this election cycle is anything but typical. In no time in my life has one political party, in charge of all three levers of power, so completely misread the needs of the American people. After the 2020 election Democrats took control of the White House, the House of Representatives, and the Senate. That is effectively a stranglehold on governmental power. Never has one political party so completely mismanaged the country so as to put the majority of Americans in harms way. And they accomplished that feat in less than 2 years!
It took the efforts of the entire Democrat Party to screw up the greatest nation on earth in 2 years. Michigan Governor, Gretchen Whitmer, set out to prove she could duplicate that Leviathan effort in Michigan. She has proven to be up to the challenge. To be fair, it did take her 4 years instead of 2. That is largely because she had to deal with a Republican legislature. But then one doesn’t need a complicit legislature when Executive Orders, edicts, and emergency powers are available. The legality of those options did nothing to dissuade her. When the Court’s said her actions were unconstitutional she merely found loopholes to continue her autocratic rule.
That Whitmer follows the lead of President Biden and the Democrat Party should come as no surprise. Remember that she was on the short list of those considered as potential Vice Presidential candidates. Had she been black and Hispanic and lesbian and trans she would have checked more minority boxes than Kamala Harris. She would have gained a leg up on Harris in the V.P. lottery. But the first straight, white, female, V.P. candidate had already been tried when Geraldine Ferraro was named such in 1984. Had she received the V.P. nod Michigan would have avoided the last 2 years of Whitmer’s failed policies. Too bad for Michigan.
So let’s take a few minutes and review Governor Whitmer’s failures during her first 4 years. Her number 1 campaign promise 4 years ago was: “Fix the damn roads”. She has failed miserably. Until a few months ago those driving Michigan’s highways recognize how awful they are. Then, just months before the election, almost magically, construction cones began appearing on what seemed to be every highway in the state. Skeptics might suggest this is more than a coincidence. It doesn’t matter. Our roads are abysmal.
While her failure to complete her number 1 promise is bad, her handling of the COVID pandemic was worse. According to Center Square, a conservative leaning on-line news organization, through September of 2020, 32% of Michigan businesses were closed due to the pandemic lockdown. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the average for the 50 states was 19%. As of March of 2021 there were 35% fewer businesses in operation in Michigan than in January of 2020. That placed Michigan number 1 in the U.S. for business closures. Not the kind of thing Michiganians would like to be chanting, we’re number 1 about. The only single digit raised was that of Whitmer giving the middle finger to our small business owners. We must be careful not to allow statistics to mask the fact that every closed business represents the hopes and dreams of Michigan citizens. Tens of thousands of our friends, family, and neighbors, lost their life savings when they were forced to shutter their businesses. To get started a lot of small business entrepreneurs borrow money against their homes, run up large credit card debt, and surrender their 401(k)s. When Whitmer’s lockdown went into its second year, many of them lost everything. With the stroke of her pen countless dreams were crushed. Those who fought her illegal lockdown were bullied, harassed, fined, and arrested. Ultimately the Courts found in favor of small businesses. Sadly, it was too late for the vast majority of them.
Her inability/unwillingness to fix the roads is disgraceful and her crushing the dreams of her constituents with draconian lockdowns was cruel. But her mandates and edicts involving elderly COVID patients is criminal. We’ll never know how many senior citizens died needlessly because of Whitmer’s ruthless mandates. It is not a reach to say there were multiple thousands. Long after the world knew that seniors were the most susceptible to dying at the hands of the virus, Michigan’s seniors were being forced into elder facilities. There were only 5 governors in the U.S. who chose to force nursing homes and elder care facilities to admit, or readmit, patients who had COVID. They were all Democrats and Whitmer was one of them. As if that wasn’t enough she used her emergency powers, later ruled unconstitutional by the Michigan Supreme Court, to keep family members from visiting their dying relatives. It may not have happened to anyone in your family. Imagine your mom was suffering from dementia and was dying in a nursing home. No matter how well staff explained the mandated lockdown to your mom she couldn’t understand why you and other family members weren’t visiting. Whitmer’s mandates forced your mom to die alone. (This is as good a time as any to remind you that during this lockdown Whitmer broke her own travel ban to go to Florida and take care of her ailing father)! This is beyond sad. It is tragic and unforgiveable.
I could list many other failings of her tenure, not the least of which is the perhaps irreversible damage her school closings caused to our children. In her debate with Tudor Dixon, Whitmer claimed our schools were only closed for 90 days. Parents know that to be a bald faced lie. We didn’t know how ruthless/useless Whitmer was when we elected her in 2018. Now we do. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. She has punished the people of Michigan for 4 years. She has done absolutely nothing to earn reelection. If the people of Michigan reelect Whitmer to a second term we deserve everything we get.
If you agree with my blog please be sure to share it with everyone who may still be undecided. Thank you, Bob
Vote NO on proposals 1,2, and 3. If you have read the complete proposals, you will find that the “Headline Issues” are just the tip of the iceberg—-there are hidden changes that are really wrong for all of us.
Frank,
That is exactly how I voted. Bob
Bob, you cannot be “elderly” because that puts me at the precipice of that kind of sad word. Just sayin’.
As expected, your article is right on.
The best thing we can do no later than next Tuesday is VOTE RED and make sure our similarly minded friends do likewise. I have historically split my ticket, most often finding a democrat worthy of my vote. Not this year. I voted straight Republican and I’m proud of it. We must restore sanity to our country.
Vicki,
I have never voted a straight ticket in my life. I did this year. I know there are good Democrats out there but too many of them are defaulting to the party position. I fear this may be our last best chance to preserve some of our freedoms. But the election is only the first step to saving our country. Step two will be to hold the Republican’s feet to the fire after the election. A promise is worthless if it is not kept. Bob
Again, your article is right on target