April 16, 2020

"For miles, thousands of drivers clogged the streets to demand Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) ease restrictions and allow them to go back to work."

"They drowned downtown Lansing, Mich., in a cacophony of honking. They blared patriotic songs from car radios, waving all sorts of flags from the windows — President Trump flags, American flags and the occasional Confederate flag. But in the massive demonstration against Whitmer’s stay-at-home executive order — which they have argued is excessive and beyond her authority — the pleas from organizers that protesters to stay in their vehicles went unheeded. Many got out of their cars and crashed the front lawn of the capitol building, with some chanting, 'Lock her up!' and 'We will not comply!'" — WaPo reports, with this video:



Background on the strict and confusing order:
Confused shoppers found they could buy liquor and lottery tickets on a trip to the grocery store, but couldn’t visit the vegetable seed aisle or gardening center. The order required large stores to shut down plant nurseries and rope off sections where carpet, flooring and paint were sold, provisions that conservatives found both arbitrary and harmful to business owners.
It would be nice to consider the constructive things people might think of doing when they are confined to their homes. Paint and garden supplies would help people keep a positive outlook and also actually improve homes. If the Governor had observed and listened and tweaked the order when arguments about arbitrariness arose, she would not have been so vulnerable to these charges of "petty authoritarianism."

Meanwhile, WaPo is encouraging its readers to distance themselves from the deplorables who won't follow orders. Confederate flags? Really? The Michiganders who want to plant a vegetable garden are — what? — racists? This is just stoking divisiveness. The enemy is a virus. People need to work together.

377 comments:

1 – 200 of 377   Newer›   Newest»
Dave Begley said...

Whitmer needs to be recalled from office. She'd be the first female governor recalled. Historic.

wendybar said...

Talk about Dictatorships...

Gusty Winds said...

And she's in the running for Biden's VP. Probably to try and take back Michigan. But wow...she's a moron.

Gusty Winds said...

We need more liberal women in power.

Gilbert Pinfold said...

In Pennsylvania, all the state-run liquor/wine stores are closed (the state has a monopoly). Talk about generating a restive population...

Bay Area Guy said...

"This is just stoking divisiveness. The enemy is a virus. People need to work together"

Ok, a second enemy has arisen, and supplanted the first. It is the destruction of these folks' livelihoods. They're not protesting to grow more gardens at the home. They are protesting to return to work to pay their bills and support their families.

Michael K said...

Remember WaPoo and NYT readers have never seen a garden except in a magazine like Architectural Digest.

tcrosse said...

Meanwhile, here in Lav Vegas, Mayor Goodman calls business shutdown ‘total insanity’

I'm Not Sure said...

If the Governor had observed and listened and tweaked the order when arguments about arbitrariness arose, she would not have been so vulnerable to these charges of "petty authoritarianism."

So she blew the opportunity to continue being a petty authoritarian without getting called on it? What a shame.

GatorNavy said...

I have family in Michigan. Good salt of the earth union members and teachers and they think she is just plain nuts. Expect her to be primaried viciously by a Democrat

sykes.1 said...

No, the enemy is the government. When the lockdown is over (if ever), the Great Depression caused by Whitmer and other lunatics will have killed more people than COVID-19.

mockturtle said...

Her orders were unreasonable and quite arbitrary. It was nice to see the people defy them.

Michael said...

The greatest lasting damage to the country from this whole experience may be the empowerment of the nannies, bullies, and mini-Mussolinis among us, in government and elsewhere. It will take an effort to let freedom ring after this.

Ken B said...

This is why I said the protesters made a terrible PR blunder getting out of their cars. If they had stayed in the vehicle this would have been a stinging rebuke to a dreadful governor. By getting out and congregating they give the media these pictures. This is the oldest trick in the playbook, make the protests look bad by concentrating on a few unsympathetic protesters.

Of course I got yelled at and hated on for pointing out this obvious fact.

mockturtle said...

Unfortunately, Whitmer is not up for re-election this year. But a recall might be appropriate.

Bob Boyd said...

I didn't see any confederate flags.
I bet they just made that up.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Limited blogger said...

We are all Michiganders!

Lucid-Ideas said...

Give us back our seeds Whitler!

mockturtle said...

I didn't see any confederate flags.
I bet they just made that up.


Yep. And Trump will be vilified for suggesting that 'some of them are nice people'. ;-)

R C Belaire said...

As a Michigander, I'd be happy to see Whitmer join Biden on the Democratic ticket as long as she resigned as governor first (unlikely, I know). Two birds, one stone, so to say.

Shouting Thomas said...

It would be nice to consider the constructive things people might think of doing when they are confined to their homes.

No, it would be nice to stop taking orders and cease being bullied by your government.

Althouse, please stop counseling us to be serfs.

I'm not going to surrender my civil rights and live under home arrest because I'm afraid.

You do it.

Lucien said...

Now that people know enough not to be fearful they are remembering how pissed off they are. The “experts” failed by indulging their herd mentality of touting systematically biased models — always wrong in the same direction. Now they and the politicians will try to cover it up by systematically inflating the number of COVID19 deaths, knowing it will be years before the true numbers will be sorted out.

Drago said...

This Is What Democracy Looks Like.

#NotMyGovernor

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Whitmer missed her calling. She should have gone into the dominatrix business.

MayBee said...

Whitmer took the opportunity to blame the DeVos family for funding it. With no evidence, and evidence to the contrary. The guy who organized it just took out a Facebook ad and created a Facebook group. I was invited to join, but didn't. The people I know who went have never once mentioned the DeVos family, in all the years I've known them. They are just....people.

rcocean said...

Ah yes, "The occasional Confederate Flag" - I was surprised the left-wing reporter didn't see "The occasional MAGA Hat" or the "Occasional Trump sticker on a Beat up pickup truck with a pickup truck".

Funny how reporters at rallies they like, never see anything divisive.

Drago said...

R C Belaire: "As a Michigander, I'd be happy to see Whitmer join Biden on the Democratic ticket as long as she resigned as governor first (unlikely, I know). Two birds, one stone, so to say."

Biden-Whitmer. An absolute dream ticket for the NeverTrumpers.

The Godfather said...

Bet a lot of Michiganders wish Trump really was in charge of the lockdown.

Limited blogger said...

Why wasn't Antifa protesting the seed ban?

rcocean said...

I assume Whitmer isn't one of the 20 Governors Trump said were "raring" to reopen. Alhtough from looking at the CV stats, the only problem is Detroit.

Shouting Thomas said...

The protesters did the right thing by getting out of their cars and mingling.

They took the risk on themselves. As they should.

The government does not have the right to curtail freedom of assembly. This is a violation of our civil rights.

This is not about PR. There is no PR battle going on here. There is a battle going on between tyrants and their would-be serfs.

We don't need to petition public opinion to exercise our right to freedom of movement and assembly. It's ours and it's God given.

rcocean said...

Fortunately for the protesters the Antifa left-wing thugs couldn't beat them up. They inside their cars!

MayBee said...

One of the worst is disallowing people to go to their own 2nd home in the state. Some people have luxurious homes in Traverse City, but a lot of people have just little lake side or lake area get aways. They can get there without getting in anyone else's way. But she made that illegal. The people who bother me are the people who declare she is just trying to keep us safe, and questioning it is bad.

Drago said...

Ken B: "Of course I got yelled at and hated on for pointing out this obvious fact."

You should have stayed in your Canadian "lane" and not gotten out of your "rhetorical" vehicle to offer up unsympathetic commentary to those who are not willing serfs like most Canadians under the boot (pronounced funny-like...) of the Boy King.

Ice Nine said...

>>"American flags and the occasional Confederate flag."<<

So I watched the entire video - a Washington Post video - and saw not a single Confederate flag. The WaPo would not have been all over a Reb flag if there were one? I call flaming bullshit on WaPo. Would we expect less?

CJinPA said...

...provisions that conservatives found both arbitrary and harmful to business owners.

The old media game: Republican officeholders face "critics." Democrats face "conservative" critics. The warning label is always applied.

I don't doubt most of those involved in this protest could be described as "conservative." But I can say with certainty that, nationwide, critics of the shutdowns run across the ideological spectrum. The breakdown isn't Left/Right, but Allowed to Work/Not Allowed to Work.

RK said...

Michiganders who want to plant a vegetable garden are — what? — racists?

WaPo reporters are hate propagandists.

Ken B said...

Here's a confederate flag with a rifle and a slogan on it

https://www.michiganadvance.com/2020/04/15/whitmer-stay-home-order-protest-turns-into-trump-celebration-with-confederate-flags-and-guns/

So, this illustrates the point I am making. Of course this is unrepresentative. It’s unfair and misleading to smear the protesters this way. But this asshat made it possible and so the media seized on it and played it up. That’s how the media work, and we all should understand that.

Tommy Duncan said...

It now appears that governmental bodies (the WHO, NIH, CDC, DHS, HHS) along with the media and hate-Trump Democrats have created an exaggerated caricature of a pandemic. COVID-19 is beginning to look like a nasty new strain of influenza with about the same outcomes.

How do we dial down the hysteria and downgrade the over-response to COVID-19? We can't as a nation treat future COVID outbreaks like this. It will destroy our economy and our society. Influenza kills tens of thousands every year. We don't overreact to the flu. How do we de-escalate our response to COVID-19?

Equipment Maintenance said...

They should have done their protest somewhere in the Hamptons. Apparently there it's ok to be out and about in a group.

Limited blogger said...

Do you think one vote has moved from Trump to Biden amid this hysteria?

RK said...

Some Democrats (at least a few) want to go back to work also. Next time they might hold their nose and join the protest.

Oso Negro said...

I can believe Confederate flags in Michigan. Just because "the right kind of people", looking at you Althouse, declared it a symbol of racism, does not mean that everyone else in the country is on board with that. There are still many who see it as a symbol of defiance. A lot of people from the south (I know this because of kin from Tennessee) migrated to Michigan to work the auto lines. The heritage went with them. The last two Confederate flags I bought were from laughing African-Americans.

Fernandinande said...

Confederate flags? ... — racists?

Confederate flag means "rebel", not "racist", at least to just about everyone except progressives.

traditionalguy said...

The enemy virus is a bio-weapon of war doing its work. The Trump lead world populous revolution is stopped by fear of plague. And the docents of death are threatening police state enforced fear as if there is no Bill of Rights. But they cannot reverse the death spiral of the World Government. Trump has the authority now and they don’t have anything except empty threats.

Shouting Thomas said...

@Ken B

We're not fighting a PR battle here. You're very confused.

Our Bill of Rights is not negotiable in the theater of public opinion.

Your continued assertion that it is, well that's simply an error.

Maybe you don't understand our form of government?

MayBee said...

If you are Whitmer, what is your incentive to open back up? She has a built in excuse for a bad economy and an inability to do anything else on her agenda (which was fix the roads). If she can keep everyone scared and at home, she is better off politically. Especially if everyone who dares to oppose her is a racist paid by the DeVos family.

Ann Althouse said...

I was able to find one photo of a guy holding a Confederate Flag. It had the silhouette of gun printed on top of it. The guy was wearing a medical-style face mask. Such an easy way to hurt the protesters, so who knows if this one person was pro-Whitmer?

Amadeus 48 said...

In "Atlas Shrugged", which Althouse has never read, the various over bearing and counter-productive government actions are justified by an unspecified national emergency.

We have a house in Michigan. Two days ago, two guys from our landscaping crew were stopped by state police and given a warning for being out on nonessential business. They were told they would each get $1,000 fines if they were caught again. They were on their way to a job where they were outside, replanting shrubs on a property, and doing some yard work.

These guys need the money for their work, and they were going to stay a safe distance from others.

Sheesh.

Fernandinande said...

The enemy is a virus.

It was at first, but now the enemy is the government.

Oso Negro said...

I guess Meade isn't allowed to watch "Dukes of Hazzard"

Sebastian said...

"The enemy is a virus."

No. The enemy is the panic. The enemy is us. As it usually is.

"People need to work together."

We can't work together if we can't even work.

Government coercion is not working together. Forcing the young to sacrifice for the old, when less costly alternatives are available, is not working together.

Ken B said...

Ann
That's the photo I linked above. Odd that many here don’t see that as a really, really bad look for the protesters.

Shouting Thomas said...

I encourage every one of you to ignore the edicts of your governors.

Refuse to surrender your freedom of association and movement. Run your businesses in any way you can. Go black market if that's the only way.

Do not be bullied by these assertions that you're killing people. Risk is the price of freedom.

Go about your business. Associate as you please. Don't kneel before the tyrants imprisoning you for your own good.

MayBee said...

I bet Jessie Jackson Jr also heard someone yell the n word 13 times, too.

Bay Area Guy said...

I am still bewildered at the blinders and naivete of certain very otherwise intelligent and responsible people here. I will try again:

For me, personally, I am not at worried about the virus (Enemy 1). However, I readily admit that many people, including my 84-year old Mother and Father in Law, are worried about it, and right to be worried about it. So, Yes, they should shelter in place. Not a problem.

For me, personally, I am somewhat worried about the lockdown (Enemy 2). Like everyone, I will take a large financial haircut, but overall, I'll be fine. However, I am extremely worried about my fellow citizens -- the blue collar/small business types -- who are losing their livelihoods due to the Government lockdown. Enemy 2 is much bigger and more widespread than Enemy 1.

In response to the housing market crash of 2008, Candidate Obama once said, we can walk and chew gum at the same time.

Is there anyone here who can't see the different and separate harms of Enemy 1 and Enemy 2 at the same time?

Fernandinande said...

These guys need the money for their work, and they were going to stay a safe distance from others.

Also see my post in some other thread about how almost nobody catches the cooties while outdoors.

Biff said...

The order required large stores to shut down plant nurseries and rope off sections where carpet, flooring and paint were sold, provisions that conservatives found both arbitrary and harmful to business owners.

Really? Only "conservatives" found those measures arbitrary and harmful? No "liberals" looked at those measures and questioned them?

I've also noticed a continuation of the double standard for covering politically charged protests:

If the protest is perceived to be coming from the Right, then focus on the minority carrying Confederate flags, carrying signs with spelling errors, or otherwise fitting a stereotype of ignorance or questionable mental health, while ignoring the vast majority of the protestors who remind you of that nice couple with the well-tended yard down the street who help to shovel the snow from your sidewalk.

If the protest is perceived to be coming from the Left, then focus on the handful of well-dressed, well-spoken professional protestors, while ignoring the folks carrying Soviet flags, wearing Che t-shirts, stepping on American flags, suffering from long-term neglect of basic hygiene, shouting "F* the police!", dressed in "furry" gear, menacing people whose political opinions are suspect, and otherwise behaving anti-socially.

I've been to my share of Tea Party and Occupy events, and the story always is the same.

Ken B said...

“I encourage every one of you to ignore the edicts of your governors.”

Which edicts have you flouted, and where are the pictures?

traditionalguy said...

Funny to see the Confederate South is being scapegoated again to shame Michigan folks for wanting their lives back. The Governor in Georgia issued an order not to arrest mask surgical wearers under the 1949 Law criminalizing KKK hood wearers.. so the media spread the lie that he supports re-establishing the KKK, all 7 of them.

Known Unknown said...

"This is why I said the protesters made a terrible PR blunder getting out of their cars. If they had stayed in the vehicle this would have been a stinging rebuke to a dreadful governor"

I'm sure WaPo would've reported it exactly that way.

Don't be that naive, Ken.

gilbar said...

hey could buy liquor and lottery tickets on a trip to the grocery store, but couldn’t visit the vegetable seed aisle

hmmm, MAYBE, just MAYBE...
if there was a steep excise tax on vegetable seeds? OR, if they were sold BY the state?

gilbar said...

tobacco is an essential service too? Right?

Ken B said...

Known unknown
Pictures. No one expects the WaPo to play it straight, but it’s pictures that do the work. Now they have pictures.

Amadeus 48 said...

Ann--I agree with you.

However, Michigan has a wildly diverse population, including a lot of folks who proudly think of themselves as "hillbillies". A lot of people, white and black, came to Michigan to work in the auto and auto-suppliers plants. A lot of people like the north woods. A lot of people like the idea "Live Free or Die". Think about the folks in Hillbilly Elegy. It's the same people.

Nothing would surprise me, although I haven't seen many Confederate battle flags recently. I sure saw them in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, often on pickups with UAW stickers.

Shouting Thomas said...

@Ken B

Which edicts have you flouted, and where are the pictures?

What a confused man you are. You don't understand our form of government and you think that to oppose the unconstitutional actions of our government I should go down in flames for your entertainment.

Fat chance. I'll fight this war in a way that you can't see and I'll win.

I'm Not Sure said...

Fernandistein said...

The enemy is a virus.

It was at first, but now the enemy is the government.

***

I know several small business owners. They're of the opinion the government has been the enemy for quite a long while. Just sayin'.

RK said...

We need a stronger government to keep unsavory protesters out of our protests.

Shouting Thomas said...

You play the serf in your own way, Ken B.

You're welcome to live on your knees. It fits you well.

exhelodrvr1 said...

Any call to work with Democrats, after the way they have worked with Republicans for the past 11+ years, is bullshit. They first need to show that they actually care about the country as a whole.

Big Mike said...

The enemy is a virus. People need to work together.

@Althouse, not anymore! The real enemy is now the Democrats running roughshod over people in defiance of elementary common sense. They have made it plain that the only way to work with them is to salute and get in line. That’s not gonna happen.

gilbar said...

Limited blogger said...
Why wasn't Antifa protesting the seed ban?

Serious Question: WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO ANTIFA???
This seems like it would be their day to shine. I mean; they ARE Opposed to fascism, aren't they?

gilbar said...

heck! they ALREADY have the masks!!

Known Unknown said...

"Now they have pictures."

Who is THEY?

iowan2 said...

Ann
That's the photo I linked above. Odd that many here don’t see that as a really, really bad look for the protesters.


No, it's a really, really bad look for the Governor. She's the one instituting arbitrary restrictions that accomplish nothing.
Seasonal flu

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Lefties on Twitter and HuffPo are comparing the Michigan protesters to zombies. Deplatform, dehumanize, and deplore the Other, Dems -- Hillary knows how to win friends and influence voters. Now.

Gk1 said...

Canadians are adorable when they tell us of their concern for us yokels. Ken B, you really need to go back to your dressed chips and Kraft peanut butter and let us Americans sort this out. We aren't subjects or serfs. You are welcome to turn your critical thinking skills off and do as you are told. For many of us it's simply time to turn the page and get back to work.

Known Unknown said...

The effective mortality rate in Ohio is 0.03%. We've saved the ICUs from being overwhelmed but are now being told another surge is expected to hit at the beginning of May.

WTF?

Freeman Hunt said...

"Her orders were unreasonable and quite arbitrary. It was nice to see the people defy them."

Agreed. I live in a state that's gone with a relatively light touch, subject to revision if number trends change. Michigan's rules are ridiculous. Good to see people pushing back.

Michael said...

Known Unknown

Right, but the May return will be nothing like the one in the Fall.

Shouting Thomas said...

I'm listening to Li Yundi play Chopin's Military Polonaise.

Listen to this great battle cry of freedom and Be Not Afraid!

rcocean said...

The thing about the Confederate flags, reminds me of how Left-wing MSM reporters were ALWAYS claiming to overhear "racist" remarks at a Palin rally or latter at Trump rallies. Or their supporters were uttering vile, anti-press remarks.

If you go back to the "Unmaking of the Mayor" by WF Buckley, he recounts how the New York Times reporters were constantly "overhearing" racist/bigoted remarks by Buckley's supporters or clapping at blacks/liberals being brutalized by the police. In one instance, Buckley taped his meeting and proved what the NYT's reporter "heard" was false.

so, its an old Liberal/left MSM Trick.

Gk1 said...

"We've saved the ICUs from being overwhelmed but are now being told another surge is expected to hit at the beginning of May." Yeah I am noticing the same happy horseshit in California now to. The rationale for staying locked down is because of the inevitable "surge" of cases that will happen once we leave our homes again. WTF is right.

I think the bigger health risk is all of the shoulder and back injuries from our government betters shifting and moving the goalposts every couple of days.

rcocean said...

Remember, the black congressman who overhead the word "Nigger" as he walked by a tea party demonstration? No one else heard it, there were no cell phone, video, or audio tapes showing it happened. But the MSM reported it like it was the truth.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Any Confederate flag at a rally is most likely held by a Moby.

Amadeus 48 said...

DeWine is a real putz, too. Control freak, GOP version.

The only good thing you can say about Michigan's wrecked economy is that Ohio is doing it, too. But at least Ohio is getting fewer deaths out of it.

Clyde said...

On the other hand, for a lot of TDS-suffering Democrats, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and the friend of my enemy is my enemy, too." You saw this in their reaction to Trump touting the possibility of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment. For a lot of Democrats, given a choice between a million Americans dying and Trump being thrown out of office by the voters or 60,000 Americans dying and Trump being re-elected, they'd be like Jack Benny ("Your money or your life") and say "I'm thinking! I'm thinking!" And if you think I have a low opinion of some of my countrymen, well, the answer is "You're right." But I've seen them in action for the past three years.

Sebastian said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Achilles said...

It is time to start turning this around. Fuck you tyrants and sheep.

They are reporting “suspected deaths” now. The numbers are complete bullshit. This has been in the population for months and it is no more deadly than the flu. Studies are estimating millions of us have had Covid before.

We are not a police state and when the lies are exposed there will be hell to pay.

We are not going to keep humoring you people much longer.

Sebastian said...

Meanwhile, in the real world:

"Another 5.2 million people filed initial unemployment benefit claims last week"

Obviously, more "marginal businesses" closing, as we've been told on this very blog. Serves'm right.

#StopTheInsanity.

rcocean said...

"Remember WaPoo and NYT readers have never seen a garden except in a magazine like Architectural Digest."

Well, some of them have gardeners at their 2nd homes in the country. But a nice Mexican (very cheap) does all the work.

gilbar said...

No one else heard it, there were no cell phone, video, or audio tapes showing it happened. But the MSM reported it like it was the truth.

well, as Jo Biden so often said: "We choose TRUTH over facts!"

Bay Area Guy said...

"Canadians are adorable when they tell us of their concern for us yokels"

Speaking of Canada:

Canada population: 38 Million
No. of Covid-19 deaths: 1,010

27 deaths per MIllion People -- over 3 months

I reckon the virus either doesn't like cold weather or hockey players or something else.

Rick said...

provisions that conservatives found both arbitrary and harmful to business owners.

Only conservatives though. Apparently left wingers do no question the aristocracy.

This is just stoking divisiveness. The enemy is a virus.

The virus might be your enemy, but it isn't WAPO's.

rcocean said...

A lot of these closures are purely arbitrary and IMO probably have other motivations. For example our local parks closed all the restrooms. So, you can guess what is going on. Why? Probably because the staff doesn't want to work and gets some paid time off.

Same with closing beaches around the country. Who benefits from that? Rich people who live near the beaches. Suddenly, no crowds. How nice for them.

Gk1 said...

Cracks are beginning to show in Europe. Germany is reopening next week. In the mean time Blue State governors are cracking down and going the other way with this. Why?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/germany-to-begin-gradually-reopening-its-economy-next-week-11586989014

Einfahrt said...

These protests will grow. Until they don't because the populace begins ignoring the state.

While some may have obeyed the dictates through a good-faith, short-term, let's flatten-the-curve, let's not overrun our hospitals, just while the models project awful things sort of compliance - it's rapidly becoming clear that the models were vastly overstated (at first, when this compliance was granted), and that it is no longer short-term, that the curves can be flattened through sensible actions not as draconian as full lock-down, that our hospitals are not and other than hot-spots will not be overrun and those that want to extend this abrogation of our freedoms are moving the goal posts from flatten to everyone must be free of fear. No sale.

Be increasingly less restrictive, allow reasonable restrictions rapidly sun-setted, or Just get out of the way.

Amadeus 48 said...

That "suspected deaths" thing is interesting. Although it may be a benign way of getting more accurate estimates (and all epidemic death counts are estimates), it also looks like they are cooking the books to create a retrospective justification for this tyranny.

Once again, it isn't who dies, it is who counts the deaths. China is exhibit A.

Achilles said...

Ken B said...
“I encourage every one of you to ignore the edicts of your governors.”

Which edicts have you flouted, and where are the pictures?

In addition to lying about what other people say Ken really wants to be a snitch.

If he lived in the US this is the type of person that needs to be shipped to China.

Psota said...

Trump picked a great nickname for Gov. "Half" Whitman early on when she was ordering doctors to NOT prescribe the TrumpPills.

I imagine she is on his short list of governors on whom the feds may need to come down hard on.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

You are all missing the point, which is conflating the American flag with the Confederate flag. The Betsy Ross flag and the Don't Tread On Me flags are now, we are told, racist symbols. Eventually flying the American flag will be considered racist.

mikee said...

Back in the 1980s, when Texas had "blue laws" that allowed only food purchases on Sundays, I was in a grocery checkout line behind a woman with a squalling baby in one arm and a bag of Pampers in the other. When the checker started to explain he couldn't sell the Pampers because....she interrupted him with, "Either I'm buying these or I'll prove they're food by making you eat them."

The clerk wisely rang up the sale, the lady left with her baby's needful supplies, and once again I once again had my love of Texas increased. Similar restrictions back then forbidding sale of alcohol on Sundays led the local Hilton to include free champagne at their Sunday buffet. If a law makes no sense, or worse, violates your rights, judiciously ignoring it is always an option.

mikee said...

Oh, yeah, back when Texas had blue laws and liquor restrictions? Democrats.

AZ Bob said...

I am reminded of the government shut down under Obama where he sent out workers to take the the handles off of the water fountains at National Parks. That's spite.

Mary Beth said...

I used to think "Half" Whitmer was appropriate. Now I think it's an overestimation.

YoungHegelian said...

Confederate flags? Really?

Michigan, the Beating Heart of Dixie.

Temujin said...

Yes- break out the fear of Confederate flags, by all means.
For what it's worth- whenever there is a battle between the right of the individual vs the government, you're going to always see a few key flags in there. One of them is the Confederate flag. It is not proclaiming a move back to slavery. And if you think it does you should go back to your school and ask for your money back.

I grew up in Michigan. I know what I saw, learned, and heard in Michigan back then, and over the years. No matter that there has long been a huge union presence in Michigan, and that there is a Dem Governor, Michigan is full of hard core liberty loving, independent people and the sure way to make them forget about the unions or their Democrat loyalties is to stifle their independence. Actually, aside from their leadership, union rank and file are among the most independent souls there. Go for it. Piss off the rank and file.

Fernandinande said...

It would be nice to consider the constructive things people might think of doing when they are confined to their homes. Paint and garden supplies would help people keep a positive outlook and also actually improve homes.

You really don't get it.

People who now can't pay their employees or their rent aren't going to do those things. Talk about an Ivory Tower...

Gk1 said...

Its no real surprise candy asses on the left and their blue state governors think they are playing it safe by locking everyone down but it's a no win proposition.

It's not fun to be the hall monitor. Sure, you get to wear a sash and shout at people and rat them out to the principal in between class but after school you get your asses kicked, bike stolen, guys come by late Friday night to hit your families mail box with ball bats. Americans can't stand snitches of any stripe.

It's really a no win for them. Plus they get blamed for causing their states deepening recession. Who wants to run against those winds this November?

Ficta said...

"Obama where he sent out workers to take the the handles off of the water fountains at National Parks."


I loathe Obama, but this is a story that illustrates that the Gell-Mann amnesia theory applies to the conservative press just as much as the other guys. This is not what happened. The handles were on well pumps located in remote areas of the C&O canal park. Those wells have to be tested weekly for safety and frequently they fail and have their handles removed. I've been on a long run before when the sight of a missing handle on my only water source for the next 5 miles was fairly crushing. Also, the shutdown was less than a month from the date when the handles would normally be removed for winter to prevent ice damage. So, while the Obama did behave like an ass hat during the shutdown, this particular charge was grossly inflated.

Achilles said...

Psota said...
Trump picked a great nickname for Gov. "Half" Whitman early on when she was ordering doctors to NOT prescribe the TrumpPills.

I imagine she is on his short list of governors on whom the feds may need to come down hard on.

No.

The people need to come down hard on this. Not the feds.

The feds going after the states is too close to the states going after the people.

Browndog said...

In the aftermath of the protest, Governor Karen has said the following:

-We know for a fact this protest put Michiganders in danger. I am sad that this will prolong the lock down.

Infer what you will

-Hey, it's snowing. The U.P. might get 30 inches, so you don't need your freedom right now.

1) The U.P. is a different climate, different culture than down State.
2) The biggest business in the U.P. is snow. A business she shut down.

-Betsey DeVos funded this fake phony protest!

The Devos Foundation paid for a $250 Facebook ad to help spread the word. It had nothing to do with the "Trump cabinet member.

Fernandinande said...

"Another 5.2 million people filed initial unemployment benefit claims last week"

Some house paint and flower seeds will dull the pain of involuntary poverty.

Like Marx might've said, "Flower seeds are the opiate of the people."

narciso said...

not just Michigan

Rick said...

Ken B said...
Of course I got yelled at and hated on for pointing out this obvious fact.


If they hadn't gotten out of their cars you would reach the same conclusion by some other irrelevancy. There's always sufficient justification for dishonest hacks.

Scott Patton said...

Please excuse, this comment is a duplicate from the previous post.
Quoting from an order from Gov Wolf in PA.
Retail businesses ..."require all customers to wear masks while on premises,and deny entry to individuals not wearing masks, unless the business is providing medication, medical supplies, or food, in which case the business must provide alternative methods of pick-up or delivery of such goods"...
emphasis added by me.
I may be mistaken, and although the meaning can possibly be discerned from that text, the use of "unless" in that context would necessarily indicate that what follows will be an exception to something stated previously. The text then proceeds to add an additional requirement without specifying what that exception is (an additional requirement is not an exception to previous statements). Ambiguity in these matters is not proper. Again, I may be mistaken, but red flags went up when I first read that document with the intention of clearly understanding what I was reading (as a non lawyer).

Achilles said...

"It would be nice to consider the constructive things people might think of doing when they are confined to their homes. Paint and garden supplies would help people keep a positive outlook and also actually improve homes."


"Sir, this shit is fucked up."

You people are just clueless.

They are plowing billions of dollars worth of food under and dumping thousands of gallons of milk on the ground every day.

Ann lives in District 1.

narciso said...

would bevin had been this capricious, I don't think so,

TreeJoe said...

"It now appears that governmental bodies (the WHO, NIH, CDC, DHS, HHS) along with the media and hate-Trump Democrats have created an exaggerated caricature of a pandemic. COVID-19 is beginning to look like a nasty new strain of influenza with about the same outcomes.

How do we dial down the hysteria and downgrade the over-response to COVID-19? We can't as a nation treat future COVID outbreaks like this. It will destroy our economy and our society. Influenza kills tens of thousands every year. We don't overreact to the flu. How do we de-escalate our response to COVID-19?"

Flu and Pneumonia combined killed 55k people in the U.S. in 2019.

COVID in it's nascent on-set in the U.S. has killed about 31k people in about a month - and during that month massive societal shutdowns and social distancing had been occurring in all major hot spots.

If you want to compare it to "the flu" (to which there are many strains), compare it to the Spanish Flu of 1918 in terms of sudden virality/contagion and overall impact. The death rate will be lower due to 100 years of healthcare advances, but it is/has already spread like wildfire through the world.

I agree we can't shutdown our economy like this by the way. I've been under stay-at-home for ~33 days. I would like to be able to return to more normal standards for the next 30-60 days with social distancing, face-mask requirements, and hand sanitizer everywhere. That seems like a fairly consistent practice globally when pandemics have hit in the past as well and how you ride them through.



Thistlerose said...

Courts are letting convicted criminals out of prison "because of the Virus". Police are ticketing church goers "because of the Virus". Governors are preventing stores that are allowed to be open by their orders from selling seeds to grow food "because of the Virus".

In reality none of these are happening "because of the Virus" this is a pure power grab and some state governments are going to push it as far as they can to get more and more control over the average citizen. Increased crime, lack of religion and community inability to produce your own food. All these lead to more dependence on government and once they have you dependent on a government check for your food and rent they can say what your allowed to eat and where you can live. And it is never in the same neighborhood that they live in.

Anne-I-Am said...

Shouting Thomas,

A quote from a friend of mine:

Authoritarianism worked in South Korea. Of course. South Koreans are small and compliant. Americans are large and unruly.

I hope that the native American spirit of unruliness and skepticism will triumph here. I see flashes of it. Then I am depressed by the many people who are submissive. I am angered by those who are not just submissive, but are demanding that I submit.

I won't wear a mask. I won't stay inside my home. I won't stop telling people their fear is overblown and panic is the enemy.

I hope that this is the beginning of the end.

Achilles said...

Browndog said...
In the aftermath of the protest, Governor Karen has said the following:

-We know for a fact this protest put Michiganders in danger. I am sad that this will prolong the lock down.

Infer what you will


When people find out most of the deaths reported over the last couple of days were "suspected cases" of people that died days or weeks ago and this "spike" is all a lie it will be inferred that it is time to hand some tyrants and ship some serfs to countries where they have serfs.

RigelDog said...

"Whitmer missed her calling. She should have gone into the dominatrix business."

Oh yeah! Michigan's own Crudda DeVille.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

The enemy is a virus. People need to work together.

Yes. And working together isn't Tin Pot Dictators issuing directives to micromanage every aspect of our lives with no rhyme or reason....other than they can be IN CHARGE.

Preventing people from buying seeds to make a food garden or flower garden in their own private back yard. Not allowed to buy paint for your bathroom or fence. Telling people that they can't buy clothing or underwear...but that they CAN buy lottery tickets and booze. Telling DOCTORS how to do their jobs and what they can prescribe.

Arbitrary unreasonable rules. Not working together is being ordered around for NO real reason.

If you want people to "work together", you don't start off by making them mad.

Achilles said...

TreeJoe said...

Flu and Pneumonia combined killed 55k people in the U.S. in 2019.

COVID in it's nascent on-set in the U.S. has killed about 31k people in about a month - and during that month massive societal shutdowns and social distancing had been occurring in all major hot spots.

If you want to compare it to "the flu" (to which there are many strains), compare it to the Spanish Flu of 1918 in terms of sudden virality/contagion and overall impact. The death rate will be lower due to 100 years of healthcare advances, but it is/has already spread like wildfire through the world.



This is all bullshit.

Millions have had it in the US. Antibody tests are showing 15-50% of the population had it before.

This disease is dangerous to specific and well known groups of people.

This shutdown was planned from the start and is a complete sham.

Francisco D said...

Achilles said ... Millions have had it in the US. Antibody tests are showing 15-50% of the population had it before.

Here in southern AZ, we are hearing more and more stories from people (like my wife) who had severe COVID-19 symptoms in February. Most of these people are athletes and runners.

The most recent story was from her MD, who is also a runner.

John Cunningham said...

So the DemonRATs find the Confederate flag RACISSSSS?? Great, I'll start flying it, and my ancestors fought for the Union.F*ck them.

Known Unknown said...

"The only good thing you can say about Michigan's wrecked economy is that Ohio is doing it, too"

Ohio has been less restrictive, though. But they just closed down pet groomers, which is dumb. Just wear a mask when you drop off your dog and pick it up. It's like take-out food.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Ron W said...

You are all missing the point, which is conflating the American flag with the Confederate flag. The Betsy Ross flag and the Don't Tread On Me flags are now, we are told, racist symbols. Eventually flying the American flag will be considered racist.

I think there is something to this for sure. At some point soon, the collective left will place the American flag in the "racist/ deplorable" category.

What we need is a democrat flag. So we can worship Malig-Nancy.

RigelDog said...

"Is there anyone here who can't see the different and separate harms of Enemy 1 and Enemy 2 at the same time?"

I *think* most of us are on that same page, although many lean one way or the other.

Narr said...

Any display of the Confederate Battle Flag in a crowd is obvious and indisputable evidence that the crowd consists mostly of racists.

I have been aware of this since 1989, when the CBF could be seen among the crowds protesting against Communism and Soviet domination.

Narr
The Governess looks and acts like the love child of Miss Piggy and Chuckie

Browndog said...

Everyone is social distancing. Not because of an edict from on high, but out of a courtesy towards each other.

free will vs. forced compliance.

heyboom said...



Are We Witnessing a Targeted Hit Against Trump Voters?

An interesting and relevant take on the current lockdown protocols.

I'm Not Sure said...

"But they just closed down pet groomers, which is dumb."

When you understand it's really about demonstrating who's in charge, it makes more sense.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Otto said...

Totalitarianism for me (Ann) but not for thee ( Trump). WE are a lawful country and I have faith in Trump, so keep your cool.
Remember Ann's situation. She is a retiree, who has no debt, owns her home, no children to support, and is receiving her pension, social security and IRA distributions. Her life has not been impacted at all. Before she use to sit on her ass and blog all day with a period of exercise. She still sits on her ass, blogs and does her daily exercise. Naturally she wants you to obey orders. It makes her safer, typical boomer.

RigelDog said...

"In the aftermath of the protest, Governor Karen has said the following:

-We know for a fact this protest put Michiganders in danger. I am sad that this will prolong the lock down."

OMG. F-you, Nurse Ratched!

Unknown said...

> The enemy is a virus. People need to work together.

The enemy is govt mandated closings and movement restrictions.

Drago said...

BBH: "I think there is something to this for sure. At some point soon, the collective left will place the American flag in the "racist/ deplorable" category."

It's already happened in CA where students, at a US high school, were not allowed to wear American flag t-shirts on cinco de mayo and the courts allowed the banning.

Thistlerose said...

In our store between a third and half of the customers wear masks. Most lower the mask to talk, meaning they are touching their face to move the mask around. My guess is that a good number of the people who wear mask to the grocery store don't really feel its needed but don't want to be called out for not wearing one. Very few of the employees wear a mask. Have you ever tried wearing a mask for 8 hours, it's not comfortable. I only wear one if I am on cleaning duty because breathing the vapors from the cleaners we use makes me cough and there is no reason to unduly. Thank goodness all the people who are afraid of the virus are on leave of absence and the rest of us follow best practices and some silly added procedures to ensure that all employees and customers are safe in the store. I get the joy of counting people as they enter and leave today. We are allowed 500 customers and I don't think we have ever been over 300, that's what I mean by silly procedures.

I live in Texas which means that the whole store is open so you can buy your seeds and new bed linen along with your food. Our clothing sales are down because you can't try them on or return them if they don't fit but home décor and organization seems to be doing well. Being able to buy these items means our store can employ more people which is a good thing not a bad thing. Children like to have food in their tummies and Landlords like to have their rent checks on time. A 1200 dollar check from the government is not going to provide these things for long. A job will even if it only pays 15 dollars an hour will provide them. Putting people on the streets also does not sound like an effective way of keeping them safe and aren't we being told that the purpose of the shutdown is to "keep people safe".

Browndog said...

Just to be clear-

The Stars & Bars is called "the rebel flag" in Michigan, not the "Confederate flag".

It is not flown to display solidarity southern slave owners, but in solidarity with rebels/outlaws, similar to a pirate flag.

Further, it is used to trigger libs since Nikki Haley unleashed the "Great Triggering" by caving to the liberal mob.

RigelDog said...

"You are all missing the point, which is conflating the American flag with the Confederate flag. The Betsy Ross flag and the Don't Tread On Me flags are now, we are told, racist symbols. Eventually flying the American flag will be considered racist.

I think there is something to this for sure. At some point soon, the collective left will place the American flag in the "racist/ deplorable" category."

The American flag has already been framed as racist, for years now. Think of all the times our schools (all grades, and colleges too) have banned the display of USA flags and the wearing of flag-themed clothing.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Biden-Whitmer... True meeting of the mindless.

Bay Area Guy said...

My new favorite Mayor -- Carolyn Goodman of Las Vegas (A former Democrat, now Independent!)

“This shutdown has become one of total insanity,” Mayor Carolyn Goodman said the day after Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak declared he was nowhere near reopening parts of the state’s idled economy.

“I am asking: Open the city. Open Clark County. Open the state,” said Goodman, reading a statement at the start of weekly City Council meeting convened amid social distancing advisories aimed at keeping groups of people from spreading the contagious virus.

n.n said...

Diversity, division, and exclusion breeds adversity. JournoLists and others brayers are spreaders of social contagion.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

"The beatings will continue until the morale improves!"

the lockdown will be extended until you learn to submit.

In MI you can smoke grass, but can not mow it.
No power boating or jet skis, but sailboats and kayaks ok

Shiva is their god, their Cloward/Piven 'transform America' schtick

Shouting Thomas said...

@Otto

Yes, Althouse is completely distanced from the reality of people who need to work and do not have absolute, guaranteed security.

I’m sort of in the same boat, but I do remember what it was like to struggle to pay bills and to feed kids.

mtrobertslaw said...

I've been following Ms. Whitmer for some time. She is humorless and cannot stomach even the slightest criticism. It would not surprise me if the next time she gets wind of another demonstration,she calls out the National Guard and orders them to be armed with loaded weapons.

Big Mike said...

@Achilles (10:52), Ken B. asserts that he has a degree in mathematics (apparently a bachelor's degree), and I have attempted to engage him as one person with a bachelor's in math to another. It isn't working. Whether because he is dense or because he has forgotten most of what he learned or whether he is simply lying about his degree I cannot tell.

He comes across to me as (A) someone who is an elitist with no skin in the game with respect to the shutdowns because someone else pays the price for his personal comfort and he's all right with that, and (B) the sort of person who will not be happy until the dead are piled up in body bags along the curbs, waiting for pickup like so much trash. Ah! The smell of decomp in the morning.

Biff said...

BleachBit-and-Hammers said...
Ron W said...

You are all missing the point, which is conflating the American flag with the Confederate flag. The Betsy Ross flag and the Don't Tread On Me flags are now, we are told, racist symbols. Eventually flying the American flag will be considered racist.


I think there is something to this for sure. At some point soon, the collective left will place the American flag in the "racist/ deplorable" category.

What we need is a democrat flag. So we can worship Malig-Nancy.


The democrat flag unofficially is the Rainbow flag. I'm often struck by the absence of American flags or Betsy Ross flags and the ubiquity of Rainbow flags in historic colonial era neighborhoods around Boston and federal era neighborhoods around DC.

Original Mike said...

Blogger MayBee said..."If you are Whitmer, what is your incentive to open back up? She has a built in excuse for a bad economy and an inability to do anything else on her agenda (which was fix the roads)."

All the Dem governors have the same motivation. The worse the economic devastation, the better.

daskol said...

So Governor Half-Whitmer thinks the best way to audition for Biden's VP is to flout the constitutional rights of her constituents to impose arbitrary and counterproductive restrictions on them. She's a career Dem politician, so not exactly surprising, but it is revealing. The petty tyrants are the ones like Whitmer seizing this opportunity to aggrandize themselves. They are legion, and they are more exposed now. I hope we punish them harshly through the political process. I wish the political process still included an option to escalate to tar and feathers and rails, and perhaps for some even lampposts.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

The governors who prolong their lockdowns are risking that most nightmarish piece of political blowback, the mocking meme. At some point, some undefinable day, your electorate loses belief and patience and suddenly you’re a statewide joke.
The problem Whitless has is that she can’t open most of Michigan and leave Detroit locked down. Racist!

CStanley said...

Antibody tests are showing 15-50% of the population had it before.

Have there been any publicly reported findings of antibody test levels? Most of that testing has just gotten started.

Inga said...

“Flu and Pneumonia combined killed 55k people in the U.S. in 2019.

COVID in it's nascent on-set in the U.S. has killed about 31k people in about a month - and during that month massive societal shutdowns and social distancing had been occurring in all major hot spots.”

Thank you. I’ve been shaking my head at all the comments comparing Covid to seasonal flu. Didn’t you say that you were an epidemiologist or worked in the field? Sorry if I don’t remember exactly what you said. 31k in one month, think about it. The 1918 pandemic lasted 15 months. We don’t know how long this one will last.

Browndog said...

To help gauge how pissed off we are:

11 miles from downtown Lansing

(from yesterday)

Buckwheathikes said...

"WaPo is encouraging its readers to distance themselves from the deplorables who won't follow orders"

You mean like CNN's Chris Cuomo? Who has already infected his wife and was walking around with his kids just yesterday, accosting bike riders.

Shouting Thomas said...

Inga, people didn’t surrender their freedom to the 1918 pandemic.

You’re a communist. You hunger for reasons to renounce the Bill of Rights.

Fuck you. Risk is the price of freedom. Go cower in your closet and drink, commie.

Bay Area Guy said...

Today, at 3:00 p.m. (est), Trump's gonna announce a reopening. .

No, I'm not a huge fan of Ben Shapiro, but on some of the easier questions, he gets it right.

It'll be phased-in, and targeted. It'll be messy too. NY has 16,000 Covid-19 deaths, while Wyoming has precisely 2. Source: RCP

A great first step.

Now, the Left and Dems and media and sheep and enablers, are gonna try to blame Trump for every death that occurs from this date forward.

Stand firm. Watch for co-morbidities and double-counting.

It's time to end this nonsense, and let people return to work.

Professional lady said...

As someone who is currently sheltering in place very near the epicenter of the Michigan corona virus, I will put my two cents in. First, given my age and stage of life, career etc. this will most likely not have a huge financial impact on me. Second, I have lots of medical people in my family (3 doctors, 2 PAs, and a pharmacist) who all live in this area and are working hospitals, doctor's offices, and pharmacies. My Dad is 97 and living at home - since we are not on the medical front lines so to speak, I and my husband are the only ones having direct contact with him. I do my and his grocery shopping and take-out and share a meal with him about 2 times a week. He has a caregiver come in and do housework, laundry etc. for a couple hours three times a week. At times I am terrified that I will unknowingly pass on the virus to him.
I also found out yesterday that my former pupil that I taught at the literacy center for many years died on Holy Thursday. He had a stroke several years ago, and was in very poor health including respiratory issues (COPD and lung cancer). I have visited him and used my legal skills through the years to get him assistance. He called me about two weeks ago from a hospital or rehab center but it was very hard to understand what he was saying. He was struggling to breath and we prayed together over the phone. When I called his family member because I couldn't reach him, I was not surprised to find out he had died and that he had contracted the corona virus.

Whitmire has brought this on herself. She started out making it purely political by picking a fight with Trump in order to draw national attention to herself. If Cuomo could work with Trump, why couldn't she? Wouldn't it have been better to try to work with him? She didn't even try. Then she threatened doctors and pharmacists over the malaria drug. Then she imposed some really stupid and overbroad restrictions over the entire state. Maybe the restrictions make sense for the Detroit Metro area - but does it make sense to impose them on the sparsely populated and rural areas? How much harm are they going to do? She seems unable to understand that this is a legitimate question. I can understand the prohibition on going to second homes "Up North". This could spread the virus to those rural areas that do not have the hospital capacity of the urban areas. I think this would have gone over a lot better if she had explained to the people.

Personally, I'm willing to put up with it because I live in the epicenter and I do not want the hospitals to be overwhelmed. But people are losing their businesses and livelihoods - and that is important too.


The vast majority of the virus cases are in the City of Detroit. From what I understand, most are poor, elderly, obese, and or have comorbidities.

Inga said...

“Antibody tests are showing 15-50% of the population had it before.

Have there been any publicly reported findings of antibody test levels? Most of that testing has just gotten started.”

The antibody tests aren’t being widely distributed yet. They’re having enough trouble getting enough antigen tests, antibody tests are even harder to come by.

Maillard Reactionary said...

We have two enemies, Professor: One is the virus, the other is our out-of-control government.

One difference between the two is that eventually, viral epidemics burn out and end. Bad governments on the other hand need to be destroyed by force.

Singing "kumbaya" from the sidelines doesn't help with either.

Otto said...

@ ST The reason why I noted Ann's situation is because I like you and she are in the same situation, but being a typical 60s liberal she peddles we, we, we when all she cares about is me,me,me. Don't be fooled by the words, that has been their/her craft since the 60s. I feel bad for families that have to work fora living, have mortgages, and kids in college. Also for young adults preparing for a career. So I can see the frustration, but we are a lawful country and I have faith that Trump will get us back up and running as soon as possible.
In the meantime old people like us should support our local businesses .

Shouting Thomas said...

Not only did the U.S. not shut down in 1918, it continued to ship out hundreds of thousands of soldiers to fight WWI in Europe.

30% of them didn’t make it to the battlefield because of the flu.

Our aversion to risk have become a pathology in itself.

Professional lady said...

Whoops, meant to continue

Perhaps we need to loosen the restrictions on low risk people and assist the high risk people to shelter in place. Or, perhaps it makes sense to keep the quarantine going in the Detroit Metro area for now.

gspencer said...

She took the same oath as the Michigan sheriffs who are also protesting her.

Q. Who should be trusted?

A. No one who has a D after the name.

"All officers, legislative, executive and judicial, before entering upon the duties of their respective offices, shall take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of this state, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of .......... according to the best of my ability. No other oath, affirmation, or any religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust."

Michigan Constitution, article XI, section 1

Don't curse the darkness. Light a candle by forming your own citizen-led chapter of the John Birch Society. Go to its website.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

@Professional Lady
may God bless you for using your using your earthly and heavenly gifts to help a needy soul

walter said...

For solidarity..or target practice fun.
That Woman from Michigan T Shirt

Bilwick said...

"Liberals" as authoritarians? Shocker! Say it ain't so!

Maillard Reactionary said...

ST @12:14 PM is correct. There's really nothing else to say about it.

The way to reopen the country is to just reopen the country. No more planning, no more contingencies, or what-if speculation. Let the lefty governors who want to hang on to this crisis after the rest of the Nation has moved on pay the political price for it (if any).

Browndog said...

During the Spanish Flu epidemic, the U.S. not only encouraged people to go outside, they took patients from their tents and put them outside to help them recover.

doctrev said...

As usual, same-sex attracted chuckservative Republicans attempt to "disqualify" useful and much-needed protests by saying that the Confederates, gun-lovers, and other such undesirables were there. Setting aside the merits and demerits of any of these groups, one has to realize that the "elite" barristers of the Republican Party have historically been worse than useless. They failed at stopping Obama's excesses in health care, they failed to maintain an economy that benefited all Americans instead of the privileged few, and they fail to maintain lawful commerce/ intelligent disaster prep. But they do defend Governor Witless and her need to keep the welfare dregs pacified with lottery tickets.

It's not that the Michigan Confederates are deplorables. It's that YOU'RE deplorable for trying to protect your family and stand up to these insane failed politicians. Sic semper tyrannis.

walter said...

Found at Browndog's link
Letter from congress critters

rcocean said...

"You are all missing the point, which is conflating the American flag with the Confederate flag. The Betsy Ross flag and the Don't Tread On Me flags are now, we are told, racist symbols. Eventually flying the American flag will be considered racist."

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, etc. have ALREADY Been tarred as racist. We have Ivy League Law Professors stating the Electoral College should be junked because its "raciss" and was thought up by slave owners.

Its already begun.

Readering said...

So helpful for AA to focus on Confederate flag in her post.

narciso said...

oye companera

rcocean said...

"A thoughtful protest of Whitmer could have been hugely successful."

FALSE! The Liberal MSM and D politicians were ALWAYS going to attack the protest -no matter what. In fact, the only reason Antifa wasn't out beating heads in - with the approval of the Democrat Party and the MSM - is they were in cars.

Fake Cons always like to say shit like "This would have worked except the R's (or the real conservatives) didn't behave 'Moderately'" Its just a way, for Fakes and RINOs to pretend to be on our side, while criticizing us. If only we were more "reasonable" than the liberal/left would love us. LOL!

Ken B said...

Big Mike re your comment. Yeah, you talk about people lusting for piles of bodies but I’m the one who isn’t commenting in good faith. Absurd.

Drago said...

Ken B: "Big Mike re your comment. Yeah, you talk about people lusting for piles of bodies but I’m the one who isn’t commenting in good faith. Absurd."

You most certainly are. And I believe I have been most generous in pre-conceding every single death in 2020 to the virus so you will feel better about yourself.

So you can count on approximately 3 million deaths due to the virus in the US alone, providing the ultimate in Virtue Signalling Opportunities for you.

You're welcome.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Browndog said...

Just to be clear-

The Stars & Bars is called "the rebel flag" in Michigan, not the "Confederate flag".


Let's set the record straight, shall we?

This is the "Stars and Bars" or First National Confederate flag.

This is the "Stainless Banner" or Second National Confederate flag.

This is the "Blood-stained Banner" or Third National Confederate flag.

This is an Army of Northern Virginia Battleflag.

The flag most of these numb nuts carry is actually the Confederate Naval Jack used between 1863 - 1865.

narciso said...

although I don't think the castro regime is banning the sale of seeds, that's one step too far,

Mark said...

Plus everyone knows the final Confederate flag was the all white flag of surrender.

Big Mike said...

@Ken B., I have accurately described how you come across to me. I cannot, and won't, speak for others. But if you don't wish to come across that way, you might want to rethink how you present your position.

mockturtle said...

We are not going to keep humoring you people much longer.

Achilles, what are you doing to improve the situation besides ranting in blog comments and calling people 'sheep' and 'cowards'? Are you lobbying your state and local officials? Emailing your Congressmen? Leading a protest at your county courthouse? Let's hear it, Achilles.

narciso said...

like the browncoats in serenity, against the sino anglo alliance,

narciso said...

Commandante Evers says five month plan will begin on may 26, that will be all comrades,

Birkel said...

Anybody remember several months ago?

And I kept mentioning the Green Grocer central to Vaclev Havel's essay "The Power of the Powerless" and how Democratics were trying to make us all into Green Grocers?

Yeah, that is this. This is that. Leftist Collectivists hope to cow you. To force you to comply with stupid and arbitrary rules. And a virus is as good a reason as any.

This is Cloward & Piven working it's magic.

This is an effort at conquest.

Birkel said...

As more and more people are discovering, Ken B is a lying Concern Troll.

And a certain racist fopdoodle is banned.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Shouting Thomas said...
Not only did the U.S. not shut down in 1918, it continued to ship out hundreds of thousands of soldiers to fight WWI in Europe."

That is not something to applaud and admire. That was a crime committed by progressive Dem Woodrow Wilson. The flu spread like wildfire in the trenches of Europe. More American troops died of the flu than in battle. Don't forget, unlike corona, the chief victims of the Spanish flu were healthy young adults.

The fact that Wilson ignored the flu because his main priority was fighting the war doesn't mean our country handled that epidemic better or that they were tougher and more manly. It meant that Wilson was a shit who was willing to sacrifice the lives of millions to follow his Utopian vision. Philadelphia ignored warnings and held a massive parade to sell War Bonds. As a result they had one of the worst flu outbreaks in America, with entire families dying in their tenement rooms.

Wuhan flu is not remotely close to being as dangerous as the 1918 flu. Progressives mismanaged that one by being blind to it's dangers. Progressives are mismanaging this one by enacting absurd and arbitrary restrictions.

Browndog said...

It should be noted, people still can't sign up for unemployment in Michigan.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

Michigan Judge lets cops jail anyone SUSPECTED of being sick with coronavirus

https://www.wnd.com/2020/04/judge-cops-jail-anyone-suspected-sick-coronavirus/

hopefully this isnt the case

narciso said...

that may be district 4

Birkel said...

Alternate Headline:
Michigan Judge authorizes use of deadly force against Michigan judges.

Thus, always, tyrants. (petty or otherwise)

walter said...

Wisconsin governor extends Safer at Home order schools closed for rest of year
"Non-essential Businesses: Non-essential businesses will now be able to do more things as Minimum Basic Operations, including deliveries, mailings, and curb-side pick-up. Non-essential businesses must notify workers of whether they are necessary for the Minimum Basic Operations."
Yeah..that's a pretty niche set of business ops used to illustrate, largely happening already.

Rick said...

Ken B said...
Big Mike re your comment. Yeah, you talk about people lusting for piles of bodies but I’m the one who isn’t commenting in good faith. Absurd.


It seems little different than those who claim anyone concerned about economic effects "wants to do nothing", or has blood on their hands, or anyone who questions any restrictive order is a "covidiot". But the righteous never consider their own behavior.

narciso said...

you thought I was kidding with the hunger games references

Birkel said...

Imagine being a Concern Troll and watching everybody realize you're a liar and a Troll.
How upsetting it must be to watch reality intrude.

Almost like being governor of Michigan and realizing Americans are a free people.

Shouting Thomas said...

Wisconsin governor extends shutdown to May 26.

WI has recorded all of 184 virus deaths!

Out of a population of about 6 million!

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

The mayor of San Fransisco or the Navy guy in charge of Angel Island shut down San Francisco during the 2018 pandemic. There were several other cities that followed similar protocols to deal with the spread. Interesting how people then were closer to their local government and relied on mayors to make the calls. 100 years later and the States and Feds are fighting over control, and the whole damn thing is shut down.

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