A MOST VALID QUESTION

Only time will tell which of our nation’s governors has responded best to the coronavirus pandemic. There are varying degrees of shutdown from state to state.

California’s Gavin Newsom put the kibosh on freedom of movement pretty early, for example.

Here in Arizona, Doug Ducey was one of the last governors to issue a stay-at-home order, but still encouraged us all to get outside, while maintaining a safe social distance, of course.

In a moment that could come back to haunt him, New Jersey’s governor admitted that he “wasn’t thinking of the Bill of Rights” when considering his stay-at-home edicts, adding fuel to the fire for those claiming that a lot of what’s going on is maybe a smidge unconstitutional.

Then there is Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan.

It is almost impossible to imagine that Michigan could have someone worse in charge at this critical time. Whitmer is one of those tedious Democrats in the Trump era who feel that their only job is to publicly spar with the president and make NBC News fall in love with them.

To the MSM’s delight, Whitmer was an early critic of Trump’s response to the crisis. She was so busy criticizing the federal response that she forgot to ask FEMA for a major disaster declaration so her state could receive federal assistance.

Oops.

Whitmer is a dictatorial tyrant who has instituted perhaps the most severe shutdown in the United States. Michiganders aren’t allowed to plant gardens in their own yards. Certain aisles in stores are blocked off because the Whitmeristas in the state government have decided that the citizens don’t need to legally purchase the merchandise offered in them. She has forbidden people to travel between homes that they own.

She’s a nightmare.

And she appears to enjoy it.

In an interview on Thursday, Whitmer — smiling all the while — defended her Soviet ways by saying it’s OK to be heavy-handed because it’s snowing. Ed explains the problem here:

It’s true that governors and mayors have authority to order rights-infringing limits in emergencies. Even then, though, they have to find ways to service a legitimate government purpose by the least-intrusive method possible. It also helps if they sound somewhat reluctant to exercise that authority and acknowledge that they are indeed burdening people with those limitations. Whitmer here sounds positively giddy about it, while sneering at anyone who might object to her inane orders.

We speak a lot about petty tyrants these days. They will fade away when we emerge from this crisis.

There’s something evil in that smile of Whitmer’s though. You can just see that she has a sort of blood lust going on and that she wants more. It’s not too difficult to figure out that she would be an absolute terror with more power.

Democrats want her to have more power. Hers is the name most mentioned in recent weeks as Joe Biden’s pick for vice-president. She’s been the belle of the mainstream media ball for the past six weeks, and they’ve glossed over both her missteps and her over-the-top steps to criminalize the everyday behavior of the citizens in her state.

Whitmer’s overreach is so execrable that even members of her own party in the state are becoming critical of what she is doing.

Oh, the citizens she’s hitting with the heavy hand of the government are also not amused.

Whitmer was at her evil worst this week when she defended abortion services as “essential” by saying that abortion is — get this — “life sustaining.”

Does she know what abortion does?

Whitmer isn’t that far away from becoming a monster with absolute power. Just a few things need to go her way. The first, obviously, is becoming Biden’s VP pick. Then, if the tanking coronapocalypse economy manages to throw the election to the Democrats she’s just one 25th Amendment coup away from being the most powerful woman in the world.

I shudder to think of what kind of tyrannical havoc she will wreak with a smile on her face then.

Out From Behind the Paywall for Everyone to Hear!

My podcast interview with Sen. Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee. We talk about what she’s doing to help gig workers to get shut-down relief.

Endorsed

THANK GOD FOR TRUCKERS! pic.twitter.com/PNLPAkhNUK — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 17, 2020

This Is Really How “Planet of the Apes” Begins

Thai zoo forces chimp to ride bike, spray park with coronavirus disinfectant https://t.co/aW0r3jSD8Z pic.twitter.com/z16wuINTTJ — New York Post (@nypost) April 17, 2020

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Bee Me

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The Kruiser Kabana

Just found this last night. One I hadn’t seen before, which was a delightful surprise.

Things are looking up, mostly because everyone is either on the floor drunk or napping.

___

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PJ Media Senior Columnist and Associate Editor Stephen Kruiser is the author of “Don’t Let the Hippies Shower” and “Straight Outta Feelings: Political Zen in the Age of Outrage,” both of which address serious subjects in a humorous way. Monday through Friday he edits PJ Media’s “Morning Briefing.” His columns appear every Tuesday and Friday.