Gov. Gretchen “Karen” Whitmer has to be given just a smidge of credit for never quitting, even when she is wrong.
She has spunk.
The no data and science Gov on Friday June 19th was told by United States District Judge Paul Maloney that her executive order to keep gyms closed here in Michigan was bogus and ordered them to be open beginning TODAY.
An excerpt from Judge Maloney’s ruling via Michigan Cap Con…
The judge’s rebuke also described how, in oral arguments, the governor’s lawyers struggled to produce any data or science supporting her position:
“At oral argument, the Court pressed Defendants [Whitmer’s legal team] on what data, evidence, or rationale supported the continued closure of indoor gyms. Defendants cited to the preambles of the Executive Orders and vaguely stated that indoor gyms are a ‘petri dish’ of infection, but Defendants could not point to any facts in the record to support that statement,” the judge wrote. “Defendants emphasized the low bar: all that needed to be presented was a reasonably conceivable set of facts that connected the continued closure to protecting the public health. But when asked, even counsel was unable to state a rational basis to support the position that indoor gyms must still be closed. Defendants merely reiterated that a threat of transmission exists at indoor gyms, and the threat of transmission must be minimized.”
Yet our heroic Guv with no facts, science, or data was not to be deterred and late yesterday won in the Michigan Court of Appeals to keep the petri dishes errr gyms closed.
From the Detroit Free Press…
A federal appeals court Wednesday night agreed to delay implementation of a judge’s order that would have allowed indoor gyms to reopen in Michigan beginning at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued the ruling shortly before 9 p.m., saying Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s order keeping indoor fitness facilities closed during the coronavirus pandemic needed to remain in place while an appeal of U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney’s decision of last week to reopen them was heard.
Otherwise, the public could be placed at risk by a second spike in infections caused by coronavirus or COVID-19, the panel ruled late Wednesday.
“We sympathize deeply with the business owners and their patrons affected by the
governor’s order,” the ruling said. “Crises like COVID-19 can call for quick, decisive measures to save lives. Yet those measures can have extreme costs — costs that often are not borne evenly.”
“The decision to impose those costs rests with the political branches of government, in this case, Governor Whitmer,” the court said.
I’m glad the court recognizes the burden these business owners feel and the frustration the patrons have for not being able to utilize these services. Yet they halted an order by a judge who actually stated that the Governor (since March 16th) has had the ability to show the data and science behind these decisions and has refused to do so. Judge Maloney did not just make this up, he grilled the Guv’s lawyers and they could not provide a scintilla of evidence.
Is that because she has none or just wants to wait until the right moment to spring it on all of us?
One last thing about this is the noticeable absence of the leaders of the Republican-controlled House and Senate. House Speaker Lee Chatfield and Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey have been sitting on the sidelines since the end of May hoping the Governor stops imposing her will. When will they step up and do what the legislative branch is supposed to do when the executive branch runs amok?
The press releases are cute boys but it is time to saddle up and lead instead of hoping the courts take care of your co-equal partner in the Executive branch running all over you both like wet noodles. You both were elected to lead not hide until the coast is clear.
Stop Big Gretch before she stomps out any hope of a business recovery here in Michigan.
