In his morning Twitter session today, President Donald Trump didn't mince words. He called out the legislative and gubernatorial overreach that has taken place in three blue states in no uncertain terms.
Much can be said in two words. To low-info eyes, these tweets might look like a simple call to reopen the country, but addressed on the state level. To others, they appear as calls to action. What kind of action? In two of the three cases, the answer isn't specified so much as intuited.
As for Virginia, the issue is named: Second Amendment infringement has been the hallmark of Governor Ralph Northam's administration. Ever since Democrats won control of the state legislature in November, a raft of progressive bills have landed on Northam's desk, and many were signed into law two days ago.
Among these are gun control laws that have divided the state and inspired fervent protests. As CDMedia's Taylor Day has reported in a series of articles, Virginia is at the crux of the left's campaign to destroy the right to bear arms.
In mismanaged Michigan, citizens have begun to protest Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's draconian lockdown measures. Hundreds, if not thousands of cars encircled the capital in Lansing Wednesday and yesterday.
Whitmer has imposed some of the strictest stay-at-home orders in the nation, including limiting the number of customers in essential stores to four for every 1,000 square feet; prohibiting employers from making employees come to work unless they are "necessary to sustain or protect life or to conduct minimum basic operations"; suggesting people limit the number of household members who are running errands; and banning all public and private gatherings outside homes.
ABC News
The frustration runs deeper than just the lockdown orders for Michiganders. Whitmer has fumbled her response to the Chinese coronavirus outbreak by initially banning the use of chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine, and then, upon seeing deaths in the state spike, reversing that order and asking the federal government for a supply of the much maligned, lifesaving drug.
Michigan's death totals from the Wuhan virus far outpace neighboring Ohio. The rival states are nearly the same in population, Ohio's 11.6 million to Michigan's 10 million, but 2,093 Michiganders have died to only 418 in Ohio. The Buckeye State governor, Mike DeWine, a Republican, has thoroughly outplayed Whitmer.
As the national spotlight has shined brighter and more unfavorably on Michigan, Whitmer has made increasingly bizarre statements. First it was threatening private doctors who prescribed chloroquine with disciplinary measures, then it was threatening protesters with extended stay-at-home orders.
Now she's claiming that her decision to allow abortions to be performed during lockdown is "life sustaining."
These are not the words of a sound mind.
Just weeks ago, rumors swirled that Whitmer might be chosen as Joe Biden's running mate, a female Vice President. Given Biden's waning mental fitness, it may be that Whitmer saw a relatively short path to the highest office in the land. Both of those dreams are dashed now. As a result, we are witnessing a tantrum. Those who suffer most are the people of Michigan.
In Minnesota, there were crowds, but nothing when compared to the sprawling protests of Virginia or Michigan. Minnesotans gathered in front of Governor Tim Walz's mansion in St. Paul, honking horns and chanting slogans.
The size of the beef determines the size of the protest. Minnesotans gathering today were primarily concerned with the state ordered shuttering of non-essential businesses and restaurants.
Walz, while not as entertaining as Jesse Ventura, is a relatively scandal-free governor. No photos of him in blackface, no gun grabbing, no weirdly ironic endorsement of killing unborn children. He is, however, very progressive.
Hence the Trump signage: conservatives want to get back to work, and they know the president is with them.
(Quick editorial aside: to the Minnesotans above, and anyone who protests over the coming weeks: please wear a mask! We can defy bad laws while protecting ourselves from a contagious virus whose long-term effects we don't yet fully understand.)
Northam, Walz and Whitmer: all are Democratic governors of blue states. By varying degrees, all have forced unpopular measures onto their constituents.
Look for an op-ed today from CDMedia's Charley Matheson on what he calls the new Confederacy: a group of coastal and Great Lakes states that defies national order and must be brought to heel by the Union. Virginia, Minnesota and Michigan are all part of this "resistance" that favors the coddling of illegals over the rights of citizens, the tyranny of government over the right to bear arms, abortion over life, denial of the freedom to (conscientiously) assemble, the restriction of free speech, and open borders.
It's hard to cut through all of those issues, all that fog, and communicate clearly. This morning, Trump did so. Brevity may well be the soul of action as well as wit.
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dhimmi-rat d-suckers will do anything