A report this week by the Biden administration identifies the 10 cities currently with the worst coronavirus outbreaks. All but one are in Michigan.
This raises the question: Why isn’t the state’s governor, Gretchen Whitmer, following “The Science”?
I’m joking. That question isn’t raised by anyone in the national media at all. Whitmer is a Democrat, and Democrats never have to answer for why they get sick during the pandemic the way Republicans consistently must. (“Were you not wearing your mask? Were you not social distancing?“)
Blue states have been no more adept at containing the virus than anyone else — in fact, arguably, they’ve done significantly worse. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is the rare exception to receive serious scrutiny, and that came only after he was no longer useful as a blunt instrument to attack former President Trump during the election.
Whitmer was similarly heralded by the media as a girl boss throughout 2020, portrayed by journalists as a decisive executive taking bold and much-needed action against the virus. She was someone who took the pandemic seriously and who made the tough decisions (lockdowns and mask mandates), which, we were told, were absolutely necessary to crush the infection rate.
Well, Whitmer has blown the lid off that con, and not just because we’re actively watching her state burning white hot in virus cases. She admitted on national TV, with a pillow stitched with Dr. Anthony Fauci’s face in the background, this week that all the hyperventilating over masks and business restrictions didn’t stop a new, more intense wave of infections.
“We have some of the strongest protocols in the country,” she said Thursday on MSNBC, “and yet, this virus has come raging back.”
You don’t say.
It was a surprise that host Chris Hayes didn’t cut her mic for contradicting The Science.
Michigan is currently averaging more COVID-19 cases and deaths per 100,000 people than any other state.
We should expect a determined 60 Minutes crew to roll in and wildly confront Whitmer at a news conference any minute now, right?
That’s what a correspondent for the TV magazine did to Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis earlier this month in the media’s latest attempt to bring down anyone who doesn’t buy in 100% with the silly idea that lockdowns and masks are infallible and sacrosanct.
DeSantis hasn’t been a nag about masks, and he has focused on providing care for vulnerable communities rather than on blanket lockdowns that close businesses and force people out of work. The media called and some still call him a monster for that, even as Florida right now has an average coronavirus death rate about half that of Michigan’s, despite having a much older population.
Would someone tell Whitmer that she needs to start following The Science?
