Sunday, April 26, 2020

Gretchen Whitmer's Instinctive Lies

A crisis can reveal a person's true character.  One striking example of this is Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.  She has a bad habit of lying about her political opponents whenever they disagree with her.  There are many examples.

1. Republicans in the Michigan senate approved several hundred appointees of Governor Whitmer without issue.  In February, they rejected the appointment of Anna Mitterling in a political dispute related to hunting rights.  The governor's office immediately accused senate Republicans of sexism:
“Sen. Shirkey had promised to turn over a new leaf, but it’s now clear that they care more about their sexist, partisan games than the well-being of our state.”
Of course, there was no evidence of sexism, beyond the fact that Mitterling is female.  Senate Republicans rejected a male nominee soon after.

2. Early in the coronavirus crisis, Whitmer claimed that the Trump administration told vendors not to send emergency supplies to Michigan:
"What I've gotten back is that vendors with whom we had contracts are now being told not to send stuff here to Michigan. It's really concerning."
Whitmer never provided any evidence to support her claim.

3. When thousands of citizens drove to Lansing to protest the over-broad and irrational aspects of her lockdown policy, Whitmer implied that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was responsible for creating the protest:
“I think it’s really inappropriate for a sitting member of the United States President’s cabinet to be waging political attacks on any governor, but obviously on me here at home,”
(A group that the DeVos family has contributed to spent $250 promoting the protest after it had been organized by the Michigan Conservative Coalition, a grassroots group.)

4. Whitmer also claimed that protesters endangered lives by blocking ambulances from reaching a hospital:
“The blocking of cars and ambulances trying to get into Sparrow Hospital immediately endangered lives,”
Her claim was rebutted by Lansing police.

Whitmer has displayed little competence at governing in her time in office, but routinely lashes out at anyone she perceives as a political opponent.