Petty Tyrants, Part II

Proving the old adage that tigers can’t change their stripes, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer are at it again. Guv Phil is outraged that President Trump had the gall to conduct a fundraiser at his Bedminster golf club on September 29^th. According to news reports, 206 people attended and a buffet meal was served contrary to Guv Phil’s edicts on how New Jerseyans are to conduct their lives during the Wuhan virus outbreak. Phil can’t understand how the President could have come to New Jersey for the fundraiser since Hope Hicks, a top aide, was diagnosed with the Wu flu a day before. 

This is the same governor who openly defied his previously issued executive orders by joining in an early June protest regarding the George Floyd killing by a single Minneapolis police officer. Who then changed his own executive orders to permit the type of protest that he participated in when they were prohibited.

Hypocrisy, thy name is Phil Murphy. 

I have news for you, Phil. The Trump fundraiser was really a protest against progressive politicians like you. Problem solved.

Not to be out done, Governor Whitmer continues to suffer setbacks at the collective hands of the Michigan courts. First it was her pursuit of 77-year-old small town barber who had the temerity to keep his shop open (be sure to check the updates to the post to see how the barber won). Then the Michigan Supreme Court issued an opinion on October 2^nd that invalidated the executive orders Whitmer has issued since April, ruling that the 1976 and 1945 laws under which the executive orders were issued were themselves unconstitutional grants of authority to the state’s chief executive. Whitmer’s response? She stated that her orders would remain in effect for 21 days and that, irrespective of the Court’s ruling, many of the orders would continue “under alternative sources” of law (without describing what those “alternative sources” were).

However, the Michigan Attorney General has announced that in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling her office would not enforce any of Whitmer’s executive orders by way of criminal prosecution. Likewise, several county sheriffs have also stated they will not enforce the orders. 

So, what is Whitmer to do? Well, where there’s a will, there’s a way. On October 9^th, Michigan’s health department issued sweeping regulations that replace the prior orders which were ruled unconstitutional. No word yet as to what position the state’s law enforcement agencies will take re: the new regulations.

As we all know, President Trump also caught the Wu flu and was hospitalized. The press has criticized the President, calling the September 26^th Rose Garden reception for Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination a “super spreader” event. Several attendees at the Rose Garden reception were later diagnosed with the Wuhan virus. However, President Trump spent three days at Walter Reed Hospital and was released in good spirits and health, apparently free of the virus. 

It’s hard to tell if the press is critical of the President because of his perceived lax attitude towards the virus or the fact that he made a quick and successful recovery. 

Also, no word yet as to whether any people who were at the Bedminster fundraiser have tested positive for the virus. I suspect that if anyone came down with the Wuhan virus after attending the event, the media would have let us know about it by now.