Gretchen the Gutsy

 "I am wondering at the time when the pandemic was raging, did you think it was not such a big deal, or did you think masks had little effect, and that's what pissed you off at Gutsy Gretch?"

I believed that the pandemic was real, but I also believed that politicians of both ilks were more interested in exploiting it to advance their agendas than they were in suppressing the virus.  I did indeed believe that the masks had little effect, largely because of the way the authorities reversed their position on the issue.  Also, I seem to remember that the pandemic numbers got worse instead of better after the mask mandate was issued.  

I was pissed off at Gretchen before the masks were mandated.  Her state of emergency order was limited by law to 28 days unless extended by the legislature.  She asked them for a seven-week extension, but they gave her only two. When that expired, she didn't even ask for more, she just unilaterally decreed an unlimited extension of her own, based on a different law that was ultimately overturned by the courts.  Then she tried to do it under the authority of the health department.  Most businesses complied, but a few filed lawsuits which they eventually won.  I suppose that party politics had something to do with all this, but another reason the legislature declined to give her more of an extension was that she had shut down some things that had a dubious impact on the virus, like golf courses, motorboats, and outdoor construction jobs, and refused to negotiate any of them.  

Michigan has indeed gone blue for a while and will probably stay that way until the Republicans can get rid of Donald Trump.  I am still not convinced that he isn't an agent for the other side, his mission being to sabotage the Republican Party and the conservative cause in general.