Pandemic Politics

I haven't talked to that many people about it, so I don't know how seriously my fellow Michiganders are taking the pandemic.  The news reports I have read seem to suggest that many urban people are not taking it as seriously as many rural people.  I guess it's like birth control, the people who need it most are the ones who practice it least.  Then again, I suppose several hundred people throwing a public corona party are more likely to make the news than five guys drinking beer and playing cards in a private home.

The big news lately has been about the legal controversy surrounding our governor's extension of the state of emergency without legislative approval.  She said on TV this evening that she expects people to obey her orders until the courts rule otherwise.  Of course that could take years, unless either party secures a preliminary injunction that says the state of emergency either may or may not continue while the case moves through the courts.  Meanwhile, "a number" of businesses are defying the governor's orders.  The only one I have seen reported in detail is that barber in Owosso.  He reopened his shop shortly after the state of emergency expired and has resolved to keep it open until they haul him away in handcuffs.  Last I heard, the judge presiding over the case had denied the plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction.  The 77 year old barber in question said he has been cutting hair since he was 18, and wouldn't know what to do with himself if he stopped now.  He has plenty of customers, some of whom have promised to help him with his legal expenses.

For several days our local newspaper was reporting 17 cases in Cheboygan County while our local TV station was reporting 19.  When the paper caught up, they explained that there are two government agencies reporting the numbers.  One of them updates every day, while the other updates only twice a week.  If something like that is happening on a national and global scale, it might explain the periodic spikes in the numbers.

In Michigan we are only required to wear masks in buildings and other enclosed spaces that are open to the public, not outdoors or in our cars.   Our local sheriff has said that he plans to leave mask enforcement to the individual store managers, intervening only if there is a conflict.  Most of our local Walmart employees didn't start wearing masks until the governor ordered them to.  If they are not complaining about their mask-less customers, it's probably because they wouldn't be wearing them either if they had the choice.  Be that as it may, our governor's mask order provides an exemption for anybody who has a medical condition that precludes them from wearing a mask.  It has occurred to me that a pain in the ass is a medical condition.  Isn't it?