Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has a firm grasp on how to unify her state and direct us through the COVID-19 debacle. (I can’t even type that with a straight face)

While other midwestern states are dropping mandates and opening up, and southern states are serving as vacation spots for her staff, she has to blame something for the debacle in Michigan. I mean, she can’t blame Donald Trump anymore, being he is in Mar-a-Lago golfing maskless — just like the rest of the state of Florida.

So, she has to blame the courts and the Republicans in Michigan who have pretty much let her have her way.

She is truly America’s sweetheart.

Big Gretch went to her safe space today on the NBC weekly gabfest, “Meet The Press” with Chuck Todd to complain that the rise in COVID cases here in the Great Lakes State is not her fault. Really. This is all some sort of conspiracy that has been hoisted upon her well-meaning mandates that are not working.

What meanies.

Before we get to what Governor “It’s NOT MY FAULT” said on this bore of a show, let’s cover what Dr. Fauci said about the Biden administration position on Whitmer’s request for more shots in arms. From The Detroit Free Press…

Immediately before Whitmer appeared on the Sunday show, Todd interviewed Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who said the Biden administration was not surging more vaccines to Michigan, as Whitmer has requested, because when a state is in the middle of a surge, as Michigan, is, “the best thing to do is try to contain it,” and “really to shut down things much moreso.”

Officials with the Centers for Disease Control have made similar statements, urging Whitmer to impose additional restrictions.

Whitmer, in resisting calls to impose new restrictions during the Michigan surge, has until now mostly cited her strategy of combatting the surge by massively increasing vaccinations and urging, but not ordering, people to wear masks, observe social distancing, and take other measures to prevent virus spread. Under a Whitmer directive, all Michigan residents 16 and up are eligible to be vaccinated, as of April 5.

Well, that is interesting. According to Fauci, Gretch should be telling all of us we should be staying home under threat of dying, possibly, if we don’t do that. Last November, she shut us down during the second wave — so, what gives now?

From Meet The Press:

CHUCK TODD:

So what’s changed? Is it the fatigue? Is it the — the blowback you’ve been getting? Is it all of it?

GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER:

A lot of things have changed. You know, 15 months ago, we didn’t know that this virus could be contained by the simple act of wearing a mask. We did not have PPE at our fingertips. We certainly didn’t have the testing or the vaccines. We’re now in a much different position. On top of that, in the waning months I have been sued by my legislature, I have lost in a Republican-controlled Supreme Court, and I don’t have all of the exact same tools.

Despite those things, we still have some of the strongest mitigation measures in the country: mask mandates, capacity limitations, working from home. So we’re still doing what we can. But what is really happening on the ground here is we’re moving fast to get shots in arms. We got a million in two weeks, a million in just the last nine days.

So we keep breaking our own records. We’ve got these continued mitigation practices. And I’m working with a smaller set of tools at my disposal. And that’s why we really do need and appreciate the additional help that we’re getting from the federal government.

What happened last October was that the Governor was told that she could not continue, in perpetuity, extending executive orders without the approval of the legislature every 30 days. She then smugly decided that she would use the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to continue executing the very same orders she had issued and were ruled illegal by the Michigan Supreme Court.

Those rules are STILL in place, and the GOP legislature has rolled over and played dead for her. She is operating business as usual, and the only thing that will stop her (possibly) is an election in 18 months.

So, nothing has changed other than the states around us and south of us are opening up, and dropping mask mandates with falling cases. Yet Michigan JUST ISSUED a mandate on Friday to make sure that toddlers between ages 2 thru 4 are wearing masks. That sure doesn’t sound like she is being tripped up by a court ruling or the legislature.

Don’t believe me, here is the latest order that Gretch & crew released: MDHHS Order…

E) A person responsible for a child care organization or camp, or an agent of such person, must not allow gatherings unless:

1. Face masks are worn by all staff;

2. A good faith effort is made to ensure that children aged 2 to 4 years wear a mask when participating in gatherings;

3. All children 5 years and older wear a mask when participating in gatherings.

If anyone can explain what a good faith effort to get a toddler to do anything other than scream or eat ice cream, I’m willing to be entertained. I’m just gonna wish those folks good luck with getting them to wear diapers on both their faces and bottoms.

Michigan is being left behind, and the science and data are pretty clear on this. I won’t speculate exactly why yet, but obviously, the heavy-handed approach from the crew that cares too much is not working but they will never admit it.

They will just go on Chuck Todd’s program and lie their kiesters off.