Oh my, what a half a decade can look like when you glance back just a mere five years.
Do you recall what you were doing five years ago?
Well, here in the great state of Michigan, we had just started dealing with Gretchen Whitmer and her nonsensical COVID mandates coming from her perch in Lansing. Her orders and revisions seemed to come at one point almost daily and made this state look like it was being run by a pure amateur.
Let me take that back. Gretch has never been an amateur.
She seeks to destroy what she oversees, and she is damn good at it.
So yesterday, while I was scrolling X (formerly Twitter), I came across a post by somebody who I have followed for several years and who has done some excellent reporting, not only on what is going on in the state of Michigan but across the nation. Charlie LeDuff is his name, and during the governor's COVID escapades, he dove right into that whole story and was a true pain in the butt for an administration that didn't want to discuss the science and facts that they claimed they were following.
It was 5 years ago today that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued the first of her disastrous Covid-19 pandemic orders.
— Charlie LeDuff (@Charlieleduff) March 10, 2025
"Science and data," she boasted.
There was no science or data.
Remember, I had to sue her to find out there was no accurate death count in the long-term care… pic.twitter.com/ehfKyTViGQ
It was 5 years ago today that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued the first of her disastrous Covid-19 pandemic orders.
"Science and data," she boasted.
There was no science or data. Remember, I had to sue her to find out there was no accurate death count in the long-term care facilities.
No other reporter joined me.
Not one.
Some, in fact, covered for her.
The true death count in MI is may be as high as 14,000...close to that of NY.
The stupidity of co-mingling the sick and the old.
Even NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo stopped doing it after six weeks.
Not Whitmer.
I promised the families I would do my best to get them justice.
Today, I reaffirm that commitment.
Things are in motion.
How time flies when you're desperately trying to forget the craziness that your leaders put you through.
LeDuff is a MUST-follow if you live in or around Michigan or just want to follow how a once-great state could fall into such disrepair. I have written several stories based on his reporting here at RedState, and I and others have commented positively, reading somebody who does actual reporting and not caring where the facts will lead.
Back in 2021, LeDuff was digging into the actual numbers of nursing home deaths during COVID-19, and he teamed up with the Mackinac Center, and what they found was slightly shocking. Report: Michigan Nursing Home COVID Deaths Could Be Underreported by 40% or Higher
From that story...
LeDuff and his show the No Bullshit News Hour joined up with Mackinac Center for Public Policy to force the State of Michigan to release the data for the actual numbers of people who died in care facilities. From their initial find, Michigan looks like it failed in collecting the numbers that could have helped steer policy and possibly save lives.
From Deadline Detroit…
It appears that Michigan wildly under-counts Covid deaths in its long term care facilities.
A joint investigation by the “No BS News Hour” and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy reveals that the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) does not do a thorough job of scrubbing vital records to determine whether people who died of Covid were nursing home residents, as its own guidelines require.
Moreover, our investigation found that DHHS did conduct a limited review of those vital records last summer, and found that 44 percent could be traced to nursing homes.
Don’t expect the nursing home data to get better or more accurate. DHHS has abandoned the practice of thoroughly scrubbing records because it is considered too “time-consuming.”
Why does this matter?
As I said above, we have been told that state officials were basing all the decisions they were making on science and data. So all the closures and restrictions we experienced here in the Great Lakes State were supposed to be based on the best data possible.
According to LeDuff’s Deadline Detroit story above, they reviewed records after having to sue to have an FOIA request honored and found this: From March to June of 2020, the state audited 1,468 death records and of those 648 deaths were traced back to long-term care facilities. Taking that 44% as an average and applying it to the near 7,000 other vital records deaths recorded would be close to another 3,000 deaths for those who are being cared for in care facilities.
Once again, why does this matter today?
Well, it's never good when elected officials are pulling the wool over your eyes and issuing executive orders telling people what they can do when they go outside and if they have to wear a mask. Also, people who are in nursing homes are by and large the elderly and are our parents and grandparents, and we should be treating them with the utmost respect. Those were lessons that were painful to learn, and we should work to make sure we never go back in that direction.
Also, who can forget her rationale on what businesses could stay open or close? Whitmer Says Casinos and Bowling Alleys Can Open but Not Indoor Dining.
Now I don’t want to say that this latest barrage of nonsensical orders given by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon does not make sense. However, I would be clearly lying if I said that, so I will go on the record saying this absolutely in no way shape or form makes sense. Before I continue banging my head into a wall over this, here is what we have to deal with in Michigan Detroit Free Press…
Michigan’s casinos, movie theaters, bowling alleys and similar venues will be allowed to reopen on Monday, with some restrictions in place, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Friday. High schools also will be allowed to resume in-person classes next week, she said.
But indoor dining will remain banned, at least through Jan. 15.
The changes amount to rolling back some, but not all, restrictions implemented through controversial emergency orders aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. State health department orders banning in-person classes, indoor dining and many business operations were implemented in November and extended earlier this month, but were set to expire Sunday. The new order was announced Friday but takes effect Monday.
The order deems casinos, bowling alleys, bingo halls, gun ranges and similar venues as “lower-risk recreational facilities.” Up to six people from the same household will be allowed to enter these facilities, as long as they wear masks, stay away from other groups and do not consume food or beverages. These venues are not allowed to operate concessions; Gordon and others have said the necessity to remove a mask in order to eat makes the activity too risky to do inside around others.
Did you catch that brilliance there? You can go bowling wearing a mask but you can’t get any of that delicious pizza to satisfy your built-up hunger from tossing a 16-pound ball at pins that you wish were people you did not like.
Why is the reminder of LeDuff and the fifth anniversary of Whitmer's first COVID action important or relevant?
Simple.
Lots of people are lining up to run for statewide office that are 100 percent aligned with her. I have written about some of these people and their campaigns here at RedState.
Democrat Jocelyn Benson Announces Run for Michigan Governor, and She Is the Favorite to Win So Far
All of these people are considered F.O.G.
Friends of Gretch.
Odd, right?
Particularly in Michigan, I think it's important to constantly remind your neighbors, your friends, and your family that the friends of Gretch all think the same way and believe the same things. They will try to put some distance between themselves and her as the campaigns unwind, but you have to continue to remember that they are birds of a feather, and they always flock together.
So I give a huge thanks to Charlie LeDuff for the reminder that yesterday was an important anniversary and that Gretchen Whitmer has been an unmitigated disaster for the state of Michigan.
Let's try to avoid electing someone just like her in November of 2026.
Help us keep holding the progressive Democrats and their incompetence to account.
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