Michiganders Against Excessive Quarantine Group Keeps Growing

Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s extended emergency shutdown order for Michigan has many state residents singing her praise. They believe shutting down tens of thousands of businesses and putting millions out of work is the only way to stem the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Then there are those who don’t believe that approach is best for the state or any other. Following the Governor’s extension and expansion of her original closings order, a Van Buren County resident took to Facebook. He created a group called “Michiganders Against Excessive Quarantine”. Garrett Soldano of Mattawan figured maybe a few hundred would respond to the group. In less than 24 hours the group had 50,000 members. And it kept growing through the weekend. As of this morning, more than one quarter million are on board. Suggestions being discussed among group members range from initiating a recall of Governor Gretchen Whitmer to staging a protest at the state capitol on Wednesday. The protest appears to be gaining wide support. And the Governor has even made a veiled reference to the possibility by indicating civil protests are allowed under her standing Executive Order.  Lansing police have indicated concerns about a thousand or more vehicles converging on the state capitol from around the state. Group originator Soldano says the bottom line for him is that the designed fix should not be worse than the issue it is supposed to address. He says forcing the state’s economy into shutdown mode is simply a disaster.