In defense of Gretchen Whitmer
I often decline to write about whatever phony scandal the other side is trying to make a big deal out of, because I don’t want to unwittingly help them make a bigger deal out of it. Most of the headlines you see from Fox News or the New York Post are complete non-stories that won’t resonate with anyone outside the Republican base, and therefore won’t change any minds anyway.
But today I do want to touch on the topic that right wing media has been playing up for the past day and a half, which is Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s visit to the White House. She went there because she was seeking a necessary commitment for her state, which was the right thing to do. Whitmer’s job as Governor is to do what’s best for her state. Most of the time that means fighting Donald Trump and his criminal regime tooth and nail. But there are instances, such as this week, where going to the White House to get something out of Trump is the correct move for the constituency.
Of course the Trump regime quickly moved to try to turn Whitmer’s White House visit into something other than what it was, and right wing media ran with it. Once Whitmer realized what Trump’s people were trying to do to her, she made sure to get away from the cameras. Now right wing media is playing that up as a supposed additional scandal for her, as if Whitmer is some kind of coward.
Really? Gretchen Whitmer a coward? Have you seen her in action? She fears nothing and no one. She eats corrupt people for lunch. In Michigan they don’t lovingly call her “Big Gretch” for nothing. The real story is that she wasn’t afraid to go to the Trump White House in order to get what she needed for her state, even though she knew she’d have to eat a little crap along the way.
So why am I writing about this? It’s not to shoot down the phony narratives about Whitmer that are coming from the right wing. I don’t much care about that. What I am concerned about is that we don’t get sucked into the story. Gretchen Whitmer is one of our best politicians. She has a huge future, and we need her. We can’t afford to be baited into giving up on her or shying away from her simply because right wing media made up a scandal about her. Nor can we afford to get scared away from any of our other top leaders and candidates. Now is not the time to eat our own. We must not give up an inch of ground, which means strongly sticking with Whitmer and whoever they decide to target next.
