Republican governors such as Greg Abbott have innovated by waiving laws forbidding alcohol delivery trucks from transporting groceries and allowing industries to repurpose their production, and even Democrats have embraced deregulatory measures. Newsom, for example, waived medical credentialing requirements so he can recruit medical students and retired professionals.

Yet somehow, Whitmer has simply leaned into her tyrannical streak. Now Michiganders are banned from traveling in between their own residences, and grocery stores cannot sell “nonessential items,” including life-saving car seats that are legally required for children under eight, and gardening supplies that would allow people to grow their own food.

The state of Michigan is not Manhattan. It’s not even Los Angeles or San Francisco. Outside of its major cities, it’s a fairly spacious state with plenty of people capable of gardening on their own property or traveling to a vacation home by car without ever coming into remote contact with another human being. And yet, Whitmer is acting as if she’s governing Wuhan itself. And still, the coronavirus is massacring her state as though it were an urban area that first got the coronavirus multiple months ago, not 30 days ago.