America's Looming COVID-Civil War

Opening up

Illinois' entire northern border-- 6 counties-- is right up against Wisconsin, whose own governor, Tony Evers, described it as the "wild west" and chaotic in regard to confronting the pandemic. He said it is a "freighting place to be." Evers has been trying to have his state follow the White House guidelines but the Republican-controlled legislature and Supreme Court-- and a vocal extremist fringe of confirmed idiots-- are determined to kill as many cheeseheads as possible. Wisconsin's caseload has been spiking dangerously. On Sunday the state's steadily increasing confirmed caseload was 2,154 per million. Today it is 2,179 per million.

Illinois is in much worse shape-- 7,614 cases per million, but, unlike the Wild West to the north, Illinois is serious about confronting the pandemic and beating it back. Unfortunately for Lake, McHenry, Boone, Winnebago, Stephenson and Jo Daviess counties, their proximity to Wisconsin makes that pretty much impossible. They face 6 Wisconsin counties along that state's southern tier: Kenosha, Walworth, Rock, Green, Lafayette and Grant.

These are the northern Illinois suburban and rural counties that border on Wisconsin with the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19:

• Lake- 6,489
• McHenry- 1,179
• Boone- 290
• Winnebago- 1,490
• Stephenson- 150
• Jo Daviess- 18

On Sunday, the NY Times reported that Illinois Governor, J.B. Pritzker, has enacted an order that would see owners of restaurants, bars gyms, barbershops and other establishments in his state who open too early charged with a Class A misdemeanor. On Friday Pritzker filed an emergency rule "intended to prevent the spread of the coronavirus as a growing number of businesses defy stay-at-home orders across the country." A Class A misdemeanor carries a punishment of up to a year in jail and up to a $2,500 fine.

Conservative legislators are barking already. As The Times reported, state Senator Dan McConchie (R) tweeted that the governor's new rule to protect the citizens of the state "an affront to the separation of powers. Legislatures make laws. Governors enforce them. Period."

In Texas this month, a salon owner in Dallas was jailed for defying state and county orders for nonessential establishments to remain closed. The state Supreme Court ordered her release two days later. And last Sunday in Colorado, a restaurant that reopened for sit-down dining on Mother’s Day was shut down and had its license suspended.

The pain of the coronavirus shutdown, in terms of wrecked economies and shattered lives, has been unmistakable. Now, governors across the country are contemplating the risks of reopening, particularly if it produces a surge of new cases and deaths.

“This is really the most crucial time, and the most dangerous time,” Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio, a Republican, said on the CNN program State of the Union on Sunday. “All of this is a work in progress. We thought it was a huge risk not to open. But we also know it’s a huge risk in opening.”

...[G]overnors also acknowledged concerns about a fresh resurgence of the coronavirus, and they are haunted by images of restaurants and stores packed with patrons with uncovered faces.

“This is a virus we’re still learning a lot about,” Mr. DeWine said.

These are cases per million in the states mentioned in this post:

• Illinois- 7,614 per million
• Colorado- 3,855 per million
• Ohio- 2,437 per million
• Wisconsin- 2,179 per million
• Texas- 1,713 per million
• Idaho- 1,374 per million

McGeachin is certifiably insane and needs psychiatric treatment... badly

Idaho's numbers look relatively decent, but maybe not for long. The state's governor, Brad Little (R), hasn't done a bad job. Too bad he's burdened with a sociopath as his Lt. Governor, Janice McGeachin, who has now gone rogue. Cynthia Sewell reported last week that while Little was following the science and issuing statewide orders to curb the spread of the pandemic in Idaho, McGeachin, a bona fide crackpot extremist (note the belt-buckle-- has defied Little and his administration throughout the pandemic.

She left the Legislature’s 2020 session early-- the lieutenant governor presides over the Senate-- to attend to her family business, a restaurant and pub in Idaho Falls. She has attended or supported rallies opposing Little’s stay-home order and has been urging him to let businesses re-open. She defied his state order earlier this month to attend an event at a North Idaho brewery that re-opened despite Little’s order. 
This week she wrote a guest opinion challenging Little’s decisions.

Her opening salvo served to remind Little how powerful she is: “As lieutenant governor, I am one heartbeat away from the governor’s chair,” McGeachin wrote.

“I lose sleep at night because the heavy hand of our government is hurting so many Idahoans,” she continued. “The effects of the executive branch’s unilateral decisions will impact us for years.”

The governor campaigned on a promise of imposing the “lightest hand of government” on Idahoans, she wrote.

“To me, this means getting out of the way and letting Idahoans get back to work,” McGeachin concluded in her tome sent to media organizations around the state.

She and the governor haven't spoken in at least 3 weeks.