Wednesday, September 02, 2020

Quick Hits: Volume CCXXVIII

 - This legal decision did not surprise me in the least. 


A Ramsey County judge on Tuesday dismissed a legal challenge to Gov. Tim Walz’s executive orders during the coronavirus pandemic.

The lawsuit, brought by a group of businesses and 13 Republican legislators, contended the Democratic governor is abusing his power and interfering with the legislative process. Dubbed the Free Minnesota Small Business Coalition, the group asked a judge to block Walz from issuing or enforcing emergency executive orders that he has used to limit businesses’ operations, close schools and require masks in indoor public places.

District Court Judge Thomas Gilligan upheld the constitutionality of the governor’s actions. “The Governor has acted pursuant to the authority delegated to him by the Legislature,” he wrote. “The COVID-19 pandemic constitutes an act of nature that provides the Governor with the basis to declare a peacetime state of emergency in Minnesota.”


I emphasized the sentence I did because that is the exact reason why I knew this lawsuit was an exercise in futility. While I concur that Gov. Walz should consult the legislative body when making critical decisions regarding the pandemic, he is literally under no legal obligation to do so. 

So do Republicans have any options to ultimately strip Walz of his power? Why, yes. Yes they do. It has to do with something involving a ballot box this November, specifically keeping the majority in the Senate and gaining control of the House. The latter would appear a tall task, but not nearly as insurmountable as taking away the executive branch's legislated power. 


- Congratulations to NFL player Manti Te'o, who recently got married.




She's a stunner, no doubt. And while I concede that looks aren't everything, Te'o's current partner is orders of magnitude more attractive than the gal he dated while in college






- Top Congressional Democrat Marie Antoinette is in a bit of a sticky wicket
 
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited a San Francisco hair salon on Monday afternoon for a wash and blow-out, despite local ordinances keeping salons closed amid the coronavirus pandemic, Fox News has learned.

In security footage obtained by Fox News, and timestamped Monday at 3:08 p.m. Pacific Time, the California powerhouse is seen walking through ESalonSF in San Francisco with wet hair, and without a mask over her mouth or nose.

The stylist doing her hair can be seen following her wearing a black face mask.

Salons in San Francisco had been closed since March and were only notified they could reopen on Sept. 1 for outdoor hairstyling services only.

This oughta play well among folks who were forbidden from holding a memorial service for deceased loved ones, having an indoor wedding, visiting elderly relatives in nursing homes, etc. And perhaps most egregious is how "social justice" protests over the past few months have been allowed to proceed with no social distancing and scant mask-wearing but Jewish children had their playground entrance gates welded shut

Kudos to the Daily Wire for this gem: 




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