By Dan Hardenbrook

This is all just a giant game to the Governor. I have absolutely, positively no doubt.

This was all part of the plan. Just when we think we’ve won, it hits us out of nowhere like a haymaker to the jaw. Governor Gretchen Whitmer may lose certain battles, but she is hell-bent on winning the war. Even if it means sacrificing your kids’ health and well-being.

Executive Order 180, which requires athletes to wear masks during games and practices if they can’t stay six feet apart, was her way of sticking it to the hundreds of thousands who accused her of holding the fall sports season hostage.

We thought she had seen the light, and that we were making progress. We thought wrong. Just as quickly as she caved in and let kids play, she came back with a mandate that has one simple purpose: Make those who challenged her authority as miserable as possible.

She realized she was wrong. She can’t keep the power over parents. When Mark Uyl and the MHSAA had taken enough heat, she realized she was all alone. Though she’d lost that battle, her comeback was severe.

This isn’t about the health and safety of student athletes. She discarded that when she tried to suffocate kids while working out. This is about a grown woman, trusted by a majority of Michigan, throwing a temper tantrum. Great example, Governor. Good thing you’ll be long gone by the time these kids get to vote.

The governor had to let kids play sports, so she came up with the next best way to win: Make them wear masks. Don’t want to? Don’t play. Can’t wear one because you have asthma? You can’t play. Unable to tolerate it after hours locked in a room with one on? Too bad, so sad, see you later.

When the governor couldn’t keep kids from playing, she tried to make them want to quit. She gets what she wants in the end: no sports. And if she thinks the masks are safe, I personally invite her to a local practice to try it out for herself. It won’t be a jog around the block or play time with her personal trainer. These kids are busting their butts. Don’t come asking me for air.

I’ve met Gretchen Whitmer. She once sat across the table from me after meeting kids from our community. She looked me right in the eyes and said her number one promise was to make sure children were cared for. What a crock of crap! Her latest mandate has overdone it. It proves two things. Either she doesn’t have a clue what she is doing, or she doesn’t care. I’m not sure which is worse.

Nothing can justify her decision. Science is not on her side. Health care professionals and public safety organizations don’t agree. The coaching community is completely confused, because it defies what we’ve been taught regarding keeping kids safe. Kids can’t comprehend, or handle, having to wear a mask while competing. Yet the officials right next to the players are fine unmasked? Doesn’t make sense either.

She’s come a long way from “always caring about the kids” to literally putting them in a position to kill themselves. Seems to me like she doesn’t really give a darn.

EO 180 does nothing to protect our kids…It’s quite the opposite actually. It only proves that the woman in charge won’t take no for an answer. Even if it means putting YOUR kids at risk so she can reap the rewards