Who is this woman?
We have no choice but to ask.
No, not the one receiving “communion.”
The one giving it.
In a viral video (key word for our time: virus), the governor of Michigan—in times past a strong Catholic state—is posing with a strange Instagram “influencer” named Liz Plank, placing a Dorito on the podcaster’s tongue in recreation of a TikTok trend. The podcaster looks like she’s kneeling on a couch.
The effect—flitting eyes, wholly disturbing visage—is virtual demonism, if you will excuse a simple journalistic observation.
It’s how those infested with a spirit can look.
They were only kidding, of course, explained the governor later. The video was misconstrued. They were just trying to plug an interview set to air on a YouTube segment called “Chip Chat.“
Instagram, TikTok, YouTube. What an extravasating new collage of “media.”
Catholics—practicing ones—didn’t buy it, protesting at the gubernatorial mansion, nor did Michigan’s bishops, who issued a rebuke.
Many described the video, more charitably, as simply “weird” or, less charitably, as “sick puppies.”
“It is not just distasteful or ‘strange;’ it is an all-too-familiar example of an elected official mocking religious persons and their practices,” said Paul Long, president of the Michigan Catholic Conference.
Who is Governor Gretchen Whitmer?
She is a liberal, to start with, a progressive Democrat in a state strong on unions. She is a lawyer who came up through the ranks of the state legislature. In February 2020, she was selected to give the Democratic response to then President Donald Trump’s 2020 State of the Union Address. In October 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigation thwarted a far-right militia group’s kidnapping plot against Whitmer.
A rape victim, she is strong on abortion “rights.” We’ll pray for her healing.
According to the Detroit News, a spokeswoman for Whitmer’s political action committee, “Fight Like Hell,” dismissed criticisms of the video, “arguing it was a common social media trend on TikTok and was meant to draw attention to the CHIPS Act. The Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) Act was passed into law under President Joe Biden in 2022 to attempt to onshore the production of semiconductor chips, or small electronic devices.”
Ask another player in the new world of cyber reality, ChatGPT, about the governor and it tells us, “As of the latest available information, Governor Whitmer has not publicly emphasized her religious affiliations as a primary aspect of her political identity. This aligns with a broader trend among some politicians who choose to focus on policies and governance rather than personal religious beliefs. However, it is known that she was raised in a household with both a Catholic mother and a Protestant father, which suggests a background influenced by Christian values.”
“Over 25 years in public service, I would never do something to denigrate someone’s faith,” a statement from the governor said. “I’ve used my platform to stand up for people’s right to hold and practice their personal religious beliefs. My team has spoken to the Michigan Catholic Conference. What was supposed to be a video about the importance of the CHIPS Act to Michigan jobs, has been construed as something it was never intended to be, and I apologize for that.”
Bishop Bonnie Perry of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan called the governor “an ally to the faith community.”
If so, we have seen better alliances.
[resources: Michael Brown retreat Saturday]