The pandemic has shed light on just how much authority the government can wield in the name of “keeping us safe.” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer made full use of laws available to her to control our lives. The courts rightly keep putting checks on those powers. With the midterms in sight, Whitmer has done her best to distance herself from the executive orders and health directives that ruled Michigan for a year and a half. Since June, the governor has taken a hands-off approach to COVID-19, even as the state is battling its worst surge yet. That has helped boost her approval ratings. Yet those…