Since I first learned of the Wuhan coronavirus in mid-January, common sense has been my guide. Not Chinese communist lies. Not “the models.” Not so-called “public-health experts.” Just common sense. Many elected leaders have also been guided by common sense. Others haven’t.

. @GovWhitmer has taken leave of common sense with her latest dictate. She’s ordered stores to rope off garden and home-improvement sections as “non-essential.” Sure, those aren’t essential for human life. But they give cooped up families something to do with no risk to others.

And by reducing the square footage of stores, the order effectively increases the density of shoppers in the remaining sections of the store—which is dangerous to public health!

Common sense should guide your actions during this pandemic. And it should guide our leaders’ decisions about how to protect your health and how to get our economy back on its feet. Common sense says you should be able to garden or paint the kids’ room.

I get that @GovWhitmer is auditioning to be VP. Foolish, theatrical orders with no public-health benefits may generate headlines, but they undermine public confidence. Then again, @JoeBiden called the China travel ban “xenophobic.” So maybe those two are a good match.