It so happens we were watching the massive battle between the army of the dead and the living in season eight of Game of Thrones when our phones started beeping. Everyone in the state is ordered to stay home. We are allowed out to walk our pets, buy groceries, gasoline, liquor (they debated that one but thought better of it), but otherwise, stay home.
I am only vaguely aware of Colorado politics … my last memories of Governor Polis are when we lived in Boulder in 2009. My own mindset was still liberal, and I had come from lightly populated Montana to more populated Colorado. I was phasing out. He was in the US House of Representatives, but along with Senator Michael Bennet and Obama in office, I was clueless but … unimpressed. Republicans in our two-party system are allowed to be stupid but likable. Democrats, smug, aggressively stupid, are hard to take.
Honestly, I only recently tuned in to realize this Polis character was governor! I surely didn’t vote for him. Or anyone. A supposed “liberal” imposing draconian violations of civil liberties to protect us from a nonexistent bug? I gotcha, Polis. You’re a player. You’re as sincere as Cersie Lannister. Just a little less visually appealing.
We’re weighing our options. Obviously, they don’t want people talking to one another. Police have the power to jail people of free mind. My only thought tonight, a sign at the base of our driveway: Sorry Polis. Still Not Afraid.
We are among the living.
Piece of Mindful 
I’m in Denver and not afraid either. However, I certainly don’t want to pay the $999 fine. Funny how it’s not $1,000 huh? Gotta have those 9’s.
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We are going to be a lot of driving and walking. Sorry if you are more enclosed, but on our street we can walk 1.5 miles without encountering another human. Or a Polis.
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Unfortunately, I may encounter him, as the governor’s mansion is a six-minute walk from my place. But, he only lives there part-time. I’ll hug him if I see him.
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I see the reasoning behind $999 being moreso similar to the reason that prices are often $9.99. Looks more reasonable to the consumer (and we are little more than consumers to them).
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Honestly, does anyone really think these Governors have the power to buck this trend? My state already has such an order. I can’t imagine these Governors are anything but attractive faces who take their orders from above. For an order like this one, they would really have no choice but to comply (or they’d be committing political suicide).
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Polis is not an attractive man. Unless you are among the walking dead.
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OK, OK, wrong phrase. They are just FIGUREHEADS, taking their orders from above. Failing to comply to a major one like this would mean political suicide. These are Machiavellian people. They know when to get in line if it suits their personal fortune.
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Agreed, Fauxlex. There are indeed orders being given, hierarchies (both visible and invisible) being followed.
But I’m also struck by how…compliant… EVERYONE is. Most school principals and Corporate managers are NOT “in on it” or following explicit orders. And yet they know exactly what to do. When people catch a whiff of the zeitgeist, most are VERY eager to conform…and fast. Feds say close for 2 weeks, governors say close for a month, schools say, we’re closed for the year. It’s like yellow ribbons to support the troops. The useful idiots do more of the propagandizing and social pressuring than TPTB do! That’s one reason why propaganda is so powerful and so EASY. Because of the herding instincts of human beings.
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The schooling system teaches them compliance and to look to authority figures rather than to think. It is no accident. If I were running a company and hiring people, I would want those who were a pain in the ass to their teachers, questioning, annoying, doing things differently. We want people who become better than their teachers, don’t we? Otherwise, we are treading water. But those kinds of people don’t, most often, get A’s.
This may be self serving, so forgive me, as I was not exceptional but did have a rebellious streak. Our assignment in a management class (probably junior in college, don’t remember) was to construct a diagram of authority in a business, a chart. Normally we get “line” functions, people who have power to make decisions, and “staff” (usually shown as dotted lines), people who advise those with line authority. It’s kind of like a family tree.
Rather than regurgitate it all back at him, I took a baseball diamond and inserted all the talky talk, and assigned various functions to 1st base coach, 3rd base coach, umpire, and the most fun I had was to draw a leg and a knee and foot on a step in the dugout, the manager. The teacher had never seen anything like that before. he said “Hmmm, I like it.”
Tough class, tough teacher. I liked it, but only looking back.
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I’m also a Colorado Resident. I highly recommend you watch the documentary called ROCKY MOUNTAIN HEIST. Enjoying the blog, thanks for your efforts.
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