YOUR AD HERE »

Carnes: Ignorance will never trump reality

It’s hard to believe I have to write this, but here goes: Any sentence, whether written or said aloud, that begins with, “I’m not a doctor, but …” should have all following words completely ignored.

Pretty simple to understand, right?

Kind of a big ol’ slab of common sense to me, but a quick reading of Vail Daily online comments about COVID-19 issues sadly proves otherwise for some.



It was sort of a big deal, at least for a few moments last week, when Gov. Polis announced Eagle County as the first to apply for and receive a waiver to begin relaxing restrictions from the official stay-at-home order.

A few of the local responses, however, would have you think Polis is as dense as the governor of Georgia and the mayor of Las Vegas combined, or a fascist Nazi dictator forcing each of us to recite the pledge to follow the “Five Commitments of Containment” in preparation for our upcoming mandatory vaccine, which of course includes Dr. W.H.O.’s and Bill Gates’ tracking chip to see who owns an AR-15 and control how they vote next November.

Support Local Journalism




I’m going to go with somewhere in between.

You want to inject Lysol, use a Clorox drip or take hydroxychloroquine to defeat the virus, by all means, knock yourself out (Note: this is not sarcasm, even when pushed by Glenn Beck).

But the new normal for our little slice of the Rockies is not based upon your desire to have a haircut or your nails done so you can go bowling or have a drink in a bar with your buddies while high-fiving everyone as they walk in the door.

I’d put money that for some, their only reason for living right now is to point out how wrong a particular projection from a week or two ago is so they can continue their whiny little protests about being inconvenienced.

Sure, I understand financial hardships probably play a bigger role in the frustrations these folks are feeling than the actual liberties they claim are being infringed upon. But all freedoms have consequences, and by far the vast majority are positive. Yet when a freedom affects others, such as the right to not wear a mask in City Market, then the consequences have the potential to be dire for others inside the store.

It’s taking the overused “give me liberty or give me death” mantra to an entirely different level.

I admit to being ambivalent about the governor’s actions. While wishing for friends to get back to work providing for their families, I have a great deal of empathy for those that fear death a tad bit more.

That this is occurring at the very start of mud season should be a clear indicator that results over the next six weeks probably will not be very telling for the experts to analyze as a road map for others.

But then again, experts are correct far more often than political talking heads and memes.

For me, I think it’s time to start stockpiling masks, gloves and ventilators in preparation for Round 2.

But we’re good on toilet paper, thanks.


Support Local Journalism