{"id":2459037,"date":"2020-05-30T22:24:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-31T04:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/colorados-legislature-is-where-youll-find-the-real-unmasking-scandal\/"},"modified":"2020-05-30T22:24:00","modified_gmt":"2020-05-31T04:24:00","slug":"colorados-legislature-is-where-youll-find-the-real-unmasking-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/colorados-legislature-is-where-youll-find-the-real-unmasking-scandal\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado\u2019s legislature is where you\u2019ll find the real unmasking scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"620\" height=\"620\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/littwin-atd-010817.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/littwin-atd-010817.jpg 620w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/littwin-atd-010817-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/09\/littwin-atd-010817-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">It should come as no surprise that the decision to reopen the country \u2014 responsibly in the case of some governors, Brian Kemp-like in the case of others \u2014 has somehow become less a health issue than a political issue. Nothing, including the approach of 100,000 Americans dead of COVID-19, changes that.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">That\u2019s the world Jared Polis enters every time he decides to liberalize the rules in reopening businesses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">On Monday, Polis announced the reopening of in-room dining for restaurants \u2014 with strict guidelines, of course \u2014 while rejecting the opening of bars and also while forcing breweries, if they want to be open to customers, to change their food-service model. It\u2019s a tightrope, and the science \u2014 as The Washington Post noted \u2014 is not always as helpful as one would hope, even for a data-driven governor like Polis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Brian Nosek, a University of Virginia professor who specializes in making scientific data trustworthy and reliable, told The Post that \u201cthe pandemic has exposed the messiness of science. \u2026 We all want answers today, and science is not going to give them. Science is uncertainty. And the pace of uncertainty reduction in science is way slower than the pace of a pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row at-donation at-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"handleDonationButtonClickMidArticle()\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">According to all the polls, most Americans trust science more than their leaders, who continue to expose their own \u201cmessiness,\u201d which also can mean unforgivable lapses in judgment. And, of course, we saw photos from around the country of Memorial Day partying with people packed tightly, which is not what most governors had in mind. I didn\u2019t see Donald Trump tweet even once about it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In fact, after going maskless in a couple of golf outings earlier in the weekend, Trump was, of course, maskless, along with the first lady, while laying a wreath at Arlington Cemetery on Monday. And he was maskless as he moved to Baltimore to make a speech at Fort McHenry, where the words for the National Anthem were penned during the War of 1812 \u2014 which was not, as it turned out, one of our best wars.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Meanwhile, Joe Biden left his self-imposed quarantine for the first time since March, making an unannounced visit, alongside his wife, Jill, to a Delaware veterans\u2019 cemetery to lay a wreath. Both Bidens wore masks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">And because it\u2019s Twitter and because the country isn\u2019t divided enough and because mask-shaming is now a thing, FoxNews commentator Brit Hume tweeted a photo of Biden in a black mask, saying, \u201cThis might help explain why Trump doesn\u2019t like to wear a mask in public.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">When Trump wasn\u2019t spending his time tweeting about pulling the Republican National Convention from North Carolina or baselessly accusing Joe Scarborough of murder or slamming \u2014 who else? \u2014 Barack Obama, he naturally retweeted Hume\u2019s tweet. And there it was \u2014 Trump making the case that wearing a mask is for wimps, not for manly, if short-fingered, presidents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">And as the Colorado General Assembly reopened \u2014 where masks were mandated for visitors but not for legislators or their staff, because, you know, freedom \u2014 you could see the same divide playing out with the same level of selfishness displayed by the usual Trumpian suspects. According to reporters at the scene, all House Democrats were wearing masks and maybe less than half of Republicans. Those choosing not to wear masks are making a mockery of the governor\u2019s policies \u2014 Polis is, of course, the poster-governor for mask-wearing \u2014 while sending the exact wrong message to people who actually pay attention to these guys.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Matt Soper, a Republican from Delta, explained his decision not to wear a mask in telling The Denver Post, \u201cMy district doesn\u2019t really buy the whole mask thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Imagine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Let\u2019s give thanks to North Dakota\u2019s Republican governor, Doug Burgum, who in a speech Friday asked North Dakotans not to mask-shame and to instead \u201cdial up your empathy and understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Twitter, as you might imagine, was exploding, which is all in another day in the life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">I got a small taste of that Monday when writing a fairly inoffensive tweet about the reopening of Colorado restaurants for in-room dining, noting that while the Colorado Restaurant Association is understandably worried that the 50% capacity guidelines seemed too strict for restaurants to make a profit, many of us still worried that it wasn\u2019t strict enough.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">And I got slammed for it, which is nothing unusual. It comes with the gig. And more people, in fact, approved of the tweet than disapproved. But it was the anger at my apparent temerity in expressing concern that more people might become infected that struck me.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">I was called a sissy who lived in a bubble and was trying to scare everyone and wasn\u2019t a real man, and if I was needlessly afraid, couldn\u2019t I just keep my mouth shut. Questioning the risk factor in reopening any part of the economy is apparently a trigger for the Trumpian right, the poor things.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The reopening of restaurants \u2014 even with strict guidelines \u2014 is a hugely symbolic moment in the course of the pandemic, a big step toward normalcy, not to mention a step toward saving some restaurants from closing altogether. It also, of course, comes with risk attached, as Polis agreed. He also said with outdoor dining, many restaurants could seat far more than 50%.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Thirty states now have some form of in-room dining. It was inevitable, just as the relaxing of stay-at-home rules was inevitable. Just as in some states \u2014 but not in Colorado \u2014 the reopening of bars, even more concerning, is inevitable.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Trends in Colorado seem to be pointing down. There doesn\u2019t seem to have been any rebound \u2014 at least not yet \u2014 from easing stay-at-home restrictions. Testing, though, is still far below where it needs to be. Contact tracing is still far below where it needs to be. And as Rep. Steven Woodrow, D-Denver, tweeted me, \u201cWe\u2019re 2nd to last in testing per 1MM, top 13 in deaths per 1MM, and a recent study suggested we\u2019re 4th in contagion per person.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">And it should be noted that in 18 states, trends are going up, and a resurgence anywhere is certainly possible. Meanwhile, the medical scientists \u2014 remember Dr. Anthony Fauci? \u2014 say we should expect a return of the virus with a vengeance in the fall, maybe not too long after many schools reopen. The World Health Organization is warning against the assumption \u201cthat just because the disease is on the way down now that it\u2019s going to stay down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">What comes of all this may someday seem to have been inevitable, but at this point it\u2019s still very much unknown. From the latest University of Colorado School of Public Health modeling comes the warning that unless those 60 or older maintain strict social distancing \u2014 which doesn\u2019t mean going to restaurants \u2014 the state could face a hospital bed crisis in the fall.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In his news briefing Tuesday, Polis said he didn\u2019t want to get too far ahead of himself with model warnings, but he agreed that seniors need to be 75% to 85% compliant in social distancing. He said as many as 90% of the deaths in Colorado have been seniors and that they are many more times likely to need hospitalization than someone, say, 40 years old.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Here\u2019s what I do know \u2014 according to the polls, many people are not yet ready to embrace reopening. Many consumers won\u2019t return until they feel safe. Fewer than half the country says it\u2019s prepared to visit a restaurant. And it\u2019s worth noting that the restaurant business was taking a huge hit before many states closed them for in-room dining.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Clearly the economy is now in deep recession, with as many as 40 million jobs having been lost. And yet, even as states reopen, the economic recovery, we\u2019re told, will be slow. Nothing will be normal, in fact, until the virus is contained. And if we listen to science \u2014 still my first option \u2014 that must mean more testing and more contact tracing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Meanwhile, the president hides his failures by continuing to insist that, instead of a massive federal response, the states \u2014 according to the 81-page COVID-19 Strategic Testing Plan \u2014 should be in charge of testing, contact tracing, finding those who are asymptomatic and having hospitals prepared in case of a resurgence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">It\u2019s a shame-faced abdication of duty by Trump. And yet it\u2019s Biden who wears the mask.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\">Mike Littwin has been a columnist for too many years to count. He has covered Dr. J, four presidential inaugurations, six national conventions and countless brain-numbing speeches in the New Hampshire and Iowa snow. The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported news organization dedicated to covering the people, places and policies that matter in Colorado. Read more, sign up for free newsletters and subscribe at coloradosun.com.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/opinion\/colorados-legislature-is-where-youll-find-the-real-unmasking-scandal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It should come as no surprise that the decision to reopen the country \u2014 responsibly in the case of some governors, Brian Kemp-like in the case of others \u2014 has somehow become less a health issue than a political issue. Nothing, including the approach of 100,000 Americans dead of COVID-19, changes that. That\u2019s the world [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2459037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-17 01:21:10","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2459037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2459037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2459037\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2459037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2459037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2459037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}