Welcome to Planet Stupid

(Chuck Muth) – A couple weeks ago, the Westwind Drive-in re-opened. They had this silly idea that if they closed the concession stand, limited bathroom use to one person at a time, and spaced cars out by 10-feet or more that they could operate safely during the COVID hysteria.

That lasted all of one night. Nevada Gov. Baron von Sisolak shut them down again the very next day.

Well, the Westwind has finally been allowed to re-open “legally,” and I took the fam out last night for a double feature of E.T. and Jurassic Park. Seven of us in my daughter’s Ford F-150 pickup truck.

Spaces have now been outlined on the asphalt parking area. People were instructed to park in every other space – meaning there was actually 20 feet between vehicles in every direction.

The five kids sat in the bed of the open-air pickup truck, facing the screen. Gia and I set up folding chairs in front of the tailgate, all within our chalked-off “safe zone.”

And then we were hit with the virus!

No, not the coronavirus. The Stupidity Virus.

Before the movie started an employee walked by and informed us what we were doing was illegal according to von Sisolak’s edict. EVERYONE had to sit in the bed of the truck or we had to leave.

This is stupidity squared. NO ONE was even remotely within 6 feet of us. And how can it be “safe” to sit outside in the bed of a pickup truck but life-threatening to sit outside in front of the tailgate?

Yeah, I was pretty hacked off. Pretty sure I used a few four-letter words in referencing the baron. But it wasn’t the drive-in’s fault and we complied with their request.

They tried to re-open once before, had the governor re-close them, and now are allowed to reopen again – but only IF they follow the “rules.” They’d been warned not to cross von Sisolak and had no choice but to comply – no matter how stupid the rules. Lesson learned.

This is no longer – if it ever really was – about health concerns. This is a single, power-hungry elected official using the power of government to force compliance with arbitrary, non-sensical edicts…or else.

And the Nevada Legislature – 63 elected, but spineless, officials – are just sitting back and letting him get away with it. Worse, it seems half of our fellow citizens are OK with this, trading ESSENTIAL liberty for the false sense of a little security.

If Gov. von Sisolak’s St. Patrick’s Day Massacre of Nevada’s economy was prudent and understandable at the time – regardless of how screwed up, arbitrary and discriminatory its implementation was – that time has long passed.

The COVID curve was flattened long ago. But the Stupidity Virus continues to run rampant. And the face diaper-wearing coronachondriac sheep among us – which doesn’t include those who are truly in a high-risk category – bleat, “Baaaa.”

Sad.

(Mr. Muth is president of CitizenOutreach.org and publisher of NevadaNewsandViews.com.  He blogs at MuthsTruths.com.  His views are his own.)