It's On the Refrigerator. Uselessly, Now.

Back in the day, when a guy could get around without a mask, I would wander into The Knick, an east side establishment with a little style. I would sit at the bar and wander, too, into conversations.

One of them was with a couple who'd just been to Poland. Poland, too, is afflicted with intimations of autocracy, especially with its intolerance of gay people, but isn't a bad place to visit. Since I'm mainly (half) Polish in derivation, I'd been interested in how I might be accepted, should I get the energy to go there.

The couple gushed. They'd had a blast. The Polish people were great, they said, and they loved Americans. They visited a bunch of Polish cities on their tour, and they were ready to go back again.

They performed a nice gesture, too. They gave me the name and address of a really nice hotel in Warsaw. I took it and put in on my refrigerator. I wanted to be sure I remembered it.

But now it's useless. I can't go. The European Union has prohibited Americans from coming. Why? Because too many of my countrymen are too damn stupid or too damn stubborn to wear masks and reduce the coronavirus. The virus has now surged, again. It is about as active, and as present, as it was three months ago. I can't even go to Canada, for heaven's sake.

But three months ago, people in several states were upset because they hadn't had a haircut, hadn't seen their favorite sports teams, hadn't been able to take out their boats, because their governors had issued stay-at-home, or safe-at-home, orders. They believed their rights were somehow at risk, that governors were bound and determined to take them away.

Anyone with a brain knew how mindless this was, how risky, and how dangerous. Now Herman Cain, who went to the 45 Tulsa speech without a mask, is dead. The governor of Oklahoma, also there, of course, got sick. And Louie Gohmert, Mr. Defiance from Texas, now has the virus and blames it on a mask, as if that's what caused it. He's going to take hydroxychloroquine to cure it, too. Best of luck with that.

The denial is staggering. It continues. We won't tamp down the virus until it's tamped down. It's not like we don't know what to do; most of us do. But too many for reasons only they can make up won't comply.

So now Tony Evers, the governor of Wisconsin, under pressure from fellow Democrats, has issued wear-a-mask order for the whole state to try to stem a new surge in cases--not as bad as Texas or Florida, but certainly a concern. Of course the legislative Republicans will go to court to turn it back. They have to, now, because they managed, with a distorted state Supreme Court falling into line, to take away Evers' Safe-At-Home order, which was managing to manage the virus, at least at its outset.  It already feels like a dinosaur.

Whether Wisconsinites actually follow the mask order is going to be a matter or selective enforcement, of course, and there may be stupid confrontations to that effect. But in this quirky state, that's to be expected. Let's get on with it. Let's find out whether the state Supreme Court will also turn this back. The court's makeup is about to change, so that is in question.

In the meantime, the nice note from the traveling couple remains on the refrigerator. Is it a reminder of a better time? Or a hope for one to return? We shall see.

Be well. Be careful. Wear a mask. With some luck, I'll see you down the road.


Mister Mark