A state of denial...

When I sat down to draw the cartoon above, according to CNN 11 states had not issued a stay-at-home order.

As you can see, the bottom line – literally – is that I considered that foolish.

Staying away from each other works best if we all do it. If one of your family members goes out, gets exposed and brings the virus home, it’s like all of your family members went out and got exposed.

Your health depends on my behavior and my health depends on yours.

Some governors don’t seem to get this, but the coronavirus does not respect state or county lines; what happens in Vegas does not stay in Vegas. And just because a state doesn’t have a lot of virus cases right now, doesn’t mean it won’t in the near future.

As Ben Franklin would say, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Or as I would say, “If you jump out of an airplane at 20,000 feet you may not need a parachute for the first 19,999 feet of travel, but that last foot is going to catch up to you.” (Gotta admit Ben’s saying is a lot catchier and that’s probably why he’s on the $100 bill and I’m on my couch at home.)

Also, some states or counties may only think they don’t have a problem because they haven’t done enough testing to know for sure.

Yesterday morning, when I drew this cartoon, I knew events could overtake it and I was hoping they would. Better that more people are safe than me having an up-to-date political cartoon. And it turns out Tennessee’s governor finally got off the dime and issued a stay-at-home order the day after getting roasted on national TV.

So if bad publicity gets politicians to act, let me do my part.

Here in Missouri, Governor Mike Parson has not issued a statewide stay-at-home order, but is still on the ball when it comes to guns. He just issued an executive order suspending late penalties for concealed carry license renewals, clearly a top priority in the Show Me State.

And Jackson County — where I live — has reversed a previous order and is now letting Bass Pro Shops stay open to sell guns and ammo. So if the mood strikes, you can run on down and pick up some hollow points and with a little bad luck, a dry cough.

Whatever horrific number of deaths you’ve heard projected, apparently those projections are based on all the states having stay-at-home orders and they don’t.

It’s good that Tennessee now has one, but it’s way past time for the other states to accept reality.