Having secured a pair of Nobel prizes while still a young man, Albert Einstein was privileged to spend his later life as a Yoda-like observer of the human condition. While visiting my son in Asheville 20 years ago, I found a coffee mug imprinted with my favorite Einstein quote, “The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.”

Stupidity is a virus of the mind, just as insidious as the coronavirus that’s trapped us in our homes. Stupidity is neither new nor novel but appears increasingly contagious. As a dedicated partisan, it has been both amusing and bewildering to watch the Colorado Republican Party stumble from one colossal political blunder to another in recent years. For a decade the party’s rank and file has repeatedly nominated candidates for top-of-the-ticket offices who have been rejected by Colorado voters with the sole exception of Cory Gardner.

Colorado’s conservative right appears determined to launch what is nearly certain to become a suicide march that costs U. S. Sen. Cory Gardner his Senate seat and, possibly, 3rd Congressional District U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton’s re-election bid. Polling finds that 10 of every 11 Americans support the “stay at home” orders issued by state governors. Colorado enjoys something of a libertarian streak, so perhaps support here is just four out of five voters. Two thirds also believe the risk of a quick reopening of the state’s economy carries more danger than extended sheltering in place.

Despite these political headwinds, Republican legislators have announced they plan to regularly question and challenge public safety orders issued by county public health managers and the governor. House minority leader Patrick Neville of Castle Rock even leveled charges of Gestapo tactics. (Whenever zealots on either the left or right stoop to Nazi comparisons, you can assume they aren’t trying to persuade on the merits of their argument.)

By the time this column appears, a re-nascent TEA Party contingent will have encircled the State Capitol for hours in a car parade of honking protest, demanding an immediate lifting of isolation orders. A lone counter-protester with a sign proclaiming, “Bring out your dead,” received more than a few epithets. A substantial majority of Coloradans, however, will be asking themselves, “Who are those effing idiots?”

As David Runciman noted recently in an essay discussing political timing during a pandemic, “…the instinct to protect the future against too hasty action in the present rarely survives its first contact with the enemy.” Critics of lockdown orders suggest that epidemiologists, much like climate scientists, are engaged in a conspiracy to exercise dictatorial control over our lives. In each case it is difficult to discern what possible benefit these Machiavellian scientists might be extracting from alarmist hoaxes. If I have to choose between scientists or politicians determining my fate, I will opt for the scientists.

As James Hamblin reports in the Atlantic magazine, most of us will encounter the COVID-19 virus long before a vaccine is widely available – a fact that has attracted far too little attention. The isolation protocols ordered in Colorado are designed not to prevent, but to reduce the number of patients – thereby spreading infections out over the months ahead so that our medical capacity isn’t overrun. This will save thousands of lives in the long run. Anti-vaxxers, who claim they have a right to dispatch their children into our classrooms as bio-weapons, and the “economy first” lobby are advocating a grim, take-your-chances reaping of the populace. When your life may be on the line, this Darwinian culling offers very little appeal.

As the stoic philosopher and Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius pointed out, “That which damages the hive, can’t be good for the bees.” Comparing Colorado’s economy with a beehive, it may be wise to consider what repairs will be needed. The role of the economy in a democracy is always a matter of contention. One school of thought argues the economy should be regulated so that every participant receives sufficient rewards to pursue fulfilling lives and secure a dignified retirement. Another claims the economy is inherently blessed with divine moral character best served by an obedient workforce ready to funnel all the royal jelly to the top 1% of bees. A swift “return to normalcy” is a vote for the latter.

We are learning that many of our emergency health care heroes receive no health insurance for their families. Half of COVID-19 deaths are occurring in nursing facilities that employ part-time workers who must hold two or three such jobs, carrying virus spores with them from one facility to the next – minimum wages for maximum risk.

We’ve also learned there is actually plenty of money to rescue wages when a vulnerable Republican resides in the White House. It is a special kind of stupidity that fails to recognize this is all wrong and requires significant changes.

Miller Hudson is a public affairs consultant and a former legislator. He can be reached at mnhwriter@msn.com.