Pandemics are funny things. Wait, strike that, I better reword that sentence. Pandemics create strange situations. There, that’s better. (Ed: good call)

Regular and supportive readers (Hi Mom!) no doubt turn to my twice weekly columns for erudite insights, clever word play, and the occasional reference to University of Michigan football (Ed: not as much as you seem to think).

And in those columns, I seek to highlight a particular political matter or outrage that I feel merits a look in the bright light of a free press. Oh, and Trump jokes. I really like Trump jokes. Usually I find inspiration in a Colorado Politics news story that spins me up and let’s me wax philosophic for the requisite 750 or so words (Ed: Right, like you’ve ever not run long). I am occasionally asked how I get my ideas for these columns, and I respond by mentioning the dozens of yellow sticky notes all over my desk, as well as other scribblings of a word or two on various scraps of paper cluttering up the rest of my desk. I even made a big spreadsheet of column ideas. Some of these scribblings turn into full-blown columns, while others just don’t seem worthy of a full rant and/or harangue, such as why writers use two words in a sentence, like “rant” and “harangue,” that really mean the same thing. 

But, like I said, pandemics are strange taskmasters. And so, in today’s reflections on life, I thought I’d offer a few of the thoughts that my sticky notes suggest, in a sentence or two.  So, much like mopping my kitchen floor yesterday, today I’ll be doing a bit of cleanup and work my way through that aforementioned spreadsheet:

• We in Colorado are lucky to have some really smart elected leaders. U.S. Rep. Jason Crow (an old personal friend) just introduced a bill to help health care students with their student loans. Nowadays, if you want to be a doctor, nurse, or other health care professional, you generally must accept massive debt as a condition of earning a degree. Crow’s legislation would make it easier to become one of these fine professionals, at a time when we need them more than ever. Good job Jason.
• There are still people who collect Beanie Babies. I found a box of my kid’s bb’s from the mid-1990s, and apparently, some of them may be worth lots of money. Who’d have thought it?
• The stock market really is a casino for the wealthy. As jobless claims reach truly stunning levels, the markets are going up? And oil futures can go negative? I understand the economic value of such markets, but they really do look like roulette tables for billionaires these days. Oh, and they are safer for the billionaires, as they don’t have to be on a casino floor, near each other at slot machines, especially in Vegas…
• The “liberty versus order” theme I often mention pops up in lots of places these days. A Colorado Politics story yesterday noted that the Denver Police Department has “quietly expanded” its surveillance camera network. The story noted that the DPD has used cameras for years, and this is just a continuing upgrade of the network. But I can hear the shouts of civil libertarians who have raised their eyebrows, as they should, at this additional overwatch capability. As a former military cop myself, I tend to side with the police on such things, but it does bring up an interesting concern. And I can’t help but wonder what my British friends would say, given the saturation of CCTV cameras in London and other major metro areas in the UK.
• The last two grocery stores I visited in recent days both had toilet paper back in stock, but no hand sanitizer. This may have a profound and philosophical meaning?
• If President Trump wants his name on all the stimulus checks, should it also appear on the COVID-19 death certificates? This thought is not original with me, but I do worry about the level of egotism in the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
• Republicans like Trump and U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, in my view, run for office on the three A’s: Anger, Apathy, and Amnesia. Get folks mad, hope that people don’t do too much research on issues, and declare that past events, statements, and heck, video recordings, don’t exist showing GOPers saying things like the virus has been basically stopped and that Obama didn’t leave any bullets or ventilators behind.
• The Constitution is hard to amend on purpose. The Founders didn’t want every generation to tinker with fundamental rights.
• Yet, the Founders always assumed that only men (let’s be real here, they didn’t think about women as leaders, as such were the times) of character, intelligence, and honor would reach elective office. That’s a double “oops.” 

Ok, that cleans up about a third of my random notes. In future columns I’ll get back to looking more in depth at a single issue, but for the moment, I hope you’ll accept my random neuron firings and ideas. Now if you will excuse me, I thinkthe vacuum cleaner bag is full, and I really should change it. (Ed: is there an eyeroll emoji?)

Hal Bidlack is a retired professor of political science and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who taught more than 17 years at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.