As we enter the 7th week of Shelter In Place orders, many officials are apparently shocked that large segments of the public are unhappy about it, and/or non-compliant. What did they THINK was going to happen if they locked people in their homes for months at a time, often with no income, no job, no prospects for improvement, no exit strategy and no end date? I told my wife on day 15 of the original "15 Days to Slow the Spread", during the speech announcing an extension, that there would be civil unrest before it was over. That much was both obvious and inevitable. I am proud of the public, and frankly greatly relieved, that the disobedience has been respectful, peaceful and reasonable. It could have gone differently.

OH! Wait...

Now that I think about, the public officials who are acting shocked, dismayed or outraged knew *exactly* what was going to happen! They just didn't know when. So they spread panic and fear as fast and far as possible, with no regard to "facts on the ground", to postpone it as long as possible. But when it starts in their states - among their electorate -they are doing a prompt about-face immediately to save the only thing they care about - themselves. News reports and "facts on the ground" had no effect because they don't represent threats to elected officials upcoming re-elections. But civil strife would definitely return them to the rank of those they know full well are the victims of their own political machinery... the ranks of the "public", the "electorate", the "common man". And if there's one thing that scares a politician who's never had a real job, received a W-2 or had to earn a living, it's the prospect of unemployment with the riff-raff.