Without making too big of a deal out of it, something that WPRI reporter Ted Nesi recently tweeted merits a moment of consideration:

I’m talking with more and more people who say they’re getting to feel pretty down as they hear the drumbeat of announcements about cancellations etc for this autumn.

I think it’s starting to really sink in that we still have months of all this to go, and that’s tough mentally.

Note the blithe acceptance that the governor can continue to rule like a dictator indefinitely.

Frankly, if that’s the case, a lot of people are going to be done with the whole charade once they understand that they’re looking at “months” or even years.  Thus far, some of government’s success in wielding its enhanced powers has come in people’s feeling that it’s just a little bit longer.  “Hang in there. We’ve gone from phase 2 to phase 3.  Not much longer now.”

Once that shifts to “we’ll let you know when you’re done,” many people will likely tell themselves internally, “Well, I’m done now.”  And that moment won’t come a moment too soon.