Wear the Mask! Wear the Mask!

 

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Why was this so much easier in 1918? (Georgia Tech game, 1918, courtesy of Andy McNeil)

W.J. Astore

I keep seeing headlines like this one from Alternet today: Trump ‘patriots’ ready to die for freedom shout down county commissioners because they don’t want to wear face masks.

How do you convince such “patriots” that wearing a face mask is not an assault on their freedom?

Perhaps by telling them that the Covid virus is much like those bad people invading us from the south.  You know: those “rapists” and “killers” and other viral elements poring through our border, as Trump warned us about in his first speech as a candidate in 2015.  A “threat” we can stop with a chant: “Build the wall!  Build the wall!”

Think of all those Covid viral droplets as unwanted and dangerous invaders — but we can stop them before they ruin America.  How?  Wear the mask!  Wear the mask!

Just think of the mask as a wall between you and the bad people out to ruin America.  There — don’t you feel like a patriot now, wearing your “wall” mask?  You can even get masks with American flags on them.  Wear with pride!

35 thoughts on “Wear the Mask! Wear the Mask!”

  1. A friend sent me this hilarious spoof video: the mask that doubles as a gun. No more soy boy. Be a man!

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  2. Just saw this at CNN. We could save roughly 40,000 lives in America by October if we wore masks at appropriate times. But … freedom!

    “Nearly 180,000 Americans will die from the coronavirus by October 1 unless just about everyone starts wearing masks, new projections show. That expert prediction comes as the US records more than 2.3 million Covid-19 cases — and as the three most populous US states set records for new cases daily. California reported more than 7,000 cases on Tuesday, obliterating a record hit a day earlier. Florida and Texas announced they had recorded more than 5,000 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, and one health expert fears major Texas cities could see “apocalyptic” numbers. As cases spike, Disney postponed the reopening of Disneyland, and governors are urging people to wear masks and stay home. The US fatality forecast would drop to 146,000 by October if 95% of Americans masked up in public, a model forecasts.”

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  4. When I used to body surf in CA a long time ago I would see signs on stores “No shoes, no shirt, no service.” I thought it was stodgy but never considered it an assault on my “freedom” or “rights.”

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  5. Thank you for posting this! I’ve wanted to scream, “Wear a mask!” every time I’ve left the house in the last three months. Here in Cleveland, people are acting now as if the pandemic is gone, a former figment of our imaginations, despite newly increasing numbers of cases. When my husband and I go out to get groceries, whole family herds are trooping through the store, maskless.

    I’m not sure if the anti-mask attitude is some form of patriotism, even a perverted variety. From the truly clueless attitudes of the people I observe, I’d guess it’s more a delusion that, “It won’t happen to me. I’m healthy, I have nothing to worry about.” And, if anything, it’s an uber-individualistic, “Nobody can tell me what to wear or where to stand or sit.” I’d say that these attitudes are the opposite of patriotism (even a version in quotes), because real patriots care about their country before themselves. In short, a vast portion of the nation has devolved to a 4-year-old’s mentality: “You’re not the boss of me.” As I’ve commented elsewhere, the “ME” generation of the ’80s has spawned millions of exemplars of utter selfishness.

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  6. We have a US President with an emotional age of about six, throwing temper tantrums daily. So I guess it’s not surprising that his attitude should trickle down. Thanks for the pic from 1918 football game, Bill. The answer to your question placed as a caption is easy: There were flaming racists, xenophobes and “Christians” longing to conquer the rest of the world in this country back then, but no electronic communications to spread those “viruses” far and wide. There are rightwing nutcases absolutely everywhere in the nation now, we can’t get away with condemning any particular region (“Deep South,” “the Sun Belt,” whatever). “Even” the Governor of Texas has now been forced to recognize that the grand “reopening” pushed for by Trump was grossly premature, and his state is rethinking their policies.

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  9. In the 2006 movie, Idiocracy, Mike Judge imagined “a dystopian world where commercialism has run rampant, mankind has embraced anti-intellectualism, and society is devoid of such traits as intellectual curiosity, social responsibility, justice, and human rights.”

    Given The Trumpet, Pastor Pence approach Idiocracy has arrived, Life imitating art. Anti-intellectualism, and society is devoid of such traits as intellectual curiosity, social responsibility, justice, and human rights could describe the GOP in it’s entirety.

    If I go out I wear a mask in public store. I understand a few months ago there was a shortage of masks, that is not the case now. It is hard to gauge the numbers, it would seem about 30 % of the people do not wear masks.

    I never shop at Walmart. People that I know do so. I gather Walmart’s attempt to place arrows on the floor to direct people – One Way – is totally ignored.

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    1. My husband occasionally goes to Walmart for bulk kitty litter and dog food, and he confirms that no one obeys the arrows. Neither does any one at Giant Eagle.

      Incidence of wearing masks in stores here is maybe 30% at most now.

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    2. JPA: that’s the same argument I gave to the Citizens of the City I worked as a Professional Firefighter in Massachusetts even before Covid on Medical Calls & Runs I had when I Donned Surgical Gloves back in the day. The Local Gentry would say “What do you think I got something!? I would try to explain no “Maybe” I’m protecting you from something I may have, and further may be carrying since we are exposed to everything, carcinogens, viruses & bacteria. Shut them up like a Clam at High Tide!. Oh I never looked at it that way… lol

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      1. The discovery of the HIV disease organism made wearing gloves essentially mandatory for Emergency Personnel. Anyone with at least crude medical training really should carry latex gloves in their vehicle, lest they encounter an injured person or persons while out and about. I don’t, I admit, because I live in a region of temperature extremes and am sure the gloves would deteriorate. Oh, I could keep them inside the house and cart them to my car anytime I go out, but…the ol’ memory bank ain’t what it used to be! I haven’t encountered that situation–coming upon severely injured people while on the road–in almost 50 years, when I happen to have been an Army Medic! But, ya know, “Be prepared!” is a pretty damned good motto!

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  11. Since renaming streets is all the rage now, I rename this one Mask Shaming Blvd. It is a two way street, with some shaming out of fear of losing their freedom, and others out of fear of the virus. Fear is the motivator, in either case. As HST said, and Warran Zevon sang, “You’re a whole different person when your scared.”

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    1. Straight from God’s own mouth: “You MUST re-elect Donald J. Trump!” …….. I have remarked here that I live deep in Trump Country and the Letters to the Editor pages of what passes for a weekly newspaper here are dominated by letters from wingnuts. I have not read every single letter over these past few years of the Trump presidency, but I have one to offer now that may be the ultimate (thus far) in Classic Wingnuttery. All emphasis in what follows is mine, in all upper case letters since I don’t have ability to use boldface or italic text on this website. Comments within brackets are my own. Excerpts from the letter: …… “SOME TIME AGO, THE LORD SPOKE TO ME [!!] of how the church’s views of the ways of God have become distorted. [Next he points out that the Israelites were insufficiently grateful to Moses for leading them out of bondage in Egypt.] …… Christians are doing the same as those Israelites in the desert, not realizing what God has delivered us from. [Meaning the horrors of secular government.] …… As God used Moses to bring out the children of Israel, this same God has used Donald Trump to bring many changes that no one thought could happen. [Next he boasts of how awesome the economy was prior to the Covid pandemic.] …… [E]very ethnicity was much better off after the election of Donald Trump. [!!] The politically correct police were called off, and the church again can voice what the Word of God says without harassment or punishment. [Sorry, I somehow missed the Era of Great Persecution of Christians. Musta happened on Obama’s watch, eh?! You know, that Muslim guy!] …… Changes are coming, unless we go back to Vice-President Joe Biden and things as usual. …… If you can’t see that vast changes have been implemented for the good and benefit of this nation, then you are truly blind. …… Thirty million Christians didn’t vote in 2016. [!!! More on this in a moment.] Where were their convictions about the slaughter of the unborn, the desecration of the covenant of marriage, the anti-God, anti-Christ AGENDA that was clearly displayed for all to see? The Lord is looking for a people who will stand with Him and HIS WILL FOR THIS NATION.” There concludes this masterpiece, which may have been edited for length by the newspaper.
      So there you have it, essentially straight from The Lord’s own mouth! Joe Biden is the Anti-Christ!! The author of this missive doesn’t state his source for the claim that 30 million “Christians” didn’t vote last time. Perhaps this info came straight from God?? I guess Trump should’ve won by 27 million popular votes, then, instead of losing by three million. My apology for going on at such length but please, people of sound mind, understand this: Multiply this individual’s beliefs by tens of millions and grasp that the threat to “our ‘republic'” is very, very grave. No handwringing hysteria required. This is the reality of USA in this day and age.

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      2. In case one did not get to see the whole video in the link posted in the post, citizenry in revolt against elected officials, armed with “God”, “Devil”, “War Crimes”,””Citizen Arrests”, “Hypoxia” etc etc…. Wow! I am impressed by their passion to defy “Science”!! Can Science and Religion co-exist??

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        1. Can Science and Religion co-exist? I have pondered this question for many years. In his original Public TV series “Cosmos,” first broadcast in 1980–the very year Ronald Reagan gained the presidency–Dr. Carl Sagan raised a lot of hackles among the Faithful–well, those few who bothered to watch the broadcasts–by asserting that the existence of the Universe and all within it, including the (allegedly!) intelligent anthropoid ape calling itself homo sapiens, can be explained WITHOUT RECOURSE to a Supernatural Being. In later years, Sagan softened his views on organized religion, which disappointed me, frankly. I could write several thousand more words on this topic, but I’m feeling charitable, so I’ll offer this fairly succinct answer: Science and Religion CAN co-exist reasonably peacefully–they have, for the most part, done so since the European Renaissance revived learning–in a CIVIL society. The problem in our present USA, of course, is that the religious extremists do not want a civil society. They want a THEOCRACY in which “every knee shall bend” to their idea of God, in the person of Jesus. Our “Founding Fathers” had the great wisdom to erect a “Wall of Separation Between Church and State.” This wall, thru endless assaults over the decades, is now little more than a slice of Swiss cheese, and the holes become more dominant with each passing year. I assure you, this trend is still ON THE RISE and if you dismiss it, you put what civil liberties you may still possess at great risk.

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          1. I should have noted that June 26 was the 60th Anniversary of the release of Stanley Kramer’s “Inherit the Wind,” about the “Scopes Monkey Trial” in Tennessee (1926, if memory serves). Spencer Tracy stars as Clarence Darrow, Fredric March plays religionist-populist William Jennings Bryan–leading the charge to argue that every word in the Bible must be accepted as literally true–and Gene Kelly is a journalist modeled on H.L. Mencken! If you’ve never seen this movie, I urge you to find a way to see it!! If you saw it many years ago, watch it again, darn it!

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          2. Thank you for recommending the movie. Will definitely watch it….. they have it in the library!

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            1. rs–I spun my DVD of “Inherit the Wind” last night, one day late for the actual Anniversary, hadn’t seen the movie in a long time. Spencer Tracy’s performance as the Darrow character (surnamed ‘Drummond’ for the movie) is one for the ages! Just sensational! Claude Akin, always assigned supporting roles in his career, shines as the town’s fundamentalist preacher. One of Hollywood’s finest productions. “Spartacus,” “Elmer Gantry” and “Psycho” were all released that same year!

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          3. Excellent post! I share your views on Dr. Sagan. Although….early on, he stated absolutely that if something can’t be experimented on and proven, it doesn’t exist, and he later recanted somewhat. I agreed with him completely at first, but as I got older and saw more unexplainable things in life, I also sympathized with his recanting.

            Spot on about the danger of a theocracy.

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            1. Dr. Sagan was fond of saying “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence,” usually in reference to visitation of Earth by extra-terrestrial intelligent beings. Einstein concocted astonishing theories just via “thought experiments.” He did not have “access” to isolated atoms in the real world when he envisioned a way to “split” the atom. (This concept had also been developed by someone else, the name Rutherford springs to mind, but I could be wrong.) Decades later, sufficiently accurate instruments were finally developed to confirm that most of Einstein’s theorems were correct. BTW, referencing “Inherit the Wind” again, H.L. Mencken wrote an entire book, “Treatise on the Gods,” debunking religious hogwash. I highly recommend it. And Mark Twain had beaten him to the punch in this arena, though he wouldn’t allow some of his writings on the subject to be published in his own lifetime.

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    2. Trump may be the least religious president ever elected. Unless you count his worship of Mammon and his own reflection.

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  13. One of the logical-inconsistencies of right-wingers (predominantly) refusing to wear masks is that I understand a significant portion of them believe ‘the commies’ in China created the ‘Wuhan virus’ to take-down society (talk about shooting yourself in the foot!) or some such similarly hazy rationale. If you believe that, why would want to HELP destroy our US society by participating in this evil plot against our innocent, god-fearing country by spreading this commie virus?

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    2. Those Trump supporters who argue the whole Covid scare is “fake news” are in a bit of a quandary to explain why Trump, while refusing to be seen in public wearing a mask, would issue ANY Federal Gov’t guidance on safety precautions, mobilize any agencies to assist state governments, claim (a lie, I’m confident) to be taking an experimental preventive drug, etc. Heck, did not most of us receive “President Donald Trump’s Covid-19 Safety Guidelines” via the US mail? He can boast on the campaign trail how he sent us all (well, many of us) emergency cash to help see us thru this crisis, but that hardly compensates us for the incredible damage done to the overall economy by the partial “lockdown,” damage that will cost him quite a few votes. The answer, of course, is that the reality of the situation is too big and painful to be wished away with “happy talk” from Trump and Pence.

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        1. If–make that a very big IF–this was a society where a large percentage of the populace was RATIONAL, it would be a safe bet that Trump will be a one-termer…yeah, even if it means having Biden foisted on us by “the opposition.” However, I am not at all confident he will be defeated at the polls, especially with GOP working overtime to SUPPRESS THE VOTES of those folks deemed likely Biden voters. All this insanity truly is unprecedented in my lifetime. A little quick math here, hmmm….Okay, Trump is the 13th US President I’ve lived under. And some of them were really, really dubious, but Trump trumps [groan] every last one of ’em. May this nightmare end soon!!

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          1. We seem to have entered Worst Case Scenario territory with this nasty virus. “Second wave”? The first one is still going strong. Without a doubt, enormous additional financial help is going to be needed. But Mitch McConnell will not entertain any new legislation that offers actual significant help to common folks vs. more handouts to corporations. I commented some time ago on what this is all doing to the National Debt. Hey, we ain’t seen nothin’ yet!!

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