As the mask mandate drags on, and life becomes more surreal, George Benson's smooth jazz tune goes through my head: "Are we really happy here, with this lonely game we play?" followed a few lines later by "We're lost in a masquerade."
This isn't a masquerade ball, but it may as well be. Everywhere you go, it's like a Twilight Zone episode. I still can't get used to seeing everyone wearing a mask, including some who walk, jog or ride a bicycle outdoors while masked (absurd) or stay masked while driving alone (unnecessary and ridiculous).
It's no surprise that Democrat governors are the most strict with requiring use of masks, and liberals are most supportive. Many libs seem to love being told what to do, and have a child-like obedience to the state, as if they're four years old and the government is Mommy or Daddy.
The standard liberal/progressive line is, "We're following the science" or "I'm on the side of science." But what they call "science" is often unreliable recommendations or findings based on incomplete data and faulty computer models.
On top of that, several states, most notably Florida, have reported grossly inaccurate "positive" results for COVID-19 tests, and many hospitals attribute deaths to COVID-19 when there are underlying conditions, any one of which could have killed the patient even if Coronavirus were not present. Doctors also disagree on the efficacy of masks, just as they do over drugs such as hydroxychloroquine.
There have been numerous inconsistencies on the lockdown (liquor stores and abortion clinics have remained open the whole time while churches, gyms, movie theaters and bars have stayed closed for months in most states; also, lottery tickets and marijuana -- where legal-- have remained available for purchase).
In the same way, there are inconsistencies with use of masks. Why is it that patrons must wear a mask as they walk into a restaurant, but may remove it once they've sat down at a table and are ready to eat and drink. And why, if social distancing is so vital, are hair dressers and nail salon personnel allowed to work when their jobs require them to be "up-close-and-personal" with clients?
On a wider scale, there have been large gatherings of maskless people who do anything but socially distance themselves. Examples: Rallies by Black Lives Matter and Antifa in large cities, featuring thousands of screaming, chanting young people who get in the faces of those they perceive don't support them. In some cases, such as the disgraceful attacks on people leaving the White House following President Trump's Thursday night speech, the thuggish protesters actually spit in the faces of the conservatives they despise.
To demonstrate I'm not a partisan shill, I will also take the Donald Trump campaign to task: He's held rallies during which socially distancing was not practiced, and wearing masks was not required. And during his keynote speech Thursday night that wrapped up the Republican National Convention, folding chairs were crammed in together as if it were 2018. Very few attendees wore masks.
The government edicts about when, where and whether people wear masks are as arbitrary as the diktats RE: No. of people allowed inside a business or at an outside gathering. It's all pretty Orwellian. But then, Orwellian scenarios don't faze Democrats at all. They live for this shit!
As time goes on, I think we're realizing that the paranoia of March 2020 was irrational. It's not easy to contract Coronavirus from touching surfaces such as doorknobs, mailed packages or gas pump dispensers. And unless someone coughs, sneezes or bellows loudly while you are standing close to him or her, your chances of contracting the virus are minimal.
Still, the mask obsession continues. At this point, we've got to ask: WTF is the end game? The virus is never going away. The hard truth is that we need tens of millions of young and middle-aged people to contract the virus (more than 99 percent of them will recover) and build up an immunity to it. "Herd immunity" will be the savior, not a vaccine.
Meantime, megalomaniac politicians who lust after power and live to micro-manage people's lives will continue doing what they're doing. See Whitmer, Gretchen -- Callow governor of Michigan.
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