Meanwhile, back at the pandemic
The death toll now stands at 120,000. The United States, with about 4 per cent of the world’s population, accounts for about 25 per cent of its Covid-19 deaths.
States that reopened despite warnings that doing sowould cause a spike in coronavirus cases are now seeing – all together now – a spike in coronavirus cases. And US President Donald Trump has returned to doing political rallies despite being advised by experts that large crowds are essentially a buffet table for the coronavirus. Oh, and let us not forget Deborah Baber, the ‘‘proud Trump Republican’’ who became a social media sensation last week in defendingwhat she calls her inalienable right not to wear a mask. Her must-see performance before the Ventura County Board of Supervisors somehow weaved in sadomasochism, terrorism and a rendition of God Bless America notable for its evocation of ‘‘the mountains, white with foam’’.
Baber is just one of many folks who have been filmed behaving badly – the guy who shoved his way into awalmart is also worth a look – because they believe that in refusing to wear masks, they strike a blow for freedom. Just like John Lewis standing up to state troopers on that bridge in Selma, Alabama, or that Chinese guy standing up to a tank in Tiananmen Square except, you know, stupid. And not really about freedom.
Fed up with the unmasked holdouts, the Miami Herald recently ran a tartly worded editorial advising people to ‘‘just put on their damnmasks’’. For the record, a Huffpost- Yougov poll conducted inmay found thatmost of us feel the same. Overall, 62 per cent say wearing a face mask is ‘‘a matter of public health’’. Yet only a baremajority – 51 per cent – of Republicans agree and 42 per cent of them consider masks ‘‘a matter of personal choice’’.
The World War II generation famously sacrificed for the common good in a time of common threat, goingwithoutmeat, sugar, gasoline and rubber for four years. Yet some of us are whining because they’re asked to wearmasks for a few months. But there’s another difference between this era and that one. Everybody back then knew exactly what theywere fighting and why.
By contrast, the fight against Covid-19 is waged in amurk of misinformation and a cloud of confusion. Is it really just the common cold? Do masks work? Did the virus originate in a Chinese lab? Will warm weather kill it? Or hydroxychloroquine? Is it all Barack Obama’s fault? Is it a hoax designed to make Trump look bad?
Blame the murk in part on a medical community that, early on, failed to speak with one clear and consistent voice, particularly about masks. Blame it on Trump, to whom truth is always an unwelcome stranger. But blame it also on our own susceptibility, on the fact that, these days, every third voter fancies themselves Mulder or Scully, ferreting out the truth ‘‘they’’ don’twant you to know. The Right and the Left both carry that tendency, but it is far more pronounced on the Right, thanks to a 24-hour electronic megaplex of half truths, untruths, and conspiracy theories that normalises the utterly bizarre.
Meanwhile, back at the pandemic, people are dying. So now would be an excellent time for some of us to yank their heads from their fundaments. Put on the damn mask, indeed. And stand 6 feet apart. And listen to the experts. After all, they don’t know who you voted for. And the virus doesn’t care.
Leonard Pitts Jr is a columnist for the Miami Herald
A must-see performance before the Ventura County Board of Supervisors somehow weaved in sadomasochism, terrorism and a rendition of ‘‘God Bless America’’.