Wearing a mask to the store is only as hard as getting used to wearing a mask to the store, etc.
It’s about the smallest sacrifice we can think of. And really not much different than wearing clothes, or wearing a seat belt.
In fact, seat belts are much more of an imposition because they’re the law. Forever. Talk about taking away your freedoms. And seat belts really only protect you, not the other driver. Yet you don’t see crowds of armed angry people storming governors’ offices fighting a seat belt ticket.
So how did wearing a mask get caught up in disputes about freedom and wanting to open the country when it really has nothing to do with either, and stands in the way of neither? You can very easily wear a mask and go out in public and want the economy open again.
Yet everything got conflated somehow.
Not somehow, we know how. President Trump. 100%. And his flat refusal to wear a mask in public. (As we’ve said before, for him we don’t think it’s any more complicated than he’s worried his spray tan would come off on it and he’d look silly.)
Trump came up with a lot more reasons for not wearing a mast Thursday, when he visited a Ford assembly plant in Michigan. At one point saying he did put on a mask when out of public view (TMZ got a photo, actually), “and it was very nice”, but “not necessary.” Then explaining he didn’t leave it on because “I didn’t want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it.”
But what stood out to us at least, is when he was asked whether he had a responsibility to set an example for the American people, and he replied:
“I think it sets an example both ways.”
And while the first couple of quotes can just be written off as Trump quirks, the last one is what really infuriates us. Because this is not a “both sides” issue. And if it is, then why isn’t the President wearing a mask 1/2 the time he’s seen in public, not never? And if it is, does he mean that 1/2 the time, he’s trying to set an example of what not to do…?
Not being willing to set an example about something that’s so easy to do, and can mean the difference between life and death, may be the most unforgivable thing this President has done during his time in office.
How far does this go? If Trump gets the sense his supporters will not lionize him for prioritizing development of a COVID-19 vaccine, and instead start doubting and fighting that too, will he take his foot off trying to get it done?
While we have a lot in common with people who want to get out of the house, see friends, and get back to work, we have nothing in common with people who refuse to wear a mask.
One final thing: we don’t wear masks because we’re scared, we wear masks because we have common sense. Americans used to be known for that.