Some think that American politics is about personalities. Others think it's about policies. But in reality, it may be about pieces of cloth.
In the Obama years, the president wearing a tan suit became a flash point for traditionalism and patriotism — or lack thereof, as the right wing criticized a Democrat's perceived impertinence in wearing such a casual suit color. But the couture in the Trump years has gone from the Confederate flag to the Blue Lives Matter flag to the face mask that could save your life.
In this pandemic, the mask has become a symbol of defiance and freedom for those who refuse to wear it. For those who wear the mask, it's a symbol of respect and responsibility. In turn, it has become perhaps the most polarizing and divisive symbol of the young decade, split down partisan, gender, and racial lines.
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I@m in the UK and wear an official-looking "I am exempt" notice on a lanyard . It's worked everywhere, including hospitals, but today I came across the nearest I've got to antipathy. I went to the local farm store and was looking for what I wanted - about two minutes max. One of the managers noted my exemption card but tried to rush me out. I went to another section looking for another item. "Have you got 3what you need?" he asked. I honestly think he was fully indoctrinated, was wary of my "official" exemption and just wanted me out of the place before everyone was struck down with plague!
ReplyDeletedue to one thing or another I have an official county embosser. My birth cert doesn't have a raised seal but I can raise one now for any 'official' document.
DeleteI wore one when I was in the store, for the first coupla weeks,, Then I avoided going to places,, let the wife go,, it didnt bother her to wear one,,
ReplyDeleteThen it got to feelin like I was not treating her right, asking her to go places I didnt wanna go,,
So,, I started doin my own shoppin,,
And
Nopers,, I dont wear a mask,,
Am I a TRump supporter? Yes..
Is That why I dont wear a mask?
No,, Not at all,, Ive done quite a bit of reading,, and Ive seen LOTS of Inaccuracies in the reporting of things regarding the virus.
I decided we were, once again, being lied to and manipulated,, and Im not playin that game,,
I walk right by the
You MUST wear a mask
signs,, And so far, not one person has approached me and challenged me about it. No,, Im not a scary guy,, Im old, im overweight and on a tall day, 5'6..
Im done with the bulshit and sick of watching young, healthy people walk around wearing a mask,, KNowing only 150 years ago the people who settled the West were rolling across the land, fighting off attacks, or not,, living or dying,,
And ya know what?
The government didnt send the army to the trail heads to Stop the wagon trains from heading west,,,
Why NOT? Just think of the pain and misery and blodd lost they could have pevented had THEY decided what is Best for all?
Its NOT the second coming of the black plague,, stop acting like it is.
Wanna save LIVES?
Stop people comng across the border with lukemia and other deadly diseases..
Ohh,, But thats Raycisss,,, right?
As far as I know Leukemia is not contagious, but I see where you were going with the statement.
DeleteMadMarlin
I agree on the leukemia/noncontagious issue, but in addition to the "transmission of infectious diseases from 3rd world shitholes" problem, we don't need random people in need of expensive medical treatment coming into the country.
DeleteHere's data from a 2018 report on US treatment costs for blood cancers in the first 12 months after diagnosis. These are what insurance pays for covered patients. (No insurance? Health Care System ends up "eating the cost". Meaning we all pay for it.) The out-of-pocket payments average about $5k, not nothing, but little compared to the insurance-paid part.
Acute leukemia: $463,414
Chronic leukemia: $88,913
Multiple myeloma: $213,879
-----
Oh, @Steve in KY: looking at photos and bios of the authors of that piece, not surprising. Dominic is a "woman of color", and the other person (Nick?) lives in Brooklyn.
My CLL treatments... already over $150,000. But now in remission, and that's a good thing.
DeleteOOOPS! Im thinkin Biden may have sniffed my hair and I forgot a buncha shit,,
DeleteIm sorry folks,, I Meant Tuberculosis,, I was Mortified to see what I wrote,,
Wadda Maroon! Sorry folks,,
Lukemia? I actually did that? Aww, Hayull,,
Well isn't that a nice little piece of gaslighting propaganda.
ReplyDeleteSteve in KY
I haven't worn a mask this whole time save once and that was about five minutes at the local hospital. Your fear is not reason for me to change my behavior. You'd be a fool to ask let alone demand.
ReplyDeleteScrew the mask!
ReplyDeleteDamn those white male Trump lovers who notice the inconsistencies and lies of "experts" and who notice what's going on in this country.
ReplyDeleteI have not shaved since mid March when all this shit started and I don't wear a mask. Anyone asks, I tell them I have a medical exception (It's much easier than telling them I can't wear one while carrying a gun). Being 6'4" with a Santa beard now pretty much has all the Karens leaving me alone. Spec's kicked me out, bottle in hand ready to purchase as they don't recognize medical exceptions to their no mask no service policy. That's OK, cause Total Wine and Twin Liquors will do and will take my money just as well. I won't shop at Spec's ever again since they are too stupid and scared of this bull shit.
ReplyDeleteAnyone wearing a mask is only depressing their own immune system and will get sick from the petri dish diaper they hang from their rear view mirror or crumple up to stick in their pocket till the next time they need to wear it. Stupid stupid stupid.
“I would love to wear your mask, but it’s illegal to cover my face while carrying a concealed firearm”. Then you see the mental gymnastics going on, they start nervously looking me up and down. I smile and say “that’s the concealed part”.
ReplyDeleteNever had anyone argue.
Nifter
My issue with the mask enthusiasts is that none of them will own the consequences of the position that they so eagerly push. It is a simple fact that 'slowing the spread' will extend the length of time that the virus resides in our community. It is a logical corollary that the longer the virus hangs around, the more time it will have to creep into nursing homes where people die. So ironically, while a mask may save a life on the micro-level, masks will likely kill more people at the macro-level in the long run.
ReplyDeletewear it at work b/c my boss asked me to so he wouldn't catch shit. he's pretty good, fellow vet. otherwise i don't. had food lion and home depot folks tell me i had to wear one, i said no, i don't, and they walked away. several other places had folks out front as enforcers. i gave them the look, and they turned around like they never saw me. i am tempted to wear one that i bought, it says this mask is as useless as my governor. they got the old people scared to death. i tell them everybody dies, let it go. and i'm not young myself, lol. what pissed me off about the thing is stores put up signs saying "its the law". bullshit! executive order ain't law.
ReplyDeleteI went to buy some pork belly after work today. The place I wanted to go were mask nazis (read their website first) so I went to my back up supplier who let me make an adult decision.
ReplyDeleteBeen telling everyone in any store i go to that i have a medical exemption, nothing else needs to be said!!! grayman
ReplyDeleteIf you want to wear a mask, have at it. Sorry it doesn't, though
ReplyDeleteBut don't blame me when I refuse to be a gutless sheep
I've used the "medical exemption" once so far. Another time I went to the big 24-hour supermarket at three in the morning when the only people there didn't care.
ReplyDeleteSad state of affairs when I have to post this anonymously for fear of losing my job.
Haven't worn one yet,and have no intention to ever wear one....Any one who has more than 4 1/2 brain cells can do their own research. Viral vs bacterial particulate size...
ReplyDeleteI just tell them that I find it difficult to communicate with a mask on.
ReplyDeleteI don't speak Sheep.
I'm a Life Member of the Ohio Gun Collectors Association, and being the good little sheep that they are, the "leaders" are mandating masks for everyone when they finally start running their shows again. I joined them in 2014, and my wonderful wife gifted me with a life membership that Christmas, but they've been steadily going lefty since. I'm fully expecting them to start allowing Bloomie's minions to rent tables there. If I wasn't going out of town for work, I'd be tempted to wear a "Behead, THEN Impeach Comrade DeSwine" t-shirt. But they don't like politics at their shows, and they seem to be be big fans of Mr. Sharp Dresser of the Never Resist Anything cabal.
ReplyDeleteI will give them a little credit, though; they aren't allowing GEICO reps, siding salespeople, and anti-abortion crybabies to exhibit, unlike the Michigan shows I attended while working there in 2018. Yet...
But they don't like politics at their shows,
DeleteWhile they allow politically correct crap and politics to determine how they run those shows,,
I wear a mask, not because I'm a sheep but because of the training and experience I've had in OS&H. I actually have a grasp of what's going on and unlike anti-maskers, I don't suffer from normalcy bias.
ReplyDeleteAt my age, the last thing I want is to go on a ventilator because they are nasty. What COVID-19 does is cause your lungs to fill with a glue-like mucus that hinders breathing. To breathe, you then need a ventilator. BTW in case you are wondering how they work, a ventilator supplies your lungs with an overpressure of O2 to help you breathe. It's kinda like when you blow up a balloon. The only problem is that the overpressure needed to inflate your lungs also damages them and it takes months, sometime years for the damage to be reversed. Oh, and if you're a smoker that damage will probably be permanent.
I don't know about you guys, but in a country with pay-as-you-go healthcare, catching COVID-19 is a great way to land in the poor house. So, I'm doing what I can to stay healthy and that includes washing my hands a lot, social distancing and wearing a mask.
Yes....... you are a sheep
Deletehttp://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=239998
There is no off the shelf mask available that will prevent you from contracting the WuFlu due to the lack of effective filtration for particles the size of the virus. So yes, your "background" in OS&H IS your normalcy bias.
DeleteAnd your compliance doesn't make you safer; so yes, you ARE a sheep.
Fairplayjeepguy
What do you think about all of the peer reviewed studies conducted in years past, before this got politicized, that with near complete unanimity said that wearing a mask does not make you any less likely to get a respiratory infection? Go F yourself you useless troll.
DeleteGator
sounds to me like you need more training... that mask you are wearing will make it worse, not better...
DeleteYou're more likely to die in a car crash. Have you quit driving? There are worse things than dying. Living like a scared little pussie is one of them
DeleteMy wife gave me the best present yesterday. A 'Trump 2020' mask.
ReplyDeleteWore it today and got the eye-fucking from only two masculine-looking females.
I like it because it gives me a chance to say "Fuck You" while still 'complying' even though it's a one layer mask.
I would prefer not to wear it at all, but I do because my wife relies on me. Though I do wear one with most of my nose exposed, because I do have serious breathing issues related to fucked up sinuses and allergies and a host of other lame issues that just suck.
Figured if I have to 'wear' one, I'd make it one that fucks with this fucking place's special little leftist bullshit.
Yeah, I could just not wear one. But the county has enacted a 'fine the store owner' policy and that's just fucking wrong.
Guys, if you don't want to act responsibly by wearing a mask when you are out in public, well, there is no polite way to put this, but you are acting like rude, entitled assholes. YES, masks are not perfect to keep folks from catching and/or spreading covid, but they WILL reduce the incidence of spread by a HUGE factor!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I am a President Trump supporter, I am conservative, and I like my personal freedom as much as anyone. But I also knew three people personally who have died from covid, so don't tell me it's a fake or political disease. And I used to work in a hospital in the past, so I have been a fanatic hand-washer since working in that hospital. And it should be noted that doctors, nurses, etc, ALL wear masks in places such as operating rooms, because the masks help prevent the spreading of germs. Yes, masks do work.
Also, by not wearing a mask, you can catch covid and spread it to other folks around you (like maybe your elderly parents?) before you show any symptoms.
But then again, those who don't wear masks probably also won't wear eye protection when using power tools, or when weed-wacking, etc. You are the guys they see in emergency rooms a lot! Or, if you do wear safety glasses because you want to protect your eyes, then why don't you also want to protect your lungs from covid?
Bahhhhh
DeleteBahhhhh
Bahhhh
I know three people who died in car accidents so everyone has to give up their keys.
DeleteOK, Karen.
DeleteBut I also knew three people personally who have died from covid, so don't tell me it's a fake or political disease
DeleteNobody said it was fake, or just political.. Pretending thats so is not okay.
That we have been lied to about the death rates is obvious enough,, and the fact that it is being hyped in order to maintain a level of fear that is supposed to justify destroying livelihoods and lives is obvious enough, too..
if you don't want to act responsibly by wearing a mask when you are out in public, well, there is no polite way to put this, but you are acting like rude, entitled assholes.
When we stop believing the bullshit,, ( I DID wear a mask for a while,, then started connecting the dots and realized I was gettin worked) then just what IS "responsible"?
Your opinion is just that,, an opinion,, and you can Say you support TRump,, but everything else Im seeing says,, Maybe Not,,
So, you know people who died,, My SIL knows one,, and I know exactly Nobody who has even been sick,,
What other factors were involved with those you knew?
Asthmatic? Obese? Diabetic? COPD?
Somehow Im bettin they werent young OR healthy, generally..
Have a good long look here,, hit some of those links,, Remember,, Never let a crisis go to waste. Just because a politician didnt build it,, that wont stop them from USING it..
https://jbhandleyblog.com/home/2020/7/27/lockdownlunacythree
Its NOT irresponsible to Choose to NOt jump through hoops when jumping through them only announces that Ive been cowed into submission.. If I Thought for a second my behavior was actually putting others at risk, Id do it differently..
Remember it was
Flatten the curve?
KNow what that Means?
It means
We will take mask wearing and distancing in order to
SLOW the rate that this virus runs through society so that the number of people who get sick wont overburden our medical facilities.
They didnt say
So people wont get it, did they?
No, They said
Flatten the curve
So a FLOOD of people wouldnt hit the hospitals..
Now,, it seems like the Karens of the world are willing to watch people lose EVERYTHING theyve ever worked for,,and when their business dies,, so do the jobs they offered their employees..
No,, POliticians didnt create the problem,, But rest assured, TRump Supporter,,
It IS being used to do as much damage to the economy as possible,, because they would happily see people homeless, hungry, commitin suicide,, whatever it takes,, to GET TRump outta office..
Youre THE saddest excuse for a TRump supporter Ive dealt with,, Im sure he appreciates your vote, but Daaayum, dude,, get a clue..
A nice quote, should you need one when you come across a talking sheep: it's from the author of the "Underdogs bite upwards" blog, who is an experienced and published biochemist: "Wearing a mask against a virus is like putting up a chain link fence to protect against mosquitoes!"
ReplyDeleteNo Masks for me. You, me, everyone, We all are made in the image of God. I smile for everyone and ask them to see their smaile too!
ReplyDeleteMathew 5 14-6
14 You are the light of the world. A city seated on a mountain cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house.
16 So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
The only thing the "mask" has done for me is to teach me Not to spit in the urinal.
ReplyDeleteFear has a stench like rotting flesh.
ReplyDeleteHere are some things that masks will do for you: 1. Prevent approximately 25% of the oxygen your body is inhaling; and seeing as air is made up of approximately 20% oxygen, this is a substantial loss 2. Inhibit the exhalation of carbon dioxide while collecting any bacteria the body is trying to eliminate; in turn this will create a nice petri dish attached to the face inviting respiratory illness and/or disease 3. Prevent Karens of all genders from dictating behavior, as wearing a mask is apparently approved by same. Other than that, why wouldn't you wear a mask, asks I?
ReplyDeleteDammitall! I meant Tuberculosis,, Howcum I went so dumb? Did Biden sniff my hair?
ReplyDeleteNo face diaper for me. Most folks don't even change their face diapers on a daily basis,either. All that respiratory sewage just sticks inside that diaper, which is thrown on a counter to be worn again when they go out again, without washing. But at least they have clean hands!
ReplyDeleteThe only place I have not been allowed to enter without a face diaper on is Cabela's of all places. They wanted to see an actual doctor's note. I told them it isn't happening. Either I come in, or I go elsewhere to shop, as they don't sell a damned thing I cannot purchase some place else -- usually at a cheaper price.