Daily COVID deaths and new cases are down to pre-pandemic levels in America. Even the CDC says masks are no longer required for vaccinated people. Heck, even school teachers are returning to the classrooms – sans masks – now that their demands for more money and less work have been met.
Weirdly, however, many people are still wearing masks. In fact, I often see mask wearers driving around alone in their cars. What’s up with that?
A little historical context is necessary. Dr. Fauci originally told us that masks were not effective. It turned out that he never really believed that. He was lying in order to conserve the masks for people he thought deserved them.
Then when masks became plentiful, the good doctor said they are effective after all and so we should wear them. He himself took to wearing two at a time, both over his mouth. I rather wish he’d worn half a dozen.
Within about 9 months, vaccines were approved with an efficacy of 95%. You know, the vaccines that the media “journo-scientists” (could there be a more oxymoronic hyphenation?) predicted and prayed would take years if not forever and would have an efficacy of maybe 60%.
Most of America has now been vaccinated. The virus is nearly extinguished except in the fever swamps of redistributionist lefty so-called minds where revolutionary pandemics will live forever. It’s something like the way Karl Marx lives gloriously forever in their minds, god-like. Or the way Donald Trump lives ingloriously forever in their minds, rent-free and satanic.
Which brings us to the politicization of masks. Recognize that over the last year there have been two camps of extremists at work. In one camp are the COVID skeptics. They believed that COVID was a hoax ginned up by the likes of Bill Gates to implant microchips in us in order to monitor our thoughts. Because, never mind his billions, Bill Gates is very interested in what you and I are thinking from moment to moment.
Uh huh.
Anyway, the COVID skeptics expressed their skepticism by refusing to wear masks because, they fervently believed, COVID didn’t actually exist or, if it did indeed exist, it wasn’t actually dangerous or, if it did indeed exist and was indeed dangerous, then, by God, they still would not give in to Bill Gates. These mask-refusing COVID skeptics got downright religious about it.
The COVID believers were equally clueless about the need for masks. By then, Dr. Fauci was advising them that his earlier advice was a lie but this time his advice was truthful – really! – that they should wear masks.
Besides, tribalists being tribal, the mask-wearers had to do the opposite of what the mask-refusers were doing. So, the mask-wearers got as religious in wearing them as the refusers were in refusing them.
Politicians, being despicable people who encourage tribalism because it keeps them employed and in receipt of, um, donations, made things worse. On one side, Donald Trump often didn’t wear a mask. And so, the mask-wearers felt even more obligation to wear them lest they be mistaken for Trump.
For example, a fully vaccinated leftist 21 year-old gun-taker (who naturally thinks he knows all about virology and disease transmission) posted on Twitter that he would continue to wear a mask out of fear that without one he would be mistaken for a conservative.
Think about that. A kid who purports to “follow the science” will run the opposite direction if necessary to avoid being mistaken for a science-follower who happens to be conservative. And I’m supposed to follow him? Does he bring similar analytical rigor to his gun-taking routine?
On the other side, Joe Biden wore a mask even on Zoom calls to a dozen mask-less world leaders (does Biden think the virus is small enough to hop a ride on a WiFi signal?) and so the mask-refusers had to be especially careful never to wear one lest they be mistaken for Biden.
OK, the political tribalism I’ve described so far is well known and indisputable. But here’s where it gets interesting and less known.
This past spring, the tables were turned. As vaccinations edged toward herd immunity levels, it became OK not to wear masks. The CDC and even the COVID czars like Dr. Fauci said you could toss the mask if you’re vaccinated. Most of us did exactly that.
But to toss the mask implies that one has complied with the condition imposed by the COVID czars – that you’re vaccinated. But the COVID doubters are as doubtful about the vaccine as they are about masks. They consequently feel pressure, for the first time, to don masks in order to signal to the world that they they’re not vaccinated (and are therefore impervious to Bill Gates’ prying and perverted eyes).
Conversely, the opposite tribe – vaccinated persons – are careful to do the opposite. They’ve dropped their masks in order to signal to the world that they are vaccinated.
It’s a little like the second half of a football game where the teams switch ends of the field. If you see a mask-less person today, he’s probably of the tribe that used to be masked. And if you see a masked person today, there’s a good chance that he’s of the tribe that was formerly mask-less.
Or maybe the masked person is just stupidly fearful of a virus that is nearly extinguished and is now less likely to kill him than lightning, or lightning bugs. Or a school teacher holding out for a little more money and a little less work. Or a politician owned by the teacher unions.
As for me, I’ve always worn a mask but only when the place I happened to be required me to. If it’s their property, they can make the rules for me coming onto it. Masks are not a political statement for me. For political statements, I have more important ones to make.
For the record, I was also a volunteer a year ago in the Pfizer vaccine clinical trials. I volunteered because I wanted to be vaccinated. Call me brave, call me altruistic or call me stupid. I call me pragmatic and maybe a little selfish. As with my politics, I save my religion for higher things.
Glenn K. Beaton, the Aspen beat. Subscribe HERE.
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Sorry Boss, but you have so much of this incorrect. Sure, maybe you are simply using hyperbole, or irony, or something, but you have your facts wrong. I would say that most of us who are not into the mask thing are of the opinion that they are entirely without value of any kind. We have been of that persuasion since the beginning, and remain so now. No political statement at all. And certainly not a reversal. Not or us, anyway. I don’t know the reasons the other fools are still wearing the masks, but I know some of them do it because they think it makes a difference, and they are still terrified, and coerced.
Is your opinion that masks “are entirely without value of any kind” grounded in medical research that disproves the conclusions of the Mayo Clinic? If so, what exactly are your medical/scientific qualifications and what exactly was the research you conducted?
See, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-mask/art-20485449
I think your position is evident in your assertion that you’ve been of this opinion “since the beginning.” There was no data to support this opinion of yours “since the beginning” of the pandemic because in “the beginning” there was no data at all.
Your opinion doesn’t sound medical/scientific to me, boss. It sounds tribal, political and superstitious, exactly like the opposite opinion. I think you’ve proved my point about these fervently held, opposing positions.
Ah, the old ‘appeal to authority’ excuse. You copy and paste a link from Mayo believing that settles the matter for your counter-argument. It doesn’t work that way. I can do the same thing by posting peer-reviewed papers and articles concluding that masks as a deterrent from spreading COVID are not only useless but actually cause more harm than good. For example, it’s a fact that the micron diameter of the coronavirus is smaller than the fibers in most masks. Only N95 masks with an airtight seal, bio-lab level 4 suits or CBRNE warfare suits with M50 masks can deter thatinfection. Even the bio-lab suits are no guarantee of prevention, as evidenced by the Wuhan Virology Lab workers catching and spreading the virus out of the lab. Everything else is just mask theater.
The point is do your own research and objectively and actively seek out all sides of the argument rather than allowing our bureaucratic bettors mandating a very questionable practice. The truth lies somewhere in between. As it is written: “Beware of the sound of one hand clapping.” Science is a process. It’s NOT an institution.
The point that the virus is smaller than the pores of a mask is a red herring. The mask is not to intercept an individual viral particle. People don’t expectorate many individual viral particles. Instead, the mask is designed to intercept tiny water droplets containing the virus (thousands or even millions of individual particles in each droplet) that people expectorate frequently as they breathe and sneeze and wipe their noses.
As for medical material from the Mayo Clinic, I’ll take that over unsupported musings by non-scientists on a website. Your dismissive opening sentence seem to dismiss credible sources, and does so not despite the fact that they’re credible but BECAUSE they are.
In any event, this piece is not intended to argue whether masks are good or bad, but to argue that people have made irrational decisions about them that are political, tribal, religious and NOT scientific. You continue to prove that point.
Masks ARE worthless. There were no standards. I was allowed to go anywhere I liked with a mesh camoflaged hunter’s gaiter. The paper masks did not fit, or filter effectively. 7th grade biology class taught us that viruses are smaller than the holes in the weave of a mask, you don’t need a medical degree for that. But hey, believe what you choose, you will anyway.
“The point that the virus is smaller than the pores of a mask is a red herring.”
Nope. The fact the virus can pass through most mask fibers IS significant. If the intent is to prevent expectorated water droplets from passing, THAT is the red herring. If that were true we should be wearing masks all the time, pre-, trans-, and post-COVID. The good Lord did not intend for us to constantly wear masks indoors, outdoors for an indefinite amount of time.
“In any event, this piece is not intended to argue whether masks are good or bad, but to argue that people have made irrational decisions about them that are political, tribal, religious and NOT scientific.”
Somewhat agree. But don’t fall into the trap of ‘an appeal to authority’ argument. Just because the Mayo Clinic says so, does not make them the final word. I don’t think you would jump into a lake just because Mayo says so. Scientists and medical researchers have erred before (cue Fauci). Look up the 1976 swine flu scare and the institutional response to that fiasco, plus the long-term adverse effects to the general population.
“You continue to prove that point”.
Let’s agree to disagree. I don’t know what your motivation is, but my motivation is to come to the truth through a robust discussion and debate. And through that process, the multiple sides of all arguments are vetted, there is a mutual understanding at the end, and therefore all parties benefit from the take aways. QED.
There is no convincing evidence of the effectiveness of masks. The major studies found them to be ineffective in limiting the spread of respiratory viruses. The overwhelming amount of data supports these conclusions. Masking of the general public is ineffective. Lock downs (unconstitutional and illegal) were ineffective.
The cultists just need to “believe” and drive alone wearing a mask.
“Instead, the mask is designed to intercept tiny water droplets containing the virus (thousands or even millions of individual particles in each droplet) that people expectorate frequently as they breathe and sneeze and wipe their noses.” I think that it has been determined that the Covid 19 virus is airborne. Even the CDC admitted that. I was told the analogy over a year ago that wearing a mask to stop the virus is like throwing sand at a chain link fence. But I wore my mask anyway, mostly because I didn’t want to get yelled at, or worse wind up in a fight about being maskless. I’m so glad that I can now fearlessly go out in public without a mask and I have no intention of putting one on for tribal reasons. A group of 239 scientists published a letter petitioning the WHO to revise its recommendations to recognize the airborne spread of Covid 19 more than a year ago. Here’s an interesting article from last summer. I know it’s just one article and that there are many more to read about the subject. Glenn, I really enjoy your articles.
https://www.pennmedicine.org/updates/blogs/penn-physician-blog/2020/august/airborne-droplet-debate-article
Well, I read your response to me and I thought of all sorts of things to say about how obnoxious, condescending and arrogant your response was. And I was about to reply simply with the fact that, no, I am not being tribal, unless tribal means that tribe who is able to read and understand different positions and come to their own conclusions, which is what I did. Then, I saw all of the other responses…. It seems to me that you have been sufficiently chastised. But, being that you are such an arrogant fool, probably not sufficient at all. Have a nice day, Glenn.
Glenn, thanks for your articles & well (& often humorously) stated opinions. I’ll just say I’m non-mask wearer not to make a political or tribal statement but because I believe they’re useless or close to useless medically & have some tangible &, even moreso, intangible downsides. I understand the biological theory as you state it & I know there are reputable studies that claim they’re effective. As you know, there also are reputable studies that say they’re not effective. More important to me, however, is that several reputable epidemiological studies of different states & countries with different mask & distancing rules don’t demonstrate an appreciable benefit to either mask wearing or distancing.
I agree with Barry on sloppiness.
1) Language matters. It’s the battleground. The Right must call these drugs what they are: gene therapy.
2) Masks – never FDA clinical study. In fact, FDA clinical studies that failed. Don’t know what Mayo did or is doing, but they are doing it underneath their own roof and that is not an approved study -whether Mayo or community hospital.
3) Fauci – the right can not dignify his waffling as having rationale behind it let alone good faith. AND, if the rationale was to save masks for front line workers then he is still culpable as a servant of the public for lying by not stating the rationale upfront.
4) Pandemic – see “1”. There is no pandemic. There is unprecedented government interference in society that has caused all harm. No “pandemic”.
5) Vaccines efficacy: what is the source? The statistical underpinnings are suspect as the media quote relative improvements not absolute improvements which result in “efficacy” if >2%….
Need to tighten up.
Dr Fauci and the leaked emails, Dr Fauci and the Wuhan lab. That weasel has a lot to answer for. I wonder if he will ever be made to pay the price.
“…I often see mask wearers driving around alone in their cars. What’s up with that?”
I don’t know about the women, but, purportedly the men who do this also wear condoms to bed, in case they get laid.
No fear of that.
Another funny story about the good Dr. Fauci is that he authored a scientific paper on masks and the Spanish Flu, in which mask were widely used after the first wave. He found that the second wave of flu wasn’t flu at all: It was bacterial pneumonia — fostered by mask wearing! As a result, the CDC recommended against wearing masks to prevent viral infection, and Dr Fauci’s analysis was published on the website — until the outbreak of COVID-19.
The presumed efficacy of masks is based on the erroneous assumption that because COVID-19 affects the respirator tract, the virus is transmitted by respiration! In fact, COVID-19, like most viruses, is transmitted by “fecal-facial” contamination, and because mask wearers touch their faces about 20 times more often than non-wearers, they’re more susceptible.
If that sounds implausible, do you recall the furor over China’s practice of grabbing American Embassy employees and subjecting them to anal swabs? The Chinese did that because they found very little viral expression in the respiratory passages of infected individuals, and a ~1,000 fold increase in virions in the excretory passages. Fecal-facial transmission also has been shown to be the mechanism for “shedding” of spike proteins by vaccinated people.
Swing and a miss on this one, Glenn. I don’t know of a single person who went maskless whenever they could now donning masks. We did our research and know the masks are useless against the virus and always were. Why would we put that filthy bacteria laden strip across our breathing holes now?
The answer of course is that we won’t. You imagined all of us deplorables donning masks in order to signal to the world that we are not vaccinated, but that’s not the way we work. We don’t virtue signal. It just isn’t in our nature. And most of us who did our research on the virus, the masks, and social distancing, aren’t uneducated hicks who think Bill Gates is peering at us through his dirty eyeglasses.
I enjoy your writing very much. You very seldom deliver a swing and a miss. This was one.
Agreed. He fails with grand assumptions. I never ever wore a mask as I knew, based on research, that the provided no real protection. They definitely caused harm as my wife and others forced to wear them at their jobs experienced significant issues.
I had covid and handled it just fine, as have many dozens of people I know. We now have naturally acquired immunity and no need of want of the experimental jabs.
Nothing tribal here. Just common sense, research, and making informed decisions for ourselves.
Honestly, the vast majority of people that word masks in stores and such did so to avoid hassles and did not believe that the masks were worth a damn. Many good me so. I never did because I saw no need to do so and was willing to invoke “policy” of each establishment and the hassle associated with doing so.
I’m a mask skeptic and have been since the two virologist doctors in California said masks are useless against a virus. Other virologists have said the same. Neither Fauci, nor anyone speaking for Fauci, is a virologist.
Then there’s the issue that even if the mask is effective, it loses that effectiveness as the wearer fiddles with it, as when Californians pull it or or down to cover their mouths while eating. Or when, sometime during the day, the mask becomes saturated with liquid from being breathed thru.
This is science. The two aforementioned California virologists also did their science before coming out against masks.
There are experts for any side of any argument these days. To accuse one or the other of “not following the science” simply means you’ve become dogmatic about whose science you want to follow. I don’t follow pro-mask “science” because the “scientists” on that side have repeatedly proven themselves liars and cheats, as Fauci himself.
Good discussion. I agree with the filtration argument, that is most masks don’t come close to filtering out the virus (the virus is point 1 microns). There is a slight benefit in the water droplet being held within the mask, but that means if you are next to a person who is infected and they are simply breathing, you are at great risk.
Second besides Fauci’s changing story on the masks, there was never information given on what mask(s) you should wear. Do homemade masks work? How about the ones that look like the ones worn in operating rooms? If there was one that would work, they wouldn’t have just required that any mask needed to cover the mouth and nose and that was enough. .
Finally, if the masks actually worked, there would be a directions and when and how to dispose of it as it would be medical waste. Still waiting to get information on that.
Anyone who paid any attention to how various masks and coverings were worn, used, tossed about , touched and adjusted,could easily determine that even if they had some miniscule benefit, such benefit was eliminated within a few minutes of donning them.. leading those of us with common sense to clearly see it was all a joke.
And no, most of us speaking out about the above , as well as how the danger of covid to healthy people was near nil,weren’t the weirdo camp, you describe.
Have not worn a mask from day one. Not a frequent crowd mixer and I’m blessed with a great metabolism. I, pitty? the car driver, by himself wearing one as he drives to wherever..
I’ll just add, even the CDC recommendations they posted stated that unless masks and coverings were washed in hot water , daily, for a certain amount of time, they would be useless, and contribute to other bacterial infections. We all know no one was doing the above, and wearing the same mask multiple days in a row. No snotty handkerchief mask is healthy.
I ask anyone to look at a graph of cases from anywhere in the world and point to the time where masks were mandated. It should be easy to do if they are effective, it will be the time that precedes a steep drop in cases and they stay down. Yeah, good luck finding one instance……. BTW, agree with the swing and a miss, nobody who refused useless masks before are wearing them now.
Regarding whether Bill Gates is a force for good or for ill, and a sufficient reason for vaccine hesitancy —
A notably quotable individual once observed that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a Bill Gates to enter The Kingdom of Heaven. And an another notable and quotable fellow, who went by the name of Voltaire, urged us to “tend the garden” — to live on a human scale and mind our own business.
No, something there is that doesn’t love a Gates — perhaps because of his penchant for monopoly capitalism, perhaps because of his Faux Catholic (soon to be ex-) wife, perhaps because of his alleged Faustian Jeffrey Epstein connection, perhaps because of his globalist bedfellows — Klaus von Schwab, Jeffrey Sachs, Pope Francis et al. He’s creepy, and so is the left’s obsession with vaccinating the last child standing and making that child wear a mask anyway.
Exactly. The cases of healthy children dying of covid are near zero.
More counties and states this week are revising covid only caused deaths downward, often by a factor of 20%.
I laugh when people call me a conspiracy nut for simply pointing out associations such as you describe.
Even the governmemt has conspiracy statutes on the books, used on everything from the KKK, the Mafia, and drug lords.
Conspiracy simply means ” when two or more people agree to commit an illegal or unethical act” ( loosely defined).
History is full of politicians and governments and businesses committing conspiratorial acts to advance a cause.
Chad, you imply with Biblical certitude that Bill Gates is evil. But your facts in support of this condemnation rise to no more than an argument that he’s unlikeable because he’s rich and successful and used to have a wife who wasn’t your brand of Catholic.
Even on this narrow likeability question, you’ve presented a rather one-sided case. On the other side is that he’s given away countless billions of dollars and is a real force for eradicating the age-old accursed disease of malaria.
But in any event, all that is irrelevant to the question whether he’s trying to implant microchips in you and me. He’s not. Believe me, he’s not.
I believe you that Bill Gates is not trying to implant microchips in you and me. I don’t mean to belittle the fact that Gates has given away billions of dollars, however, men and women of his wealth, and of much less wealth, have a choice to make on tax day. Do I write a check to the IRS or do I write a check to the charity of my choice. And many times these charities are linked in some way with the check writer. In other words, the billionaires and millionaires want to keep some kind of control over their money by keeping it in the private sector. And not “wasting” their money on the U.S. government.
Yep, I’ll cop to prejudice. I simply have an antipathy — literally, a bad FEELING — about the man. And I didn’t quite say he was “evil” — many of us do more harm than good (including a good many doctors) without “evil” intent.
As for Melinda not being my “brand” of Catholic, again I have a bad feeling about someone who draws or leans upon, or redesigns, the moral authority of The Church while flouting its most basic teachings. I don’t call her “evil” either, but you know the saying about paving the road to Hell.
You feel me?
Regarding who is more “religious” — the mask-eschewing conservative right, or the mask-Nazis on the progressive left — it is clearly the latter.
This is paradoxical, since the right is associated with “Jesus freaks,” while the left seeks to criminalize Christianity as a major component of “domestic terrorism.” Like their Marxist antecedents, Progs profess to hate religion (except when it’s associated with yoga, Buddhist monks in Aspen, etc.), while conservative skepticism regarding Covid public health measures smacks of enlightened rationalism, which tends to question doctrine and dogma, and which is a major component of “science.”
In short, to doubt Dr. Fauci is far more scientific and less religious than to regard him as an infallible high priest.
Exactly. The cases of healthy children dying of covid are near zero.
More counties and states this week are revising covid only caused deaths downward, often by a factor of 20%.
I laugh when people call me a conspiracy nut for simply pointing out associations such as you describe.
Even the governmemt has conspiracy statutes on the books, used on everything from the KKK, the Mafia, and drug lords.
Conspiracy simply means ” when two or more people agree to commit an illegal or unethical act” ( loosely defined).
History is full of politicians and governments and businesses committing conspiratorial acts to advance a cause.
I have to agree with the science that states that masks can do more harm than good. I wore a mask for 8 hours on an airline flight and ended up with lymph gland infections near both ears. My dr stated that is was from extended use of the mask.
Ugh!
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I notice something interesting here.
In my column, I didn’t accuse all mask-wearers or all mask-refusers of being tribal or religious about the issue. What I said was that there were some “extremists” who were. I stand by that.
The response of a mask-wearer or mask-refuser who was not being an extremist — not being tribal or religious — about the matter would be something like, “Yes, I suppose some people are like that, but as for me I’ve made my own choice based on what I’ve learned.”
Instead, many (no, not all) of the comments objecting to the column have been along the lines of, “How dare you describe my tribe as tribal! It’s the OTHER SIDE that’s tribal. Mine is not!”
Tribalists are that way.
That’s Funny! Trying to walk back your arrogance, dismissive, and obnoxious behavior. Nice try. Better walk it back further.
I’m not trying to walk anything back. As I said in my comment to which you’ve replied, I stand by the column. Too wit: Many “extremists” are being tribal or religious about mask-wearing or mask-refusing.
My comment went on to note that some of the critics are actively displaying those tribal or religious attributes in their anger at me for pointing it out. I think that’s fitting, ironic and, perhaps most of all, demonstrates a certain lack of introspection.
Oh well. I can deliver a message, but I can’t force anyone to think about it.
There. I hope that if nothing else I’ve convinced you that I’m not trying to walk anything back.
A group called Masks4All started by a young globalist Davos award winner carried out a massive mask campaign targeting governors in each of the 50 US states to enforce home made cloth masks. Since governors were receiving billions in free Covid cash from the fed. government, forcing every defenseless American rube to wear a cloth mask would be fun. The point is, it takes one phone call from a Davos group and it’s done. There is no Davos group on the side of defenseless Americans. https://masks4all.co/about-us/
Regarding your last sentence — there are certainly no Davos globalists on the side of the unborn! “Mother Earth” comes first, and apparently she is threatened by her children.
Just watched a clip of the Home Run Derby preceding the All-Star Game. Neither the players nor the fans were wearing masks, but all the kids selected to catch the fly balls in the outfield were masked. WTF? Child abuse!
Yeah, it’s important to the PC crowd to keep kids fearful and reticent. Lest they might ask hard questions.
Me? My father used to say only, “I don’t care what you do, but just don’t get yourself killed. It would ruin my whole weekend.”
Another great piece!
Interesting that we are still talking about masks at this juncture, and moreso, that the topic brings out the very most, uh, emphatic responses. Clearly, masking has taken on a meaning separate and apart from any utilitarian health-related raisons d’etre. Although I agree that masks have a certain hypothetical chance to diminish infection, in the practical world, they do not work at all. Even the typical paper surgical mask, if worn more than once, carries with it more potential to infect than it does to protect from infection. The lack of hermetic sealing around the edges of the mask also means that particles are exhaled into the atmosphere and also inhaled without any filtrating effect. The result is more totemic than useful, and that, I fear is why the topic elicits such enthusiastic response on both sides of the issue. As for me, at age 71 and retired, I never wear a mask any more, since it is no longer required by our government authorities to engage in commerce or socialize. I only wore one when the local grocery stores were enforcing the mandate so as to avoid causing a ruckus. (Didn’t wear one during a trip to our local shopping mall, and caught hell from a fat, middle-age female.) Didn’t catch the virus, or any seasonal respiratory disease, even though I took a couple of airplane trips last winter and spent time around my still working children and grandchildren, none of who came down with the dreaded ‘vid, either. Maybe God blessed me with an iron constitution, maybe I’m just lucky, who is to say? And now to throw fuel on the fire, I’m not getting vaccinated, either! I doubt that any of Biden’s “virus ferrets” will be knocking on my door to inquire about my status, but if they do, I’ll politely lie, then shut the door on them as soon as possible. I highly recommend this tactic to all.