Not since the glove in the O.J. Simpson murder case has a piece of fabric received more notoriety and discussion than the modern mask. Even after Joe Biden shuffled up to the mic to take what was supposed to be a verbal victory lap for COVID decline, a surprising number of Americans were still reluctant to believe in the safety of “facing” the world without it.
In a contentious America whose resentments are played out publicly in the name of race, sex, social status, and political affiliation, it is perhaps not surprising that one’s choice to wear or discard a mask has also given rise to controversy.
Yet even now, there are far fewer objections to wearing a mask than to getting inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccines, despite the fact that the latter has been determined virtually fool-proof and the former just about useless.
For the first time since his presidency, Biden was conspicuously mask-less as he delivered the CDC verdict to the effect that vaccinated Americans — or those who gained immunity from having had the disease — were now free, with some exceptions, to remove their masks. As he droned on, Chameleon Joe tried to transform himself from the long-dark-winter, doom-and-gloom candidate into the triumphant victor over the virus. In fact, he had the chutzpah to taunt so-called “naysayers” over whom he himself had pessimistically presided.
One would think this long anticipated good news might send compliant Americans pouring into the streets to make bonfires of their well worn masks. But perhaps due to Biden’s general flip-flopping on issues, a surprising number of skeptical people — ironically, most of them Democrats — did not take him at his word.
My own celebration proved premature. Having removed the various masks hanging on my doorknobs and burying them in a dresser drawer, I showed my face in the corridors of my apartment complex, only to be reprimanded by management for not wearing a mask. I was brusquely informed that state and local jurisdictions had their own set of rules regardless of the latest CDC recommendations.
The next day, I was surprised to find that masks and social distancing signs had been removed from my local supermarket. When I entered the store, however, I felt like a looter. What was I doing in a place where at least 95% of the shoppers were still covering their faces? And worse, their disapproving eyes seemed to be searching me out!
I was struck by the absurdity of it all. Despite the fact that our government had spent millions on vaccine research, development, testing, distribution, and injection, the preponderance of shoppers in that market still felt that the ultimate protection from viral illness or death lay in an unspecified, flimsy piece of fabric suspended over half their face. Justin Bieber may be unpopular now, but JustIn Case is riding high.
Weeks later, this trend persists. Check out the background people in TV news stories, and note that only one or two in the crowd are not wearing masks. Some of them could be unvaccinated, but that hardly jibes with the CDC reports that most eligible Americans have already rolled up their sleeves for the shots or have a natural immunity from having had COVID. Now there is the further absurdity of trying to bribe Americans to get vaccinated. It is like staying put in a burning building until the fireman agrees to brings you a free hamburger, French fries, and beer.
Naturally, face coverings are less invasive than inoculations and lack the possible side-effects. Mandated at the inception of the pandemic and well before the slightest possibility of a vaccine, masks were universally unpopular in the beginning. Yet we learned to clap them on our faces, ignoring the constant confusion as to their effectiveness. What other choice, after all, had we been given? Masks appeared to be the only thing that we could do as a group to stop the spread of the disease. People who refused to wear them were eventually viewed as unpatriotic pariahs. The ugly term “spreader” came to mean something more than a means of fertilizing a lawn. The only thing that excused the mask’s absence and exceeded its mandate was unfettered participation in a BLM protest. In fact, leftist news sources knocked themselves out trying to “prove” that such mask-less events did not I escalate COVID cases.
In any event, donning a mask wasn’t all that big a deal. It was sort of like signing on to the idea of global warming. While there has never been unassailable proof that windmills, solar panels, etc. can actually save us from disaster — or, in fact, that we even need saving — the idea itself is embraced because it sounds so intrinsically noble and — best of all — takes so little personal sacrifice to support.
After a while, we got used to the idea of wearing a mask. For some, it even became convenient. With it in place, the need for facial grooming plummeted, even as the rest of our bodies swelled from the consumption of comfort foods, often conveniently delivered to our place of shelter. Under the circumstances, it might even be considered a blessing not to be recognized.
I won’t go so far as to suggest that a spiritual belief system developed around the mask , in the manner, say, of the Shroud of Turin. But there’s little doubt that for some, it became a scrap of security always on hand — or on face — like Linus’ beloved blanket. Though countless masks slipped below noses or hung by threads, the supposition behind them was always, in truth, more talisman than guarantee. Rather than argue, it simply became the thing to do.
The mask might also have some significance in terms of our national psyche: a small action that in some way united us all. It’s possible that because of the mask, we no longer registered people as black or white, male or female, old or young. We were the masketeers — all for one and one for all. Speaker Pelosi tried to elevate the mask to an attention-getting fashion statement, a rather flippant and narcissistic gesture under the grim circumstances. Manufacturers jumped into the burgeoning market with different designs, features, and materials. It was American ingenuity at its best.
As the pandemic worsened, few believed anything our leaders told us. And the biggest whopper was that “we are all in this together,” suggesting that the pandemic was an equal-opportunity destroyer. Nothing was farther from the truth. Bureaucrats determined what trades could continue and which had to close. The livelihoods of some Americans were suspended, leaving them anxious and financially strapped. Others were barely impacted, their jobs managed remotely, their income streams steady.
Later, the government slowed down recovery by giving the unemployed more money than they could earn by returning to work.
In the course of the pandemic, some families lost loved ones; others did not. Seniors were singled out early on as most vulnerable, but even those who managed to survive the lockdowns would never be the same.
And the frustrating injustices did not stop there. Public officials who mismanaged the pandemic have yet to pay the price. Governor Andrew Cuomo, whose foolhardy decision to return active COVID sufferers to their nursing homes, was responsible for the deaths of thousands of elderly New Yorkers.
Yet there he sits in his Albany mansion, enriched by a book deal and thus far immune from charges of sexual misconduct. On the other coast, hypocrite Governor Gavin Newsom is handing out federal taxpayer monies to mollify enraged constituents. The once Golden State has in place a gubernatorial recall system, but while there may be a way, is there a will?
Who knows how much longer the mask fetish may remain? Next to the mismanagement, deceit, lies, and ignorance on display by those in power during this debilitating siege, it is perhaps the least or our concerns. If vaccinated, there’s less chance of getting infected than of being struck by lightning. But those who are still without immunity should not expect the mask to hedge their bets.
Image via Pexels.
The Law of Unforeseen Consequences always lurks in the shadows, but especially if you aren’t looking for it. These parents should be heralded by the world as a wake-up call to the more significant consequences that mask usage may be associated with. It can hide more than your smile.
@Marjorie S Rosenfeld
Actually, the individual who developed the mRNA technology, Dr. Robert Malone, warned the FDA of the dangers of the spike proteins. He addressed this in an interview with Dr. Bret Weinstein at the link below. For the sake of clarity about the research and what was known by the FDA, the following is part of their conversation:
The content inside the brackets are my input for clarity. Hope this helps.
I have read that material from the spike of the coronavirus that causes Covid is toxic and doesn’t necessarily stay in the arm muscle as envisioned but can enter the blood stream and travel to organs of the body. That is apparently what can happen with messenger RNA vaccines, which all of the vaccines approved in the United States are. Didn’t the vaccine manufacturers realize that there are toxic proteins in that coronavirus spike? Seems like pretty sloppy research to me.
[Below is some information that I shared under a different article. I am re-posting it here, as it is specifically related to mask usage]
The Fauci emails are being used to expose the propaganda falsities espoused by Fauci/CDC/FDA. But the knowledge of the uses and uselessness of masks in the study of the spread of disease has long been established. Everything about the useless use of masking to prevent the spread of disease was known well before 2020.
There have been thousands of studies, including the random control trials that have become the latest obsession of the FDA and CDC to pretend ignorance and intentionally cause delay, conducted over decades that show little to no support of the use of masks to prevent disease. With the numbers of people who die every year from influenza, if mask usage was useful, why would it not have been instituted years ago to save all those victims.
It was for this among other considerations that stimulated these thousands of studies to be conducted. In addition to the lack of benefit, masks that are repeatedly used carry disease causing consequences. The continuous use of a material barrier around the mouth and nose will cause a dehydration of the tissues of the upper(and possibly lower) airways as a result.
The masks collect moisture from a person’s moist breath and this supports growth of bacteria and fungi. The masks if used repeatedly will, consequently, collect large quantities of bacteria and fungi that will grow on the masks if not kept clean. And if they are kept clean, the cleaning products may leave residues on the cleaned masks which are harsh chemical that can cause problems when inhaled.
All of this is beyond the harmful effects of the mask material itself. Not all materials included in mask production will stimulate the same response by the body. For instance, nylon, if inhaled is known to have very harmful effects. The N-95 masks, among others are made using fibers that overlay eachother and act to catch larger particles(much larger than Covid).
These overlaying layers are stiff and not intended to be bent or over-used. When they are, the fibers fracture and the resulting fragments are vacuumed into the body’s airways – think of microscopic buckshot covered in disease causing filth being shot into the airways. With the dehydration of the airways, due to the mask, these fragments from the mask, often carrying bacteria, viruses and fungi that grew on the mask, are sucked into the lungs on a free ride and in large numbers to areas of the lung that can have serious consequences.
And all of this while people who become ill are instantly terrified of seeking medical assistance from the hospitals due to Covid. None of this was intended by the institution of mask usage. Some will say it is the result of the Law of Unintended Consequence, but that would suggest that none of these facts were known by those responsible for suggesting and mandating these policies.
All of this, and a great deal more, was fully known by those who mandated it. And nothing found in Fauci’s emails was necessary to know these facts.
@leanmarc@ii.net
I am very sorry for those who you have lost. There was no need for their loss. There is just no words to convey the tragedy that these inhuman men have brought on us and no remedy so severe that it could bring a sense of justice to the situation. You are correct, there is much that is known that is very disturbing, but we know so little of any future possibilities.
Among the most concerning issues for long term aftereffects lie in the reproductive consequences. It has recently been found that the spike protein concentrates in the ovaries. Also there is a possible consequence in the testes – the testes is a very sensitive organ which with injury of physical or infectious insult can result in either temporary or permanent inability to produce functional sperm. It is beyond any acceptable grief that any of this might be possible.
The CDC is still pushing the vaccines to be pressed to children and will soon seek to press them on the young over 2yrs. The erosion of trust is, debate-ably the greatest casualty as the doctors, Big Pharma, the gov’t agencies all betrayed the people. And as you point out, who would you trust to research these consequences and propose possible new treatments to the toxic treatment we were poisoned with.
Regarding the masks, I have written a recent comment under the revolver(I think that is correct) story that Ted posted last week. The masks can actually be less than useless. They can be harmful due to the inhalation of microscopic mask debris and infectious particles on the masks. I will find it tomorrow and re-post it here.
What about the thousands who have been seriously injured by the shots? We already know 4 (3 died). 2 adults, one woman with late term healthy pregnancy lost baby immediately after shots, and one woman with serious heart inflammation, hospitalised for 2 weeks, survived. She regrets terribly having the shots. We already have more reported adverse events including death than all other vaccines combined for 15 years.
And the longer term danger is what was not studied and our greatest concern ie Antibody Dependent Enhancement (ADE). Already we might be seeing indications as vaccinated people get infected, injured and die.
This is reported as due to new variants.
Also what about the continual outgasdibg of poison from vaccinated to the rest of us? This needs more study – you think Pfiser will look into it?!
Masks are ineffective in most situations. So if not going to cause a fine or jail term I say claim you have a medical exception and just keep in your pocket to use as a tissue.