West River radical Gordon Howie neatly encapsulates all the bad logic of the Flu Klux Klan:
Now, after all of the inaccurate and exaggerated “Models” of the impact of this virus, there is a NEW battle cry. “A second wave is coming“. This, as a justification to keep the country closed and further strangle the economy. Personally, I have had more than enough.
If you want to wear a mask to protect yourself from me and others, go for it. I feel no compelling need to wear a mask to protect myself from you [Gordon Howie, “I Don’t Wear a Coronavirus Mask,” The Right Side, 2020.04.22].
- The models weren’t inaccurate or exaggerated: the models warned us that more than two million Americans would die and our hospitals would be swamped if we all acted like Howie and kept the economy open. More Americans than expected took coronavirus seriously and stayed away from each other to save a lot of those lives, just as the models predicted. A child cries a lot more about getting a shot than about not ever getting measles, but that doesn’t mean that shots aren’t needed.
- We don’t wear masks to protect ourselves from others. We wear masks to protect others from ourselves.
While Gordon Howie shouts Give me liberty and give me death! Pat Powers offers hope that not all of South Dakota’s conservatariat is off its rocker. The SDGOP spin blogger has written notably little original content or instructive analysis about the coronavirus pandemic, sticking to his prescribed party press releases and occasional potshots at Republicans who dare challenge his sponsors’ power structure. But every now and then, he’s expressed some disdain for Howie-style threats to public health. He’s attacking Republicans who discount coronavirus as a “manufactured epidemic.” He’s also stating the basic public health maxim that “a few bad apples” can spoil our efforts to keep America safe from worse contagion. Check out the harder line Powers takes over this weekend’s planned auto races in Union County:
Right on the heels of Governor Noem explaining that South Dakotans don’t need a shelter in place order.. a speedway in North Sioux City is going to try have an event with 700 spectators.
Ugh. So, a few bad apples are preparing to spoil it for the rest of us…
I know everyone is sick of being cooped up. But I really question whether this is going to end well [Pat Powers, “And a Few Bad Apples Are Preparing to Spoil It for the Rest of Us,” Dakota War College, 2020.04.22].
Now Pat probably wouldn’t be talking down the races if his matron Kristi Noem weren’t opposed to them (though not sufficiently opposed to shut them down and endanger all the adulatory national right-wing press and live Fox air time she’s getting). He’s a sycophantic ass incapable of original thought or artful turn of phrase. But with his Governor’s cover, he’s speaking out more forcefully against the Park Jefferson races than I did Monday, when I posted the extensive precautions the speedway is taking to see if it can hold a public spectacle without putting the racers and well-diffused crowd at risk.
Gordon Howie is living down to expectations in response to coronavirus. Pat Powers is showing signs that abstraction-chanting disease denialists may not constitute a majority even within the fetid ranks of South Dakota Republicans.
Let’s never forget the poster boy of Libertarian ethos: Rand Paul, who, both while waiting & after he tested positive for COVID-19, went swimming in the Congressional pool, went to lunch with his fellow Senators, and ignored the mere idea that he might be infecting any one else at all.
Rights for me, not for thee, every time.
In Germany, it is compulsory that masks are worn, simple as that. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52382196
Of course, Angela Merkel is a trained scientist, so she clearly knows what’s needed for her people. More importantly, her people trust her with that decision. Booyah!
Given where Gordon Howie keeps his head, he probably doesn’t need a mask. Also, as the CDC director plainly put the definition of the mask” the primary purpose of the my mask is to protect you from me, not me from you”. I’m sure it can help to protect me from Howie’s dribbling ramblings, but it is still not the primary purpose.
cibvet, that head position would help explain his crappy thinking problem.
As has become pretty usual these days, Asia has been leading the world. This time it’s masks.
I’m not sure when it became a thing, but it’s been a couple decades, at least, since mask wearing became common among the populations in Asian countries during flu season. Mask wearing is also common during pollution events, as well, and a lot of folks have N95 or industrial-strength masks for that purpose.
It’s a gesture of politeness, particularly if you have sniffles, sneezes or coughs from illness or allergies. It also may have become a fashion statement and a bow or curtsy to social solidarity.
In the West, we have for years been told to “cover your cough,” so we sneeze into our sweaters or handkerchieves. The advantage of a mask is that it reminds you not to touch your face. I think it was adopted in Asia because in larger cities it was difficult to maintain a safe distance from people.
I suppose if you are bachelor farmer out in the sticks of South Dakota, it might seem a little overboard to slap on a mask. I don’t wear a mask when I’m out hiking, but I rarely get near other people. Only when I have to make a weekly trek to a grocery store or similar outing do I put on my home-made mask, since Jared seems to have stolen the masks my daughter sent me from China.
But a bachelor farmer might want to think about using industrial masks to filter out particulates, pesticides, and pollen they have to deal with.
I have made two masks each for myself and my husband, bought a couple at Etsy (all for shopping) and bought a bunch of bandannas for the quick casual look when pumping gas or something like that.
A scientist leading a nation? What a novel concept. Joe Biden isn’t a scientist, but he’ll at least hire scientists to handle major scientific policy issues instead of Labradoodle breeders.
I would think rebels like Howie would embrace the chance to run around town wearing bandanas and looking like Wild West banditos. I rather enjoy the costuming.
Clever Cory, I saw what you did with “What a novel concept”. Granted, it took me a minute, but nailed it.
I’m with the many others who have said if like minded minions wish to gather in large groups, I won’t object if they do 2 things:
1. Stay away from anyone who did not attend.
2. Sign a binding legal document saying they refuse all treatment for COVID-19, preferring to die at home.
Howie, where’s your document?