Rightwing doofuses have a new object of hate: face masks, which symbolize oppression, big government, and, worst of all, being told what to do. Back in March, Fox News rabble rouser Laura Ingraham was insisting that quarantine measures weren’t needed, because everyone could just wear surgical masks and get back to work while observing social distancing. But now, she and her pals on the Right have decided that the very idea of social distancing is oppressive, because wearing a mask is what Antifa does, and disease prevention is actually a plot to make you live in fear, which means you can be controlled by big government.
Wednesday, she suggested on her show that widespread mask usage is some sort of plot to scare people.
“The masks, they’re kind of a constant reminder,” Ingraham said. “You see the mask and you think you’re not safe, you are not back to normal — not even close.”
“It is clear that the mask is a symbol of fear, and when you see various people suggesting that we may now have masks as part of our public lives for the rest of our lives?” Limbaugh said. “Uh, why?”
For some conservatives, refusing to wear a mask has become just the latest way to thumb their noses at social distancing mandates. Talk radio host Dennis Prager said in a video that he refused to don one — and compared himself to Rosa Parks or dissident Germans in the Nazi era for his defiance.
Unfortunately, this isn’t just an abstract online argument about masks as a symbol of oppression. Wingnuts are so angry about the oppression of public health measures that they pressured Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to withdraw an order to wear masks as stores reopen. Similarly, the city of Stillwater, Oklahoma, decided to end its requirement that people wear masks in newly reopened establishments. The measure went into effect Friday as stores reopened, but within hours, crazy people were already threatening violence if they weren’t allowed to endanger others, damn it.
“In the short time beginning on May 1, 2020, that face coverings have been required for entry into stores/restaurants, store employees have been threatened with physical violence and showered with verbal abuse,” Stillwater City Manager Norman McNickle said in a statement.
“In addition, there has been one threat of violence using a firearm. This has occurred in three short hours and in the face of clear medical evidence that face coverings helps contain the spread of Covid-19.”
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