The face mask standoff continues

Having seen the clip of the public hearing held in Palm Beach over mandatory face masks, I felt that I must share my opinion. One woman in the news clip said that face masks kill and warned the committee that they would be punished by God, calling it the devil's law. Other astute 'constitutionalists” argue that face masks violate their constitutional right, which means that they don't have to wear masks.

But what they are in fact manifesting is not freedom, but, instead, freedom from responsibility. While espousing thanks to all the medical personnel and essential workers for their contributions to fighting the coronavirus, they at the same time give them the finger by their refusal to wear a mask in public. What that says, louder than all of their public praise, is 'I don't give a damn about you or your family's safety. My convenience is way more important.” And the recent spike in hospital admissions and ICU bed occupancy in the states that opened early is concrete proof of that, regardless of problems with testing.

So, if you are so darned convinced that you cannot be an asymptomatic vector of coronavirus, or are a 'principled constitutionalist,” then at least drop the hypocrisy of hollow praise for workers whose safety you put at risk, because your actions definitely speak louder than your words.

Thomas Ash

Marion