[Genuine Realist]

I have a quick stylistic request.  Can we please avoid using words like "obliterated" or "destroyed" or "crushed" or other violent term when we are discussing ideas.  The goal of a discussion is to persuade, not to destroy, and it has been a pet peeve of mine in social media to see such titles as "watch so-and-so destroy so-and-so", where typically each so-and-so represents a different political party.  Seeking to "obliterate" your opponent, even if it is rhetorically, is just going to further political polarization, as it makes discussion of ideas a matter of existential survival.

BC

I believe mask wearing is essential (in indoor space, anyway), but I never buy into stupid. The Great Beast is usually wiser than American elites. What's happened is that the practice has become another battlefront in the ongoing cultural war. Most of that is attributable to You-Know-Who, but the MSM plays its inevitable role. 

The skepticism is exacerbated by real questions about whether the severity of the lockdown was justified, and the mixed messages at the outset. Health officials no more wear a mantle of infallibility in this society than any other class, and they may have damaged their credibility early on. 

The best solution still seems to me to focus on proprietors with significant indoor space, insisting on compliance and doing spot checks, with fines and administrative sanctions. Criminal sanctions on individual offenders won't work. Obviously, Trump, Pence, and other public figures should set examples, but that's not going to happen.

[Genuine Realist]

I have a quick stylistic request.  Can we please avoid using words like "obliterated" or "destroyed" or "crushed" or other violent term when we are discussing ideas.  The goal of a discussion is to persuade, not to destroy, and it has been a pet peeve of mine in social media to see such titles as "watch so-and-so destroy so-and-so", where typically each so-and-so represents a different political party.  Seeking to "obliterate" your opponent, even if it is rhetorically, is just going to further political polarization, as it makes discussion of ideas a matter of existential survival.

BC

I believe mask wearing is essential (in indoor space, anyway), but I never buy into stupid. The Great Beast is usually wiser than American elites. What's happened is that the practice has become another battlefront in the ongoing cultural war. Most of that is attributable to You-Know-Who, but the MSM plays its inevitable role. 

The skepticism is exacerbated by real questions about whether the severity of the lockdown was justified, and the mixed messages at the outset. Health officials no more wear a mantle of infallibility in this society than any other class, and they may have damaged their credibility early on. 

The best solution still seems to me to focus on proprietors with significant indoor space, insisting on compliance and doing spot checks, with fines and administrative sanctions. Criminal sanctions on individual offenders won't work. Obviously, Trump, Pence, and other public figures should set examples, but that's not going to happen.