Our brief global affair with masks seemed to be over. "Good riddance," said billions of us, dropping the pinchy, scratchy, humid habit as Covid faded into the background of other common viruses. What a relief not to buy masks, or remember to bring them everywhere.
N95, KN95, respirators, double masking, Hello Kitty one-ply cloth masks, face shields, social distancing?See ya!
Not so fast, said the "Long Covid" crowd.
The hangers-on are hanging on hard. Whether they cite Long Covid, immunosuppression, or climate change, there are maskers in our midst. They've grown to love that shade of hospital blue. In The Manhattan's April survey of 1,000 New York City pedestrians spanning three boroughs, over 14% of Gotham still wears a mask.
Never mind that years ago, "conspiracy theorists" warned that pharmaceutical companies (and those suffering vaccine injury) would use a catch-all such as "Long Covid" to explain away their myriad and chronic illnesses...and would then develop new drugs to treat those chronic illnesses.
Now there's another group that masks up: the pro-Palestine/anti-Zionist cabal. At protests, masks are ubiquitous, and in case of emergency, a keffiyeh will suffice. Is the "river-to-the-sea" gang particularly germophobic? No. They prefer to conceal their identities. Not a bad idea, since their work in the public sphere commonly features desecration and violence.
To wit: the homes of the Brooklyn Museum director and several of its board members were splashed with red paint and "Blood On Your Hands" stencils. The individuals are all Jewish.
As the NY Post reports, "Other disturbing conduct on display this week included a pair of anti-Israel protesters unfurling a “Long live October 7” in Union Square, masked anti-Israel protesters demanding any Zionist get off a subway car, and an agitator telling Jews he wished “Hitler was still here” because the Nazi leader would have “wiped all you out.”"
Enter New York Governor Kathy Hochul, whose ear is always open to her Jewish constituents. Hochul has hinted that she would consider a mask ban to curb anti-Semitic attacks by disguised assailants.
It is darkly humorous that the debate has already taken on a "guns don't kill people" vibe. The argument familiar to any Second Amendment supporter--that the bad guys won't follow the law anyway, and we use ours for law-abiding reasons--is now employed by...the Long Covid crowd. Strange bedfellows indeed.
To summarize:
