See... this is the point at which the whole conservative covid reaction, to me, goes from just weird and unsettling to full-on bug-eyed insane. AND hypocritical.

Their whole deal with masks and vaccines is that they should have the right to decide for themselves. I think they make dumbass decisions that cause entirely avoidable harm, but okay - I can grant at least some bare semblace of legitimacy to self-determination. I don't vagree, but at least I can see their underlying logic.

But banning masks? What the actual fuck? What possible difference can it make in their lives that somebody else is wearing a mask? And what happened to their whole self-determination thing? Do they sincerely believe that nobody should be able to tell them whether or not they have to wear a madk and that they should be able to tell other people whether or not they can? How does that even work inside their brains? What possible logic leads to "I don't have to do what you say but you DO have to do what I say"?

Seriously, are they literally insane? I sincerely can't think of any other explanation. It's not just people acting in some way other than my preference, but people acting in a way that's blitheringly irrational, even by their own principles.

I suspect that when future historians write about this era, they're going to call it something like The Idiot Age, because to them it will be marked by people inexplicably doing obviously and painfully stupid and irrational things.