Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
This week on the mighty GLoP Podcast, we’re properly social distancing by recording from Florida, Long Island, Manhattan (and Southern California if we’re being technical about it). We cover the au currant issue of the masks as the latest weapon in the Culture War (inspired by Jonah’s great G-File on this topic), what exactly a Quibi is and why you should care about it, and some thoughts (rumination?) on the legal issues of one General Flynn.
Subscribe to GLoP Culture in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.
Quibi? I like the Quebe sisters, does that count?
Oh, the mask conversation. I wish I could’ve chimed in.
I don’t own a mask and never will.
Mask absolutist. This guy. But it’s not machismo, and it’s not irrational. And never in my life have I ever used the phrase “own the libs.”
There are about a thousand arguments against universal masking that you guys did not mention.
See… John… One argument against masks is that they don’t actually do anything to protect anyone, and that your self-sacrifice happens, not to save lives, but to help some people think that they are doing something when they are really doing nothing.
They are the reusable bags and paper straws of the pandemic. Obnoxious, useless, uncomfortable, and existing solely to comfort the irrationally panicked. I don’t mind if people want to wear them. But the real problem is when they become mandatory. In my home state, plastic bags and straws are banned. That’s not something I’m willing to accept simply because some douchebag says it has something to do with manliness.
I don’t understand the apparent contradiction of telling people to wear masks when they are already socially distant. If I’m not close to people why do I need a mask? I have not worn one yet.
Rob,
Just use the real Confederate flag:
The Blood-Stained Banner
I think a great marketing campaign for masks would be “Real Men Wear Masks” with pictures of superheroes like Spiderman, Ironman, etc.
Is anyone else surprised that people are still freaked out about the Confederate flag? I’m not a fan of the confederacy myself but it doesn’t bother me.
Glad I stayed long enough to hear that final bit from Jonah.
As to the masks, I agree with the GLoP boys. It’s not perfect, but I have no problem wearing them if that helps things open up. Is it just theater for the fearful and foolish? Perhaps, which is an even stronger reason to wear a mask for me. I have allergies which lead to a lot of sinus drainage which can lead to clearing my throat often and coughing. Since this has started, I try to suppress all coughing in public, but it’s still good to let people think my mask might protect them from me. So, let’s open up, but let’s also do the manly thing and wear masks.
Rob: “I realized I had not joined the Dispatch, had not signed up for it. I guess in my own little weird interior media way I always thought well I’ll be comped obviously. I won’t have to pay.”
That’s exactly how I felt when I clicked the link to “Jonah’s great G-file” in the above show notes.
Classic!
Wasn’t the gang cute, virtue signalling their wearing of the masks, and poking fun at those who wouldn’t?
I’m not going to say that masks don’t mitigate the spread, but it’s not being used as PPE, but CPE (Collective Protective Equipment) as the wearing is to protect others, not the wearer. And when I hear things like masks are no substitute for social distancing, I question the worth of society going to war over this. Jonah does to, but from a different angle.
It’s time to look at devices that actually do protect the wearer, and not depend on the behavior of overwealmingly healthy people to “stop the spread.” Devices like that do exist.
And that brings me to the next point. It’s becoming more and more obvious that we’re not going to stop the spread.
As long as our hospitals aren’t overwealmed, we shouldn’t be slowing the spread either. We mostly know who is at risk, and who is not and we should be encouraging the spread amongst the healthy population to allow this to burn out, which would benefit everyone.
While the additional deaths are real, they aren’t as bad as originally projected. There’s even evidence now that 70% who catch the virus are asymptomatic.
Stop the spread, should change to stop the fear. And those who are vulnerable to it should take responsibility for their own health and protect themselves.
And that’s a good reason not to wear masks.
General Ripper, Jonah, not Colonel!
I figured they were otherwise doing pretty well at agreeing with me today, Mandrake, so I didn’t bother to mention that error.
For Super GLoP Heads only, a bit of video from this show:
I missed the explanation for why Jonah is in Florida isn’t of obeying the lockdown order.
I believe it was Jonah who specifically said that the MSNBC reporters wearing masks on the beach yards away from other people “look like idiots.”
I really would like to find a way to stop my glasses from fogging up. I find it difficult to follow the one way floor decals in my grocery store, not to mention reading product labels or price tags. But I will wear my mask to hopefully protect the grocery store workers a little.
I want the businesses to open up. I mean, how long can we keep printing money to hand out to 30+ million unemployed?
Dotorimuk has a suggestion above.
You have more to worry about from them than they from you, but still, wear the mask.
Shh. The Democrats see that as a challenge, not a criticism.
Rob with the polo over the button-up! He really is in touch with the kids. I’d love to see John wearing that.
Or don’t wear the mask. As with anything like this, playing along is actually a problem. As we know, it doesn’t do anything to help anyone… and, best case scenario, even if it did work, the only thing it would do is delay herd immunity so that this becomes a bigger problem during flu season. But even then, we should not so eagerly accept something as a “temporary” measure, “just so we can open up,” when the logic of masks is exactly the same as the logic of lockdowns. They cannot be temporary, because there is no end-point. If they are necessary right now, then they are necessary a year from now. If you accept masks, you are accepting them as a permanent part of your life. I am not willing to do that just to make some people feel good.
Courtesy has it’s bounds. Just as people like to say “freedom ends at the tip of my nose” (or something like that), I’d say that courtesy ends at your irrationality. I will wear a mask in a hospital, and I will scrub in and scrub out. As I’ve pointed out many times before, doctors wear masks and observe stringent sanitization practices in hospitals for a reason. There is also a reason why you never see these same doctors wearing masks in the grocery store.
Hammer,
It’s obvious you are missing out on how cool this is. It’s like Halloween every day! We get to wear masks.
I’ll talk to the GLoP costume designer about this.
But doctors wear masks in hospitals because they prevent infections in hospitals along with the sanitizing. I think plenty of doctors are now wearing a mask in the grocery store too. I also bring paper towels soaked with Lysol to wipe down my hands and the cart handles so I am sanitizing as best I can. Apparently Japan has far fewer Covid cases because people there regularly wear a mask.
Also I had hip surgery in 2018 and my surgeon wore glasses and a mask. His glasses didn’t fog up. At least I hope they didn’t!
Doctors sometimes wear masks in hospitals because they are dealing with sick patients, and they are going back and forth between patients with all sorts of different illnesses… even then, when you go to a hospital, you will see that most of the doctors are not generally wearing masks. Surgeons wear masks, but then, they are literally hovering their face over open body cavities. And they take the mask off when they finish stitching up the patient. How many times have you gone for an appointment and your doctor was wearing a mask? Virtually never. Even during flu season.
There is absolutely no reason to believe that Japan has fewer Covid cases because people there regularly wear masks. No more than saying that Texas has fewer cases than new york because people in Texas regularly wear cowboy hats.
This must be the Mask episode.
One of the reasons cited by the military for a grooming standard that prevented beards is that what most people call “gas masks”, but soldiers call “protective masks”, is that a beard prevents an airtight seal. A big deal when you’re worrying about nerve agent.
To John’s point, our protective masks (at least the M17 that I wore back in the day) include a “voice-mitter”, a simple valve that sealed shut on inhale, but slightly opened when you spoke. It’s just a small grill under which is a soft, flexible plastic disk that acts like a valve.
Admiral, not General, William H. McRaven, a SEAL. Don’t make Dan Crenshaw angry. He never forgets.
Happy to hear Jonah’s evocation of Battle of Bulge, Col Hessler, was apt. Thought of it hearing about LA County.
Yes but the mask helps when they are hovering over open body cavities. And I bet doctors wear masks when treating Covid patients.
Your apples to oranges comparison about Texas and Japan makes no sense.
Now doctors wear masks when treating covid patients. Heck, hospitals are putting them in negative pressure rooms. Hospitals react to panic and incentive, too. I have a close friend who runs a clinic here in town, and she wears the mask and gloves when treating patients. It is largely for the psychological impact, but it is also required because they don’t want to get sued. When she’s at home (and we had a nice bbq at her house this past weekend), at stores, or around friends and family, she’s not wearing a mask. That’s because she understands what masks are and aren’t for. In public, masks are a sugar pill. Heck, even in doctors’ offices, masks are largely a sugar pill.
My comparison of Texas to Japan was supposed to make no sense. That was the whole point. There is virtually no evidence of any kind to show that either social distancing or mask wearing has any impact whatsoever on overall numbers with respect to this sort of illness. As I said, I don’t mind if you want to wear one. Pair it with a foil hat if that suits your fancy. But when you move from personal behavior to mandating public behavior, you bear the burden of proof. For me, that is a high burden, and it is one that nobody has come anywhere close to meeting.