The current regime in DC clearly bewildered people enough – and scared them enough – to avoid the usual mass layoff of congresscritturs last month. But never fear, they are already ramping up for 23 months from now: the November 2024 elections.

Part of that is again pulling out the now-old boogeyman of COVID-19.

(By the way, why is it still COVID-19 and not COVID-21 or COVID-22? Just like why wasn’t it Spanish Influenza 1917 or 1918? These new variants are out there but there seems to be some sort of mental blockage about calling them something else. Isn’t that missing an opportunity to frighten us into being obedient cattle again?)

A part of that fresh ramping-up of fear and obedience is the wearing of masks. Tom Wood recently reported some interesting data.

Annals of Internal Medicine, studied what difference in results, if any, can be perceived from mask use: “Medical Masks Versus N95 Respirators for Preventing COVID-19 Among Health Care Workers: A Randomized Trial.” Ooh!! But what did they find? Fifty-two out of 497 (10.46%) people wearing medical masks wound up getting Covid, and 47 out of 507 (9.27%) wearing N95s got it — a difference too trivial to amount to anything.

Fascinating, isn’t it? Just the other day I again heard a tirade – this time by a retired Registered Nurse – about people here in South Dakota not wearing masks, and making a snide comment. If masks don’t do any good, she posited, why do medical doctors wear them? Actually, it’s a good question, but she didn’t wait around to get any answers. Which would you select?

1. Because they look really cool.
2. Because their bosses said that they had to.
3. Because they have patients like the retired RN who are panicked by the idea of Beer Flu.
4. Because the beancounters said to. (“We have 10,000 of these things we bought, and if we have to throw them away or give them away, we won’t be able to charge patients $15 for something that cost us $0.05 cents – and you won’t get a Christmas bonus!”)
5. Because it strikes fear and awe in the patients.
6. Because a mask makes you feel and look more professional: it is part of the “uniform.”
7. Because it is a habit.

I’m sure there are other reasons. Including the irrational faith that many people have in “science.” Especially government science. And in their political leaders – both the elected and the non-elected ones. After all, they are smart enough to get us to tell us what to do, so they must be smart (and wise) enough to tell us the right things to do. No?

Of course not. The Pandemic Panic has demonstrated, once again, the stupidity and other negative character traits of political leaders and bureaucrats and those who support them without apparent coercion. To the point of madness.

And there is evidence that they continue to do so, and to repeat their stupid actions.

All of which takes away our liberty, in big and little ways.

But why? There is an element of fear, both in the advocates of such stupid actions and in those who slavishly obey them. (Even in a place like the Black Hills, we see one or two people in fifty wearing masks: some voluntarily and some because they would be fired if they didn’t.)

But it seems to me that the real motivation is power. Power over others, and the mad urge to tear down society so that they can rebuild it in the way they want it.

Masks have some pretty obvious sociological and psychological effects, or so we are told. Most of the establishment organs (of propaganda) tell us how wonderful and important it is for us to wear the face diapers. But there are also many studies and reports of how masks create more regimentation, increase fear, and other negative impacts. All of which, whether portrayed as good or bad, benefits the governments. So of course, there is reason to push mask-wearing, and the way to do it is through fear.

Any other explanations?