Rusty Reno: Masks Are For Cowards

May 13, 2020 Hunter Wallace Conservatism, Health 44

I also saw the meltdown last night.

Rod Dreher has pretty much said it at all.

TAC:

“I don’t know when I last saw someone that prominent not named Trump get ratio’d so severely. It is, alas, deserved. What a contemptible set of tweets. If you think masks are a bad idea to wear, fine, make that case. But to call people who wear and
buy N95 masks cowards?! They are actually trying to protect other people from getting sick. …

Reno didn’t sign it, but it did run in First Things. How can we reconcile being in favor of “communal solidarity” and against the “fetishizing of autonomy” with the mad claim that people who wear face masks with the intention of slowing the spread of this pandemic are nothing but a bunch of pus*ies?

So much for “common good conservatism,” and seeing First Things as a credible venue for it. That is one cost of what Rusty Reno has done with this quixotic campaign of his. …”

I’m fully aware that the IFR of COVID-19 varies by age, race and overall health. I know that I am unlikely to die from the disease although that is hardly the whole story.

What about my grandmother though? What about my mother and father? What about everyone in Alabama who has a comorbidity? A short list would include obese people, diabetics, people with high blood pressure, etc. The Deep South is older and fatter than New York City. Lombardy had one of the best health care systems in the world and we saw what getting to herd immunity looks like there.

This is a no brainer for me. As a non-liberal, I am a collectivist, not an individualist. I incline toward altruism, not selfishness. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be concerned about the future of my ethnic group. Aren’t we supposed to love our neighbors? How is it cowardly for someone who is an asymptomatic carrier of COVID-19 to wear a mask as a courtesy and not spew virus particles all over Wal-Mart.

If you are infected and don’t know, why wouldn’t you want to spare someone in your community an awful ICU experience? How can you believe in the common good and not do otherwise?

Note: Pentecostals are screwed. Singing in packed churches with recirculated air will definitely amplify the virus. Not that many of these “pastors” care anyway.

About Hunter Wallace 12392 Articles
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44 Comments

  1. “wear a mask as a courtesy and not spew virus particles all over Wal-Mart”

    Amen ! Amen ! Amen !

    • According to the CDC, “Current evidence suggests that SARS-CoV-2 may remain viable for hours to days on surfaces made from a variety of materials.”
      https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/cleaning-disinfection.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fprepare%2Fcleaning-disinfection.html

      So if you are still one of those anti-American, commie-loving, human rights violation-ignoring Red stooges who still shops at Walmart, you’ll probably get the virus anyway from handling their imported Chinese garbage.

      • You are aware that some people have no choice as the smaller businesses in many locations have been destroyed and it’s often Walmart or nothing.

        • Well aware of this, sadly. And our government has consistently turned a blind eye while US corporations exported jobs to China and India; now our markets are flooded with their s**t, some of which may be contaminated. Whatever China’s sins, we must never forget the greedy American traitors who brought about this situation.

      • There is no dopamine producing thumbs up button on the fear porn website.
        But I’m kinda liking where this Jannie character is going .!

    • I agree. I would have no problem if all organizations required both masks and gloves to enter their premises for the next 18 to 24 months. That is a common sense step we all can take.

    • The Corona virus measures from 0.06 to 0.125 microns, N95 masks only filter down to 0.3 microns..masks encourage fomite transmission and act as a virus nest, waiting to be touched and transmitted by your hands..in other words, masks do NOTHING to prevent corona virus and actually help transmit it.

  2. Christianity has become infested with snake oil salesmen and zionists who only care about milking the church going crowds for every nickle and dime they can before the scam is up and the whole pyramid comes cashing down.

  3. If you are infected you would know it because of the symptoms you get from any type of virus.

    The only people that need to wear masks are the ones with symptoms like FEVER, COUGHING etc.

    • Asymptomatic is a word you should probably look up.

      It means an individual producing or showing no symptoms.

      So relying on the symptoms of an asymptomatic viral infection to determine if you are infected is probably not the best plan.

      • Everyone is infected…and everyone’s going to die…third wave, if your not bunkered in New Zealand or Paraguay faggetaboutit!!

      • Asymptomatic, are you kidding?

        An asymptomatic person is extremely unlikely to be infectious and in less than 0.001% of cases has been shown to unknowingly spread the infection to others.

  4. Speaking of Pentecostals, there is a viral video of Kenneth Copeland commanding Covid-19 (does he know that’s the name of the disease not the name of the virus?) to go away and never return, and to be burned with fire, and then, he blows it away with his breath. I find it so heretical and degrading of Christianity that I won’t post a link.

    I often say: God gave us brains and He expects us to use them.

  5. Some cuckservative that won’t fight for their own people, but is ready to sacrifice others for their convenience’s sake and their wallet, is a selfish, murderous coward for which I’ve got no time.

  6. CDC tells us face masks are useless:

    https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/5/19-0994_article#

    “Face Masks

    In our systematic review, we identified 10 RCTs that reported estimates of the effectiveness of face masks in reducing laboratory-confirmed influenza virus infections in the community from literature published during 1946–July 27, 2018. In pooled analysis, we found no significant reduction in influenza transmission with the use of face masks (RR 0.78, 95% CI 0.51–1.20; I2 = 30%, p = 0.25) (Figure 2). One study evaluated the use of masks among pilgrims from Australia during the Hajj pilgrimage and reported no major difference in the risk for laboratory-confirmed influenza virus infection in the control or mask group (33). Two studies in university settings assessed the effectiveness of face masks for primary protection by monitoring the incidence of laboratory-confirmed influenza among student hall residents for 5 months (9,10). The overall reduction in ILI or laboratory-confirmed influenza cases in the face mask group was not significant in either studies (9,10). Study designs in the 7 household studies were slightly different: 1 study provided face masks and P2 respirators for household contacts only (34), another study evaluated face mask use as a source control for infected persons only (35), and the remaining studies provided masks for the infected persons as well as their close contacts (11–13,15,17). None of the household studies reported a significant reduction in secondary laboratory-confirmed influenza virus infections in the face mask group (11–13,15,17,34,35). Most studies were underpowered because of limited sample size, and some studies also reported suboptimal adherence in the face mask group.

    Disposable medical masks (also known as surgical masks) are loose-fitting devices that were designed to be worn by medical personnel to protect accidental contamination of patient wounds, and to protect the wearer against splashes or sprays of bodily fluids (36). There is limited evidence for their effectiveness in preventing influenza virus transmission either when worn by the infected person for source control or when worn by uninfected persons to reduce exposure. Our systematic review found no significant effect of face masks on transmission of laboratory-confirmed influenza.

    We did not consider the use of respirators in the community. Respirators are tight-fitting masks that can protect the wearer from fine particles (37) and should provide better protection against influenza virus exposures when properly worn because of higher filtration efficiency. However, respirators, such as N95 and P2 masks, work best when they are fit-tested, and these masks will be in limited supply during the next pandemic. These specialist devices should be reserved for use in healthcare settings or in special subpopulations such as immunocompromised persons in the community, first responders, and those performing other critical community functions, as supplies permit.”

    • “These specialist devices should be reserved for use in healthcare settings or in special subpopulations such as immunocompromised persons in the community, first responders, and those performing other critical community functions, as supplies permit.”

      Summary……the public be damned

      (Uh, why didn’t they stop all these Chinese from buying up cartons of n95 and shipping them to China ?)

    • I’ve been watching presentations by doctors that deal with corona patients. The consensus seems to be that unless you are having trouble breathing, you won’t need hospitalization. The most common way to get it appears to be having the virus get on your face, and then people touching their face (around the nose and mouth) bring it home, so to speak. So masks and gloves are important to have. Purell and the like kill the virus.

    • Note the qualification: “Our systematic review (…) DID NOT consider the use of respirators (…) such as N95 and P2 masks….”

      Of course a mask that is nothing but a loose fitting piece of cloth offers little or no protection from mist or dust for the wearer, but a tight-fitting respirator mask does give good protection, and a canister full face respirator gives nearly perfect protection.

    • May Mr. Reno show his true courage and not observe those silly walk
      signals at itersections and just step out into traffic.

      • Anyone can ignore traffic signals, that’s easy. A real man will forgo anesthetics. That’s true courage.

  8. First Things is the standard “judeo-christian” crap publication. Not surprising it’s run by a retard.

  9. Frankly, the masks make me feel I’ve regained a slight speck of anonymity, rather than being instantly identified by the cameras of the Panopticon the second I step outside.

    I realize it’s only a very slight improvement in that regard, but it’s still something.

  10. Anyone who voluntarily wears a mask is a moron and is weaking their own immune system. Be a good sheep and listen to a bunch of corrupt bureaucrats who have an a agenda.

  11. At his May 12 press conference, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee laid out the plans for the statewide contact tracing initiative.

    one reporter asked:

    “When it comes to contact tracing, how are you guys going to handle people or families who want to refuse to test or to self isolate?

    If they want to leave their home to get groceries I know you’ve said they can’t do that; how will you make sure they don’t?“

    Below is Jay Inslee’s response:

    “As far as refusal, it just shouldn’t come to that, and it really hasn’t. We’ve had really good success when we ask people to isolate, and they’ve done so in really high percentages, so we’re happy about that, and we believe that will continue.”

  13. Old Rusty is married to a Jew. Why don’t you just ask her what Rusty thinks? Hen peck much there Rusty?

    • Loose hanging surgical masks are a joke. Wear at least N-95 or P-100, or better yet, U.S. military surplus biological weapons gear, (canister full head covering) everywhere in public to make the statement that needs to be made.

  15. You have many ignorant and immoral blightwing cultists posting on this website, Hunter. Are you trying to persuade the unpersuadable through “discussion”?

  17. NOTHING is more selfish than demanding the young, healthy and strong defer to and destroy THIER lives on behalf of the sick, old and weak. NOTHING. That’s INSANE.

  18. As a Southern Male, I am aware that I have an obligation to our community, to hold up our standards of considerateness towards others.

    it becomes complex, however, because that ‘considerateness’ involves many angles.

    For that reason, at no time have I worn a mask, and, I note, the majority of White Southern Males that I have seen in Northeastern North Carolina and Southeastern Virginia have not, either.

    I do not have to talk to my brothers to know what is on their minds – they are mindful of the same obligation, as Southern Men, that General Joe Gordon of Georgia demonstrated when, under heavy U.S .Government fire in the 1860s, it was his routine to make his way crouching over his unit, while all of his men were down face to the ground; the very same obligation demonstrated by Tarheel General Junius Daniel at The Seven Days Battle, when gunboat mortar shells began to crash in on his unit.

    As Daniel’s men hit the ground and began to panic, he kept them in line by remaining on his horse and not flinching, until a shell popped nearby, his horse reared, and he was knocked off, he falling unconscious to the ground.

    His men, however, would not forget the example, and, thus, they neither ran away on that day, nor at anytime in the future – because of General Daniel’s understanding of what it is to be a Southern Man.

    Southerners, Southern Men, and The South have already lost so much of itself to America, the United States’ Government, the exigencies of technology and time, and godlessness, those of us who are old enough and clear enough about who we are must NOT cede our courage and honour to any circumstance, anymore than we should cede our tradition of waving at strangers on the road or holding doors open for the ladies.

    But, yes, of course, courage and conviction in the face of practicalities is always seen as very very foolish & specious, especially in the eyes of the many.

    • Are you seriously comparing yourself to a Civil War general under fire, because you won’t wear a mask?

      • @Boomer…

        No, Sir.

        What I am doing is describing what is in the general Southern Male mind, about whether to wear a mask or not, and, to that end, I used martial examples to evince that.

        Why?

        Because it’s not just about the virus, but, about many other things – from the economy to the maintaining of our dignity and honour in the face of a threat.

        We get this kind of ethos directly from Olde England and it’s ideas about chivalry.

        Chivalry is usually uppermost in the Southern Male Mind.

        In any case, thank you for your inquiry!

        • But didn’t those Knights, and later the Cavaliers of “Olde” England wear good solid metal helmets to protect their eyesight and brains? So they had FEAR, that made them wear helmets, and a lot of other protective equipment, those cowards!

          Those men of “honor” also didn’t transport and bury the infectious corpses of plague victims. They paid some hungry peasants a pittance to do that.

        • Thanks for the explanation, Ivan.

          I would think that not wearing a mask means you could easily catch and spread it to others. That would be a quite unchivalrous and dishonorable act. As the virus can do a lot of respiratory damage to people, even if they’re younger, it seems that prudence for the sake of others is called for. You would not be martyring yourself if you spread the virus, but you would perhaps kill others.

          To mention sacrificing oneself for the economy is both an empty gesture and contrary to Christian beliefs. A human being is much more than a mere economic unit, after all. Ultimately, to die for profit is to place service to Mammon above that to God.

  19. “Pentecostals are screwed”

    Nah….I’m sure God will protect them as a reward for going to Church.

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