The Great Owens Family Mask Mandate
I came here today to discuss 无毛视频淭he Great Owens Family Mask Mandate of 2021.无毛视频�
It is as follows: You must be wearing a mask when you knock on the Owens family door on Oct. 31. PERIOD. Full stop.
I don无毛视频檛 care if you无毛视频檙e dressed as Spiderman, Superman, a Witch, or Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz 无毛视频� wear a doggone mask.
Note: If you come dressed as the Lone Ranger 无毛视频� two masks.
If you don无毛视频檛, you won无毛视频檛 be able to get any of our stale, overpriced candy corn.
I know this could tick off some of you parents who无毛视频檙e dead set against masks. I无毛视频檝e even seen videos of some irate parents down in Florida recently during a heated school board meeting.
One parent emphatically said, 无毛视频淲e don无毛视频檛 want masks on our kids. It无毛视频檚 pointless.无毛视频�
Well, I beg to differ. Halloween masks work. They无毛视频檙e perfect for shielding the true identities of ghouls, goblins, and, unfortunately, bank robbers.
I无毛视频檝e noticed recently there无毛视频檝e been pitched 无毛视频渁nti-mask无毛视频� battles.
They无毛视频檙e a pleasure to behold (if at a safe distance) because they无毛视频檝e become so preposterous.
There无毛视频檚 a video clip of one well-meaning Florida woman who insists, 无毛视频淵ou are robbing these kids of their developmental rights in terms of education. Are you educators? Don无毛视频檛 you know that?无毛视频�
I无毛视频檓 pretty certain those folks are educators. But I无毛视频檓 not sure if they know, by wearing a medically approved mask, it无毛视频檚 无毛视频渞obbing kids of their developmental rights.无毛视频�
I don无毛视频檛 even know what that means. Nor do I think the woman who asked those questions knows it either.
There无毛视频檚 also a report that one man stood during one school board meeting无毛视频檚 comment session and claimed that 无毛视频渨earing a mask in school stunts the growth of kids with the result that they will get smaller and smaller over time.无毛视频�
I might be mistaken, but school-age children grow in many cases. They rarely shrink. Masks don无毛视频檛 cause that.
By now, I suppose you无毛视频檙e saying, 无毛视频淲ell, you无毛视频檙e confusing medical masks with Halloween masks.无毛视频�
No, I无毛视频檓 not. I know the difference. Little (but growing) people wear Superman costumes, and they wear one kind of mask. Little people whom we love and would do anything to protect them from sickness 无毛视频� wear those other kinds of masks.
So there.
I无毛视频檓 also mandating that all football players wear face masks because we all should try to have and maintain as many teeth as possible.
For some reason masking football players just seems right, doesn无毛视频檛 it?
All of this falderal about masking didn无毛视频檛 have to happen.
All it took was a certain ex-president to scoff at wearing masks, and his millions of exuberant followers obliged.
Nowadays in America, mask-wearing means different things to different people.
If you willingly wear one, there无毛视频檚 a fair chance you voted for Joe Biden, and are a Democrat. If not, well, I无毛视频檓 guessing you无毛视频檙e a Donald Trump-supporting Republican.
That无毛视频檚 not always a hard and fast rule.
Down in Florida, though, it无毛视频檚 pretty close to being one. Because they have Trump无毛视频檚 mini-me governor, Ron DeSantis.
He无毛视频檚 declared war on mask mandates. If any local school board mandates masks, he无毛视频檚 threatened to hold the payments of school administrators.
Several school boards have pressed ahead with mask mandates anyway.
It无毛视频檚 turned into a colossal, national spectacle.
Especially since most (6 out of 10) Floridians are actually in favor of schools that require masks.
DeSantis is honing his bullying skills for his expected Trump-like run for the presidency.
He won无毛视频檛 relent.
There无毛视频檚 even been a rise in the number of hospitalizations in the state, and an increase in cases among children.
Gov. DeSantis chalks that up to there being more testing 无毛视频� not more sickness.
A questionable claim, to be sure. 无毛视频淚 actually think it无毛视频檚 going down in school-aged kids. It无毛视频檚 just that they无毛视频檙e testing so much that the numbers are being held. But the percent positive, I do think, is going down,无毛视频� he无毛视频檚 announced.
In several Republican-run southern states (Texas, Georgia, and of course Florida), mask mandates are considered to be the work of heathens.
Why?
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 40-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.