'Are These People That Stupid?'

Folks in Jefferson County appear to be vying for the gold medal in pandemic ignorance. The latest entry is Ian McFarland's Modern Weapon Systems gun shop, which posted a sign last month declaring, "Masks are for cry babies, Democrats and robbers."

Reasonable people trying to fight the pandemic succeeded in getting an ordinance passed two weeks ago requiring masks to be worn in public, only to revoke it one day later amid loud complaints. Ahead of that vote, a protester gained national infamy for carrying a sign that read: "Hitler required compliance too."

McFarland rationalized the mask ban inside his store by saying he couldn't identify gun buyers, as required by law, unless he could see their faces. (He never considered asking buyers just to pull down their masks?)

Referring to mask advocates, McFarland posted on Facebook, "Are these people that stupid? I have to ID everyone." To answer the question for him: No, the mask-wearers aren't the stupid ones.

Boo to Kansas City Fans!

Before the opening game of the NFL season, between the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans, players on both teams spanned the field, locking arms for what they termed a display of unity. There was no political message there, only Black, white and brown players standing in a silent gesture that simply said: We are one.

Apparently, some among the 17,000 attending have an argument with that, erupting in boos. Which would make them, what, pro-divisiveness? That wouldn't be a big surprise considering how hard some people seem to be working to worsen the racial and political tensions.

Too bad the Chiefs rewarded fans with a 34-20 victory, delivering satisfaction to people who clearly didn't deserve it.

Fauci Refuses to Tell a Lie

Email exchanges obtained by Politico indicate a political appointee at the Department of Health and Human Services tried to muzzle the nation's top infectious disease specialist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and dictate that Fauci lie about the coronavirus transmission risks posed by children.

Senior adviser Paul Alexander insisted in an email that Fauci's press team "ensure Dr. Fauci indicates masks are for the teachers in schools. Not for children." Alexander wrongly asserted: "There is no data, none, zero, across the entire world, that shows children especially young children, spread this virus to other children, or to adults or to their teachers. None. And if it did occur, the risk is essentially zero."

Fauci ignored the directive, saying, "No one tells me what I can say and cannot say. I speak on scientific evidence."

Stupid Human Tricks

Anyone with a nose in smoky California is aware of how dangerous conditions are right now for wildfires. So what did one expecting couple in Northern California do when they wanted to reveal the gender of their baby? They set off blue-smoke fireworks, of course.

The result was a blaze that spread across more than 10,000 acres and darkened the noontime skies of San Francisco. Doubly dumb is the fact that this isn't even the first time a gender-reveal party has resulted in a big fire. In 2017, 47,000 acres burned in Arizona. The expectant father in that case was sentenced to five years' probation. His restitution bill was more than $8 million.

Crazy Is Coming to Congress

How crazy will it be to have an adherent of QAnon in Congress? This crazy: Marjorie Taylor Greene, the conspiracy gadfly and shoo-in House Republican candidate from Georgia, posted an image of herself wielding a rifle with photos of three liberal congresswomen of color and vowed to "go on the offense" against them.

QAnon is the wacky right-wing online conspiracy theory that believes Trump is heroically battling Satan worshippers and child-sex traffickers who have supposedly infiltrated the Democratic Party.

Greene posted the photoshopped image of three progressive members of Congress, labeling herself the "Squad's worst nightmare." Facebook later removed the posting, saying it violated their policy against incitement to violence.

Finally, 'Fair and Balanced'

It wasn't surprising that a veteran national security reporter for a major cable network was able to verify key parts of the bombshell piece in The Atlantic about President Donald Trump's contempt for military sacrifice. What was surprising is that this particular national security reporter works for Trump cheerleader Fox News.

Reporter Jennifer Griffin confirmed, via two former Trump senior officials, that Trump disparaged veterans for serving in Vietnam and that he didn't want to honor American World War I dead at a cemetery outside Paris.

Trump, being Trump, has called for Griffin's firing. But many of her Fox colleagues are defending her work.

Journalism Without the Newsroom

Reporters for the Capital Gazette, the Annapolis newspaper that was attacked by a mass shooter two years ago, faced a different kind of attack this week. The newspaper's owners had announced they are permanently shuttering the newsroom and will have the reporters work from home from now on. The reporters decided to stage a rally in support of saving their newsroom, only to find it already locked when they arrived.

After staffers proved they were able to keep producing the paper while working from home during the pandemic, owner Tribune Publishing decided it liked what that did to the bottom line. The Gazette and four other Tribune papers were ordered to close their newsrooms permanently and have the reporters continue working from home.

"You watched people die while you hid under a desk ... ," features reporter Selene San Felice told The Washington Post, referring to the June 2018 shooting that killed five staffers. "Then you take that desk away from me. That's how this feels."

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