Texans are Now Free to Move About the Republic

[Sparko]

Isn't that a hoot --- that the LIBERALS are about fear and control --- and the conservatives are all about free choice and FREEDOM?

I have said for a while now, "Liberals aren't"

[rogue06]

Absolutely -- and there was one woman business owner in Houston on the news last night fuming about the Governor's "edict" and insisting that her restaurant will absolutely not allow anybody to enter without a mask, blah blah blah.... She was badmouthing him as a dictator, rant rant rant...

Maybe she doesn't know that she's actually free to do that under the new directive.

You're likely to see similar confusion among the customers as well telling the business owner that they cannot require anyone to wear a mask inside their store/restaurant... because of the Governor's edict.

[kccd]

Isn't that a hoot --- that the LIBERALS are about fear and control --- and the conservatives are all about free choice and FREEDOM?

I really don't get this free choice and freedom thing in this context.

We are in the middle of a pandemic that has killed more than a half million Americans, and you conservatives think something as minimally inconvenient as wearing a mask impinges on your "freedom". Are you also adamantly opposed to "no shirt, no shoes, no service"? What about mandated car seat belts or stopping for red lights or not speeding or bike helmets? Why are face masks during an actual pandemic a bridge too far?

And when it comes to fear - it is entirely appropriate to follow recommended precautions in the midst of a global pandemic that has killed >500,000 Americans and counting. Masking and social distancing are not signs of irrational behavior in this context. If you want to focus on irrational fearful behavior, how about the people who insist on carrying guns to the bakery or the barbershop or to a birthday party? - how is this not irrational fear?

[kccd]

You're likely to see similar confusion among the customers as well telling the business owner that they cannot require anyone to wear a mask inside their store/restaurant... because of the Governor's edict.

So the Governor's edict says that private businesses must adhere to his edict and cannot set higher standards at their businesses?

Since when are conservatives on the side of government regulations over private businesses?

[mossrose]

I really don't get this free choice and freedom thing.

And that right there says it all.

[Cow Poke]

You're likely to see similar confusion among the customers as well telling the business owner that they cannot require anyone to wear a mask inside their store/restaurant... because of the Governor's edict.

True, but it's being talked about enough on the local news that the word should be getting out, but, yeah, there sill no doubt be wrinkles to iron out.

[mossrose]

So the Governor's edict says that private businesses must adhere to his edict and cannot set higher standards at their businesses?

Since when are conservatives on the side of government regulations over private businesses?

Apparently you didn't read Cow Poke's post, where he said that private businesses are free (yeah, I know you don't get that concept) to either keep the mask thingy or not.

Try to read better, maybe?

[kccd]

And that right there says it all.

I note you did not respond to anything else I said. I would be interested in your opinion on the rest of my post.
I do not understand the insistence on engaging in behavior that endangers the rest of us during a pandemic, especially something so trivially inconvenient as wearing a mask.

[Cow Poke]

I really don't get this free choice and freedom thing.

Liberals seldom do, because the have this bad habit of perverting the English language.
Take for example "pro-choice" --- which means they want women to be able to kill their babies without it sounding bad.
And women, in liberal circles, can't really be "pro-choice", because unless they worship at the altar of the dead unborn baby, they can never rise to power in the Democrat circles.
Liberals, while claiming to be the party of the tolerant (well, they've even abandoned THAT concept) are some of the most wildly intolerant people on the planet.

We are in the middle of a pandemic that has killed more than a half million Americans,

It's easy to toss out a number like that as part of the fear-mongering, but the numbers are all over the place. In some cases, they mean "died with Covid" (they were already dying of cancer or some other disease, but they had Covid, so they were listed as a "Covid Death") and in some cases it's SUSPECTED Covid.
My youngest daughter is a hospice nurse, and she has often been at the bedside of a dying person where the powers that be want that death listed as Covid when it wasn't the cause of death at all.

and you conservatives think something as minimally inconvenient as wearing a mask impinges on your "freedom".

Actually, I don't mind wearing a mask when I'm around people who are particularly susceptible to Covid, or are living in fear, or where an establishment requires it.
I PARTICULARLY ENJOYED wearing a mask a couple weeks ago when our temperatures were in the teens, and I'd walk to and from an establishment with my lips not frozen!

Are you also adamantly opposed to "no shirt, no shoes, no service"?

Well, there you go again, weaponizing language -- I'm not ADAMANTLY opposed to wearing a mask -- and I typically don't go around in public without a shirt and shoes, so that's a really dumb example.

What about car seat belts or stopping for red lights or not speeding or bike helmets?

My truck has seatbelts, I usually stop for red lights, and I no longer ride a bike. Anything else?
(by the way, seat belts and traffic laws are actually laws - wearing a mask is not)

Why are face masks during a pandemic a bridge too far?

Why do you REPEATEDLY make false assumptions and argue against those?

[mossrose]

I note you did not respond to anything else I said. I would be interested in your opinion on the rest of my post.
I do not understand the insistence on engaging in behavior that endangers the rest of us during a pandemic, especially something so trivially inconvenient as wearing a mask.

If you are wearing a mask, why do you care if I am or not? If you are afraid to leave your house, why do you care if I am not?

[Cow Poke]

If you are wearing a mask, why do you care if I am or not? If you are afraid to leave your house, why do you care if I am not?

Because liberals have become incredibly intolerant and want to demand that everybody behave the way they chose to behave.

[mossrose]

Because liberals have become incredibly intolerant and want to demand that everybody behave the way they chose to behave.

You and I know that, but I don't think kccd does. Because she doesn't get this free choice and freedom thing.

Even though she edited her comment after I quoted it.

[Cow Poke]

You and I know that, but I don't think kccd does. Because she doesn't get this free choice and freedom thing.

Even though she edited her comment after I quoted it.

She actually sounds intelligent when she's talking about biology stuff - didn't she claim that was her field?
But on the political stuff - she has most certainly been baptized in the liberal sheep dip, and is a true believer therein!

[kccd]

Apparently you didn't read Cow Poke's post, where he said that private businesses are free (yeah, I know you don't get that concept) to either keep the mask thingy or not.

Try to read better, maybe?

I was responding to rogue's post, who noted that customers would challenge businesses that had mask wearing rules, claiming that the Gov's edict excused them from doing this.
This will put those businesses in a tough position.

[rogue06]

It's easy to toss out a number like that as part of the fear-mongering, but the numbers are all over the place. In some cases, they mean "died with Covid" (they were already dying of cancer or some other disease, but they had Covid, so they were listed as a "Covid Death") and in some cases it's SUSPECTED Covid.
My youngest daughter is a hospice nurse, and she has often been at the bedside of a dying person where the powers that be want that death listed as Covid when it wasn't the cause of death at all.

Unfortunately there is a financial incentive to list people as having the disease. The coronavirus relief legislation created a 20% premium, or add-on, for COVID-19 Medicare patients, so there is a potential motivation to list it as a cause.