Yesterday, Patrick Anderson of the Providence Journal tweeted the picture used as the featured image in this post.  As Anderson notes, the masking is entirely according to partisan lines.  Unmasked (left to right) are Senators Jessica de la Cruz and Gordon Rogers and Representatives David Place and Brian Newberry.

The follow-up comments are interesting, too.  Far-left Senator Bridget Valverde asks, “Aren’t masks required again in state buildings as of a few weeks ago?”  Note the hall-monitor attitude that rules are rules and must be followed.

To this, Anderson’s colleague at the Projo tweets:

My guess: the Republicans defying the public buildings mask requirement would say they do not recognize gov’s authority to issue any more covid emergency orders.

Here, note the emphasis on “defying,” from the woman who recently said vaccine freedom protesters who were requesting to enter the building were “storming” it.

In and out of the mainstream media, Democrats all the way on up to the top are insisting that Americans comply with contradictory propositions.  On the one hand, everybody should get vaccinated because that makes your slim chance of being harmed by COVID even more slim.  On the other hand, everybody should wear masks because people who have voluntarily chosen not to get vaccinated (and who have not already had COVID) might get sick.

If Democrats want Americans to get vaccinated, the best thing they could do is display the normal life for which we all pine.  When they go about in their masks despite Rhode Island’s having one of the best vaccination rates in the country, they reinforce the reasons that nobody (at least nobody who isn’t yet vaccinated) trusts them.  They make it seem all about compliance, which will always find a justification.