There can be little in life more fulfilling than watching Covid-19 mask zealots meltdown when, little by little, a pre-Covid lifestyle is restored after two long years of hygiene theater.
In case you missed it on Monday, a Florida judge shot down the ongoing mandate for masks during air travel (and other mass transportation, like trains) and in airline terminals finding that the CDC lacked authority to impose such an order. The end result has been a welcome development for most people, but also caused serious concern and consternation among the anti-science Covid-forever crowd.
Every airline quickly followed suit, some making the announcement mid-flight as the ruling came down and companies changed their policy accordingly:
It looks like the mask mandate on airplanes won’t be in place an extra two weeks after all.
United, American, Southwest, Delta, Alaska and other airlines late Monday said they were dropping their face mask requirement effective immediately given a federal judge’s ruling in Florida and the White House response to it.
The mask mandate, announced in January 2021, had been set to expire Monday. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced last week that it would keep it in place until May 3 to allow more time to study the BA.2 omicron subvariant of the coronavirus that is responsible for the majority of cases in the country. It was the mask mandate’s fifth extension despite repeated requests from airlines and other travel industry officials to ease restrictions.
The requirement should’ve been relaxed months ago. Again, if you want to wear a mask from now until eternity, go right ahead and do it. Leave the family with kids alone because their two-year-old won’t keep a mask in place for a five-hour flight.
The reaction for most was joy followed by questions asking what took so long?
I'm not the biggest fan of flying, but I suddenly want to fly somewhere tomorrow just so I can enjoy air travel again without a damn mask. #freedom https://t.co/yfzwn0boNz
— Jenn Pellegrino (@JennPellegrino) April 18, 2022
Shared sentiments by many, to be sure. Flying became more arduous on top of already strict security rules, higher fees, and worse service. Then add mandatory face masks from the second you walk into the terminal until you finally walk out on the other and many people decided that it was no longer worth it.
On the flip side, however, liberal Twitter lost itself in a sea of panicked anti-science hysteria. Did they think this garbage was going to last forever? Apparently so:
Try explaining to your friends in other liberal democracies that a single unelected, life-tenured, 35-year-old judge just abolished the air travel mask mandate for the entire country.
No peer nation would tolerate such a power-drunk juristocracy. Our system is badly broken.
— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) April 18, 2022
Well, Mark, no one told you that you couldn’t wear a mask. Please, mask up forever if you’d like. We don’t live in a dictatorship where an unelected agency imposes mandates forever on personal freedom. You probably cheered whenever President Trump lost a court battle and you weren’t saying the same dumb things you’re saying now.
One upside about the air travel mask mandate being removed, is that it will be instantly obvious who the decent, empathetic, Science-respecting adults are—and who are the selfish, entitled conspiratorial babies who wouldn't do the very minimum in a public health crisis.
Helpful.
— John Pavlovitz (@johnpavlovitz) April 19, 2022
Science-respecting adults understand that airplanes, with their enhanced ventilation systems, are one of the safer places to be right now. Plus, John, wear your face cloth from now until eternity, enjoy it, no one is making you take it off. How long, John, should the mask mandate stay? Forever, right? There will never be a time you’d let anyone fly again without a mask. Shut up, please. Thank you.
One fantastic idea from a wise Twitter observer. If liberals are so angry over undoing mask mandates on planes, they should feel free to start an airline and let their ideas compete in the marketplace:
To all those Tweeters who are angry about the air travel mask mandate being dropped, don't worry!
***All you need to do is start your own airline.***
I have it on good authority that that is the proper solution to all disagreements over policy in public spaces. https://t.co/RzsmmWcDKv
— Nemesis 2022 (@Nemtastic1) April 19, 2022
Flying MaskAir should be fun for no one.
However you slice it, the vast majority of travelers were relieved and many even cheered the announcement. This mid-flight video is a great example from an Alaska Airlines flight:
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your pilot speaking. This is the most important announcement I’ve ever made. The federal mask mandate is over. Take off your mask if you choose!”
A wonderful moment mid flight on @alaskaair today! pic.twitter.com/nWSatDRB83
— Ben Dietderich (@ben_dietd) April 18, 2022
This final one was laugh out loud funny:
I boarded a plane today with my son and mid flight, the pilot announces that the mask mandate is over. Flight attendants pulled off their masks and sneezed directly into their hands while screaming “this is MAGA airspace”. My son turned to me in tears. I don’t know what to do.
— Jared Rabel (@JradRabel) April 19, 2022
So funny, and clearly a joke, that a New York Times reporter thought it was serious and contacted the creator, Jared Rabel, to get the “whole story” on what happened:
Just got messaged by a NYT journalist about my previous tweet. This is what happened. pic.twitter.com/Dr5fHBnLCm
— Jared Rabel (@JradRabel) April 19, 2022
Despite the obvious Jussie Smollett reference to “MAGA country” with “MAGA airspace,” a New York Times reporter fell for it and wanted to write about the mid-air MAGA oppression. This is what “journalism” has become.
Slowly but surely, people will acclimate back into normal society. The market for re-entrance therapy will be big for many years while anti-science Covid-forever lovers try to deal with the fact that not everyone shares their level of insane hysteria. They are a small and dwindling minority.
