More than 4,4 million confirmed cases, and more than 150 00 deaths.

America’s complete and utter bungling of the COVID-19 pandemic will be dissected in great detail by future generations, shaking their heads and wondering how the self-proclaimed greatest nation on earth could get it so wrong.

There are many reasons for that, but the culture war surrounding the wearing of face masks (don’t touch me on my liberties!) is a great illustration of US exceptionalism gone wrong.

Videos of face mask meltdowns have become stock standard, and each day brings forth new Karens and Kens refusing to adhere to safety measures put in place to protect those around them.

Of course, there’s refusing to wear a face mask, and then there’s wearing one with Nazi insignia boldly emblazoned on it, which is what happened in a Marshall, Minnesota Walmart this past Saturday.

The Washington Post reporting below:

Fighting through disbelief that nearly rendered her speechless, [Raphaela] Mueller, 24, who was born and raised in Germany, turned to her partner and blurted out a single question: “Wait, are those people wearing swastikas on their masks?”

…Together with her partner, Benjamin Ruesch, Mueller confronted them, capturing the tense exchange in a now-viral video that has drawn widespread condemnation…

The video was filmed a week after Walmart, along with several other large retailers, announced that face masks would be mandatory in all stores.

There were immediately jokes about how this would lead to altercations, and worse, at Walmarts in particular, which are notorious for attracting a special kind of American customer.

It’s easy to laugh at Benjamin saying “we literally had a war about this”, but less easy to find amusement in the fact that Mueller thought first of her great-grandmother, who lived in Berlin during World War II, risking her life as part of an underground resistance group.

We should also mention the woman saying “If you vote for Biden, you’re going to be living in Nazi Germany”, which is a result of spending far too much time hoovering up whatever Fox News tells you:

Following the altercation above, police arrived at the Walmart, and the couple, aged 59 and 64, were given trespass notices, with no arrests or citations handed out.

Walmart later stated that management had offered the man and woman disposable face masks upon their arrival, which they refused.

After being asked to leave, they became “belligerent”, and the company has now banned them from all stores for at least one year.

It really is sad that Instagram accounts like this, this, and this, will always have plenty of content to share.

[source:washpost]