...it is time to consider how our politics will be affected going forward.
I expect, in roughly this order:
* Ann Coulter, or some similar sheepdog of the right whose job it is to keep the flock together (and one who has permission to occasionally give Trump covering fire), will be initially indignant—suggesting that Trump has surrendered to liberal fascists or somesuch, and that Saturday Was The Day He Lost The Election (even though Coulter has journalled such a thing about a half dozen times before). Coulter’s words will be forgotten by Sunday evening, and by Tuesday morning she will have resumed her usual position in the human centipede that follows Trump around, and will be lavishing praise on the President.
* The Sunday talk shows will be abuzz, and Trump’s mask-clad appearance at Walter Reed will be the primary subject, rather than the clemency granted to Roger Stone, or the response to the Covid crisis in general, or the economy, or Bountygate, or the polls, or anything else of substance, really.
* Some MSNBC hack will make the suggestion that “hey, if people just wore masked, we could re-open the ecnomomy! Problem solved”! The Dow will open for business Monday morning up 800 points.
* Tucker Carlson will give a monologue praising the President for his bold decision to wear a mask, suggest that wearing them is a civic responsibility, and generally pretend that neither he, nor the President, has ever suggested otherwise. That, and vandals knocking over Confederate statues is the greatest threat to freedom and democracy this country has ever ever known.
* At a Tuesday morning press conference, White House press secretary Kayleigh McInanity will show up in a burqa and HAZMAT gear, and angrily deny that President Trump has ever not worn a mask since the Covid crisis started. Some CNN reporter, who is caught letting his own mask slip off his nose while defogging his glasses, will be expelled from the briefing.
* Trump himself will tweet out a picture of himself wearing a #MAGA mask. That design, along with Confederate flag masks, White Jesus masks, and Gasden Flag masks will fly off the shelves at WalMart and the various mail-order outfits that conservatives who hate amazon.com.
* Lou Dobbs will air some video of the recent #BLM protests, in which some protester is observed without one, and wonder aloud why liberals hate America. Oh, and he’ll repeat the line that since everyone is wearing masks, the economy can open up, and suggest that anyone who thinks otherwise is obviously a Communist looking to overthrow the system.
* Some hack at OANN or Brietbart will suggest that the Right’s prior failure to wear a mask was actually the fault of The Left, as mask-wearing and social distancing and other public health measures were originally suggested by liberal fascists, in an attempt to trick/trigger God-fearing, liberty-loving Americans into an overreaction. This theory will rise up the flagpole at The American Conservative, with Pat Buchanan himself dropping an article suggesting that non-mask-wearing liberals are traitors who need to be dealt with.
* The New York Times will run an editorial by some young RWNJ senator with an eye on 2024 (Josh Hawley this time?) suggesting that the military be sent into our burning cities to enforce mask compliance. Someone on the Joint Chiefs will demur, noting that the United States Armed Forces aren’t really in the business of enforcing public health measures.
* Hannity will air a video on his show of Joe Biden making an appearance without a mask, accuse him of being a public health menace, and demand that Biden withdraw from the election. The video will be one that was taken in 2019, which the Internet will figure out and note before his show goes to commercial break, but FOX will either ignore this completely or suggest that it was an innocent mistake by some intern on the production staff. Driven by an army of Russian bots, #BidenOut will trend on Twitter. Trump will use the kerfuffle as an excuse to withdraw from the debates. Someone at the Daily Caller will float the conspiracy that Biden is an asymptomatic carrier, who is trying to prevent his eventual crushing loss in November by breathing on the President and trying to infect him.
* While this is all going on, Michael Flynn will be granted a full pardon Friday evening, and be out of the country by Saturday noon.