I have a job for someone with video skills. A recent survey reports that men who don’t wear masks feel that “face masks make them look weak and uncool.” These are ordinary men, not the lunatics with guns outside the Michigan statehouse, and their behavior can be changed. What I’d like to see is a PSA that can blanket the country. It would be simple.

Part 1 would be this video or something similar, which shows how wearing a mask affects the airflow from a cough or sneeze:

Part 2 would explain that you might have coronavirus even if you feel perfectly healthy. Half of all people with COVID-19 have no symptoms, and many of the rest have only mild symptoms. So you might be passing along the virus without even knowing it. If you wear a mask, the life you save might be your neighbor’s, or your pastor’s, or the kids in the 4-H club that you work with. Given the target audience, maybe the PSA should even include a clip of President Trump telling everyone to wear masks:

Needless to say, you’d want to cut off this clip after about five or ten seconds. There’s no need to include Trump’s obvious distaste for the idea.

Anyway, that’s it. Have it narrated by Clint Eastwood or Bruce Willis or some other right-leaning tough guy. Add another few seconds of intro and outro, along with a nifty slogan, and you’re done. Anyone want to take a rough crack at this?

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No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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