Durban - I never thought I’d see the day, but it finally happened. US President Donald Trump finally wore a mask in public.
Experts and commentators point to a number of reasons for this mask aversion while Covid-19 rages across his massive country and around the world. It’s a bit of a mystery.
For you and I, wearing a mask is a no-brainer. It’s now part of the cultural etiquette of our “new normal”. But for Trump and the like it’s something that makes you a “wimp”. Which makes perfect sense when you think about how some US voters think.
Closer to home, we have our own mysteries: the various mysterious decisions and regulations in response to the coronavirus storm we’re going through. Some are as baffling as Trump’s disdain for masks.
Trump’s presidential rival, Joe Biden, said the president was an “absolute fool”, but the cunning, ruthless and desperate tactician knows that appearing more macho than Biden - as he did against Hillary Clinton - will benefit him in the elections.
There’s always been a method in his madness that helped him along, all the way into the White House. As destructive as it is, it has worked.
Could there be a method - a greater covert goal - in the local madness?
I can understand restricting the sale of liquor to free up hospital beds, but not banning it outright and allowing no one time to adjust to the necessary change.
What’s really going on?