What a contradiction it was to watch pre-race coverage of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday – actual Memorial Day, not the Monday observance designed by the government to provide three-day weekends – and witness ongoing attempts to manipulate the masses and squelch freedom.
How refreshing it was a few hours later to watch the pre-race scenes from NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600, where individual freedom was celebrated and those whose military service made it all possible were remembered. There was no heavy-handed infringement on individual rights to be seen.
The maskholes were at their virtue-signaling best at Indy. Driver introductions before the race had drivers parading across a stage, three at a time, all neatly masked. When some drivers had progeny accompany them to the intros, the kids were masked, too.
Yet moments later, in unstaged scenes from pit lane, some of those same kids had dispensed with the masks, as had many drivers, team members and assorted others.
Among those others was Mario Andretti, arguably America’s greatest racing driver, who is one of three drivers in the history of motorsports to have won races in IndyCar, Formula One, NASCAR and World Sports Car Championship.
Andretti is the only driver ever to have won the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500 and the Formula One World Championship.
Andretti also is 81 years old, amid the demographic that should be terrified of catching COVID-19, but he boldly moved around pit lane mask-less, at least when he was shown by the television cameras.
The most absurd image from Indy was when some trumpet players from the Purdue University marching band were shown, ostensibly playing their instruments through masks.
I confess that even after several internet searches I was unable to explain this incongruous image. Was the music pre-recorded? Were other band members elsewhere playing while these few stood as a human Potemkin village?
That web search did turn up an article from earlier in the week about how Indy “scofflaws” were going mask-less, and congregating, in direct violation of dictates, and while they wouldn’t be prosecuted, they would be urged to toe the line by “mask ambassadors.”
This would be ridiculous against any backdrop. But at a time when more and more states are opening up fully, without any of the predicted disastrous effects, the powers-that-be trying to keep the citizenry under their thumb by citing the so-called COVID emergency is pathetic.
That so many in an American populace that holds liberty so dear would allow themselves to be dictated to in such an extreme way, for such a long time, is a sad state of affairs.
That a NASCAR race in North Carolina showed that not all the populace is similarly cowed helped salvage the day.
Drivers, announcers, bystanders that included world heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury, moved about maskless taking in pre-race NASCAR pageantry. Fans in the stands apparently had left the masks at home, too.
In nations around the world, citizens are rising up in protests against draconian governmental over-reaction in the name of fighting a virus. Yes, people die from this virus. But cogent arguments and statistical evidence have been provided that our lockdown/shutdown cures have had worse cumulative effects than the virus itself.
Hopefully, by this time next year, this country will have shaken off the yoke of governmental oppression in the name of virus control and the holiday once again will be observed across-the-board with liberty on display, not being forced to hide behind a mask.
Sam Ross Jr's site 