What I really want to see is a mask mandate that’s actually followed by the politicians who imposed it. I don’t think such a rare beast exists outside think tank simulations. 

But Gov. Newsom, one of the most egregious flouters of his own pandemic rules, is imposing a mask mandate. Again.

Does anyone care? Not really.

Pastor Tim Thompson of 412 Church Murrieta called the latest state order “ridiculous.”

“It’s yet again another overreach of our government,” Thompson said. “I think that they have no right to do what they are doing.”

And Thompson won’t be asking his flock to comply.

“It’s not going to affect what I do at all,” he said. “I’m going to ignore him (Gov. Gavin Newsom).”

As are most people.

Until I found myself in Washington, D.C., on a work trip in March, I had never seen anyone wearing a mask outside. For someone who had never worn one in any situation, it was bizarre to find thousands of people indifferently donning these garments outdoors, including those walking alone or in pairs at night after leaving bars or restaurants where they had presumably taken them off. It was even stranger seeing people recognize one another in the street and pull their masks down casually, sometimes but not always before stopping to engage in conversation, like Edwardian gentlemen doffing their top hats.

But security theater requires going through the process for the benefit of precisely those people who are closest to the centers of power and influence. Much of the rest of the country has moved on.