To all of you who wave the flag to protest the perceived assault on your constitutional civil liberties by being required to wear a mask and other COVID-19 emergency requirements: You are not patriots anymore than those who protested black outs, dim-outs and rationing during World War II. The reason to wear a mask is not only to protect yourself, which you may not think is necessary, but, more than that, it protects me and everyone else around you.
You do not have a right to put me at risk while I walk on a crowded sidewalk or shop for essential services like food. Nor do you have a right to put any shopkeeper or worker at risk.
How dare you co-opt the American flag for your compassionless indifference to the welfare of others! That is not making America great again nor is it the essence of patriotism.
True patriots protect others. Shame on you.
Hattie and Michael Beresford
Santa Barbara
