How safe Americans will feel in a few weeks following the reopening of parts of the economy is another matter, while the unmasked man in the White House has turned mask-wearing into a symbol for sloganeers. Online discussions reveal that MAGA aficionados see the mask as a government test to determine which people are followers (Democrats) and which are freethinking, uppercase-P Patriots. (Trumpians).

How it came to pass that patriotism equates to flouting the White House’s own pandemic recommendations, which are contradicted by the president himself, is a mystery. Meanwhile, the obvious irony is that if there is to be an authoritarian federal crackdown — as in destroying the Postal Service so that people can’t vote by mail and shutting down Twitter or imposing liability restraints — it will come from the man they support.

A vibrant government of checks and balances, in which I once had faith, would quash any such ambitions. But given the GOP’s loss of direction and the Democratic Party’s geriatric frailty, a resurgence of lawful normalcy seems increasingly remote. Which leaves to the noble and the willing a duty to persist in sanity, ever-vigilant, and carrying “the fire” to Election Day — flickering though it may be — and to whatever beyond awaits.