The Mask of Authority:  Michelle Bares Her Face in Public As the Crisis in the Ukraine Lays Bare the Growing Chinks in the International Order That Used to be Managed by US

Much has been made in the past two days about MLG's appearance, pre-recorded, on the first day of the session, without even the trace of a mask.  Predictably, liberals were offended she had not "signalled" the importance of masking in defiance against the defiance of anti-maskers, while conservatives, who were looking for something not to like, were confident that her avoidance of masking up was a cheap trick of symbolism to try to appeal to the conservative "base" rather than a signal of solidarity with non-maskers.  Did anyone listen to what she said?  Did anyone take what she said at face value anymore?  Is this due to something about her actions as governor, or is this happening to virtually all persons in positions of authority?

Our wacko political culture, carefully nurtured by highly paid PR amorals operating at the highest places in recent years, has brought us to this.  When politics in the US is reduced mainly to symbolic rather than real-life action, even symbolic actions refuse to be taken at face value as they are interpreted by an increasingly hysterical public.  Think about this:  MLG's decision of whether to show a mask or not was, of course, a political decision, meant to signal.  Viewers' interpretation of this symbolic move varied predictably according to the conflicting algorithms powerful forces have tried successfully to imbue in the public at large.  Did I say "conflicting" algorithms?  Actually, they are mirror images, each predicting what the other will say, so the term conflict does not mean they are unrelated; they are tied to each other inexorably, in a mental maze from which there is no exit.

Underlying this craziness is a crisis of authority operating at levels far above the level of political culture nurtured by the science of advertising, as it hones in on the subtle triggers of human emotion.  The crisis lies not with the people.  Although the people have been infected with the disease of rigid ideological thinking, which is a form of mental illness, there is no political conflict within the public at large:  Democrats and Republicans all want the same thing--clean water, better health care, better transportation, decent wages, and a political system that works, and fair, equal treatment for black Americans--there are no internal conflicts.  So if not with the public, where does the crisis lie?  Is it with political parties?  Much of the media would have you think so.  Hyper-partisanship, CNN seems to say, is the problem;  Democrats, Fox News seems to say, are the problem.  Might the problem lie far above the stuffy faces of Mitch McConnell or Chuck Schumer?  

Might this crisis of authority have something to do with the rise of China, the renewed aggressiveness against the US in Russia, and the impending collapse of the international order carefully crafted by American statesmen after World War II and squandered over the past two decades in expensive and do-nothing wars, and a NATO trying to figure out if it still has utility, and the Brits choosing to be led by a clown?  The origins of the mini-crisis to mask or not to mask in New Mexico really have to do with a growing lack of confidence in that international order as China demands some attention, Russia tries to rebuild their empire, and the movement of powerful forces within the US trying to figure out their best moves given these realities.  Does NM have a stake in what happens to the global power of the United States?  Should New Mexicans worry about the price of oil in Saudi Arabia and natural gas in Germany, and the places where microchips are produced?  What about our standing in educational achievement among the states, something both parties refuse to discuss?  Or, instead, should we worry about who sends what the messages of masking?