By: Mark Glennon*
Gov. JB Pritzker announced on Wednesday that the statewide indoor mask mandate will end March 1, except for schools, where the mandate will stay in place.
That’s an astonishing infliction of further tragedy on our children. Children in schools should be the first to go unmasked. There has never been a serious risk to children, making school masking nothing more than a cowardly attempt by adults to use children as human shields through a device the has minimal positive effect and causes extensive harm.
What can Pritzker be thinking? Both the science and the politics of school mask mandates already left Pritzker behind. The question now is “why?” Why on earth would he leave the school mask mandate in place?
Is he being loyal to his base because mask support is overwhelmingly among Democrats? Is he intimidated by pro-mask teachers’ unions? Do presidential ambitions push him to align with the pro-mask Biden Administration? Is it simply that his nature really is that of a petulant child, as critics often call him, rendering him unable to admit a mistake and change course? Is it all about control and establishing stronger government power over people? Is it like identity politics where the goal is to stoke division then insult those on the other side?
Or does he truly not see that the science and politics of school mask mandates have turned against him?
One should hope that science primarily determines COVID policy, but recognize the reality that every politician keeps a finger in the air to check the political winds.
On both of those matters, however, Pritzker is falling further behind the curve each day. That makes the questions listed above legitimate, though we may never know the answers.
What’s clear is that Pritzker is out of step with the science and politics of school masking as they stand today.
“The science has changed” on masks, said Dr. Leona Wen said on Monday. She is CNN’s COVID science advisor and has been an extreme COVID alarmist. Our view is that there never was a basis for masks on kids, but never mind that for now.
“And so, in this case, Wen added, I’m not saying – I don’t think anyone, really, is saying – that no one should ever wear masks, rather that the responsibility should shift from a government mandate imposed from the state or the local district of the school … it should shift to an individual responsibility by the family, who can still decide that their child can wear a mask if needed.”
Most importantly, she said, “the first restriction removed should actually be the restriction on children.”
Wen’s new view is particularly notable since she and CNN have long been among the strongest supporters of government mandates favored by the Biden and Pritzker administrations, including masking. Last fall she said America was “nowhere near” ready to start lifting mask regulations in schools until all children were vaccinated and said life should be “hard” for Americans who were not vaccinated.
Last week we summarized major media voices from the left that were already condemning school masking – The New York Times, The Atlantic and NPR. Read their articles to see the case they saw against school masking, both on science and politics. And now, today, The Atlantic has another column titled simply “Open Everything.” The left’s Boston Globe has now joined the band, too, writing “Lift the School Mask Mandate.”
Not all medical authorities oppose masks. On Tuesday, representatives from Northwestern University’s medical school were quoted saying the decision by some schools to drop masking “is clearly not a decision based on data.” But they are apparently indifferent to data in 150 studies on mask ineffectiveness and harms, and to the growing number of their colleagues with a different view. At some point we will do a retrospective on the track record of those Northwestern folks who have been frequently cited in Illinois media.
Today, headlines abound with stories about the Democratic states moving to end mask mandates. In just the past week, California, New Jersey, Connecticut, Oregon and Delaware have all taken steps to roll back masking.
But, for the general public, political partisanship on the issue of COVID and schools is stunning. A poll cited by the New York Times says 83% of Democrats are concerned about their child getting sick from COVID at school versus just 49% of Republicans. That’s actually astonishingly high for both groups since the evidence has always shown only a microscopic threat to children, comparable to ordinary flu.
“The polls create a delicate challenge for the Biden administration,” concluded the Times. “The growing unease with the pandemic seems to have added to the president’s political woes, and may help explain why the public disapproves of Mr. Biden’s handling of the coronavirus for the first time, says the Times.” Those Democratic governors lifting mask restrictions apparently are unconcerned by such delicacies, though perhaps Pritzker is. He has followed Biden Administration guidance on everything related to COVID.
Emotions have grown hot among masking opponents. “School mask revolt grows,” says a headline in the Daily Mail in a story mostly about the Chicago area.
At a school board meeting at Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 Monday night, it was an “insane scene” as parents barged through the doors from an overflow area, with some yelling “unmask our children,” according to CBS Chicago. Those confrontations along with the legal uncertainty in Illinois have led to “mass masked chaos,” according to their report. “[W]e’ve seen the scenes play out all across the state, as school districts have been scrambling to figure out how to handle the situation….”
For a sense of the emotion, watch the video linked here of comments by a father at a Naperville school board meeting. It is heart-wrenching.
The “bottom line” on the science, according to a New York Times article on Tuesday, is this:
The evidence suggests that the benefits of mandated school masking are modest and that the costs are meaningful for some children, particularly after two years of pandemic life. This combination suggests that the removal of statewide mandates will probably do more good than harm, given that Covid cases are now plummeting.
That puts it lightly, we think, based on the balance of what we have seen in the evidence.
*Mark Glennon is founder of Wirepoints.
This column was updated to reflect Pritzker’s Wednesday announcement.
Read more from Wirepoints:
- Two facts parents should know as the outrage over school mask mandates heats up
- Omicron shows Illinois masks and mandates aren’t working: A comparison of Illinois versus its neighbors
- Politics Getting Bad For Those Using Children As Human Covid Shields
- Nearly 40 percent of all Illinois COVID deaths in the last month are breakthroughs. What gives?
- Americans in 39 states aren’t subjected to a mask mandate. Why are Illinoisans?
Audio and summary 
If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
Typical MSM, headline touts a decision is not based on data, then quotes a NW professor of pediatrics with zero data.
Poor communication has been has been the primary problem of Covid. I continue to exercise, eat, work, exercise, eat sleep repeat. No news is good news. Spend less than you earn. Support Life, Buy local. None of these grossly fat power brokers like JB, Fox, Preckwinkle, Durbin will matter.
One of the challenges in this situation is the position in which school administrators find themselves… Some are intelligent, but many are simply products of a system that rewards mediocrity and is unionized (with all that that implies). So, they have been put in the unenviable position of having responsibility for children without, arguably, anyone covering their backs… The CDC and WHO have been duplicitous from the start with goofs like Anthony Fauxi speaking out of both sides of his mouth (and, at time, his ass). So, to balance liability, it wouldn’t be impossible to conceive of a scenario where… Read more »
A real mess indeed. Check out Dick Morris’ take on this. Like Vietnam, he says. “Maybe the defining issue of our time.” Overstatement, yes, but the government sure has detached from public opinion. https://www.dickmorris.com/mask-mandates-cause-vietnam-like-credibility-gap-for-government/
The progressives hold majorities in many suburban school board districts. The administrators just follow the board’s direction. And progressive board members see themselves as the moral superiors to the Trump voting rubes. They honestly believe that their vote in favor of forced masking is saving the plebs from their own deaths. They don’t care what the kids, the parents, the community and voters want. The progressive votes on school boards not as representative of the community, but rather, as an ideologue seeking to impose progressive ideology on an unhappy local community. And when faced with resistance to their communism, they… Read more »
Evidently he isn’t reading the tea leaves any better than the “late to the party” WH resident Biden. Not to mention pandering to the treacherous union is part & parcel of being a liberal politician in IL. Hmmm…wonder what would happen to our state should the truckers & farmers decide to convoy here???
He doesn’t want to lose in the courts because that could jeopardize any future executive orders and mandate.
Control. Always been the reason for the masks and the vaccine mandates and continues to be the reason.
Well well well, ending the mandates appears to be all about poll numbers, poll numbers trump both science and the need to be a fascist. I think the democrats have read the writing on the wall and saw that anyone who runs on the concepts of liberty and freedom in mid-term is going to blow away all opponents. And democrats don’t want to hand that opportunity to the republicans, the concepts of liberty and don’t tread on me. We will soon see the democrats bragging about being the ones who set us free. I dont care, the people are pissed,… Read more »
They are not the voting public.
Massachusetts has now joined the list of Democratic states dropping school mask mandates. https://boston.cbslocal.com/2022/02/09/mask-mandate-massachusetts-schools-ends-february-28-governor-charlie-baker-announcement-dese/
None of these Dem states have a teachers’ union as powerful (and ruthless and deeply socialist) as the CTU. No one gets elected at the upper eschelons in this state without their either overt or tacit approval. And therein lies the problem. Because trust me, the Branch Covidians at the CTU are the ones calling the shots here on all things „safety” related.
He doesn’t want to lose the lawsuit. He is a narcissist. He wants to show how long he controlled his state and we let him!!
Vote this guy out!!
The Teachers Union will take down Democrats with their Leftist extremism, just like in Va. The Democrat leaders know that CRT and masks are rat poison, but they can’t let go because of the Teachers union. Along with Democrats soft-on-crime demands, there is your campaign base Republicans – exploit it
easy to answer, Pritzker himself has told us.
“Even if we remove the requirement that people wear masks in various settings, there may come a time in the future where we want people to put their mask back on. That’s why we’re fighting this case and appealing this case.”
the mini-tyrants will be back with masks and other restrictions of rights when they are politically helpful again.
yea,true,but good luck,im a fairly large guy,NEVER wear a mask,not gonna wear a mask-WONT COMPLY!!
My wife is 5′ 3″ but I pity the man that tells her she forget her mask, worse yet I pity them if they outright tell her to put one on.
lol,your wife sounds like my wife!
What really irks me is fat boys commercials aired every two minutes-“Im JB Pritzker and ive helped ALL Illinoisans,but my jobs not done”.-Oh really,the only people hes helped is public unions,leftists,and illegal aliens
JB is such a narcissist, and propagandist, that he honestly believes that broadcasting his fat jovial face and disgusting double chin 7x-10x will make the voters like him even more.
But it’s having the opposite effect – voters are getting really sick of him. Too much exposure is bad too. That was part of Trump’s problem for the independnets, they got sick of him everywhere all the time.
true dat
Don’t forget himself. While small business were forced to close in 2020, his companies under the Pritzker group had oodles of $ pouring in, from Covid tests, covid results read, masks, etc.
Don’t forget the career criminals who really appreciate everything JB has done for them. He’s had help from Lil Kim, but his policies are anti law and order.
Pritzker is holding on to the mask mandate because he’s being loyal to Biden. It’s that simple.
Protests are still going at D128 (Libertyville/Vernon Hills). These kids are receiving death threats and nasty FB posts by more parents than kids. Unbelievable. I’m quite certain we would be mask optional were it not for Vernon Hills. There are some very radical people that have migrated to VH from Chicago enclaves. It doesn’t even resemble the community it once was. Cannot wait to get out of Illinois.
This is where controlling the narrative is imperative. The Branch Covidians are going to claim hordes of un-maksed students are intimidating the masked, like spitting and coughing on them and such. I contend it will be the reverse: the masked will be the ones verbally (and perhaps physically) assaulting the un-maksed because JB and the Left have institutionalized masking and those kids are too far gone.
Oh wow, you are so right. That is exactly what is going on right now. Precisely.
Happened at Fremd in Palatine. Masked kid pulled a knife on an unmasked girl.
The bullying of students without masks is rampant here in Lockport too. The students leading the charge don’t deserve what they are getting from mask wearers, because well mask wearers are now sociopaths and bullies.
TRICKSTER PRICKSTER GOT PUNKED!!! WE DIDN’T DO IT HIS WAY!! HATS OFF TO TOM DEVORE ONLY ILLINOIS ATTORNEY WITH GUTS AND BALLS TO STAND-UP TO THIS HILTER!!!
AMEN,thank you Tom Devore,only one who’s not a scared punk!
Tom Devore is a folk hero, and the bards will be singing tales of his defeat of Fat Man Bad for decades to come.
It’s like David and Goliath… Well, if Goliath were like Jabba the Hutt.
Illinois voted for Pritzker and I wouldn’t be surprised if they reelect him or someone just as bad. For those that don’t like it, you can whine and complain in this comment section. When that is no longer satisfying, look at a map and find a red state. You can join me now or join me later. Your choice. You may not like my comment, but deep down you know I’m right. Imagine if you had moved a year ago. Pritzker and Lightfoot would no longer matter, and when that real estate tax bill shows up, you might actually smile.
Correction; the Cook county voter fraud machine illegally elected the hog. People outside of Chicago hate him and did not vote for him. But when dead people or people no longer residents of Crook county are not removed from the voter rolls and those ballots are marked “D” of course he will win. It wasn’t a “fair election”.
His billions and Dominion voting machines sealed the deal. Judicial Watch is cleaning up the voter rolls in Illinois.
Pre-election noblesse oblige run amok. Have to s-t-r-e-t-c-h-o-u-t the favors to the benighted electorate.
Because he can. He’s a tyrant who is used to having his own way. He still hasn’t woken up to the fact that he’s not running one of his business entities, but what’s left of a state, with people he’s answerable to. Of course it would help if the rest of our pathetic government would stand up to him.
It makes no sense to lift mask mandates for everything except schools. Kids, their parents, and yes teachers, will be moving freely throughout society going everywhere maskless, but then slapping one on for school.
Doesn’t have to make sense; we’re in Illinois.
It makes sense alright….the teachers unions are telling him what to do
They already warned Chicago that is the masks come off they are violating the new “agreement”. Hint…another illegal strike coming?
Pritzker could care less about masks. But what the masks provide is a smokescreen for the coming financial tsunami that will hit Illinois in the next two to four years. One good economic downturn and state is toast.
Thank God people are finally standing up to all this stupidity!!
Reading the teacher unions’ tweets and they are absolutely crapping their pants. They are begging anyone and everyone to step in to keep these mandates going indefinitely. There is no off-ramp for them. They will always be one at-risk student or teacher they are going to hide behind so they can mask students forever.
I don’t see those tweets because they’ve blocked both Wirepoints and me, like the good little Marxists they are.
I cant keep up with all the bills passed for covid but could it be that once mask mandate is lifted then schools are no longer considered in a covid emergency and therefore all the teachers union goodies in sb1569 (or other bills) passed in 2020 no longer apply?
Governor Pugsleys main problem is that his ego is as big as his fat filled head,probably got picked on most of his life and he now has power for the first time in his life and he and his ego like it
He is a spoiled brat who doesn’t like it when him doesn’t get his way. Fat guy in a little coat (Tommy Boy)
Most important fact that people keep forgetting is that our Illinois General Assembly & judicial branch went completely MIA when we Illinoisans needed them the most. They allowed this tyrant to single-handedly rule with his unconstitutional and illegal EO’s & “mandates”! Our constitution GUARANTEES us the right to have THREE branches of government working for US, the taxpayers, not just one branch.
BESIDES JB, VOTE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF OUR ILLINOIS SENATORS AND REPS AND JUDGES OUT OF OFFICE!!! They have failed us miserably!!!!
yep,ive said that more than once on here,will vote all republican but WILL NOT vote for ANY republucan currently in office,bunch of worthless hacks!
Be careful what you wish for. Our General Assembly is even crazier than JB. JB at least will have a Republican political opponent this year and the race will probably be close. Most Democrat legislators don’t have general election opponents. Most don’t even have primary opponents. And when they have primary opponents, it’s always from progressives even further to the left, so the legislator feels compelled to go full blown authoritarian. The nutjobs in the General Assembly in the past four years passed the following wish list of progressive values: Legalized partial birth abortion, allow children to have abortion without… Read more »
This mask thing,a long with the Vax passports and having to show ID to get a hamburger or a bowl of soup have really angered a lot of folks. Taxes are sky high. Crime is up. The situation is ripe for a challenge. The problem is the establishment Republicans are corrupt as well. They’ve been bought off. We need an outsider to run. They need to hold rallies, Trump style, but without the braggadocio and Douchiness. Lay out a sensible plan to move the state forward. You see, neither the Democrats or Republicans in power now actually have any kind… Read more »
Rob M,
The real problem is the super majority legislature. They would suddenly find the cajones to come to work to fight every Republicans gov’s policy. Because they are ideologues and have no interest in reaching across the aisle and compromising. it’s the progressive way or the highway.
No one is dealing with unvarnished truth and facts as Wirepoints does. You think Durkin would push reform? All these pukes need to go. Rauner did not use the bully pulpit he had. He didn’t do a deep dive into the data and share the facts with the people as Wirepoints does. He had ample resources to document all relatives of legislators on govt payrolls and all the conflicts of interest. Why not go down Swinging? Expise them for the frauds they are. Further, Rauner could have proposed a budget and made necessary cuts and realign state finances. He did… Read more »
All valid points. But he still dealt with a legislature that Madigan controlled. Madigan vowed on election night to never allow Rauner’s legislation even a hearing.
Unfortunately, you’re right.
Will Pritzker ditch the mandate before or after Joe’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, March 1st? Numerous Democrat governors are ditching their states’ mandates, with variations, before The Big Day. Will Joe use this opportunity to bid Fauci and his wife, both on the government dole, adieu for a well-deserved retirement funded by his ten million or so? The ditching of these restrictions under which we’ve all labored has little to do with science but everything to do with retaining political power. Politicians! When the ship’s sinking, throw the baggage overboard, even women and children. Above all else,… Read more »
Here is an extremely overweight Fred Flintstone look alike who removed toilets from his home to avoid taxes, who begged a convicted felon to appoint him US senator and who sent his family off to Wisconsin and Florida when his imposed lockdown of Illinois caused them inconvenience. The real important question is what is wrong with us!
I think the answer is in fact quite simple. They are trying to put the vaccine on the vaccination schedule to avoid liability so masking must continue..they have not gotten to little children just yet. So this is nowhere but over and might be a temporary setback and just watch cold season again if these people remain in power this will be repeated…we need to ensure these people never hold power to impose such mandates on our children ever again.Also this CNN communist holds no authority or any credibility whatsoever.
The science hasn’t changed. Science always said the mask are fruitless when used to try and stop a virus.
Their fluid interpretation of science is what has changed. it fuels their narrative at the moment.
I’ll stick to what I know for fact.
Because science = politics and politics = science now. Politicians used to answer to God, they destroyed God and replaced it with something they can buy and sell now, scientists. And Fauci is the new God. Also that Wen broad will say whatever line CNN is towing, go back.
So true! And she is the worst!!
Part of the funding for Pritzker’s trust probably comes from mask manufacturing that seems to occur, when I read the mask cartons, in China. Everyone talks about “cloth” masks but what I most often see on people’s faces, or discarded in the street, are those light blue paper ones. Just like vaccine riches – Pfizer stands to garner one hundred billion in profits in 2021 – somebody or -bodies is profiting from “masking.” Where’s investigative journalists when you need ’em?
M.H.D. “Investigative journalist” that was a good one LOL
They only parrot the current narrative which is a lie. They wouldn’t know how to investigate anything.
I just don’t understand with “proven science” masks simply don’t work, why in the hell are we even having this discussion.
Because we’re in the outlier/accursed state of Illinois.
Excellent commentary. Thank you!
When slick politicians like Newsom and Murphy are finally backing off of Covidstan and the false masks, I can only conclude Pritzker is wedded to the extreme Leftist Democrats. That’s not Illinois.
Curious though, how they are acting in lockstep, with minor differences here and there. KInda how when this all began. :/
The bullying that is going on right now at Lockport HS where masked students torment the ones that showed up without masks is another reason. Mask wearing people are largely bullies and sociopaths now, the tide has turned. Lockport HS continues to haul off unmasked students by the police after herding them like lepers in the auditorium. In Lockport Schools are bullies, masked students are bullies, teachers are bullies.
It is sad to hear what you relate. One thing though, I always thought the masked and their “side” were always the bullies. I mean, from the start we could’ve said, wear a mask, or two, or six if you want, but don’t push them (and every other stupid thing) on the rest of us. These people love, love, love the feeling of control and that is not a good thing for society, as we are seeing at all levels.
Power, you challenge me, I’ll show you.
We were talking to a friend who teaches in a suburban school district where we used to live (joined the exodus 6 years ago). That district made masks “optional but recommended”. She said 80% of the teachers in that school did not wear their masks. Pritzker may have union leadership on his side, but does he really have the teachers themselves?
ABOLISH TEACHERS UNIONS!!!!
Will someone from the media ask him if he is “Following the Science” and where he gets his Science reports from? Is the Science he gets different than NJ, CT, IN, MI, etc etc
Again, all Pritzker is doing is playing monkey see monkey do like he has all along, take the wait and see approach , oh look I’m saving lives, B.S Pritzker your like a bad hemorrhoid that won’t go away.
He makes his science up. Nothing he spouts off about is factual.
I repeat: JB is not a leader.
Hi, my name is JB Pritzger, I’m an idiot, thank you for your comments.
Wants to keep the COVID plates spinning because:
1. Pedophiles love to place kids in submissive situations, such as masked.
2. COVID bailout money from feds.
Power? Arrogance? Stupidity? Dealer’s choice.
Governor *better safe than sorry* & his *play it safe* staffers live in a bubble…
Like other progressive leftists, confirmation bias rules their world view…
They only trust the *data* that reinforces their beliefs…
They are so entrenched in their views that even saint Tony himself could not pursued them to think differently, not that he would…
The word “safe” is beginning to make people sick when it is coming out of a politician’s pie hole, nobody knows anymore the difference between medicine and politics.
If you ask me, they’re on the same side.
I have been wracking my brain to try to figure this out as well. It shows how out of touch and insulated from reality Pritzker is. We are losing our great state and city because of out of touch and self centered politicians like Pritzker. Ridiculous mandates, lawlessness and crime, people and businesses fleeing…When will they wake up?
They are Woke that is the problem. This is all by design.
I suggest looking into World Economic Forum and their Great Reset agenda..they are trying to implement digital currency and authoritative regime via forced vaccinations and digital technocracy..they are trying to collapse the system healthcare, small businesses etc.
And this guy is just perfect for the job!
JB sees himself as on the of the ‘elite’. Winning an election is the means he uses to take power (votes are the keys to the kingdom nancy pelosi once said). Once he has power, he sees the office as an opportunity to force his progressive ideology on the rest of us, willing or not. He doesn’t see his office as representing the will of the people. He sees himself as a ruler over us and getting the most votes is just a speedbump on his way to power. The days of Mr Smith Goes To Washington are long gone.
Sadly, he and others are trying to do what those behind the curtains wish; like beetlejuice is basically “allowing” Chicago to be destroyed. Hate to sound conspiratorial, but this is the plan