It may seem like a small thing next to the assault on the Capitol, but the refusal of some Republican congresspeople to wear masks while cooped up and under siege with fellow lawmakers strikes me as sociopathic, not to mention hard to comprehend. In a life-and-death situation, they still lacked basic empathy with their peers on the other side of the aisle? They couldn’t acknowledge the reality of coronavirus in a moment of shared peril? While it’s a far cry from committing sedition, it’s on the same continuum of disregard for the mutual dependence and respect at the heart of any democratic society. And the news that 75-year-old Democratic Representative Bonnie Coleman has tested positive for the coronavirus reminds us that, yes, being cooped up in closed rooms for hours on end can be covid spread events, particularly when some people refuse to wear masks. A good reminder, amidst the GOP’s descent into insurrectionism, that before these guys made war on America, they were already making war on science and reason.

Late note: Shortly after I wrote this, I read of Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal’s postive covid-19 test following the Capitol lockdown. Her Twitter thread announcing this fact minces no words in condemning the behavior of the Republic congresspeople who refused to wear masks. Jayapal’s interview by Rebecca Traister about the congresswoman’s experience during the assault, and the way forward from here, is harrowing but inspiring reading.