Richard Rose posted that he would not wear a mask.

Richard Rose, age 37, died of complications from COVID-19.

Richard Rose has gotten his fifteen minutes of fame. The meme is all over the internet.

Richard Rose is dead because he wouldn't wear a mask.

He leaves behind a grieving family and friends. He did not get to live the rest of the life he had planned.

If he had worn a mask, his death would be a tragedy.

By not wearing a mask, by denouncing the virus and the masks as a hoax, he became a meme — a poster boy for those who want to point out the stupidity of politicizing a virus.

But he's still dead. His life is over. And he leaves behind a grieving family and friends.

On the one hand, he's a warning, an example, a way of demonstrating the cost of stupidity.

But he's still dead. His life is over. And he leaves behind a grieving family and friends.

So, I cannot participate in the schadenfreude, I cannot condone or endorse the implied celebration.

I didn't know the man. He might have been an a good person, he might have been an ass. But he died in pain and suffering, not because of his ignorance — but because he was lied to, he was fed a stream of propaganda and misinformation and politicized bullshit to convince him that self-righteousness was more important than caution.

That's the part of the story that has been left out of the meme.

It's not Richard Rose — it's the assholes who lied to Richard Rose and are continuing to lie to millions of others who will be at risk because they have been told ... it's a hoax and you don't have to wear a mask.

Richard Rose is not a poster boy for ignorance for stupidity. He is a martyr to the propaganda mills that are poisoning our public discourse and killing American citizens.

It's not Richard Rose. It's the people who lied to him.

Give me a fricken break..! There is NO PROOF nor any partial proof that if one wears a mask that they will be assured not to contract the COVID-19 virus. There is a great deal of applications where wearing a mask reduces the spread of contaminants from the wearer to others. That's why everyone in the surgery suite wears a mask. Not to protect them from the patient however to protect the patient from them.

So...imagine that one wears a mask in a virus rich environment while shopping at Walmart. We can also pretend that the virus get caught on the surface of the mask thus protecting the wearer from inhaling them. Now, they keep the mask on until they get into their car where they take it off....with their hands. These hands grab parts of the mask, including the elastic, that have COVID-19 on them. The hands now have COVID-19 and any touch of the face can...and most likely will...transferer it to the face and eyes.

Anyone that has ever changed the filter in their furnace knows exactly how the process works.

Wearing a mask is about the best one can do and it shows one's concern for the health of others and I wear mine when I am out in public however I am not under the illusion that my doing so will make me bulletproof from the virus for contracting it is far more complex than wearing a mask alone.