NY Times writer shaken by what he saw during 1,600-mile drive through middle America

Coastal media will occasionally refer to middle America as “flyover country,” but occasionally they’ll grab their notebooks and venture a drive.

New York Times writer David Leonhardt recently went on one such road trip, and was troubled — troubled — by what he witnessed:

I just took a 1,600-mile road trip from Washington to St. Louis and back. I was shaken by what I saw.

(1/x)

— David Leonhardt (@DLeonhardt) January 22, 2021

Prepare to be “shaken”:

Almost everywhere I stopped — gas stations, rest stops and hotels, across Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois — there was a sign on the door saying that people had to wear masks to enter. And almost everywhere, most people ignored the sign.

(2/x)

— David Leonhardt (@DLeonhardt) January 22, 2021

At a Fairfield Inn in Ohio, a middle-aged couple sat unmasked on a lobby sofa for hours, drinking beers and scrolling through their phones. The hotel staff evidently did nothing about it.

(3/x)

— David Leonhardt (@DLeonhardt) January 22, 2021

Which is not nearly as weird as another guest at the hotel watching them sit there for hours, but we digress…

At a convenience store in Indiana, a hand-drawn sign on the door read: “Face masks are required. Please do not enter without one!!” Customers did anyway.

(4/x)

— David Leonhardt (@DLeonhardt) January 22, 2021

Nationwide, about half of Americans are not wearing masks when in close contact with people outside their households, according to a survey by the University of Southern California. (5/x)

— David Leonhardt (@DLeonhardt) January 22, 2021

Accelerating the vaccination campaign is an urgent task for Biden, and he seems to have a plan. But if he doesn’t find a way to persuade more Americans to do their part to slow the virus’s spread, a lot more people will die in the meantime.

(8/x)https://t.co/cuSSBtFKqv

— David Leonhardt (@DLeonhardt) January 22, 2021

I feel like I just drove across a country that’s losing a winnable fight.

(fin)https://t.co/cuSSBtFKqv

— David Leonhardt (@DLeonhardt) January 22, 2021

Maybe something should be taken into consideration before he further triggers himself:

And yet they are performing at the numbers or better then the same states that are locked down. Does critical thinking escape the left entirely? https://t.co/qBaSdtRZRY

— Scott Coleman (@bandphan) January 22, 2021

For example, is there a bigger shutdown-happy state with high mask compliance than California? And how’s that been working out for Gavin Newsom?

I’ve known David 30+ years. He is decent, honorable, mathematically aware, and very smart. And he seems to have lost his mind. I don’t understand this story at all. The risk of a 1600-mile drive all by itself overwhelms any benefit of being vaccinated a couple of weeks early… https://t.co/c2bHYGVIYy

— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) January 22, 2021

If you’re appalled by what you see outside the Beltway, maybe it’s a sign you spend too much time here in the DMV bubble. ??‍♀️ https://t.co/tbBSDXxvM1

— Gabriella Hoffman (@Gabby_Hoffman) January 22, 2021

Make no mistake; this thread is about his disdain for the unwashed masses, not the lack of mask wearing. https://t.co/7oWmdWocDS

— Von Böhm Bawerk (@ralph_pittman) January 22, 2021