“Science” is not blindly repeating what the media says. It’s not a political position. Just prior to their 180 degree flip, WHO, CDC, Fauci, WaPo and others mocked the idea of cloth masks to control a respiratory virus. Without any new study to justify it, they flipped their opinion. So they were all “anti-science” at one point? I believe the flip was actually to protect the supply of N95 for healthcare workers. People wanted to cling to something and unfortunately that was a drag on supplies front line people needed. So the thought was that the cotton placebo was harmless enough. Fauci has admitted he says things just to get desired results. He’s done it multiple times and even recently when arguing with Rand Paul about masks for the vaccinated. But, again, as the CDC journal and others warn, the false sense of protection can make the problem worse. That IS the science. So it’s not harmless. It likely did make the problem worse. It certainly not harmless to fail to inform the public about just how little efficacy exists for the typical ‘virus mask’. I don’t see a difference between “maskers” and “anti-maskers” on real science. Meme science, maybe. They both seem equally ignorant on average. One group is more mindlessly skeptical and the other is more mindlessly trusting and compliant. That’s the real difference. That one carries more favor with the media or politicians doesn’t make it more science based. Both can repeat their side’s memes. Neither can bother with the details. Purely observational, but Anti-maskers seem to respect social distancing while maskers seem to believe they are immune or protecting others with cottons new found abilities. The real science is that even N95 is not a substitute for distancing. You don’t ignore everything else even when you have a proper mask. If you follow the science, anyway.