Pointing out that the "United States is a confusing mess of patchwork policies" regarding mask wearing, the Times's editorial board is calling on "the president and Congress to unite behind a clearly articulated national policy on the use of face masks" and "not some namby-pamby maybe you should message."

So, what does the Times propose specifically? Here is its proposal:

The right federal policy would be to have all states, even those where COVID-19 cases are comparatively infrequent at the moment, adopt face-covering requirements immediately. How the states enforce the mandates should be left to them, but the national policy should make it clear that the federal government will use its budgetary authority to twist the arms of recalcitrant governors or state legislators.

What?

That sure sounds like "namby-pamby" to me. Why not simply make it a federal felony to fail to wear a mask, enforced by criminal prosecutions, convictions, incarcerations, and fines in federal court?