Here’s my suggestion for stopping the ultra-right-wing loopiness coming out of the mouths of Republican officials: Hearing aids.

I’m convinced that the wacko blatherings of Matt Gaetz, the ravings of the Q-anon cult, Trump’s tantrums, and so many others are the result of a tragic neurological disconnect. This affliction lets their tongues wag impulsively, but their ears don’t pick up the noise, so they’re unaware that they are prattling nonsense.

The current chaos in Congress’ Republican caucus is one embarrassing example of this eardrum contagion, but it has also spread throughout the country, even to local right-wing officials. In Shasta County, California, for example, the Republican-controlled board of supervisors recently lurched into full-tilt screwballism, frenetically warning that Japanese forces are weaponizing mosquitos to be “flying syringes” to mass-inject Americans. See – no way they would’ve said that if they could hear themselves.

Which brings us to the fount of present-day right-wing goofiness: Texas state officials. Their latest tone-deaf ploy is by Gov. Greg Abbott, who wants to divert our people’s tax dollars from public schools to exclusive private academies, subsidizing the rich class he serves. He’s tried to do this before, but he fails – since even conservative Republicans in rural counties don’t want their public education turned over to profiteering corporate chains. So, this time Greg is hyping privatization as a “religious freedom” issue, piously preaching that “God created us to have family units – not state bureaucrats – make decisions for families.”

Sheesh, does Abbott even have ears? Or maybe he’s hoping that we don’t have memories, for we have heard him howling constantly that the state – not families – must make every woman’s personal reproductive decisions. Let’s buy a hearing aid for him, and set it on a constant replay loop.

To support public education in Texas, check out the Texas AFT’s latest on the issue: https://www.texasaft.org/topics/policy/funding/

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