JUNE 2002 IGNOMINIOUS ABSURDITY OF THE MONTH: THE IGGY

Shakespeare wrote something like “It’s an ill day that brings forth the adder.” Well, you can count on a horrific Uvalde mass shooting to bring out Republican Adders, and they didn’t disappoint. Given the proliferation of many idiotic comments about guns and mass shootings, I will limit this month’s IGGY comments on the gun question.

1. Heather Ann Sprague, Republican Candidate for Maine’s House of Repersentatives. Evil deeds seem to always bring out IGGY-worthy absurdities. Thus, we get tortured explanations like the following, from Republicans who need to continually trot out fresh bugaboos to keep their base from questioning the wisdom of putting assault rifles in the hands of teenagers. You see, it’s liberal teachers who did it—at least according to Republican hopeful Heather Ann Sprague, who helpfully posted some of her transphobic thoughts on Facebook in the wake of the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

According to Sprague, “Liberal teachers” are responsible for the mass shooting at a Texas elementary school that killed 19 children and two teachers.

In an apparent reference to a rumor on social media that has been debunked, Sprague claimed there were pictures online of the shooter dressed in women’s clothing, obviously a “confused” transgender kid.

“All I have to say is this is the result of what happens when kids are pushed past their limits. It’s obvious he was brainwashed in school by liberal teachers to think he shouldn’t be a male. If this crap doesn’t stop we will have more shootings because there are alot more confused, fed up and now mentally ill kids out there thanks to the #publicschoolsystem. THIS is why I have been TRYING to get the truth out about what the schools are doing to our youth because it’s DANGEROUS,” Sprague said in her post.

NBC news reported that a transgender woman’s photo was used to spread the baseless theory about the Texas shooter. The thread began on forum website 4chan and was spread by right-wing Facebook pages. Its falsity, of course, didn’t stop conservatives—including Republican Rep. Paul Gosar--from spreading it far and wide.

So, Sprague took unconfirmed information that felt comforting to her, and instead of researching it thoroughly, she immediately weaponized it in order to smear liberals and deflect responsibility from her own party’s shameful lack of action?

In another Facebook post, Sprague wrote, “I’ll go a step further and say the teachers that molded this kid into a #killer should be arrested for multiple MURDERS.” But not the person who sold the gunman two assault rifles with multiple rounds on his 18th birthday. Okay.

She also wrote, “more and more I cant help but think these shootings are on purpose to push gun control with the lives of babes. If they’re not getting shot they’re getting aborted. It’s disgusting and EVIL. If elected I will push to have armed guards at ALL our schools here in Maine.”

Of course, this is the same kind of muck conservatives stir up whenever there’s a mass shooting. They mix all that roiling sediment with our own righteous indignation in order to muddy what should be a pretty clear picture, and then they wait for the whole mess to settle down again—which it inevitably will, no doubt before Congress is spurred to take anything even resembling meaningful action.

By the way, Sprague is the only Republican running in her district, and will face incumbent Democrat Ann Matlack in the general election. So, voters, it seems, will have a pretty stark choice in this election between bullshit and reality. Let’s hope they choose wisely.