A few days ago I made a modest proposal: that we should take immediate action to prevent Texans from entering the country in order to protect ourselves from the scourge of Ebola. You may recall at the beginning of the Obama administration Rahm Emmanuel was quoted as saying you should “never let a serious crisis go to waste”. My thinking was similar: never let mindless panic go to waste. Some good can come from every situation, and if it takes unreasoning fear to rid the rest of the country of Texans, then by all means we should take advantage of that fear.
Well, a few days later I noted that my advice was being taken in somewhat altered form, by the State of Louisiana, that, in typical Southern fashion, chose to keep Texas garbage out, while (presumably) still letting Texans in. Now, I am somewhat chagrined to report, my advice is also being followed in New England, where people are not supposed to be as stupid as the folks in the old Confederacy:
It's a sign of how fast fears over Ebola are spreading. A Maine teacher is told to stay away from her classroom for three weeks. But as far as anyone can tell, that teacher was at a teacher's conference in Dallas ten miles from the hospital with the Ebola patients.
Regardless, the district took the extraordinary step of putting that teacher on leave anyway. School district 58 is requiring the Strong elementary teacher to stay away from students and the school for three weeks, over fears by some parents the teacher could have been infected with the Ebola virus.
According to a message on the district's website, a number of parents expressed concerns about possible exposure of that staff member to Ebola after that person went to a teacher's conference in Dallas, Texas where three Ebola cases have been confirmed.
There's no indication that the teacher went anywhere near the hospital where the first case was undergoing treatment. Administrators say in the message to parents “We have no information to suggest this staff member has been in contact with anyone who has been exposed to Ebola."”
Via WGME News
Now, the fact is that while the majority of Mainers are not this stupid, the plurality may very well be ready to re-elect Ron LePage, so there is definitely a strain of crazy in the state. Those of us who consider New England a stronghold of rationality can only hope that Strong happens to be chock full of LePage voters, or maybe, and this is more than probable, the school superintendent bowed to the demands of a few nutcases. It's an odd thing in this country: the more insane the demand, the more likely our public servants are to accede. Give the press there credit. The article I've excerpted above makes the absurdity of this action pretty clear.
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