VIRUS: The latest contagion

Haven’t you heard? There is another virus loosed upon our vulnerable population, not another variant of COVID-19, but one that specifically targets one’s brain. I hesitate to name it in polite company.

The symptoms of this virus — it’s not new: it’s been around since 2015 or earlier — are extreme susceptibility to conspiracy theories and misinformation; to mob-induced anger and violence; to suspicion and even hatred of non-right-wingers; to failure to practice Christ’s commandment to “love thy neighbor as thyself;” to purporting to love our country and defend the Constitution while actually profoundly damaging it by rejecting the rule of law embodied in that very document. You can no doubt now detect many other symptoms of this insidious virus.

Indeed, this virus can be fatal. Infection leads to increased vulnerability to the actual COVID virus.

Cure? Turning off Fox News and right wing social media sources and listening to NPR; wearing a mask, getting vaccinated and avoiding angry, irrational crowds that invade government meetings.

PAULA NEILS

Hauser