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GOP flip-flops on names; Hidalgo takes prize; next governor all right, all right, all right?

Congratulations to Houston 7-yearold Saatvik Thatipally, who successfully spelled out the longest word in the English language while appearing on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” this week. You can have some fun trying to guess what it is. Go ahead. We’ll wait. No, it’s not pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism. As Thatipally — looking sharp in a three-piece suit — told DeGeneres, it’s pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, which is a type of lung disease caused by inhaling volcanic ash. As reported by Chron.com, he then counted from a trillion to a googol, impressing the talk show host, who then gave him some cool space toys. We swear we’re not jealous. Although, what is it with these young overachievers making us look bad? Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, who turned 30 in February, was announced as one of the recipients of this year’s John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award. The prize honors Americans under age 40 who are making a difference with their commitment to public service. Speaking the language of the young, Jack Schlossberg, grandson of President Kennedy and awards committee chair, called Hidalgo “a total beast” on climate change, civil rights, voting, health care and education. Congratulations to the judge. We just hope that as she continues to rack up recognition and a larger national profile, she remembers that we knew her back when the Chronicle wouldn’t endorse her.

No, maybe forget that last part. Instead, let’s talk about how we knew the Texas GOP back when it opposed changing place names with the word “negro” in them. As memories go, it’s a surprisingly fresh one, as it happened Monday. Testifying before lawmakers, David Wylie, a member of the state Republican Party Executive Committee, said the party was against renaming locations such as Negrohead Lake in Baytown and Negro Branch in Travis County. “We need our monuments and markers to remain as they are,” he said, claiming the slipperyslope argument. We get it: first, you remove an offensive name and, next thing you know, you’re realizing that monuments glorifying the Confederacy are somehow wrong. When contacted by Hearst Newspapers, the party quickly disavowed the testimony and said Wylie was “mistaken.” As of press time, the Confederate Soldiers Monument outside the Texas Capitol still stands. While the GOP reconsiders its position on racially problematic issues, the University of Texas at Austin has decided to double down — or make that, double up. Starting next year, UT is creating a separate (but equal), not-yet-named marching band whose members — unlike those who stick with the Longhorn Band — will not be required to perform “The Eyes of Texas.” The controversial school song has been under fire over its origins as part of a campus minstrel show where performers likely wore blackface. Some band members have refused to play the song even as UT-Austin President Jay Hartzell has forged ahead, likely under pressure from deep-pocket, out of tune donors. Call us crazy, but instead of starting a new band, how about UT starts a new tradition and finds a new song? Speaking of getting fresh material, state lawmakers blew their chance to expand health care access to roughly 1.3 million uninsured Texans this week after they voted down a budget amendment out of an obstinate need to keep fighting the previous decade’s Obamacare wars. Instead of focusing on the negative, though, allow us to praise the only Republican with enough common sense to vote for the change: San Antonio state Rep. Lyle Larson. He didn’t mince words after the vote, calling out his party for keeping Texas “stuck in a decade-old narrative that has forced the closing of many rural hospitals and less access to physician care. Fiscal conservatism was denied today.” Truth.

This whole matter may require the governor to step in. No, not Greg Abbott, but Texas’ next top executive: Matthew David McConaughey. According to a poll by the Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler, the Oscar-winning actor leads the incumbent in a head-to-head matchup, with registered voters splitting 45 percent for McConaughey, 33 percent for Abbott and 22 percent for someone else. Of course, without identifying the actor as a Democrat or polling a viable Democratic candidate in a three-way race, the poll is hard to get worked up about — unless you’re trying to troll Beto O’Rourke. Here’s a better polling question: How many Gov. McConaughey news stories will it take to push the former congressman off the fence? Perhaps those who want Beto to run can sweeten the deal by promising to move the governor’s mansion to Pittsburg, Texas. Specifically, to a home previously owned by poultry tycoon Lonnie “Bo” Pilgrim. The eggs-traordinary estate, dubbed Cluckingham Palace, is on the market for $5 million — great news for those deciding between a two-bedroom in the Heights or a Manhattan apartment. The French Renaissance-style home ( le château de poulet?) has an indoor pool, a sauna, a greenhouse and a glass elevator overlooking the property’s multiple azalea gardens. While $5 million ain’t chicken feed, the spacious 18,000-square-foot home can keep you from feeling cooped up.