One of the most important duties of the President of the United States is to protect its citizens. The President, as commander-in-chief, is directly answerable for the protection and safety of all Americans. Recent events in regards to Ebola have clearly demonstrated, again, that this President is not capable of complying with the most basic responsibilities of his office. It is a sad truth that we elect politicians to be President, but never in my lifetime have I seen a President so utterly political as this one.
There is seemingly no subject, no crisis, no problem in our country that is not a political issue with Mr. Obama. Nor does any potential consequence--be it political or of real importance--seem to faze him. Political creatures, with no actual experience in the real world, think in a political ways--always. Every problem that arises is to be seen in that light and solved with bureaucrats on a committee. Results matter little, if at all, it is only necessary to "do something". Far too many Americans are duped by the "Do Something" ideology and are deluded into thinking it is actually useful.
The President's epic failure, again, to show leadership in the face of an actual crisis like Ebola is extremely disturbing. Everything this administration has said about Ebola has been wrong. September 16, on a visit to the CDC in Atlanta, Obama said that it was "unlikely" that Ebola would reach our shores. Wrong. He further said, "Our experts here at the CDC and across our government agree that the chances of an Ebola outbreak here in the United States are extremely low. Wev'e been taking the necessary precautions, including working with countries in West Africa to increase screening at airports so that someone with the virus doesn't get on a plane for the United States." Wrong. Then, according to the White House, Dr. Tom Frieden, head of the CDC, claimed that, "the CDC had been prepared for an Ebola case in the United States, and that we have the infrasturcture in place to respond safely and effectively." Wrong. I could go on and on and on.
The truth of the matter is that there are a lot of things we do not know about Ebola. Too much. When political creatures respond in a political way, they say things that are wrong, incomplete or unverified. On the other hand, there are a lot of things we do know about Ebola: 1) It has a 70% death rate in Africa. 2) It is highly contagious. 3) There is no guaranteed cure. 4) Closing borders is effective. 5) Proper CDC protocols can protect most medical personnel, but not always. 6) Most hospitals in the U.S. are not equipped to handle Ebola properly. Politicians can blather about many problems without life-threatening consequences. Ebola is not one of those problems.
Instead of making hollow promises and statements, reassurances that ring false and appointing lobbyists with no medical background whatsoever, it would be nice to see some real world, common sense applied to a scary and bewildering situation. First, close down all travel FROM countries in West Africa dealing with Ebola. This is the computer age and it is not that complicated to track where these travellers are coming from. The CDC's "screening protocols" are woefully inadequate and easily skirted. That was amply demonstrated by the fact that Ebola got here in the first place. Interestingly, Dr. Frieden's excuse for not wanting to shut down travel is that people will cross our borders and we won't know who is here and who has what. Funny, if our borders were secure we wouldn't have that problem, now would we? Restricting the travel of who comes here, does not mean that we can't and won't help the Ebola stricken nations. In fact, if the only people traveling here from those nations were on charter flights, we would know exactly who was coming and why. Restricting travel "from", does not mean restricting sending help and supplies "to". Nations have historically quarantined visitors and immigrants to make sure they do not bring disease across borders. This is not racist or unreasonable. It is an approriate response to an impossible situation. Nigeria, has been declared Ebola free by WHO because they closed their borders for 42 days to Ebola-stricken nations. Many other nations have followed suit. We will still help in any reasonable way, but putting an entire nation at risk for "optics" is beyond foolhardy.
Silly, hollow promises about our ability to fight this disease do none of us any good. There are four hospitals in the U.S. properly equipped to treat Ebola patients. The fact that it took the CDC so long to realize that it can't be treated anywhere belies the claim that they "have the infrastructure in place." They don't. The are flying by the seat of their pants. It is not only foolish, but dangerous in the short- and long-term to expose our nation's healthcare workers to Ebola unnecessarily. The highest death rate amongst Ebola casualties is in health care workers. They are there when patients are their sickest and therefore the most contagious. If this spreads and we lose our doctors and nurses, may God help us.
Finally, can anyone explain how sending 3,000 military members to Ebola-stricken nations serve any purpose other than political? First and foremost this is not the purpose of the military. Period. That should be the end of the discussion. Even if it were, this administration has neither trained nor outfitted them properly to safely be exposed to the disease. We are currently, endlessly, fighting Islamic militants. If this disease spreads through the best and brightest in our military and we have a national security crisis where they are needed, then what? It is sheer stupidity to use the military in this manner. If they volunteer for such duty, more power to them, but to order them there is unconscionable. This President has demonstrated nearly every day of office his total inability to provided any actual leadership. If we have an Ebola epidemic here because of his incompetence that will be the only legacy attached to the Obama name.
There is seemingly no subject, no crisis, no problem in our country that is not a political issue with Mr. Obama. Nor does any potential consequence--be it political or of real importance--seem to faze him. Political creatures, with no actual experience in the real world, think in a political ways--always. Every problem that arises is to be seen in that light and solved with bureaucrats on a committee. Results matter little, if at all, it is only necessary to "do something". Far too many Americans are duped by the "Do Something" ideology and are deluded into thinking it is actually useful.
The President's epic failure, again, to show leadership in the face of an actual crisis like Ebola is extremely disturbing. Everything this administration has said about Ebola has been wrong. September 16, on a visit to the CDC in Atlanta, Obama said that it was "unlikely" that Ebola would reach our shores. Wrong. He further said, "Our experts here at the CDC and across our government agree that the chances of an Ebola outbreak here in the United States are extremely low. Wev'e been taking the necessary precautions, including working with countries in West Africa to increase screening at airports so that someone with the virus doesn't get on a plane for the United States." Wrong. Then, according to the White House, Dr. Tom Frieden, head of the CDC, claimed that, "the CDC had been prepared for an Ebola case in the United States, and that we have the infrasturcture in place to respond safely and effectively." Wrong. I could go on and on and on.
The truth of the matter is that there are a lot of things we do not know about Ebola. Too much. When political creatures respond in a political way, they say things that are wrong, incomplete or unverified. On the other hand, there are a lot of things we do know about Ebola: 1) It has a 70% death rate in Africa. 2) It is highly contagious. 3) There is no guaranteed cure. 4) Closing borders is effective. 5) Proper CDC protocols can protect most medical personnel, but not always. 6) Most hospitals in the U.S. are not equipped to handle Ebola properly. Politicians can blather about many problems without life-threatening consequences. Ebola is not one of those problems.
Instead of making hollow promises and statements, reassurances that ring false and appointing lobbyists with no medical background whatsoever, it would be nice to see some real world, common sense applied to a scary and bewildering situation. First, close down all travel FROM countries in West Africa dealing with Ebola. This is the computer age and it is not that complicated to track where these travellers are coming from. The CDC's "screening protocols" are woefully inadequate and easily skirted. That was amply demonstrated by the fact that Ebola got here in the first place. Interestingly, Dr. Frieden's excuse for not wanting to shut down travel is that people will cross our borders and we won't know who is here and who has what. Funny, if our borders were secure we wouldn't have that problem, now would we? Restricting the travel of who comes here, does not mean that we can't and won't help the Ebola stricken nations. In fact, if the only people traveling here from those nations were on charter flights, we would know exactly who was coming and why. Restricting travel "from", does not mean restricting sending help and supplies "to". Nations have historically quarantined visitors and immigrants to make sure they do not bring disease across borders. This is not racist or unreasonable. It is an approriate response to an impossible situation. Nigeria, has been declared Ebola free by WHO because they closed their borders for 42 days to Ebola-stricken nations. Many other nations have followed suit. We will still help in any reasonable way, but putting an entire nation at risk for "optics" is beyond foolhardy.
Silly, hollow promises about our ability to fight this disease do none of us any good. There are four hospitals in the U.S. properly equipped to treat Ebola patients. The fact that it took the CDC so long to realize that it can't be treated anywhere belies the claim that they "have the infrastructure in place." They don't. The are flying by the seat of their pants. It is not only foolish, but dangerous in the short- and long-term to expose our nation's healthcare workers to Ebola unnecessarily. The highest death rate amongst Ebola casualties is in health care workers. They are there when patients are their sickest and therefore the most contagious. If this spreads and we lose our doctors and nurses, may God help us.
Finally, can anyone explain how sending 3,000 military members to Ebola-stricken nations serve any purpose other than political? First and foremost this is not the purpose of the military. Period. That should be the end of the discussion. Even if it were, this administration has neither trained nor outfitted them properly to safely be exposed to the disease. We are currently, endlessly, fighting Islamic militants. If this disease spreads through the best and brightest in our military and we have a national security crisis where they are needed, then what? It is sheer stupidity to use the military in this manner. If they volunteer for such duty, more power to them, but to order them there is unconscionable. This President has demonstrated nearly every day of office his total inability to provided any actual leadership. If we have an Ebola epidemic here because of his incompetence that will be the only legacy attached to the Obama name.
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