Category: Government Incompetence

More precisely: we have one today, courtesy of our    clueless DC clown krewe’s     wonderful Administration’s “we don’t need no steenkin’ public health” policies.

We already know the current     group of fools and tools calling the shots in DC     Administration doesn’t want to take effective measures to keep Ebola out of the US.  Logically, since Ebola seems to be about 70% fatal that means they’re apparently OK with letting Ebola come to the US and kill maybe 90 or so folks by the end of the year.  (Projections are for up to 130 additional cases of Ebola in the US by year’s end under the Administration’s current “don’t worry/be happy” Ebola control policies; 70% of 130 is 91.)

Well, that really should be no surprise – hell, we should have seen it coming. Because      those starry-eyed, “We Are the World”-singing, ideology-driven imbeciles     the current Administration is already responsible for the needless deaths via imported disease of several US children; the paralysis of dozens of others; and hundreds ending up seriously ill in hospital emergency rooms and/or ICUs due to their asinine policies.

We all know that the     Marxist morons running the Executive branch     current Administration has essentially run an open Southwestern border for months – “for the sake of the children”, allegedly. Well, along with the criminals and other illegals who took advantage . . . another thoroughly unwelcome import seems to have come along for the ride.

It’s called EV-D68. It’s an enterovirus that’s common in Central America, but which was previously quite rare in the US.

Because of recent Administration policy along our Southwestern border, however, today it’s no longer rare in the US. In fact, today the US appears to be smack-dab in the middle of a full-blown epidemic of EV-D68.

Wonder how that happened, and what it’s done? Here’s an excerpt from a DailyCaller article on the subject:

The deadly EV-D68 enterovirus epidemic, which struck thousands of kids this fall, was likely propelled through America by President Barack Obama’s decision to allow tens of thousands of Central Americans across the Texas border, according to a growing body of genetic and statistical evidence.

. . .

So far, that virus has been found in nine people — including at least three American kids — who died from illness. It has apparently inflicted unprecedented polio-like paralysis in roughly 50 kids, and it has put hundreds of young American kids into hospital emergency wards and intensive care units throughout more than 40 states. Most of the dead have not been publicly identified.

Yeah, you read that correctly: thousands sickened, hundreds seriously ill, about 50 paralyzed, and 9 dead – so far. In just a few months, the disease has already spread across more than 40 states (47, to be precise). And more cases are certain to appear in the future.

Sounds like a freaking epidemic to me.  Hell, it’s probably established and endemic in the US now.

And the “best” part? It was a completely preventable epidemic.  It was caused by a handful of politically-driven, manifestly stupid policy decisions – decisions that gave higher priority to helping non-citizens break US law than enforcing US law or protecting the nation.

You should go and read the full DailyCaller article.  It’s fairly long, so budget time accordingly.

I’m guessing the article will p!ss you off royally.  It damn well should.  And after reading it, perhaps the Administration’s seeming lack of concern about Ebola will make a bit more sense.

Why? Well, for what it’s worth: reading the DailyCaller article, it appears that the CDC seems to be doing it’s best to “stonewall” inquiries regarding technical data and analysis about the origins of current EV-D68 epidemic, and possibly also downplay its severity. They don’t seem to want to answer reasonable questions, and almost seem to be making difficult for 3rd parties to obtain much information about what’s going on. “Deliberately uncooperative” is the phrase that comes to mind.

To me, that kinda sounds quite familiar – and says much. But maybe that’s just me. Interpret the situation as you see fit personally; come to your own conclusions.

But here’s my take: after seeing how the Administration handled EV-D68 and is handling Ebola, there are really only two possibilities that come to mind that plausibly explain the “why” behind their actions in each case.  And, bluntly: both of those possibilities absolutely reek.

Best case, the Administration is acting as it has because they’re utterly incompetent and clueless – so incompetent and clueless that they literally don’t realize their policies are endangering the US public.  Or maybe they just are too stupid to believe reality when it smacks them in the face. Either works.

That’s the best case.

Worst case?  Worst case is that they know full well they’re endangering the public.  But in spite of that knowledge, they’re going ahead anyway – because they just don’t give a sh!t that their asinine, politically-driven policies which deny reality are needlessly costing US citizens their lives. To them, playing politics is far more important than protecting public health and safety – so it’s “full speed ahead”. A few unnecessary innocent corpses here and there are just “the cost of doing business”.

Previously, I could believe either of the “best case” options above.  But after now seeing two recent, similar examples of this Administration’s blatant disregard of public health and safety to push their political agenda, I can’t really say I can believe that any more.

Here ya go. Try not to blow a gasket at the utter stupidity.

• An idiot judge in Maine ruled against allowing the State of Maine to quarantine that Narcissistic Ditz and Special Little Snowflake of a nurse who recently returned from treating Ebola patients in West Africa.

• At the same time, it’s been reported that Ditzy’s roommate in Africa appears to have contracted Ebola.

• While in another example of Ditzy being Ditzy, that Narcissist Ditz and Special Little Snowflake nurse in Maine has now stated that she believes Ebola quarantines to be an “abundance of politics”.  (sigh)  You know, you’d think a nurse would know at least a little something about protecting the public from deadly and incurable diseases for which no vaccine exists.  Oh, wait – I forgot.  She’s “special”, so those measures simply don’t apply to her.  Her convenience is more important than protecting the public.

• As I previously wrote here at TAH: a few days ago, CDC admitted that droplets from a sneeze could spread Ebola.  However, not long afterwards they abruptly did an about-face and replaced that admission on their web site with a “don’t worry, be happy” version downplaying that fact – apparently in order to hide politically inconvenient truth from the general public.

(Don’t believe me? Look here for their original admission from 29 October – which has now vanished from their site. Look here for the watered-down version that replaced it, dated 1 November. The original version appears to have vanished from the CDC website sometime on or after 31 October, probably on 1 November  – but not before a copy was archived for posterity on 31 October. [smile]

And please, libidiots: spare me those transparently bogus “The document was revised to make it more accurate” claims.  IMO that claim’s very obviously bullsh!t, and anyone with even two working brain cells can see it’s bullsh!t. It was revised because the original version was obviously written by someone who actually cares more about protecting the public than playing politics – and thus contradicted the Administration’s desired “fairy tale with a happy ending” story now found in the new version.)

• However, at the same time WHO is recommending sneeze protection as appropriate for those around Ebola sufferers. You know, WHO has been directly managing the efforts to contain Ebola in West Africa for a while. Maybe they know a thing or two about how Ebola really spreads.  And they don’t seem interested in hiding the truth for political reasons, either.

• Of course the WHO isn’t exactly the poster child for accuracy and transparency concerning the West African Ebola Outbreak, either. Last Friday (31 October), it revised the outbreak fatality and total case figures from Guinea substantially downward – due ostensibly to removal of “suspected cases” from the totals.  Total casualty figures for the outbreak are now set at 4,951 dead and 13,567 total cases to date – which are estimated to be only 40% of the true total.  Now, while WHO doesn’t have any real reason to exclude suspected cases, the government of Guinea – who reports the totals – certainly might have an agenda here (make it appear as if things are under control, and thus ease travel and trade restrictions). Given that, plus the known massive degree of under-reporting of Ebola cases to date during this outbreak, pardon me if I take that “removal of suspected cases” rationale for lowering the numbers with a HUGE grain of salt.  Figuratively speaking, of course.

• FEMA also is currently conducting a pandemic exercise in NYC and northern NJ. Kinda makes one wonder, eh? Especially after that little incident with our “loose cannon” and self-appointed demigod doctor in NYC who apparently thought he was Superman – and found out the hard way he wasn’t.

• CDC has reportedly announced its intent to procure PPE – and other items, including body bags – for use during the current Ebola outbreak. And the Pentagon is funding preclinical trials of Ebola vaccine produced by Protectus Biosciences.  These last two were noted on Infowars.com here and here, of course with the typical Infowars breathless, conspiracy-oriented spin. But even blind squirrels occasionally find a walnut. (I’ve chosen to link here to the actual source announcements first.  Look at the latter two links if you want to see Infowars’ conspiracy-theory-laden take on them.)

• Remember those airport screenings the Administration said would protect us from importing Ebola without imposing a ban on travel to the US from the outbreak area? Studies of past similar efforts show exactly what many experts predicted before we even began the program:  they’re essentially worthless, “for show only” exercises when it comes to actually identifying people with latent infectious diseases having similar symptoms.  But “that’s our      story      policy and we’re sticking to it.”

• Canada’s leaders have proved they’re not utterly naive PC fools. They’ve followed Australia’s lead and suspended entry to Canada for people who’d been in a nation with widespread Ebola outbreaks during the past 3 months. I guess Canadian leaders still realize that their first responsibility is to, you know, protect their own public first.  Maybe some folks in the current Administration should take notes. (Predictably, folks in Sierra Leone aren’t pleased, calling the decision “discriminatory”.  No, dipsticks – it’s called “erring on the side of caution”.  Everyone should be doing the same.)

• Hell, even Emmental-Boi and Supreme Idiot ND:tBF and his moronic geriatric cronies in Norkland have the sense to know that you don’t take any chances whatsoever when it comes to Ebola. They’ve clamped down harder than Canada and Australia.

• Spanish intel reportedly has intercepted Jihadist electronic talk about using Ebola as a weapon. Well, OK.  However, given what I’ve seen regarding the competence of the vast majority of those goat- and/or donkey-fornicating “geniuses” I don’t plan on losing any sleep over this.  Provided here FYI, since YMMV.

• A major US nurses’ union apparently plans strikes to protest of the “lack of adequate protective gear” for nurses caring for Ebola patients. Well, that’s their stated reason. I suspect the real reason may be that the union in question is in the middle of acrimonious negotiations with Kaiser Permanente in California regarding a new contract, and that this stated rationale for striking is actually little more than a “timely justification of convenience” that the nurses’ union thinks will play well in the press.  But I could be wrong.

• The aide group MSF says that the Sierra Leone Ebola outbreak is much worse than is being reported. Yeah?  OK, now tell us something we didn’t already know. Even if MSF has an obvious agenda and is a group of freaking idiots who clearly must have more money than they can use (they actually turned down a donation of funds worth roughly $2M from the Australian government a few weeks ago for political reasons), here they’re simply telling us something that anyone who’s been following this situation closely already knows all too well.

And, lastly:

• Models predict up to 130 US Ebola cases in US by end of year if current policies remain unchanged. That’s the high-end, worst-case estimate; the best case estimates say we should expect one or two more.  Reality will likely be somewhere between the two – but could theoretically be better or worse if we get really lucky or unlucky.  Since this strain of Ebola’s fatality rate seems to be around 70%, I guess that means the current Administration is OK with seeing 90 people or so in the US die a horrible, eminently preventable death for no other reason than order to show our “solidarity with the people of West Africa” (or some other such      old-style Marxist      manifestly idiotic      outdated Communist       naive but Politically Correct      One World Propaganda      starry-eyed, nebulous, feelgood sound-bite claptrap).

Sheesh.  Looks to me like the late Robert A. Heinlein was a bit off in his estimated time-frame for the “Crazy Years”.  Obviously they’re still ongoing.

A final parting thought for today.  A TAH reader asked me in a private email if I’d noticed what follows.  Yeah, I had; I though it was pretty damn obvious, so I haven’t mentioned it in any articles here to date. But maybe it’s not as obvious as I thought.

It seems to me that the     clueless DC clown krewe      current Administration seems to be taking the position regarding the West African Ebola Outbreak that “it’s better to fight Ebola overseas so we don’t have to fight it here”.  Well, my leftist “brethren”, pray tell: why in the hell was fighting overseas rather than here in the US such a horrible idea when former President Bush adopted it as our strategy for fighting Islamic terrorism roughly a decade ago?

 . . .

I guess that’s all for today.  Might want to check your trouser legs again, though.  The weather looks to be fairly clear here, so if your trousers are wet . . . .

(Hat-tip to Drudge for bringing most of the above links to my attention.)

Remember the original CDC guidance regarding Ebola? You know, no need to worry unless an exposed individual became symptomatic – and no recommended restrictions on their movement unless the person had a fever of 100.4F or higher? Those policies allowed the second US nurse who acquired Ebola in Dallas to travel halfway across the country while incubating (and, potentially, while in the early stages of being symptomatic).

Well, apparently even the CDC can recognize being whacked in the face by reality.  They’ve now changed their tune much closer to what common sense says it should have been all along.  The CDC now recommends that anyone who is at “high risk” for Ebola exposure should “stay home” for 21 days.

However, don’t start singing the “Hallelujah Chorus” just yet.  Under the new CDC guidelines, “stay home” doesn’t really mean “stay at home 24/7”.   Such individuals would indeed be allowed to leave their homes – to “jog in a public park”, for example – but would also be told to avoid “congregate gatherings” like sports events.

Yeah, that last bit makes just no freaking sense at all.  Last time I checked public parks can get pretty damn crowded, especially in big cities.  People jogging in a crowded park sometimes bump into other people – while sweating profusely.  They also often drink from public water fountains while jogging or after they finish.  Sometimes they clear their throat and spit, too.

I just can’t see how crowds at public parks differ substantially from other “congregate gatherings” like sports events.  Those at high risk should be told to stay home – period.

Frankly, IMO the CDC simply hasn’t gone far enough here.  “Stay home” should be unconditional.

And they’re IMO missing the boat in another way, too.  Depending on voluntary, unenforced quarantines . . . is problematic.  We’ve already seen multiple examples of people who knew they fell into the CDC’s “high risk” or “some risk” categories thumbing their nose at common sense (probably due to the “It can’t happen to me” mindset) and put others at risk by going out in public within 21 days of exposure.

Depending on voluntary self-quarantine will work just as well as the following.  Put a cookie jar on a low table.  Tell your mischievous 5 year old to keep their hands off, since they’ll be having dinner in a hour.  Then leave them alone and unsupervised in the same room with that cookie jar for that hour.

In other words:  without enforcement, home self-quarantine is just not going to work worth a damn.  People are people; everyone thinks, “It can’t happen to me” – until it does.  And all it will take is one idiot guessing wrong to cause a serious problem.

The CDC has also moved the goalposts on how it defines Ebola exposure risk categories – and IMO, this time they’re moving them in the right direction.  Previously, spending an extended amount of time in close proximity to an Ebola sufferer without protective equipment was considered “low risk exposure”.  Now, it’s categorized as “some risk” – a new, higher-risk category. Spending a brief period of time in close proximity to an Ebola sufferer was previously not categorized as any type of exposure. Now it’s categorized as a “low-risk” exposure.

Under the new guidelines, the CDC recommends local health authorities should make the call on whether or not to restrict movement of “some risk” exposure individuals.  The     whiny ditz and special little snowflake     recently returned nurse who was quarantined in New Jersey, then allowed to return to Maine falls into the “some risk” category under the new guidelines.

Perhaps the Maine public health officials will show some backbone and continue to follow the New Jersey lead.  Unfortunately, until there’s an outbreak there I’m not holding my breath.

Finally, in semi-related good news:  the kid hospitalized in NYC as a possible Ebola case had a negative initial test for the virus.  He’s still in isolation pending future follow-up testing.  If that future testing shows he’s not infected, he’ll be given the green light to go home.

Well, it looks as if the      DC clown krewe     clueless fools and mendacious tools running the show     current Administration may finally be buying a clue, albeit a partial one.  It seems that they are now considering quarantining healthcare workers returning from the area of the West Africa outbreak area on return to the US.

But of course, they’re only considering doing that if it can be done without “impeding whatsoever our ability to combat the epidemic in West Africa.”  Apparently they are under the bizarre impression that measures protecting the US from accidental importation of Ebola might somehow prevent our providing support to the effort to counter the West African Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Well, I”ll have to give them credit for finally buying a clue, even if only a partial one.  We should have been doing this for at least the past 3 months.

Of course, we should also have been quarantining anyone else coming to the US from or after having spent time in that area, too.  But this would at least be a step in the right direction.

But it bothers me that the current Administration still doesn’t really seem to “get it”.  Anyone with the common sense to pour p!ss out of a boot can see that there is absolutely no connection whatsoever between taking measures to protect the US homeland from accidental importation of the Ebola virus and providing US assistance to West Africa.  Claiming some connection between the two is at best stupid, illogical, and naive – and is at worst a deliberate falsehood.  And yet, the Administration seems to persist in making that connection.

Why?  I dunno.  But, sadly, with this Administration I have to admit I can believe either being clueless or being deliberately mendacious is the reason.

In any case, all I can say is – it’s about freaking time.  Now, with all due respect:  how about you get up off your immobile azz and actually direct some truly common-sense and effective actions here, Mr. President?  Order a quarantine of all returning healthcare workers who’ve spent time in West Africa – effective immediately.  And while you’re at it, extend that order to make that same quarantine apply to anyone else who’s coming to the US after spending time in the West African Ebola outbreak area, too.

Yeah, right.  I’m not holding my breath.

Well, we now have another case of Ebola in America. And this time, our      DC clown krewe’s      Nero-esque imperial regime      illustrious current Administration’s policies – or lack thereof – are IMO directly to blame.

The case turned up in an an American doctor, identified as Craig Spencer, who returned from Guinea in West Africa about a week ago. He’d been working there with the NGO Médecins Sans Frontières, AKA Doctors Without Borders.

The individual reportedly began “feeling sluggish” on Tuesday. However, he nonetheless continued meeting with friends and was “out and about” until he developed more obvious symptoms on Wednesday of this week. He then began “self-quarantine” on Wednesday. Yesterday he went to the hospital with a high fever and nausea.  Preliminary testing last night indicates it is indeed Ebola.

Where is this new Ebola case, you ask? NYC. Yeah – THAT NYC. It’s only the largest metro area in the USA.

So, being a doctor, he was erring on the side of public safety, self-isolating since his return, to protect the public – just in case he was incubating the disease,  right? Um, well . . . here’s an account from local health officials concerning the guy’s activities this week:

City officials say Spencer acknowledged riding multiple subway lines and taking a cab to a Brooklyn bowling alley called “The Gutter” in the past week before he started showing symptoms. He also visited the High Line park and went on a three-mile jog.

The city’s health commissioner, Mary Bassett, said Spencer’s fiancé and two friends had been quarantined. The city has also been in contact with an Uber driver who drove Spencer, but said the two did not have direct contact.

According to a rough timeline provided by city officials, the doctor’s symptoms developed Wednesday, prompting him to isolate himself in his apartment.

Hmm. “Feeling sluggish” on Tuesday, but his “symptoms developed Wednesday”? That ain’t quite adding up, folks.

This new US Ebola outbreak is brought to courtesy of those clueless fools who put feeling good, political correctness, and not offending people ahead of protecting the public and their nation. At the risk of restating the truly obvious: had the current Administration taken the blindingly-obvious, common-sense measure of placing this man in mandatory 21-day isolation prior to or on returning from the USA from the Ebola outbreak area we wouldn’t be sweating another domestic Ebola outbreak today. But apparently we can’t do that; that might inconvenience someone or hurt their feelings.

Gee thanks, Mr. President. Are you “getting it” yet?

Hang on to your hats, folks – and if you’re so inclined, maybe pray. Because this ride could very easily turn bumpy as hell now.

It seems the POTUS wants us all to remember that. He reminded us of that again just this past Saturday.

Well, then, pray tell: why – at that recent Pentagon Ebola scare, which apparently thankfully turned out to be a false alarm – did authorities hunt down the bus after it departed? And why did they temporarily detain and quarantine the tour bus and its passengers? I mean, that all happened the day before the POTUS gave us the reminder.

Sheesh. Do I even need to check Accuweather to see if my leg is wet because it’s raining? Nah, I didn’t think so.