What the !@&%$* is this now? Swine flu? What’s next? An unexpected return of the woolly mammoth?
The outbreak of the swine flu here in the United States, after originating in Mexico and spreading to us from across the border, raises two issues:
1. Why on God’s green earth is that southern border still open? The September 11, 2001 attacks weren’t enough to get Washington to close the border. The flood of illegal immigrants trampling the border states, committing crimes, and straining our public services weren’t enough to close the border. The drug wars and gun-running weren’t enough to close the border. And now, apparently, the spread of a viral nightmare won’t be enough to close the border. No wonder Mexico loves bordering us: we’re a handy recepticle into which all unsavory people, dangerous weapons, deadly narcotics, and weird viruses can be dumped.
2. This particular outbreak might be a strictly natural occurrence, but don’t think our enemies aren’t watching. We know that al Qaeda has been searching desperately for a biological or chemical weapon since the early 1990s. In January of this year, al Qaeda in Algeria was decimated by the leak of some unknown bug or chemical that wiped out at least 40 terrorists. What killed them? It’s unclear, but it wasn’t eating too many boxes of Thin Mints. This swine flu outbreak is a dress rehearsal for a bio-terror attack, and our enemies see a Commander-in-Chief on the golf course, a Vice President yukking it up on “60 Minutes,” a Secretary of Homeland Security who is more interested in watching “domestic right-wing extremists,” and a country without a Secretary of Health and Human Services, a Surgeon General, and a Director of the Centers for Disease Control. If this is one of the “tests” Biden spoke about, so far we’re flunking.
For those unfortunate enough to contract the swine flu, they will be treated primarily with the Tamiflu vaccine. And who was wise and forward-thinking enough to begin stockpiling Tamiflu four years ago as a precaution for this kind of situation?
Thank you, President Bush.
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