Ebola – A Government Competency Metric (updated)

George Rebane

The extraordinarily incompetent Obama administration is not done with us yet.  We pray that it is only incompetency that has created the current trail of disastrous public policies to vex and punish us – it could be something much more sinister as some commentators have argued, and about which even RR has murmured.  Without recounting the laundry list (already much counted on these pages) we now witness the daily progress of our government attempting to deal with the Ebola epidemic which has also touched our shores.

It is finally clear to all that the CDC did absolutely nothing since last spring to prepare America for the inevitable arrival of contagious Ebola carriers, save issuing self-congratulatory assessments of how prepared they already were with their business-as-usual prophylaxes against infectious diseases.  When Mr Duncan got on the plane to come to the US, there was nothing in place to stop this Ebola carrier that would have passed muster with an intelligent layman, but the protocols satisfied our tax-funded public health experts.

Can you imagine watching that dreaded disease lay waste to three west African countries for months, receiving a constant stream of information and data about the characteristics and progress of the disease, and then responding with an airport questionnaire as the country’s first line of defense?  It was not a military secret that during the first week or so of Ebola’s 21 day incubation period the patient is asymptomatic – no temperature, no bad gut rumbles, no nothing.  And then asking someone with no symptoms who has paid good money to land in the US whether they have been exposed to Ebola is literally beyond butt stupid.

Mr Duncan got in, the disease progressed, it was not detected even after having a 103+ fever and declaring his recent country of origin, he was finally admitted and then died.  In the process at least two of his attending nurses at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas were infected and contracted the disease, but not before other embarrassing and possibly tragic missteps.  One of the women, trained in patient care and aware of the deficiencies in her protective suit, was cleared by the CDC to board an airplane, and on her own recognizance and took a trip of convenience.  What the hell is going on?

Meanwhile CDC Director Dr Thomas Frieden made the rounds of news and pundit shows and appeared as equally clueless about the Ebola preparedness of the nation’s hospitals and spouted the most sanguine pabulum possible to all of us out there in television land.  The only thing that was clear to those who pay attention is that he and Ms Susan Rice were graduates of the same school of administration-compliant public relations.  The questions asked of Dr Frieden and even President Obama have been so off the mark (I am ashamed of Fox News, the lamestream I understand) that one wonders what has happened to those sharp questions that investigative reporters asked in days of yore.

Circling the barn on how the government is protecting America from an uncontrolled Ebola outbreak, we received no answers save that really effective procedures were in place, everybody in the government agencies was real smart and working very hard, and that we had nothing to worry about.  No one asked the Question Primo, ‘Would the procedures now in place have stopped Mr Duncan from entering the country?’  Astoundingly, the answer would have been NO, and more astoundingly it is still NO.  Adding a thermometer to our first and only line of defense to check arrivees is not sufficient – Mr Duncan had no temperature and felt fine when he got off the plane.  Multiple physicians and medical experts have now publicly testified to that major shortcoming.

Today we’ve doubled down on stupid is as stupid does by debating whether we need to do something to prohibit people from the Ebola hot zone from having ready access to America’s population centers and hinterlands.  Thoughtful public figures have publicly shaken their heads in misbelief at the administration’s spokespeople who, with straight faces, argue that denying such entry into the US would speed up the spread of Ebola worldwide – what?!

The same duufuses confuse stopping commercial flights to the hot zone with preventing people from the hot zone having a free pass out of an US airport after they land.  The president himself gave the most conclusive testimony to his assessment of the inability of his constituents to follow a flawed argument.  From his last Saturday’s broadcast –

Finally, we can’t just cut ourselves off from West Africa, where this disease is raging. Our medical experts tell us that the best way to stop this disease is to stop it at its source-before it spreads even wider and becomes even more difficult to contain. Trying to seal off an entire region of the world-if that were even possible-could actually make the situation worse. It would make it harder to move health workers and supplies back and forth. Experience shows that it could also cause people in the affected region to change their travel, to evade screening, and make the disease even harder to track.

Stopping commercial passengers from West Africa at US airports is “cutting ourselves off”?!!  Most certainly the countries neighboring the hot zone have already cut themselves off, but America has uncounted charter and military flights now going into the region with supplies, medical workers, and troops building healthcare infrastructure.  Stopping about a 150 West Africans a day from that area is “cutting ourselves off” – horse pucky!  And then without a blink he equates such a policy to “Trying to seal off an entire region of the world …” – no one else would mistake actions at US airports with sealing off West Africa.  And then to state with certainty that stopping commercial flights (by the two remaining airlines) into the hot zone would “make the situation worse” by making “it harder to move health workers and supplies back and forth” is utter bullshit.  The disease is being fought with chartered and military flights that overwhelm the number of scheduled commercial flights by two second rate airlines, one Belgian, one Moroccan.  If there’s a problem, add more charter and military flights.

The bottom line here is that Obama is clearly talking to people with the mental acumen of those who voted for him (twice!).  And therein lies the reason to hire Ron Klain – a ‘political operative’ (aka hack) – as the administration’s new ‘Ebola czar’.  Klain is a professional propagandist with no shred of public health experience.  But that appointment says it all about the thesis of this piece – it has to be incompetence to think that messaging is America’s big problem with Ebola.  Dr Scott Gottlieb MD (former FDA deputy commissioner) and Mr Tevi Troy (former deputy HHS secretary) have a lot to say about this in their ‘Ebola Isn’t a Messaging Problem’.  There they make the case that –

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, despite a rocky beginning, now recognizes that containing Ebola presents unexpected challenges of technique and execution. The White House, for its part, apparently thinks it is a messaging problem.

In my experience I have found that bureaucracies – government, NGOs, commercial – start acting incompetently the bigger they get.  And such incompetencies are greatly amplified if the bureaucracy is guided by collectivist thought to implement collectivist objectives.  Then things really go off the rails – people die, huge sums are wasted, and liberties disappear.  But bureaucracies are like cancers that seek at every turn to grow and metastasize.  In human affairs such organizational structures have pruned themselves through the buildup of internal inefficiencies.  The only way that big bureaucracies do survive is through the use of force – intrinsic or allied - that guarantees their continued life and ability to impose themselves on others.

Finally, I'd like to posit that there may be a definite change of the public's mood underway toward big government and its expensive overreach.  The string of Obama's policy failures and extra-constitutional initiatives may finally be a wake up call for those Americans who are not terminally somnambulent.  I call your attention to a recent Cato Institute research report on the topic - 'Public Attitudes toward Federalism - The Public's Preference for Renewed Federalism'.

[update]  Hot flash, 'U.S. to Require Passengers From Ebola-Stricken Countries to Fly Into 5 Airports'.  The public pressure for limited ingress from the hot zone has been growing for over two weeks during which time we heard the above quoted crap from the administration that such policies would "seal off an entire region" of Africa.  Well, five is at least four too many, but against its better judgment Team Obama will now focus resources at five airports instead of fifty.  One would be better, much better.  Now who will be watching the west coast airports?

Comments

[Bill Tozer]

Dr. Rebane, I would like to address your last paragraph and let others comment of the State of Ebola, save one Ebola observation. The hot bed of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa are in countries where infrastructure is poor at best and travel is difficult because of poor to non-existent roads with few dependable vehicles. Thus, with travel difficult and not easy for the residences of the affected countries, it is not a stretch to say they have in a way contained themselves and Ebola to that area. But, throw in airline travel and it will be like a spot fire jumping the containment area.

The idea of Americans souring to Big Government and it's largesse with bungling and bonehead handling of affairs is a delicious thought. There may be indeed a public mood toward a renewed Federalism. The overreach of big bro and the steady march of inefficients and waste and intrusion into our daily meat and potatoes is the catalyst, IMHO.
For several years, we have been called dinosaurs and out of touch with the new era and the libs on these pages have been quite confident that eventually we will all die off and take our Ozzie and Harriet daydreams with us to the Marble Orchard. We are old school and out of step with modern society. We are on the wrong side of the tipping point and the ship has left the harbor without us. Fair enough.

But, (there is always a but) I read a comment recently that got me thinking. The mocking comment on some blog said people on the far right want to take "us" back to the 50's. I thought what is wrong with that? Not the Beaver Cleaver days or the 50's per se, but to days with more State's rights, more individualism, less regulations, and way less Federal Overreach and the Executive Branch butting their business into our next breath.

Then the clincher hit. I have assumed that it was a lost cause, that the tipping point is now a mute point. I forgot that the only constant in life is change. Suppose the left is right now having their moment in the sun and have had their way and the public is starting to think something smells here, this ain't right. Maybe this moment in history is another sunset for the Socialist cause until it rears again. Perhaps the country is truly right of center and reasonable people can feel, see, and smell things are off track. The pendulum swings both ways. Dr. Rebane, the timing of your last paragraph is perfect. Maybe the country wants something more on the lines of the 50's that what they have been seeing and feeling in 2012-2014.

[fish]

Off topic but related.

Presented for the consideration of the board.

http://www.unz.com/article/the-suicide-of-a-great-nation/

An excerpt:

"To be sure, Obama suffers from not having had the kind of preparation needed to head any large organization, much less the United States government. His two-year tenure in the Senate was undistinguished and those who lampoon him as little more than an ex-community organizer are not far from the truth. Like the Lord High Executioner in the Mikado he was elevated “by a set of curious chances,” to include Republican adversaries who were considered completely toxic by large parts of the electorate.

Like his predecessor, Obama has compensated for his deficiencies by surrounding himself with cronies. Obama’s are ideologically compatible but often have even less experience than he does. But they are loyal to him personally and maintain an essentially politicized agenda that only occasionally is supportive of genuine national interests.

So Obama’s course in on the job training leaves a lot to be desired. But there is still more than that, unfortunately, because what we are seeing now is doing grave damage to our country even as constitutional liberties are stripped away and the stagnant economy offers little hope for the struggling middle and working classes."

[George Rebane]

BillT 747am - Good thoughts and true. Limited breadth of leftist thought does not permit the consideration of returning to the laudable parts of the 50s without bringing along the civil rights abuses, anti-gay sentiments, ... . To their minds the factors of God, country, individual liberties, entrepreneurship, ... are inseparable from the former. It is a calcified mindset carefully embedded by government schools and maintained by the lamestream.

fish 748am - Thank you for the reprise of those truths which have been part and parcel of the 'Obama alarums' that RR introduced to its readers in 2008 during the man's candidacy. We should never forget, that his lack of executive experience combined with his Marxist ideology goes a long way to explain away the disasters he has brought on the land. (The national question that continues to puzzle people like me is why the blacks, Hispanics, and Jews voted for him in such numbers; but that's a topic for another day.)

[fish]

Time for new sand!

[Russ Steele]

The Diplomad on Progressive Putrefaction

The ice caps are not melting; the snow in the Himalayas is not melting. The only thing melting is the Obama misadministration.

The Ebola mess provides the latest sign of many that this misadministration is dying right before our eyes. Like a dead Ebola victim, however, the body still presents serious dangers.

Glad to see others catching up with the ol' Diplomad on Obama and ebola (here and here, for example) and on the whole bureaucratic, corrupt, politicized government health industry and lobby.

I see lots of commentators finally realizing--Shock!--that the CDC is not full of dedicated doctors in white lab coats working for humanity. Most are politicized bureaucrats who respond to the dictates of their masters in Washington and to popular fads, e.g., global warming, and are perpetually seeking more money.

I have made the point before that liberalism/progressivism kills,
"Liberals love humanity and hate people." Oh, and by the way, liberals will get you killed. Yes, killed. Modern liberalism kills people, and does so by the millions, all in the name of humanity, of course. It should have a warning label that asks you not to practice liberalism at home, or something along the lines of "I am a trained professional, do not attempt liberalism on your own."

The current ebola fiasco is a natural outgrowth from the ideology of progressivism and the beliefs of the one-worlders now in control in the White House and the Senate.

The rest of the article is HERE.

[George Rebane]

fish 1001am - Your slightest wish is my wish (or is it the other way around?) ;-)

[Todd Juvinall]

So I guess the county is full of racists according to the leftwingnut Curtis. Here is his latest comment. Oh My! Too funny! From the FUE's blog.

"Curtis Walker says:
October 21, 2014 at 10:11 am

The local right idiots are an embarrassment. They want to be a tourist destination but their stink keeps both folks from visiting or buying a home here. I am here in my second decade and folks still ask why I would want to live in that racist place. Fear of coming for a dam visit is a big reality. If there is heaven and hell after death, there will surly be a special wing for Tea Party and other right fools. REST IN PEACE surely does not apply to the pathetic haters. The JERK factor is huge. So as long as they walk in our beautiful part of the world, they are little to be discarded and ignored, except to counter their brainwashing of others and elections."

[Joe Koyote]

Are you also going to blame Reagan for AIDS? He ignored the problem for years because it "was a gay problem." Is Ebola a black person's problem? Trying to put the blame on Obama and progressives/liberals is totally insane. How do you guys dream up this crap?

"The current ebola fiasco is a natural outgrowth from the ideology of progressivism and the beliefs of the one-worlders now in control in the White House and the Senate." This has got to be one of the most stupid things I have ever heard anyone say! How can you politicize an epidemic? If you want to blame someone, blame the capitalists who built the trans-african highway right through the Ebola Valley where infectious viruses are born and die almost hourly. Someone once claimed that the highway was the most significant technological impact of the 20th century, including the computer, just for the reasons we are now seeing come to pass.

[Todd Juvinall]

Sorry JoeK, you are simply spreading the myth about Reagan. He started the money flowing for the problem of AIDS and you just showed us how ignorant you are.

Ebola is a death sentence when you get it. Obama has it in his power to impose a travel ban until things calm down. But what has he done? Sent our young people over to the countries where they can get the virus. That is treason in my view.

[George Rebane]

JoeK 1023am - The poor reading skills of the Left are evident again (and it is they who created the 'spend more, learn less' government schools). My email of the FUE's latest blast at RR this morning demonstrates that he and his understand almost nothing of what is discussed here. For the record, nowhere have I blamed Obama for the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. But I and other observers have pointed out the ineptness with which the government in general and the Obama administration in particular have mishandled public health policies to combat Ebola in the US. I offer my reasoning for why this is the case. However, as usual such ponderings are beyond the liberals' ability to parse. It is what it is.

(Bad practice to use unattributed quotes.)

[Bill Tozer]

Ok, if you want to blame AIDS and Ebola on something, I present this for your consideration. Both deadly viruses can be traced back to cultures that eat monkeys. That's right; monkey meat. This is not a red state, blue state issue. This is a monkey meat issue and that is where the blame should be placed. No more eating monkeys for me I tell ya.

[fish]

So I guess the county is full of racists according to the leftwingnut Curtis. Here is his latest comment. Oh My! Too funny! From the FUE's blog.

Curtis is a real person? I thought for sure he was one of jeffys dimmer sock puppets.

[fish]

Posted by: Joe Koyote | 21 October 2014 at 10:23 AM

Oh and JoKe...sometimes you are so willfully stupid that you barely merit a response....this is one of those times.

[George Rebane]

A reader reminded me again that America's difficulty in imposing travel and entry bans is based more on political correctness and fear of being accused of racism by our Left, than on science. In a linked story we read "African countries, unburdened by any such racial guilt, have not hesitated to impose travel bans; Nigeria’s travel restrictions are now being credited for its escape from an Ebola incursion."
http://www.city-journal.org/2014/eon1021hm.html

[Gregory]

"The poor reading skills of the Left are evident again (and it is they who created the 'spend more, learn less' government schools)."

George, I think you have that completely wrong... I expect Jeff Pelline knew exactly what you wrote but chooses to misuse his degree in Rhetoric in order to twist words to make the point he wants people to take away. Not poor reading skills, a lie, by someone highly trained in the language.

I'm assured Rhetoric isn't a basketweaving degree at UC Berkeley, and most choosing it for baccalaureate studies go into law. I'd not be surprised if that's what Jeff intended, but graduate schools of journalism are easier to get into than law schools.

[Joe Koyote]

Toad 10:49 -- Try reading the book "And the Band Played On" which clearly documents Reagan's ineptitude with regard to the spread of aids.. that is if you can really read and comprehend something beyond a comic book.

George: The Republican controlled house cut $1.5b from the CDC during the sequester nonsense. Obama asked for $1b to combat ebola.. congress gave him $50m left over from Iraq. I am not claiming that you blamed Obama for the outbreak in Africa as Russ seems to blame liberals, but you seem to be claiming that somehow the American response is lacking and that rests in the lap of the President. My point is that politicizing a dangerous health issue right before an election reeks of partisan BS. This could be a serious problem and should be taken as such and not used as a political football that, based on the track record of Republicans, if they are successful, will only exacerbate the problem by their lack of concern for the common man and their dedication to the robber barons.

Carp-- you seem to relish attacking other folks responses (person) without ever offering up your own ideas for consideration/dissection. You ring hollow at best most of the time.

[Todd Juvinall]

JoeK, the book you cite is crap. Also, your real name is not Joe Koyote, but by manipulating my real name to try and denigrate are just too childish. What a hoot. Reagan is not to blame for AIDS and its spread. Homosexual men are. You are just ignorant.

[fish]

Posted by: Joe Koyote | 22 October 2014 at 10:37 AM

What ideas would you have me put forward? The issue was the slow and inept response that George (as well as myself and others) saw emanating from the White House...not to mention the dubious proposal that it was just dandy that "folks" (there's that word again) entering from areas where the disease had established a foothold.

If you have gripes about the Reagan response to AIDS I'm all ears.

[George Rebane]

JoeK 1037am - That is a very cynical accusation since the sequester was an across-the-board cut compromise that hit all government agencies. I take it back, it's not a 'very cynical accusation', it's bullshit. Here's what really happened, and it's a matter of the federal record not spin (aka lies).
http://dailycaller.com/2014/10/14/obama-planned-to-cut-cdc-budget-for-public-health-preparedness-and-response/

Gregory 1027am - It was just another one of my clumsy attempts to be generous. Apologies.

[Joe Koyote]

George: The Daily Caller is hardly a credible source. I love it how you quote and use for sources all of these right wing blogs and websites and then cry about the inaccuracies of the "leftist" media. It is a well known fact that for every possible bone of contention there is a right wing propaganda site that provides the necessary "information" to support right wing ideas and causes from climate change, to WMDs, to Benghazi. Daily Caller (started by Tucker Carlson) is just another example of the right wing noise machine in action. The fact that sequester was, as you claim, "an across the board cut compromise" doesn't change the fact that CDC had their funds cut and this could turn out very bad. Across the board cuts are a stupid and senseless way to approach government, unless the purpose thereof is to put forward Grover Norquist's "starve the beast" scenario.

[George Rebane]

JoeK 1005am - Nice change of subject Joe, but recall your 1037am charge was that Republicans did a selective cutting of the CDC budget. And as usual, a liberal always claims that "funds were cut" for this or that program/agency when in fact they were increased, but not to the extent that you and yours wanted.

And yes, the Daily Caller is a conservative blog the posts of which you dismiss on their face. Since your leftwing news outlets never inform you of these matters of public record, you may be forgiven for not knowing about the source, extent, and effects of the bipartisan sequester. Sail on, in surety of purpose and unafraid!

[Keen Observer]

Joe, not a big fan of "starve the beast", but I think you can agree that when it comes to government, more funding does not necessarily equate to better results. In fact, "government efficiency" is perhaps the best example of an oxymoron in the English language. This fact holds true regardless of the party steering the chariot.