I started to write this as a comment on Page's diary regarding Bush's statements yesterday at his Rose Garden press conference about using the military during a pandemic of the avian flu.
It was so long (my comment AND the thread!) that I decided to post it as a diary.
Don't bash me for duplicating a thread - I have strong opinions about this subject, having opposed the use of sprayed pesticides to combat West Nile virus in Connecticut from 1999-2001.
I appreciate Page's dissemination of the topic. However, I am appalled that Democrats and Republicans alike are fearmongering about avian flu in the same way I saw West Nile virus (bird disease mutating into human pandemic) fears marketing by the CDC in those years.
First, I do agree that the avian flu is real, that public health officials should be concerned, and that they should be working with epidemiologists and bird experts to be tracking and investigating the disease and thinking about reasonable precautions and pre-plans in the event that the disease becomes of direct concern to large populations.
Having said that, I was chilled at President Bush's vigorous and detailed remarks yesterday at his Rose Garden Press Conference, regarding avian flu and his ruminations over the use of the U.S. military to quarantine Americans in proximity to infection.
I heard the press conference on the radio, then watched it on CSPAN, then read the transcript of the remarks.
He began his answer to the question with his discussion of the use of the military and he ended his very specific overview of avian flu with his remark about using the military.
I am disgusted by his remarks and by the general hysteria I see being drummed up in the media and on political blogs over talk of pandemic.
This is fearmongering at its worst. This is politicization of a public health matter. This is outrageous speculation and misuse of pre-planning.
George Bush repositioned a viral epidemic into a bioterrorism scenario yesterday, with his speculations about the role of the military in containing populations.
I think, as with 9/11 and the marketing of West Nile Virus by the CDC (Anthony Fauci had his hand in that one, as well), our government is spinning something out of the public health arena and into political arenas, and George Bush is using a real matter to further his own agenda to limit our civil liberties; control the U.S. population using language of fear, maintain political power at all costs; and to facilitate hugely lucrative vaccine contracts for his corporate supporters.
Avian flu is, as is West Nile virus, to date A BIRD FLU, with humans incidentally vectoring the disease after contact with infected birds. All the fear is centered around the hypothesis that this virus will mutate and become transmissable human to human.
The fear, not the probability.
I might add that I find it very convenient that our government officials all fear a virus that will spread from Asia, through eastern Europe, and into America. There's a nice zenophobic flavor to that, and not a small amount of symbolism.
If American government officials are truly worried about terrorists in America, they should fund real security measures that include handled baggage at ports, airports, and transportation hubs. And they haven't.
If American public health officials are truly worried about avian flu in America they should investigate simple strategies to contain the avian flu at its source and plan and fund globally for those at highest risk of exposure - fund true measures like buying respirators and gloves for Asian farm factory workers to wear while handling fowl. And they haven't.
They are too busy planning vaccines and marketing campaigns that will scare the American public and justify their enormous agency budgets.
All this talk of pandemic and mutation and vaccines and stockpiling remedies - why are Democrats biting on this when we've lived through other pandemic scenarios that involved huge chunks of the U.S. treasury and months and YEARS of fear-mongering on the part of the CDC and our local, state, and federal governments?
There was a smaller news item yesterday about U.S. scientists working with Russian scientists to track migrating birds for incidence of the disease. That is a more practical way to address the spread of this disease.
I sincerely hope that our Congressional representatives are not convinced by Democratic voters to restrict our civil liberties out of fear of the avian flu.
I believe that the federal government has adequate power, under laws pertaining to public health emergencies, to activate resources and assist local and state health officials, during public health emergencies.
Finally, FEMA and the President didn't use the powers they already had during Katrina. I have seen nothing to indicate to me that the CDC is taking responsible and practical measures to prevent the spread of infectious diseases among evacuee populations in shelters and temporary housing or in the disaster zone, either.
The President, the military, the pertinent agencies, and our government don't need more power, they need to RESPONSIBLY EXERCISE THE AUTHORITY THEY ALREADY HOLD.