Saturday punditry at its best. And they feel like talking.
Gail Collins:
As the White House’s unfiltered talking head, Biden is the perfect warning bell to show the White House when things are veering out of control. A kind of mental canary in the governmental mine shaft.
As the new strain of flu spread around the country, you could imagine the president going over a mental to-do list: Monitor situation carefully. Check. Make sure the medical infrastructure is working to prepare for any worst-case scenario. Check.
Be careful not to scare the public silly so they start cowering in their homes, terrified to get on a plane or even board the subway. Whoops.
WaPo:
Are we seeing a pandemic or a panic? ...
"We're very early on in figuring out what makes this virus tick. I am loath to make predictions about what an influenza virus that mutates so rapidly will do," he said. But he believes it will spread across the planet: "My prediction is that this strain will continue to spread, and it is very likely to become a pandemic virus, if it's not already a pandemic now. That does not mean that this has to be a very severe pandemic like 1918."
Michael T. Osterholm, an epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota, said the situation is analogous to forecasting a hurricane when meteorologists know only that there is a high-low pressure gradient in the Atlantic. "Everyone in one week wants an answer as to what it will do. Anyone who gives you an answer right now, do not listen to them about anything else because you cannot trust them," Osterholm said.
WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl noted yesterday that the public may misunderstand the word "pandemic." The term refers to where an illness spreads, not its severity.
my bold; an important point.
Maryn McKenna:
National and international health authorities said today that they have begun the first steps in manufacturing a vaccine against the novel H1N1 swine influenza, though they appeared to disagree over whether full-scale manufacturing will move forward.
But flu-vaccine experts in several countries warned that major manufacturing and regulatory hurdles lie in the path toward achieving a pandemic vaccine, hurdles that have been recognized by governments for years but never successfully dealt with.
There is agreement on one point: The current seasonal flu vaccine will not protect against the novel virus. If authorities decide that a swine-flu vaccine is necessary, a new one will have to be formulated.
The Opinionator:
So how did this debate evolve, both on the Hill and in the blogosphere? The Washington Post’s Perry Bacon Jr. reports that many of the party’s heavy hitters are,if not exactly panicking, at least looking to change the dynamic.
Joel Connelly:
An epidemic can change your whole way of looking at things.Last month, Texas Gov. Rick Perry touted his state's "sovereignty" at a teabag rally. As Mexico's swine flu epidemic claimed its first victim, in his state, Perry quickly asked for 37,430 courses of anti-viral medications from the federal government's Strategic National Stockpile.
We need government. The country must come together for the common good -- protection not just from Islamic terrorists, but against epidemics, erupting volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, and boardroom bandits. Government is a needed enforcer of honesty and ethical behavior in the marketplace.
Tell Republicans that.
Tom Goldstein:
What next then? The president must pick a nominee under overhanging threats and bombast from both the left (which fears disappointment) and the right (which has no genuine influence on the process, but recognizes the great importance of the Court).
Terence Samuel:
The dramatic party-switch by Pennsylvania bulldog Sen. Arlen Specter can be read as a final denouement in the slow, steady collapse of the Republican Party. Though the decline was triggered by the disastrous presidency of George W. Bush, it was the decision by congressional Republicans to so fully and uncritically embrace the Bush agenda and the president's arrogance that cost the GOP so dear.
David Paul Kuhn:
Specter's Northeast does mirror the Southern Flip. When Christopher Shays' lost in 2008, the GOP lost its last House seat in New England. Democrats now hold every seat in six of the nine northeastern states. They control nine of the twelve Senate seats in New England.
Republicans are in worse shape in the West. In 1976, Jimmy Carter won 51 percent of the Northeast. In 2008, Obama won 59 percent. Between those same years, Democrats went from winning 40 to 57 percent of the West.
Some Republicans, like conservative stalwart Newt Gingrich, say they take solace in Democrats holding all the power. It's now Democrats' political football to score or possibly fumble. But what political party would not rather be the one with the ball?