Swine Flu Was Hogwash

NANNY STATE PIGS OUT ON FLU HYSTERIA
By Jim Langan

If there was ever a definitive example of the nanny state America has become, it’s been the 24-7 obsession and reporting about the so-called “swine flu.” When did we become a nation of cowering weenies? Watching this thing play out on television has been surreal. As this is being written, there have been a grand total of 226 confirmed cases in 30 states. That’s it and the only death has been a two-year old Mexican boy visiting Texas. Sad but no real cause to hit the panic button.
But hit it we have. From the networks to the cable channels, it’s been the only story. It reminds me of the last few hurricane seasons. The media loved Hurricane Katrina. From Anderson Cooper emoting to reporters bashing President Bush’s slow response, it was a ratings bonanza. Now as soon as the media potentates spot a thunderstorm off the African coast, they begin speculating whether the tropical disturbance is headed for New Orleans. Nothing would make them happier.
The same with the flu coverage. The fact that it hasn’t and won’t come close to affecting a fraction of the people the regular winter flu’s does is brushed aside. Official statistics indicate nearly 13,000 people die annually from the flu in the United States. The fixation on the Mexican origin of the swine flu has a less than subtle undercurrent of racism and stereotyping.
Also lost in the hysteria is the fact this flu is by all accounts a mild one. No American has died. Did you see all the cameras in front of that school in Queens? Some students had apparently been to Cancun for spring break and came down with the flu shortly after they returned. (BTW, when did high school kids start going to Mexico for spring break?)
The fascinating thing was watching the media interview these kids. They were talking to kids who had already recovered and one kid I saw had it but said he felt OK. But if you were stuck in your house with only the TV for information, you’d have thought small pox had made a comeback. I kept looking out the window for the plague of locusts to go by.
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any crazier, the government got in the act. There’s nothing politicians love more than appearing wise and omnipotent in a real or perceived crisis. You needn't go back any further than Rudy Giuliani on 9-11. To be sure, he comported himself admirably during a difficult time but so would any other Mayor under those circumstances. But it hasn’t prevented him from making a career out of 9-11.
Most of the usual suspects did their predictable thing. Chuck Schumer headed for the TV cameras, Bloomberg intoned solemnly and Gov. Paterson said he was taking precautions. Various officials from the Center for Disease Control trotted before the microphones as well as a few cabinet secretaries. Vice-President Joe Biden weighed in about sneezing, subways and airplanes, making a perfect fool of himself.
Perhaps my favorite overreaction to date came from the good folks in Fort Worth, Texas or as a Texas friend of mine says, Fort Worthless. Upon one child being diagnosed with the flu, city officials closed the entire school system of 85,000 children. With reactions like that they should call this thing the chicken flu. But that’s the world we live in and our politicians, particularly democrats, encourage and want us dependent on the government. That’s where they derive their real power. Whether it’s welfare, guns, unemployment, food stamps or health care, liberal democrats want you to look to them for guidance and a handout.
As of late Sunday Margaret Chan, head of the World Health Organization lashed out at those with the temerity to suggest her organization may have overreacted to the swine flu outbreak. While conceding it isn’t nearly as virulent or widespread as her earlier forecast suggested Ms. Chan said “that doesn’t mean it won’t be back with a vengeance in a few months.” Sounds like she might rather be right than wrong.

President Obama has again acted like the grown-up in a room full of people shouting fire in a crowed theater. While conceding the flu could become a more serious issue, he has tamped down speculation and hysteria from the media. Then there has been the politicization of this outbreak. Conservatives have tried to make this about the border and immigration to the horror of democrats. In Egypt, Christian pig farmers are accusing the majority Muslims of trying to hurt them economically by ordering the slaughter of pigs. The fact that Muslims don’t eat pork has further hardened feelings.
Here’s my read on all this. What we have is a relatively contained outbreak of a mild flu. Developed countries like the United States are in no real danger of a serious epidemic. Like the Avian flu a few years ago, this too shall pass…until the media finds another situation to exploit.