Althouse: "You Can Give — But Can’t Get

October 16, 2014

"You Can Give — But Can’t Get — Ebola on a Bus."

A paraphrase of something CDC director Tom Frieden said yesterday.

49 comments:

Jaq said...: I wish they would shut up about stuff they don't know about.

Obama' credibility is zero after 6 years of constant lies.; 10/16/14, 8:24 AM
traditionalguy said...: Statistically he is right about a given bus being safe while a given infected person is very dangerous.

But by this time next month the odds will much worse unless the CDC decides to do its job.; 10/16/14, 8:27 AM
Big Mike said...: Can't Democrats find anybody competent to put in charge of agencies?

And I like this by Mollie Hemingway. She asks a great question -- why have a "czar" responsible for addressing Ebola if the lady never does anything? (And never did, apparently.); 10/16/14, 8:29 AM
MayBee said...: This summer on an NPR interview, I heard him explain that upper level people at the CDC hadn't heard about misplaced smallpox and bird flu sample vials because the scientists sometimes are too rigorous.

GREENE: So just so our listeners know, that was back in the spring as well. A pretty harmless strain of the bird flu virus was contaminated by a much deadlier strain, and it took weeks for you to even learn about this. Which makes me wonder, is there some kind of cultural issue at the CDC that could explain why the head of the CDC doesn't learn about such a security lapse for so long?

FRIEDEN: Sometimes our scientists are so rigorous, they want to nail down every detail before they send information or tell anyone else about it. And, I think that's possibly part of the problem.

GREENE: You're suggesting that there are many scientists who might know there's something dangerous happening, but they want to, as you put it, rigorously investigate themselves before they actually report it up the chain. That sounds like a serious problem, potentially.

FRIEDEN: One of the things that we want to ensure, is that people understand that any time there might be a problem or there is a problem reported, CDC scientists are top in the world in their field. And that same rigor which we've been applying to finding and stopping outbreaks, that's the rigor we're now applying to improving safety at CDC.

----
I love that excuse. I wasn't hiding anything! I was just too busy being rigorous to report it!; 10/16/14, 8:29 AM
Bob Ellison said...: "One and one are two. Two and two are four."

(From an old Peanuts TV cartoon about Snoopy); 10/16/14, 8:30 AM
pm317 said...: The idiot in the pic must be the CDC director!; 10/16/14, 8:31 AM
pm317 said...: Bush was ridiculed endlessly for Katrina. This is Obama's Katrina on steroids.; 10/16/14, 8:32 AM
Bob Ellison said...: Frieden comes across as a good guy, and he's an MD, and he has an excellent speaking voice. He fits the pro-science model that leftists profess to love.

But he may be incompetent.; 10/16/14, 8:33 AM
Henry said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/16/14, 8:35 AM
Henry said...: The disjunction between the statements lies in the rhetorical fog that spews naturally from Mr. Frieden's bureaucratic lips.

Frieden said: "...if you are sick and you may have Ebola, should you get on a bus? And the answer to that is also no. You might become ill, you might have a problem that exposes someone around you."

A problem? You might have a problem?

How about:

If you are on a bus and someone with a fever VOMITS or SHITS on you, THEN, you are at risk. If you are sick, don't go on a bus, where you might VOMIT or SHIT on other people.; 10/16/14, 8:36 AM
MayBee said...: Bob Ellison- I hate his speaking voice. It's way too practiced to convey competence!; 10/16/14, 8:37 AM
RecChief said...: "Big Mike said...
Can't Democrats find anybody competent to put in charge of agencies?
"

The left prefers politically reliable over competence. It has been ever thus; 10/16/14, 8:39 AM
Big Mike said...: Love this quote from the LA Times, a paper that is normally in the tank for Dumbocrats:

"The White House insisted yesterday that no such travel ban would be forthcoming, but the crisis has rattled Obama enough to cancel a fundraising trip and stick around for a Cabinet meeting."; 10/16/14, 8:39 AM
traditionalguy said...: Frieden is a Political Specialist that was once a MD. That is what got him appointed since his PR ( lying) skills had made him New York Mayor Bloomberg's front man in health Bureaucracy Controlling of guns and controlling of soft drinks under the skilled pretense that they are diseases.

But Ebola disease is not a politician's pretense disease and poor Frieden has ZERO skills dealing with medical reality.; 10/16/14, 8:40 AM
Lauderdale Vet said...: "Ebola Is Airborne University Of Minnesota CIDRAP Researchers Claim"

"3% of Ebola incubations occur from 21 - 42 days"

"perhaps Ebola is mostly a danger for health workers"; 10/16/14, 8:43 AM
Bob Ellison said...: Imagine a fictional horror story in which Frieden rushes to the scene of the latest positive diagnosis and then rushes to the Oval Office to report on same, and to implore the POTUS to do something strong.

Then the POTUS gets infected.

Oh, no!

Not gonna happen. No rushing to scene, no rushing to White House, and certainly no POTUS infected with the urge to do something strong.; 10/16/14, 8:44 AM
Curious George said...: Well at least the "like your plan keep you plan" worked out.; 10/16/14, 8:44 AM
MayBee said...: Obama and Frieden are right about Ebola in that our medical system can handle it and it is most likely not going to be a widespread problem.

Their problem is they reasoned and planned backwards from that assumption and decided their highest priority was to tell people about how easy it is to stop it from spreading. As Stacy McCain says, they decided it was a Public Relations issue and not a Public Health issue.; 10/16/14, 8:44 AM
MayBee said...: Did you hear Josh Earnest's snotty response about who is coordinating the anti-Ebola efforts in the US?

This administration is just so snide.; 10/16/14, 8:45 AM
Big Mike said...: @RecChief, actually not true. Back when the original Richard Daley ran Chicago he put politically reliable people at the top of city agencies, but made sure they were backed up by highly competent staffers. I think my source for this is Mike Royko's book, but I could be mistaken.; 10/16/14, 8:47 AM
Shanna said...: If they hadn't spent all this time telling people Ebola is hard to catch, before two nurses promptly caught it, they would have a little more credibility.

If they had been ready with working protocols and education and training for the first case, they would have a little more crediblity.

If they didn't spend every press conference trying to tamp down supposed 'panic' instead of doing their jobs and stopping the disease, they would have a little more credibility.

As it is, all they have accomplished is to make people disbelieve everything the supposed 'experts' say. Which is the thing most likely to cause panic! Good job, guys.; 10/16/14, 8:47 AM
Darrell said...: You can give it on a bus. You can get it from the pus. You can't get it on a bus. Trust my words and make no fuss.; 10/16/14, 8:53 AM
Fen said...: Did you hear Josh Earnest's snotty response about who is coordinating the anti-Ebola efforts in the US?

I watched the WH Press Pool ask if Obama would appoint an Ebola Czar.

Apparently, they are all unaware that we already have one. And that she was busted funneling earmarked for Ebola to her cronies.; 10/16/14, 9:01 AM
Brando said...: I agree that this has a lot of similarities to Hurricane Katrina. The authorities' handling of this has been pathetic, and particularly the optics have been terrible--as with Katrina, it was important to convey a sense of competent leadership that was on top of the issue and could corral the public into cooperating effectively. The big difference is Katrina was localized and this Ebola mess is a worldwide threat.

There is no reason to trust anything from this Administration, just in case anyone was under the illusion that it was competent and full of integrity before. Repeated assurances that Ebola was "nearly impossible to catch" and that it was not going to enter the U.S., and then not spread beyond the one or two people who did bring it to the U.S. and were being treated, only to have events prove those assurances laughable, are only going to create more panic as people rightly realize those in charge are not reliable.

A perfect example is the exposed nurse being allowed to fly on a plane after treating the Ebola victim in the U.S. If this is what our authorities are doing (even while making sure we put our shampoo and toothpaste into baggies before boarding flights!), then we can't depend on them for anything.

If this continues, I wouldn't be surprised if holiday travel drops significantly as millions of Americans decide it's not worth getting Ebola to attend Thanksgiving this year. We'll see if that happens.; 10/16/14, 9:02 AM
Bob Ellison said...: Excellent, Darrell!

HHS has a cartoon on the subject.

"Facts about Ebola in the U.S. You can't get Ebola through air / You can't get Ebola through water / You can't get Ebola through food".

But you can get it through CDC-approved Hazmat suits and protocols.

Incompetence!; 10/16/14, 9:04 AM
Wince said...: "We're all Bozos on this bus."; 10/16/14, 9:21 AM
Mark Caplan said...: Last week, Pres. Obama issued a video where he stated you can't get Ebola from riding a bus. Dr. Frieden had a difficult choice: either repeat Obama's idiotic statement or contradict and embarrass his boss.; 10/16/14, 9:22 AM
Anonymous said...: Golly, I'm so confused. The Top Men are still telling us there is no need for travel restrictions from anywhere because we have sooper-dooper screening protocols (protocols!) in place, while affirming that Ms. Vinson should never have been allowed on that commercial airliner. On the same day.

(PTBs to public: "If you weren't a bunch of panicking rubes this would all make perfect sense.")

pm217 @8:31 AM - great link. Top men strike again!; 10/16/14, 9:26 AM
gerry said...: He fits the pro-science model that leftists profess to love.

But he may be incompetent.

The left is incompetent. Just watch Obama.; 10/16/14, 9:27 AM
Anonymous said...: Bob Ellison: HHS has a cartoon on the subject.

"Facts about Ebola in the U.S. You can't get Ebola through air / You can't get Ebola through water / You can't get Ebola through food".

But you can get it through CDC-approved Hazmat suits and protocols.

Lol. "Cartoon" is right.

This is starting to remind me of those idiotic "Kissing
Doesn't Kill" campaigns from back in the day.; 10/16/14, 9:40 AM
cubanbob said...: The country is in the best of hands.

Lets give a round of thanks to everyone who voted for Obama and the Democrats. The economy, Ebola, ISIS, the Russians and so many more owe so much to so many.; 10/16/14, 10:05 AM
Matt Sablan said...: I get what he's saying:

"If you are uninfected, the odds are you won't become infected."

"If you might be infected, don't risk infecting others."

But... get this guy a public speaking course.; 10/16/14, 10:12 AM
mikee said...: Do I want ebola now?

I do not want ebola now!
I do not want it on a bus!
I do not want it from your pus!
I do not want ebola now!
I do not want it, here or there!
I do not want it, anywhere!; 10/16/14, 10:39 AM
RecChief said...: Big Mike said...
@RecChief, actually not true. Back when the original Richard Daley ran Chicago he put politically reliable people at the top of city agencies, but made sure they were backed up by highly competent staffers. I think my source for this is Mike Royko's book, but I could be mistaken."

My family is originally from ChicagoLand. Born and partially raised in Capone's base, our house wasn't far from his party house actually. When we moved away, I was too young to know about city government, so I can't argue that point.

But if you're right, it looks to me like it's an exception that proves the rule. Besides was Daley a Leftist or just a corrupt Democrat?; 10/16/14, 10:45 AM
Birches said...: So I haven't been too worked up about this whole Ebola thing.

Until yesterday. The incompetence level that allows people who were exposed to ebola to go trotting around on an airplane is astounding. There are so many things wrong with that situation and it makes me sick to my stomach.

I actually have a scheduled flight on Frontier on Tuesday and have been rethinking my plans. I do believe the plane (even if it was the infected one) will be safe by then, but .... this whole thing is just a giant cluster...; 10/16/14, 11:03 AM
PB said...: Anyone who says something so illogical and stupid, cannot be trusted on anything else.

So where is the Ebola Czar? There is one, BTW.; 10/16/14, 11:10 AM
Megaera said...: @PB Reader: Lurie? The fact that she hasn't made a public appearance yet tells me that this administration's storied ranks of profoundly incompetent administrators may have, in her, reached a nadir so deep there is no worse from there. Which is why they're hiding her. What, after all, is she going to say? She had One Job -- and she didn't do any part of it -- and got paid for years to misdirect her budgets that we now most desperately need the fruits of into more democrate vote-buying projects and lesbian-obesity investigations?; 10/16/14, 11:28 AM
Anonymous said...: Frieden?
Obama?
Lurie?

Now we're hearing that Lisa Monaco, and unelected, un-confirmed Harvard History major, Chicago Lawyer, political advisor in the WH is in charge of the Nation's Ebola response by the virtue of being:

United States Homeland Security Advisor

WTF:

Enough with the JV, Get the Commander of USAMRIID on the phone, he knows Ebola, and Epidemiology...; 10/16/14, 11:50 AM
NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...: Brando said...

A perfect example is the exposed nurse being allowed to fly on a plane after treating the Ebola victim in the U.S. If this is what our authorities are doing (even while making sure we put our shampoo and toothpaste into baggies before boarding flights!), then we can't depend on them for anything.

An NBC affiliate in Dallas is reporting that she checked in with the CDC before flying back to DFW. They checked their (woefully inadequate) guidelines and told her she was ok as long as her temperature was below 100.4F.

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Ebola-Patient-Contacted-CDC-Before-Flight-Agency-Says-279365622.html?_osource=SocialFlowTwt_DFWBrand; 10/16/14, 11:59 AM
damikesc said...: I watched the WH Press Pool ask if Obama would appoint an Ebola Czar.

Apparently, they are all unaware that we already have one. And that she was busted funneling earmarked for Ebola to her cronies.

She been fired?

Is it sad that I actually have to ASK that question?

Michael Brown didn't fuck up Katrina anywhere nearly as badly as this czar fucked up ebola.; 10/16/14, 12:33 PM
Brando said...: "An NBC affiliate in Dallas is reporting that she checked in with the CDC before flying back to DFW. They checked their (woefully inadequate) guidelines and told her she was ok as long as her temperature was below 100.4F."

I read that--absolutely astounding. They knew she had been exposed, and was running an above-normal fever, and still decided "what's the chances she really has Ebola? Hey, I'm not the one on the plane! Let's risk it!"

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the change we waited for!; 10/16/14, 12:40 PM
Brando said...: I can't even stand sitting next to a passenger who is suffering a cold--and think the airlines should hand out sterile surgical masks to all passengers to prevent infections. The idea that we're allowing people with Ebola to hack and cough their way through the flight is beyond belief.; 10/16/14, 12:41 PM
The Godfather said...: One difference between Katrina and Ebola is that the local and state governments had primary responsibility for dealing with Katrina; the federal role was to provide support and back-up as requested. The federal government has primary responsibility for dealing with a potential plague entering this country from overseas.

Another difference is that no one, not even a Democrat politician, claimed that Bush could have prevented Hurricane Katrina from striking the United States. But we all know that President Obama could have imposed travel restrictions that would have prevented the Liberian visitor from bringing Ebola to the United States.; 10/16/14, 1:24 PM
Anonymous said...: this is not really hard to understand it's like saying the following: "If you're drunk pilot you should avoid flying a plane because you're likely to kill someone. If you are an airline passenger you needn't worry about a drunk pilot as you're unlikely to encounter one."; 10/16/14, 1:27 PM
Anonymous said...: this is not really hard to understand it's like saying the following: "If you're drunk pilot you should avoid flying a plane because you're likely to kill someone. If you are an airline passenger you needn't worry about a drunk pilot as you're unlikely to encounter one."; 10/16/14, 1:28 PM
Anonymous said...: The second nurse who was infected called the CDC several times and was told she was safe to fly. Of course everyone blames CDC incompetence because they rightfully don't want any blame to fall on a sick nurse, but you have to not completely lose the ability to make your own calls above and beyond official channels. No one will care about your situation more than you do, especially an organization on which only generalized blame can fall.; 10/16/14, 2:55 PM
pm317 said...: Obama should read this:

"Officials credit tighter border controls, good patient-tracking and other medical practices, and just plain luck with keeping Ebola confined mostly to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea since the outbreak was first identified nearly seven months ago.
[..]
Border closings may also be helping halt the spread of Ebola.

Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau and Senegal, all of which share borders with at least one of the three most affected countries, have closed those borders."; 10/16/14, 3:18 PM
jr565 said...: How did Duncan get Ebola in Liberia? He wasn't sharing needles, or having sex with people with Ebola. He touched a woman who had Ebola while trying to help her get to a hospital. That may not be airborne, but it doesn't sound like it takes that much in the way of contact to get Ebola.; 10/16/14, 6:52 PM
Scientific Socialist said...: Friedan is nothing but a mouthpiece for the White House. His impressive CV notwithstanding, his testimony to Congress and media appearances have been rambling and incoherent. Dr. C.J. Peters, who probably knows more about Ebola than anyone on the planet, told the LA Times last week that it isn't known whether airborne transmission of the virus occurs and that he certainly wouldn't rule it out. Perhaps someone in the White House will pick up a phone and speak with Dr. Peters. Then again, perhaps not.; 10/16/14, 10:55 PM