Wednesday, April 29, 2009

SWINE FLU! EVERYBODY PANIC!

Rick and Kay are both talking about swine flu.

Kay sent out this video from earlier this week through her Texans for Kay website...



Rick is just now going to give his second or third press conference on this issue in the past few days, and you can view it "LIVE" on the net (link).

The Ft. Worth Star Telegram has a nice read on what is being done to keep the probably overblown swine flu at bay (link). Excerpts follow...

Texas officials say they are doing their best to guard the border and protect residents.

The solution to protecting against swine flu is the same as protecting against smuggling or any other illegal activity.

"Secure the border between the ports of entry so no one can cross" without being cleared, said Steven McCraw, director of homeland security in Perry’s office. "You do this with boots on the ground, leveraging technology and making sure that people trying to get into Texas do so at ports of entry."

Then, U.S. Homeland Security officials work to ensure that those who enter Texas are legal and healthy.

"Obviously Texas is mindful, and the governor clearly understands . . . the importance of securing the Texas-Mexico border from all threats," McCraw said.

Massa, a member of the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, has asked for immediate action. "The public needs to be aware of the serious threat of the swine flu, and we need to close our borders to Mexico immediately and completely until this is resolved," he said.

Burgess has urged federal officials to not "underestimate the seriousness of this outbreak." And Rep. Joe Barton, R-Arlington, has said he is worried that President Barack Obama hasn’t named top health officials who would handle this outbreak.

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, questioned health officials during a hearing Tuesday, expressing worries that infected people may come into the U.S. through Texas’ airports and other ports of entry. "I feel we can more aggressively fight against the spread of the disease."

Closing the border entirely seems pretty drastic. Doesn't the regular ole flu kill a lot more people than this swine flu? I guess I just view this as mainstream media sensationalism, but I could be wrong.

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Hey now, campaign characters. Be nice. I know a lot of you on both sides, so I don't want any overly foul language, personal attacks on anyone other than the candidates themselves, or other party fouls. I will moderate the heck out of you if you start breaking the bounds of civility.