Posted on 06/20/2002 9:06:32 PM PDT by Pokey78
Edited on 04/23/2004 12:04:36 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Don't give antiterrorism a bad name. And do prevent smallpox.
The results are in, a consensus is forming, we want you onboard.
It appears we hit a nerve last week when we asserted that Homeland isn't really an American sort of word but a European, or rather Teutonic, sort of word, and should be retired as the name of the government's new antiterrorism agency. In the past year no one has wanted to make an issue of this when other things, such as whether terrorists planned to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge, seemed more pressing. But if we wait for a perfect time to stop Homeland we'll never do it. And it must be done, because words matter.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
America IS our home, and defending it is defense of our homeland. The military is called Department of Defense and that sounds the way it should. Crisp, clean, efficient. Defending our homeland should be warm, and close, and emotional. It should evoke the image of hearth and home.
Yes, the New Jersey Governor did the right thing passing out the pills to prevent radiation sickness. (Kudoes to him!)
Yes, we should be preparing to innoculate the American people against smallpox, at the soonest possible date.
Oh, and YES, Peggy is still one of the smartest and most articulate people on the planet!! ;-) She's on a one-woman crusade to wake the American people up to the incredible dangers we are potentially facing...and I think we ought to help her.
Thanks for posting this, Pokey!
EV
. . . pleasant ping for Pokey and Peggy
Thanks for the ping, Slut!
Mrs
That said, people should realize a few things.
ONE: Smallpox vaccine can kill people. I remember seeing two cases of vaccinia when I was an intern: one a small child, one an adult with chronic leukemia. Nowadays, the danger list not only these groups, but all adults on chemotherapy and all HIV patients.
Second, if you want to become upset, read the scenerio of Dark Winter. Dark Winter>. It is very frightening.
Ironically, one way to really keep the terrorists from spreading smallpox here is to warn Iraq and Iran about what would happen if they DID spread smallpox here. You see, smallpox is airborne. So anyone in contact will get it. It has, however, an incubation period. Since Americans fly all over the world, if smallpox was released here, it would quickly become a world wide epidemic. Iraq and Iran would not be immune.
So if we see any country immunizing their populations, we should really be upset. In the meanwhile, since even terrorists have families, we should trumpet the fact that if they try to kill us, their families would just as likely die of the smallpox as we would--perhaps at a higher rate, since we do have a small amount of anti viral antibiotics that would probably lower our death rate.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.