Posted on 10/02/2014 2:06:48 AM PDT by markomalley
White House spokesman Josh Earnest rebuffed questions Oct. 1 about a possible federal ban on travel from Ebola-stricken countries, and said the president will rely instead on government medical professionals to contain imported epidemics.
“These are the experts, they have a keen understanding of how to prevent the spread of this disease,” he said, adding “we can stop the spread of Ebola in its tracks.”
“What are the conditions under which the President would order or want to see travel restrictions?” asked one reporter.
“We are confident that the sophisticated medical infrastructure that exists here in the United States can prevent the wide spread of Ebola,” Earnest said.
“Doesn’t that imply that we’re willing to accept a certain number of people coming into this country who will be diagnosed and develop Ebola once they’re here?” the reporter asked.
“We live in a global world, and what we’re confident that we can do is to both protect the safety of the traveling public and … protect the broader American public by rigorously applying the kind of medical protocols that are recommended by the Centers for Disease Control,” Earnest replied.
The president picked a bad week for putting additional faith in government professionals.
Earnest spoke Oct. 1, shortly after he had announced the resignation of Julia Pierson, the veteran leader of the professional security agents in the United States Secret Service. Pierson’s resignation came after a series of high-profile security flubs had exposed the president to lethal attacks, and one day after Earnest said that Obama has full confidence in the secret service director.
Earnest’s statement also came only a few days after Obama has blamed mistakes by the professional intelligence officials for the U.S. failure to block the spread of the jihadis group in northern Iraq.
Earnest’s statement also came on the same day that officials announced a possible second case of Ebola in the country, following the unhindered arrival of a disease-carrier on Sept. 20th. The new victim may have contracted the disease after medical professionals sent the Ebola carrier home after a flawed medical check on Sept. 24.
The two Ebola cases may be politically damaging to Obama, partly because public confidence in Obama’s management has already fallen.
On Sept. 16, Obama minimized the danger of Ebola infections in the United States. “In the unlikely event that someone with Ebola does reach our shores, we’ve taken new measures so that we’re prepared here at home,” he said Sept. 16.
On Sept. 30, federal officials announced that the carrier had flown from Liberia into the United States on Sept. 20, and had began to show obvious symptoms of the disease on the 24th. Disease-carriers can transmit the disease once they have symptoms. But a person can be infected with the disease, and not show any symptoms, for up to 21 days.
The Liberian is now being treated in a Dallas hospital, and federal officials are trying to contact and monitor everyone — including several children — who were in contact with him. Additional travelers to the United States are likely, partly because U.S. health-centers are much better than African hospitals.
Earnest tried to downplay the president’s Sept. 16 “unlikely event” comment.
“You might be slightly over-parsing what the President said, because when he delivered those remarks there had been at least a couple of health care professionals who had been trying to provide medical services to Ebola victims in Africa who had been returned to the United States for treatment,” Earnest said at the Oct. 1 press conference. “So obviously these individuals who had contracted Ebola in the performance of their medical work were on the shores of the United States of America,” he claimed.
The State Department has given visas to roughly 13,500 people from the Ebola-stricken countries of Sierra Leon, Guinea and Liberia, according to federal data.
The data doesn’t show how many of those people are already in the United States, but visitors from those countries should be excluded until they can show they’re free of Ebola, said Jessica Vaughan, policy director at the Center for Immigration Studies.
“It would be reasonable to designate Ebola as a communicable disease of public health significance [because] that would enable the State Department to impose tighter restrictions on visitors” countries with Ebola outbreaks, she said.
Under current policies, only people with obvious symptoms — principally, a high temperature — are excluded by immigration officials.
Something to bookmark as famous last words.
You have got to be kidding me.
“the president will rely instead on government medical professionals to contain imported epidemics”
So essentially what he’s saying is that he is going to allow Ebola to come and be spead here by who knows how many damn people and then let the CDC and doctors deal with it am I right?
This is appalling.
The so-called “health care professionals” managed to botch the first case they’ve had!
My head is spinning.
“Obamacare”
Is this satire?
It isn’t?!
Just wow.
Almost.. almost looks like a willful intent to allow ebola to get a foothold in this country...
It really does. It really makes me wonder. And I would be very much a newbie to that kind of thinking. But this. This is just incredible and willful malevolence.
I thought the same thing.
I hope the next ebola-infected dude who makes it to the U.S. has enough to scale the fence at the White House and bolt through the building to the Obama living quarters. I’m sure this jug-eared nitwit will be singing a different tune.
I hope the next ebola-infected dude who makes it to the U.S. has enough strength to scale the fence at the White House and bolt through the building to the Obama living quarters. Then I’m sure this jug-eared nitwit will be singing a different tune.
Defies common sense.
Excellent point. Well said.
Proclamation from King Obola:
C’mon in, free EBT cards, medical care, and instant citizenship for all!
(Just be sure you fill out your voter registration form before you die.)
Famous last picture? Sorry, dark humor.
Obama is worried. He is running out of time to destroy the majority of American Citizens by 2016. This Ebola Viral Dumping might take care of a few hundred thou. Obama is hopeful that Valery Garrett and George Soros will appreciate his efforts to fulfill most of his assigned duties.
Holder has finally quit in frustration. First they tried to fan the flames with the Trayvon/ Zimmerman case. But he was aquitted, and the air quickly whistled outta that balloon. Then, Obama and “his Familiar” Eric Holder, were both so sure that Fergusson, Missouri would definately turn into a major contagion of a race war that would spread coast to coast. Damn these calm and flexible Americans! They remain too damn optimistic, too Christian, to stay properly miserable and verklempt. Not enough are beaten down just yet. There is so much work to be done.
Obamislama never misses an opportunity to attack, damage, wreck the United States.
It’s criminal.
“White House: We Won’t Stop People From Ebola-Stricken Countries Coming To US”
And the response from the leaders of the opposition GOP was?
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