Napolitano Flip-Flops – Make Up Your Mind!
Active or Passive – which one is it?
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is asserting that the description she initially gave of the border swine-flu monitoring effort no longer applies.
Appearing Wednesday before a Senate panel, Napolitano said that “passive surveillance” is “not an accurate picture of what is going on” at U.S. entry points. She had used that term Tuesday morning to describe the nature of the monitoring for illness.
On Wednesday, Napolitano said that U.S. officials are “actively” questioning visitors at the border, asking questions about “whether they are ill, their travel history and the like.”
She also discounted turning to thermal meters to gauge whether people are carrying a fever, and Napolitano also said she does not believe the facts of the current situation would merit closing the borders.
Kabuki Theater: Sebelius Confirmed for HHS
Poof! Sebelius is now the head of HHS! In a 65-31 vote by congress, another “crisis,” the swine flu, was used as smoke and mirrors and a reason to rush her confirmation.
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius won Senate confirmation Tuesday as the nation’s health and human services secretary, thrusting her into the middle of a public health emergency with the swine flu sickening dozens of Americans.
The 65-31 confirmation vote came after Democrats urged quick action so that Sebelius could get to work leading the federal response to the flu outbreak.
There they go again… Democrats calling for quick action – where have we heard that before? The stimulus package? How is that working out for you America?
“We find ourselves in the midst of a global crisis,” said Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn. “What we’ve been missing in all of this is the head of the Health and Human Services Department.”
And we should really take what corruptocrat Chris Dodd says seriously!?
Sixty votes in the 100-seat Senate were necessary for approval. Immediately after the vote Sebelius resigned as governor in Kansas and headed to Washington to be sworn in. She drove directly from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland to the White House, where she took her oath in the Oval Office.
“We wanted to swear her in right away because we’ve got a significant public health challenge that requires her immediate attention,” Obama said, standing beside the last Cabinet official to win Senate approval.
“We need all hands on deck,” he said. “I expect her to hit the ground running,”
Sebelius immediately went to the White House’s Situation Room for a briefing with Obama’s homeland security adviser, John Brennan, and other officials dealing with the first domestic test of the administration, which turns 100 days old on Wednesday.
Sebelius, 60, a two-term Democrat, was the first of 20 HHS officials requiring Senate approval to win it, and she heads to work with many team members missing. The Senate hasn’t acted on Obama’s nominees for deputy HHS secretary or commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, and Obama hasn’t even nominated people for other key jobs, including surgeon general and assistant secretary for preparedness and response.
There’s also not been an appointment for head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, another component of the sprawling HHS, which has 65,000 employees and a $750 billion budget.
Don’t most executives or bosses that have leadership skills, line up qualified, intelligent, ethical individuals for necessary and significant jobs? I forgot who I was talking about for a second though, the man only ever had 143 days in the senate and has never so much as run a lemonade stand.
The whole process suffered a setback when Obama’s first pick for HHS secretary, former Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota, withdrew in February over unpaid taxes.
Let’s not forget that Sebelius also had tax problems and shady contributions from pro abortion doctors.
Though the swine flu will be an immediate focus, Sebelius will also be charged with shepherding Obama’s overhaul of the nation’s $2.5 trillion health care system to reduce costs and cover some 50 million uninsured Americans.
This will be called the reach around bill – just don’t drop the the soap!
PC Police: “Don’t Call it Swine Flu”
If you thought things couldn’t get anymore idiotic, well hold onto your hats!
Janet Napolitano and some foreign governments are upset at the official name of the flu epidemic that is spreading around the globe.
Apparently it isn’t kosher to say swine 
especially when this strain of the flu has more human and avian components and it is not specifically caused by pork or pork food products.
I say – who cares? Call it the Flying Meatball Virus for heaven’s sake – does it really matter?
What’s in a name? U.S. pork producers are finding that the name of the virus spreading from Mexico is affecting their business, prompting U.S. officials to argue for changing the name from swine flu.
At a news briefing, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack took pains to repeatedly refer to the flu as the “H1N1 virus.”
“This is not a food-borne illness, virus. It is not correct to refer to it as swine flu because really that’s not what this is about,” Vilsack said.
Israel has already rejected the name swine flu, and opted to call it “Mexico flu.” Jewish dietary laws forbid eating pork.
The Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health also objected to the name, saying the virus contains avian and human components and no pig so far has been found ill with the disease.
And there is growing sentiment in the farm sector to call it the North American virus — although disease expert Anthony Fauci told a Senate hearing the “swine flu” designation reflected scientific naming protocol.
Give me a break!
Update: US Declares National Health Emergency; Close the Borders! Swine Flu Outbreak
UPDATE:
The U.S. is declaring a public health emergency to deal with the emerging new swine flu.
The precautionary step doesn’t signal a greater threat to Americans. But it allows the federal and state governments easier access to flu tests and medications.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napilotano says roughly 12 million doses of the drug Tamiflu are being released from a federal stockpile so that states can get it if needed.
The death toll in Mexico has risen to 81 caused by the recent swine flu outbreak. The swine flu is not just confined to Mexico, and the latest reports disclose that 8 students in New York City are infected, 2 people in Kansas have been confirmed and there have been cases in Texas and California.
Barack Obama was also greeted by a man who had the swine flu and recently passed due to the aggressive nature of the virus. Robert Gates has stated that Obama’s health is fine and there are no signs of any of the flu-like symptoms that come with the virus.
“The president’s trip to Mexico has not put his health in any danger,” said spokesman Robert Gibbs.
The World Health Organization’s director-general, Margaret Chan, said the outbreak of the never-before-seen virus is a very serious situation and has “pandemic potential.” Obama was in Mexico last week to meet with top government officials and talk about the growing problem with drug smuggling and border violence.
Now is not the time to listen to the babbling of Janet Napolitano about border control. This is the perfect time and reason to close down the borders. Like the Democrats always say, “Never waste a crisis.” Congressman Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) made a plea to close the borders on Saturday:
The “swine flu” that has infected more than 1,000 people in Mexico has led a lawmaker on the House Homeland Security Committee to call on U.S. officials to close the southern border.
Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) said the border should be closed until the threat is resolved.
“The public needs to be aware of the serious threat of swine flu, and we need to close our borders to Mexico immediately and completely until this is resolved,” Massa said in a statement.
“I am making this announcement because I see this as a serious threat to the health of the American public and I do not believe this issue is receiving the attention it needs to have in the news,” Massa said.
The CDC has stated that it is too late to stop an outbreak of swine flu and several governors that have constituents infected by this virus are calling on the CDC to provide them with antiviral medications to prepare for the worst:
Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) Saturday asked the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 37,430 courses of antiviral medications from the Strategic National Stockpile as a precaution after three cases of swine flu were confirmed in Texas.
The medication will be available for treatment of those with confirmed or suspected cases of swine flu as well as for healthcare providers who may come into contact with the patients, Perry said.
All three of the Texas cases involved high school students from the same school in Guadalupe County.
The first two became ill in early April and on Thursday test results confirmed both had swine flu.
The third student became ill until this past week.
Please, let’s pray and keep our fingers crossed that this does not become a large pandemic that sweeps the nation or is a form of bio-terrorism. Keep those afflicted in your thoughts and prayers.
For key statistics and FAQ’s on the swine flu visit the CDC link…
