Notwithstanding that this flu business will end up being a smaller deal than the tone of the news would tell you, the wingnuts are in Full Freakout Mode over his thing:
- Glenn Beck thinks that Obama is reacting to the swine flu outbreak too fast — fast enough to fully staff the DHS while we’re not looking!
- Fred Thompson (when did he get a radio show?) thinks that the Obama Administration is reacting so fast, that it has to be political. Thompson should be ashamed of himself. People of his age are at greater risk for the flu.
- And the Drug Addict himself thinks that the government is using this crisis to get us conditioned to taking orders. So — can we get an Executive Order that makes sure that Rush does NOT get the evacuation notices during this year’s hurricane season?
A good rundown on the obstructionism over pandemic flu preparation is from John Nichols who makes this point:
Rove specifically complained that Obey’s proposal included “$462 million for the Centers for Disease Control, and $900 million for pandemic flu preparations.”
This was wrong, the political operative charged, because the health care sector added jobs in 2008.
As bizarre as that criticism may sound — especially now — Rove’s argument was picked up by House and Senate Republicans, who made it an essential message in their attacks on the legislation. Even as Rove and his compatriots argued that a stimulus bill should include initiatives designed to shore-up and maintain any recovery, they consistently, and loudly, objected to spending money to address the potentially devastating economic impact of a major public health emergency.