# It's official: Obama isn't taking the ebola threat seriously. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 17, 2014, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-obama-isnt-taking-the-ebola-threat-seriously/701589 "2014-10-17T15:35:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-obama-isnt-taking-the-ebola-threat-seriously/701589/141 "2014-10-27T02:14:55Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Well alleluia, 3 pages into the thread you admit it can spread this way. Oh, please - I brought that up ages ago but hey, if you’re only reading for panic maybe you missed that. But, you know, unlike HIV it’s pretty easy to know who has had Ebola - oh, excuse me, weren’t you the gent who last week was vomiting, shitting, and bleeding from his eyeballs? Unlike HIV where people remain asymptomatic _for years_ and can spread the disease while symptomatic, with Ebola if you aren’t sick/symptomatic you aren’t contagious except for that post-infection sperm thing, in which case don’t have sex with anyone who has had Ebola in the past two months. That’s what, about 2-3 months max a person is going to be a concern? Unlike HIV where you would be contagious _for years_, even decades. > [@](#): > > The more it spreads around the greater the risk a mutation will occur and spread. it’s not a small problem if this occurs. The Earth could get hit by a space rock the size of Mt. Everest tomorrow. The Yellowstone supervolcano could blow its stack. None of these are small problems either. You’re worried over something unlikely. Yes, Ebola should be watched. But the world would be better served if people would stop being so damn worried about mutation and locking up the non-contagious and put some more effort and material into dealing where there actually IS an outbreak occurring! > [@](#): > > I’ll repeat what I said in another thread. We currently screen for people not exhibiting systems. That does not stop people who are infected and do not show symptoms at the time of travel. People who are not exhibiting symptoms are not contagious. > [@](#): > > People who come in with flu symptoms are sent home. Yes, but most people with flu haven’t been to Liberia recently. It’s the combination of high fever plus patient history that’s important here. > [@](#): > > He could have been a junkie exchanging needles or a john with a prostitute. Not much of an issue in the US, is it? How many junkies travel to and from West Africa? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-obama-isnt-taking-the-ebola-threat-seriously/701589/142 "2014-10-27T02:33:10Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > People who are not exhibiting symptoms are not contagious. you’re repeating this after admitting it’s false. One does not have to show symptoms to spread the disease. > [@Broomstick](#): > > Yes, but most people with flu haven’t been to Liberia recently. It’s the combination of high fever plus patient history that’s important here. Yes, except people LIE. That’s why patient zero was sent home the first time. The world doesn’t revolve around your sense of social awareness and you can’t make policy based on it. Policy should be based on human factors and in the real world these diseases spread because people don’t behave as you would like them to. > [@Broomstick](#): > > Not much of an issue in the US, is it? How many junkies travel to and from West Africa? How many people were junkies when AIDS came over? You’re just hand waving this away. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-obama-isnt-taking-the-ebola-threat-seriously/701589/143 "2014-10-27T04:49:08Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > you’re repeating this after admitting it’s false. One does not have to show symptoms to spread the disease. . . . Hey, I know, I can take a tube of blood from a really sick person, store it in a freezer for two years, and then pull it out and inject someone with it. The patient is still “contagious” even though he might have been dead and cremated 23 months ago. You’re the one who is playing dictionary games, and you aren’t doing it well. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-obama-isnt-taking-the-ebola-threat-seriously/701589/144 "2014-10-27T08:38:12Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > you’re repeating this after admitting it’s false. One does not have to show symptoms to spread the disease. Before you get sick no, you can’t spread the disease. AFTER you survive, IF you are male, you can potentially spread it through sex. Not _before_ you get sick. Given how many people who survive Ebola show residual effects - extreme fatigue, joint and muscle pain, visual problems like sensitivity to light - I’m not sure you can describe them as “symptom-free” either. > [@](#): > > Yes, except people LIE. That’s why patient zero was sent home the first time. No, Thomas Duncan - you are allowed to use his real name rather than dehumanize him as “patient zero” - was sent home because an ER triage nurse dismissed some very vital bits of information. Namely, someone with a 103 degree fever had just come from Liberia. If that nurse had done her job properly, said, “Hey, guys, we might have Ebola here, this guy with a high fever is from a hotspot” he could have been admitted to isolation that night. Duncan _did not lie at the hospital_. He was entirely honest about his travel history. Stop pinning the blame for a hospital staff screw up on the patient. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-obama-isnt-taking-the-ebola-threat-seriously/701589/145 "2014-10-27T09:02:28Z")
…just watched this [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAz-F1QnyCk), seemed appropriate for this thread. (The difference between US and UK ebola coverage, mostly safe for work apart from a couple of mild swear words.) ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-obama-isnt-taking-the-ebola-threat-seriously/701589/146 "2014-10-27T11:13:19Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Did you compare the two biography extracts I posted? Wikipedia might be biased, but can you fight my ignorance by finding on-line bios slanted the other way? > > Based on the bios posted, your attempt to compare the two seemed [del]conservative[/del] bizarre. :rolleyes: You’re trying to wow me with Ron Klain’s resume, and it isn’t working. Klain would be a perfectly fine appointment to be Attorney General for the next few years. He has no background that qualifies him as Ebola czar. I repeat, this has nothing to do with Obama per se. This is just business as usual in Washington. If Mitt Romney were President and he’d made Ted Cruz (who’s also a top notch Harvard law school grad) Ebola czar, I’d wonder what the hell HE was thinking, too. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-obama-isnt-taking-the-ebola-threat-seriously/701589/147 "2014-10-27T12:09:10Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > You’re trying to wow me with Ron Klain’s resume, and it isn’t working. Klain would be a perfectly fine appointment to be Attorney General for the next few years. He has no background that qualifies him as Ebola czar. Does Obama have a background that qualifies him to be Ebola Czar? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-obama-isnt-taking-the-ebola-threat-seriously/701589/148 "2014-10-27T13:06:21Z")
Putting administrators in charge of administrative positions is fine. Klain doesn’t need to have a medical degree – he needs to have MDs on his staff. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-obama-isnt-taking-the-ebola-threat-seriously/701589/149 "2014-10-27T13:22:27Z")
In my experience, doctors tend not to be great managers and administrators, for the same reason that pitchers tend to be lousy hitters. It’s a completely different skill set. We’ve had ten Secretaries of Health and Human Services since 1980, when the department was renamed, and exactly two of them were physicians. If there was any outcry about the other eight, I don’t remember it. If Obama had really wanted to be a dick about it he could have appointed his Surgeon General nominee. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-obama-isnt-taking-the-ebola-threat-seriously/701589/150 "2014-10-27T15:41:35Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > In my experience, doctors tend not to be great managers and administrators, for the same reason that pitchers tend to be lousy hitters. It’s a completely different skill set. > > We’ve had ten Secretaries of Health and Human Services since 1980, when the department was renamed, and exactly two of them were physicians. If there was any outcry about the other eight, I don’t remember it. > > If Obama had really wanted to be a dick about it he could have appointed his Surgeon General nominee. As I said earlier, if, after consulting with the CDC, Obama genuinely believed there was no serious risk of an Ebola explosion in the USA, he should simply have said so. He should have said, “We have this situation under control, we have the best possible people in charge, and there’s really no need for an Ebola czar. There are MANY more serious threats facing America right now.” Sure, Hannity and O’eilly might have gripoed, but so what? If that statement was accurate, the whole thing would have blown over in due time. By appointing a czar, ANY czar, Obama was folding. He was saying, in effect, “We DON’T actually have this under control- the situation IS serious enough to require a serious new position to oversee it.” Well, if the situation IS serious, Ron Klain is all wrong for the job. But if the situation is NOT that serious, why appoint a czar? Just to signal the public that “We care, and we’re doing SOMETHING”? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-obama-isnt-taking-the-ebola-threat-seriously/701589/151 "2014-10-27T15:55:20Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > By appointing a czar, ANY czar, Obama was folding. He was saying, in effect, “We DON’T actually have this under control- the situation IS serious enough to require a serious new position to oversee it.” > > Well, if the situation IS serious, Ron Klain is all wrong for the job. I’ll ask again: if the situation IS serious, is Barack Obama all wrong for the job? ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-obama-isnt-taking-the-ebola-threat-seriously/701589/152 "2014-10-27T17:55:08Z")
Just make sure not to eat any Ebola-infected poop or mucus: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6Wrdal-zto) Can we eat it if there’s no infection present? ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-obama-isnt-taking-the-ebola-threat-seriously/701589/153 "2014-10-27T22:28:25Z")
The role of Ebola czar is, IMHO, as much to soothe the nerves of the huddles masses as it is to actually tackle the problem at hand. And in that view, Klain isn’t the right person for the job. He doesn’t have the gravitas nor medical experience _that the public want_ in someone who can soothe their concerns. To put it in pop culture terms: > [@](#): > > Think of how stupid the average person is, and then realize half of them are stupider than that. > -George Carlin > A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it. > -Ed Solomon, screenwriter for Men in Black The Ebola Czar need not be a great organizer. He/she needs to be a great communicator with sufficient experience so that the panicky public will believe his message. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-obama-isnt-taking-the-ebola-threat-seriously/701589/154 "2014-10-28T00:14:02Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Before you get sick no, you can’t spread the disease. AFTER you survive, IF you are male, you can potentially spread it through sex. Not _before_ you get sick. This is simplistic nonsense. 6am no fever, noon, fever/infectious. According to you the person is not infectious at 6am. In reality someone could go jogging and work up a sweat and pass off the virus prior to outward signs. > [@Broomstick](#): > > Given how many people who survive Ebola show residual effects - extreme fatigue, joint and muscle pain, visual problems like sensitivity to light - I’m not sure you can describe them as “symptom-free” either. I got a long list of friends who suffer from fatique, joint and muscle pain. It’s called getting older. > [@Broomstick](#): > > No, Thomas Duncan - you are allowed to use his real name rather than dehumanize him as “patient zero” - was sent home because an ER triage nurse dismissed some very vital bits of information. Namely, someone with a 103 degree fever had just come from Liberia. If that nurse had done her job properly, said, “Hey, guys, we might have Ebola here, this guy with a high fever is from a hotspot” he could have been admitted to isolation that night. [According to the nurse](http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/221905-er-nurse-duncan-lied-about-exposure-to-ebola) who dealt with him he lied about his contacts. Quote: “I explained to him, ‘We are under the impression that you may have been exposed to Ebola.’ And I said, ‘Where are you from?’ And he told me Liberia,” she said. “And I asked ‘Have you been in contact with anyone who’s been sick?’ ” “No. He said no,” Rose said. [Liberia](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/02/liberia-ebola-patient-thomas-duncan-airport-screening/16591753/)said he lied on his exit documents and threatened to arrest him. He did just exactly what people do, he lied about his situation. Again, people don’t act according to your standards of behavior. > [@Broomstick](#): > > Duncan _did not lie at the hospital_. He was entirely honest about his travel history. Stop pinning the blame for a hospital staff screw up on the patient. In the age of the internet all of this information is available. You were wrong about children not getting it. they have the same rate of infection as the men. you were wrong about it only be infectious when people show symptoms. It can be in semen or sweat. You were wrong about Duncan lying. He lied to board the plane and he lied in the hospital. It’s not about the Duncan. As patient zero his actions infected 2 other people. Luckily they were in the medical field yet one of them traveled after following the directions of the CDC. A doctor who was suppose to be self monitoring traveled all over the place. These are responsible people in the medical field. We can’t control people if they lie to screeners. Once it transitions beyond likely carriers to people who can’t pinpoint how they got it then there is no system in place to track it. You keep thinking in terms of well intentioned people traveling from point A to point B based on your standards of behavior. In the real world 7 billion people travel where they want, when they want and interact with who they want, how they want. They go to World soccer tournaments, Religious events, Vacations, or work related travels to overseas operations. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-obama-isnt-taking-the-ebola-threat-seriously/701589/155 "2014-10-28T00:25:53Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > This is simplistic nonsense. 6am no fever, noon, fever/infectious. According to you the person is not infectious at 6am. In reality someone could go jogging and work up a sweat and pass off the virus prior to outward signs. Er, no. Firstly, someone at the infectious stage of Ebola isn’t going to be jogging anywhere. And secondly, “working up a sweat” doesn’t somehow create magical airborne Ebola that will kill passers-by. Ebola is really, _really_ hard to catch. That’s why only a few thousand people have _ever_ caught it. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-obama-isnt-taking-the-ebola-threat-seriously/701589/156 "2014-10-28T00:45:40Z")
Oh my god, this is pointless. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-obama-isnt-taking-the-ebola-threat-seriously/701589/157 "2014-10-28T01:08:09Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > . . . In reality someone could go jogging and work up a sweat and pass off the virus prior to outward signs. . . . Do you have a cite for this? The doctors who work with Ebola say that you aren’t infectious until you already have started to show outward signs. What is the basis for your claim that contradicts theirs? > [@even\_sven](#): > > Oh my god, this is pointless. Well, largely, yeah. But we go through the motions, because ignorance and combating it go together like Ebola and intensive care. (Ignorance can be acquired by casual contact with persons who have it. There are few outward symptoms of ignorance. Occasional epidemics of ignorance have swept across entire countries. Fortunately, there is a cure.) ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-obama-isnt-taking-the-ebola-threat-seriously/701589/158 "2014-10-28T01:22:56Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > Er, no. Firstly, someone at the infectious stage of Ebola isn’t going to be jogging anywhere. And secondly, “working up a sweat” doesn’t somehow create magical airborne Ebola that will kill passers-by. > > Ebola is really, _really_ hard to catch. That’s why only a few thousand people have _ever_ caught it. The 4000 people who died from it did so in a short period of time. Thus the concern. If it was really really hard to catch they’d still be alive. And yes, someone carrying the virus can go jogging or bowling and work up a sweat. And people who sweat touch other objects or people who can then contract the disease by rubbing their eyes. to say it’s not infectious unless someone exhibits symptoms is nothing but a soundbite. It doesn’t hide in a little pocket in the body and suddenly spring forth at 101 deg of body temperature. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-obama-isnt-taking-the-ebola-threat-seriously/701589/159 "2014-10-28T01:27:28Z")
I’ll ask: if anyone thinks the situation is REALLY all that serious, then is the US the wrong country for you??? Remember, your tax dollars (going forward) might be spendable on any country on the planet. Get Thee Shoppin’…! (I hear that Price-Line gives great deals on flights too.) ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-obama-isnt-taking-the-ebola-threat-seriously/701589/160 "2014-10-28T01:57:27Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Do you have a cite for this? The doctors who work with Ebola say that you aren’t infectious until you already have started to show outward signs. What is the basis for your claim that contradicts theirs? Do you really think a virus lays dormant until body temperature rises like some kind of jack-in-the-box? Where is it hiding during this transition? Do you think everybody reacts the same? What’s going out for public consumption doesn’t even match policy. A single nurse publicly complains about being quarantined and the President asks the states to release her yet [the US soldiers under his command](http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/27/politics/soldiers-monitored-ebola/index.html) are under [del]quarantine[/del] “controlled monitoring”. It’s clearly a very dangerous virus capable of rapidly infecting a population and it’s being treated as such when someone has it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-obama-isnt-taking-the-ebola-threat-seriously/701589.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-obama-isnt-taking-the-ebola-threat-seriously/701589.md?page=9)