The movie, the myth, the mess, the mayhem?

 

 

"Hollywood is supposed to mimic real life, not visa versa..."

How is it possible that the greatest nation ever to inhabit this planet, can be so unprepared? How is it, that with a disease such as Ebola (which has been around for decades), we could have been caught so flat footed? How is it, after our close call with the Avian Flu a few years ago, we basically have learned nothing? Questions, questions, questions, and very few answers.

I think to make sense of what is going on, I will address three elements of our current health crisis - the movie, the myth and then the mess.

The Movie - In 1995, a new type of movie hit the silver screen. It was not a happy go lucky film as it dealt with a very tough subject - the outbreak of a killer disease. For those who do not remember the movie, I will give some background. A fictional disease, very similar to Ebola, erupts in Africa. It started with monkeys and then was transmitted to humans. The United States Army went over to Africa and tried to (in a clandestine manner) to destroy the disease. They thought they had it tamped down until a couple of decades later it resurfaced in another part of Africa. While that was being dealt with, somebody illegally (and against "protocol") brought an infected monkey into the United States. The genie was out of the bottle, and all hell broke loose.

We seemed to have learned nothing from the movie. Disease started in Africa, the government was not truthful with the American people, and it made its way to the United States. Movies are supposed to mimic reality, not visa versa.

The Myth - We have had every government "expert" from the President to the head of the CDC tell us not to worry about the man behind the curtain. We were told this disease is almost impossible to catch, unless the infected person is almost on his death bed. The President also told us we could be sitting next to an infected person on a bus and probably be okay. Well guess what? The two health workers who helped treat Patient Zero, were wearing some kind of protective suits. It is not okay. We are not okay. The myth that this disease is hard to catch has proved itself to be just that - a myth.

The Mess - Whereas the CDC has been telling us Ebola is nothing more to worry about than the common cold, that is not the case with other global institutions. Just this week, the World Health Organization (WHO) said if we don't get control of this thing by the end of the year, we can expect to see 10,000 new cases per week. Yesterday, a spokesperson for the United Nations said the world has only sixty days to act. After sixty days, we will have crossed the Rubicon. Besides a global pandemic, widespread famine will ensue. In other words, our world will look like the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse have arrived and we are galloping into the end times.

Just like in the movie Outbreak, we need to determine if the genie is already out of the bottle. With infected people flying on airplanes and walking around freely in airports, has our luck run out? If Ebola starts to spread in this country, I am going to hang the blame directly around the neck of our clueless government. MOST civilized countries have initiated a travel ban to hot zone countries in Africa. Not us. To look "PC", as well as to keep "immigration reform" alive and kicking, our government has put the entire country at risk.

If we make it though this, and I am praying that we will, our country needs to regroup and look at priorities. We the citizens, need to remind our government of a very basic truth. Their number one priority is the protection and well being of the citizens. Be it Ebola, ISIL, or whatever, this current Administration richly deserves a classic fail.