Category: Health Care

Wuhan Virus: Is It Time to Panic Yet?

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Honestly, I am not the least bit frightened, but everybody — from the cable news networks to the World Health Organization — seems to be telling me I should be scared out of my mind:

President Donald Trump set out to steady a rattled nation and a diving economy in a solemn Oval Office address, but instead sowed more confusion and doubts that he is up to handling the fast-worsening coronavirus crisis.
Trump spoke to the nation at a fearful moment, when the rhythms of everyday American life are starting to shut down — with schools closing, the NBA suspended, hospitals on high alert and movie icon Tom Hanks saying he and his wife have the disease.
“The virus will not have a chance against us. No nation is more prepared or more resilient than the United States,” the President said, before painting a rosy picture of an economy that is already taking a beating from the virus fallout. The President unveiled several measures to help on that score, to help workers who lack sick pay but have to self-isolate and are hard-hit by shutdowns, though his call for a payroll tax cut is not popular in Congress.
Trump’s big announcement for keeping the virus at bay — what he said was a 30-day ban on travel to the US by Europeans and restrictions on cargo — was immediately engulfed in confusion.
The President later rushed to clarify on Twitter that he was stopping travel and not trans-Atlantic trade in goods, and officials said his plan did not apply to Americans or US permanent residents — though such travelers would face mandatory quarantines.

I like that phrase, “engulfed in confusion” — the media cause confusion, and then pretend to report objectively on the confusion they caused.

Tom Hanks says he and his wife felt sick while traveling in Australia and got tested, just to be safe. Is he now safer for having been tested? No. The way you treat coronavirus is the same way you treat the flu — get lots of rest, stay hydrated, etc. If you caught coronavirus, you might not even realize it. You’d get sick, and then about 72 hours later, you’d get better. It’s not the Black Death. It’s not typhus or cholera or polio.

So even though I am “at risk” — I covered CPAC, where one of the attendees tested positive for coronavirus — I am not panicked. People act as if I’m irresponsible for not being panicked.

“Stop being sarcastic, McCain — this is serious!”

What’s the antonym of “hypochondriac”? Because that’s my attitude. Stress is bad for your immune system, so don’t stress out. Relax. Have another cup of coffee and think about the irony of people who did all the right things — no smoking, no booze, plenty of exercise, a healthy diet — so that they could live to be 80 years old. And then they died because they got a virus from Wuhan, China. Sic transit gloria mundi.

Or imagine you survive, and sue the bastards:

A couple who was aboard a cruise ship carrying passengers who tested positive for coronavirus has filed a $1 million lawsuit, alleging that the company exposed them to the disease.
Ronald Weissberger, 74, and his wife, Eva Weissberger, 69, of Broward County, Florida, boarded the Grand Princess in San Francisco on Feb. 21 for what was supposed to be a relaxing vacation to Hawaii.
The ship was on its way back to California when it was told on March 4 to anchor off the coast after people on the vessel tested positive for coronavirus.
Vice President Mike Pence said Friday that among the more than 3,500 people aboard the ship, 21 were infected with the disease.
After several days of being anchored off the coast, the ship arrived to a port in Oakland on Monday and passengers were allowed to begin disembarking. Passengers are now being sent to quarantine centers at military bases in California, Texas and Georgia.

You paid for a “relaxing vacation to Hawaii,” and instead you got quarantined on a military base. Congratulations — you’re a survivor!

Enough sarcasm. Let’s hear from America’s Most Serious Politician:

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claimed many restaurants “are feeling the pain of racism” because people are avoiding Chinese food out of fear of contracting the coronavirus.
“Honestly, it sounds almost so silly to say, but there’s a lot of restaurants that are feeling the pain of racism,” the New York Democrat said Tuesday night on Instagram Live. “People are literally not patroning Chinese restaurants. They’re not patroning Asian restaurants because of just straight-up racism around the coronavirus.”

I’ve never much liked Chinese food, but I love Mexican food. It’s not about favoring one group of people over another. It’s just food.

Am I a racist for enjoying the combination platter at El Ranchero? Does my preference for tacos reflect a secret hatred of Chinese? Aren’t you glad AOC has made you aware of this social justice issue? But now I’m back to my customary sarcasm, which shows that I’m not serious about fighting the coronavirus pandemic. Serious people panic, you know.



 

Confirmed: You’ve Got the Racism Virus

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Years ago, when discussing amnesty for illegal aliens, I announced one exception to my universal opposition: “Don’t deport the hotties!”

Send us your supermodels, your Maxim cover girls, your Miss Universe contestants, we lift our lamp beside the golden door. There is no such thing as too much beauty, and America’s immigration policy should make a special exception for good-looking young women. Stephen Green calls our attention to the case of University of Chicago student Evita Duffy:

The university’s Institute of Politics ran an Instagram campaign last week, giving students a chance to fill in the blank after “I vote because…” Duffy can be seen in the video holding a sign that says, “I vote because the coronavirus won’t destroy America, but socialism will.”
You can probably guess what happened next, but it was serious enough that Duffy — who describes herself as a conservative Hispanic woman — had to take it public with an op-ed in the student paper. She wrote that she hoped her “vote” message might “encourage a lively and robust debate on economics,” but instead she received an “onslaught of online hate and threats of violence” from her tolerant, progressive friends. . . .

Fellow students attacked my character, my intellect, my family, my appearance, and even threatened me with physical violence, using foul and offensive language. I was called a racist and a xenophobe. Some compared me to animals. Others declared that they would personally stop me from voting, and many defended the personal attacks, saying I deserved to be bullied and that I don’t belong at the University of Chicago on account of my beliefs. I was told by many that I was the most hated person on campus. It was frightening. It was also hurtful, since some of the attacks came from people I considered friends.

You might wonder, “How can someone named ‘Duffy’ be Hispanic?” Her father is former Republican Rep. Sean Duffy, and her mother is Fox News contributor Rachel Campos-Duffy, a Latina from Arizona. Evita Duffy’s mother is not only Hispanic, but also a pro-life Catholic, and Evita is one of nine children in the Campos-Duffy family. #Winning!

Being called “racist” is just part of being a conservative nowadays, and I’ve long since become immune to such accusations. To be hate-listed by the SPLC is a sort of inoculation, and while I suppose my performance as an alleged “white supremacist” must be disappointing to anyone who takes the SPLC seriously, it’s fun to mock these perceptions by occasionally writing something that an earnest hate-watcher will have to read carefully in search of evidence — proof! — that I really am an awful hater: “Don’t deport the hotties!” Yes, there must be something racist about saying such a thing. I dare Heidi Beirich to explain why.

David Gura of MSNBC declared on Twitter that it is “racist” to refer to the current epidemic as the “Wuhan virus.”

It’s 2020: Everything is racism and everybody is racist.



 

Coronavirus: Not Dead, Not Scared

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After the news broke that a CPAC attendee had tested positive for coronavirus, liberals began their usual death-wishing — because liberals are sensitive and tolerant like that — and even some conservatives succumbed to the panic. Today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 2,000 points and the travel industry appears on the verge of complete collapse. Members of Congress are in “self-quarantine.” In a climate of fear, why am I the least worried man in America?

At times like this, it’s helpful to remember the last words of Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick. The veteran general led the VI Corps of the Army of the Potomac in Gen. U. S. Grant’s spring 1864 offensive in Virginia. After the Battle of the Wilderness, Grant’s army made a flank march to Spotsylvania Court House, where Sedgwick’s corps formed the center of the Union position. On the morning of May 9, the general went to inspect his front line, and some of his troops warned him not to expose himself to the incoming fire from Confederate sharpshooters. Because the Rebel line was about a half-mile away, Sedgwick scoffed at this caution: “They couldn’t hit an elephant at that distance.” He was wrong — a Southern rifleman put a bullet through his eye, and Sedgwick died instantly.
That’s an apt metaphor for my attitude about the coronavirus outbreak. Because liberals in the media are doing everything they can to incite panic over the disease, I consider it my duty as a conservative not to panic. This is like Gen. Sedgwick, who sought to give his troops an example of heroic fearlessness by his disdain of Confederate marksmanship. But my refusal to panic is not merely a political pose; I sincerely doubt the impact of coronavirus in the United States will approach anything like the worst-case scenarios being discussed on TV news. . . .

Read the rest of my latest column at The American Spectator.



 

Maryland Governor Declares State of Emergency Over Coronavirus Cases

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“Emergency” is not a synonym for “panic”:

The first three confirmed cases of coronavirus were reported in Maryland Thursday night. According to Gov. Larry Hogan the married couple in their 70s and an unrelated woman in her 50s from Montgomery County contracted COVID-19 while traveling abroad.
Hogan also declared a state of emergency in Maryland so that MEMA and the state health department can ramp up coordination between all state and local agencies and fast-track their response.
Although the governor said this news is “not a reason to panic,” he said residents should pay attention to information and be prepared. He also said Marylanders should go to work and schools like they normally do.
Here’s what else we know about the positive coronavirus cases in Maryland:

  • The state’s public health laboratory confirmed the first positive cases of coronavirus in the state.
  • The trio returned home from traveling abroad on Feb. 20. The state wasn’t notified until March 3.
  • On March 4, they brought themselves to a local hospital where they were tested. The results came back Thursday, March 5.
  • Officials would not say where they were traveling.
  • The three people are cooperating with authorities and are in “good condition” and not severely ill.
  • They are quarantined at home.
  • Maryland health officials are thoroughly investigating where the trio may have gone after they returned from international travel and who they may have interacted with.
  • Vice President Mike Pence and the CDC were notified of the cases as well as Montgomery County officials.

The site of this outbreak is probably not coincidental, as Montgomery County has one of the largest Asian-American communities on the East Coast, and notice that officials were reluctant to specify what foreign country these people had visited. Gov. Hogan is both (a) Republican and (b) very popular, despite (c) Maryland being an overwhelmingly Democrat state. He is efficient and businesslike, and declared a state of emergency not because the state is on the brink of a coronavirus pandemic, but simply so that he could use broader executive power to coordinate a statewide reponse. Everybody chill out.




 

Language Alert: “Conservative Opposition To #Obamacare Repeal”

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by Smitty

Emphasis mine:

Privately, senior Republican lawmakers and staff are more blunt. They say they have no problem steamrolling conservatives by daring them to vote against an Obamacare repeal that their constituents have demanded for years.
Sen. Rand Paul walks to a room on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 2, where he charges House Republicans are keeping their Obamacare repeal and replace legislation under lock and key and not available for public view.
“Conservatives are going to be in a box,” said one senior Republican lawmaker. Trump, the source predicted, eventually will “go out front and … tell the conservatives … they’re either for this or for keeping Obamacare.”

Wait a godforsaken minute. If they’re actually repealing ObamaCare, then Speaker Ryan should be greeted with hurrahs. What sort of Orwellian suppository is this? Conservatives don’t want any part of this noise, and the Progressive tools in Congress have made no alternative case.

FreedomWorks suggests we Join [Them] in DC for Our Day of Action on March 15!

It’s starting to look like I might have to take the afternoon off and visit the compost heap at the East end of the Mall.

Sympathy For The Prodigal Chief Justice

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by Smitty

That leaves Chief Justice John Roberts, who was uncharacteristically quiet. If I had to guess, Roberts is less than pleased to find this political hot potato back in the lap of a court he devoutly wants the public to see as nonpartisan. Further, having been identified, and assailed by conservatives, as the late-deciding fifth vote to uphold the Affordable Care Act last time around, Roberts wanted to avoid any soupçon of hand-tipping.

Dude, as long as Progress has wrought Politics in Everything, having the SCOTUS reduced to Colonel Nathan Jessup meets a Commie babysitter seems mostly inevitable.

Is JohnnyRob going to find a way to reject what his lyin’ eyes tell him? Will the Lefty bimbo squad on the Court get him to do some more mental gymnastics? Can he find some way to legislate creatively again? Did the last election have consequences, but not “consequences” consequences? Has this godforsaken ObamaCare farce not gone on long enough?

One hopes Roberts takes this opportunity to un-soil himself.

Prediction: no matter what the verdict, the ObamaCare zombie is still going to be staggering about, groaning for “Brainz”. It’s time for actual, no-kidding, voter-mandated reform.

via HotAir headlines

Elections Have Consequences, But Not “Consequences” Consequences, You Revanchist Tea Party Short-Bussers!

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by Smitty

Just a side note in a Hot Air post,

. . .Republicans in the Senate have been pressing for the interpretation of a rules governing budgetary reconciliation that would allow the upper chamber to pass a full repeal of [ObamaCare] with a simple majority vote rather than with the support of 60 Senators (requiring at least six Democratic defections). Latest week, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled that such a maneuver would not be possible.

Interesting. From The Hill link above:

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Tea Party groups, including FreedomWorks and the Senate Conservatives Fund, have called on the Republican-led Congress to use reconciliation on ObamaCare.
“We think from what we’ve heard there’s a really credible case to be made that the one-sentence repeal instruction for reconciliation passes all the tests,” said Dan Holler, spokesman for Heritage Action for America.
“From our vantage point, we think there are credible arguments that you can get all of ObamaCare [repealed] through reconciliation and that’s where the focus of lawmakers should be as the budget comes up and as instructions are written,” he added.
But sources say MacDonough, who declined to comment for this article, doesn’t agree.
MacDonough serves as the Senate’s nonpartisan umpire on a variety of arcane procedural moves, and this is one of her biggest calls. She was appointed to her post by then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in 2012 and is respected by both sides of the aisle.
McConnell told The Hill in 2012 that it wasn’t necessary to replace MacDonough if Republicans won the majority.
The Kentucky Republican has also refused to commit to using reconciliation on ObamaCare. Last fall, McConnell appeared to downplay expectations on a 51-vote strategy, telling Fox News that it would take 60 votes and a presidential signature to nullify the healthcare law.
“No one thinks we’re going to get that,” McConnell said at the time.


I mean, the whole reason conservatives were supposed to lay by their dish the last time ObamaCare was at the SCOTUS was that ObamaCare, the World’s Most Heinous Non-Tax Tax, was, in fact, taxing enough that Budget Reconciliation could be used to slay it. All that conservatives had to do was provide a black eye to Harry Reid in the form of Republican Control. Then, Senate Majority Leader Bunsen Honeydew and his sidekick Speaker Beaker would put paid to Grendel.

However, somebody suffixed the epic with “fail”. The chances of emancipating Americans from ObamaCare, and doing something useful about reforming health care in our country, now seem about as dim as halting

  • executive amnesty,
  • the FCC takeover of the internet,
  • the resurgence of the Soviet Union, and
  • next year’s coronation of Her Majesty to carry on the flagrancy of #OccupyResoluteDesk.

I guess the good news is that the leader of the free world is addressing Congress on Tuesday. We need a shot of Churchillian rhetoric to throw back some darkness. Because, and I may not be alone in this, I get the feeling that the GOP elite hold greater allegiance to the Administrative State within the Beltway than they do to the 57 states beyond, so sadly unaware that the Constitution is just a pre-Wilsonian artifact chiefly honored in the breach.

Senate Majority Leader Bunsen Honeydew and Speaker Beaker need to get their junk in one sock, STAT.

Ah, So: Normalize Relations With Cuba, Import A Few Legions Of Doctors

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by Smitty

Over at Hot Air, Morrissey points out what a despicable [redacted] liar Harry Reid is/was during ObamaCare’s quest for stillbirth:

The “doc fix” dodge had been going on for some time, but Reid took it to a new level in order to fool the CBO into scoring ObamaCare as deficit-neutral. He submitted the Senate-written bill with the cuts to the CBO while winning AMA endorsement with a separate and temporary suspension of those cuts that the CBO didn’t get to see. That and the “temporary” Medicaid reimbursement rates have kept up the pretense of deficit neutrality ever since while pushing off the day of reckoning … until now.

Would that his embalming fluid were mislaid, so that Harry Reid could dry up and blow away. Do read the whole article as this week will see some major cuts to entitlement funding kick in. The groin.
While reading the Hot Air post aloud to Mrs. Other Smitty, she pointed out the related problem that a lot of these high-speed health plans require a specimen of the increasingly rare Primary Care Physician species:

A survey this year by The Physicians Foundation found that 81 percent of doctors describe themselves as either over-extended or at full capacity, and 44 percent said they planned to cut back on the number of patients they see, retire, work part-time or close their practice to new patients.

At the same time, insurance companies have routinely limited the number of doctors and providers on their plans as a way to cut costs. The result has further restricted some patients’ ability to get appointments quickly.

One purpose of the new health law was connecting patients, many of whom never had insurance before, with primary care doctors to prevent them from landing in the emergency room when they are sicker and their care is more expensive. Yet nearly 1 in 5 Americans lives in a region designated as having a shortage of primary care physicians, and the number of doctors entering the field isn’t expected to keep pace with demand.

The Association of American Medical Colleges projects the shortage will grow to about 66,000 in little more than a decade as fewer residency slots are available and as more medical students choose higher-paying specialty areas.

If only. . .there were some. . .handy location which happened to be chock-a-block with docs that would jump, say, a 90 mile stretch of water just to see some patients. Such a place would have to be crankin’ out the Marcus Welbys to compensate for the U.S. physician shortfall, though: you’d need at least as many as can be found in Cuba.

Certainly, swiping Cuba’s doctors could trigger a crisis for the Castro regime. However, we’re talking about Barack here. Standard operating procedure: someone else’s problem (SOP/SEP). Too, having a bunch of Spanish-speaking doctors, raised in an authoritarian system, treat the rest of your new Executive Amnesty citizens is sure going to help the Libertarian vote, isn’t it?

Anyway, you read it here first: normalizing Cuba relations is just the latest defibrillation effort for BHO’s dying signature legislative abortion.