Whereas the general public has become increasingly concerned about the swine flu, or H1N1 as it's called in medical circles, the Obama administration has looked to this as an opportunity. Remember that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel once said you can never let a crisis "go to waste" and this is no exception. The swine flu, in the eyes of guys like Emanuel, is a gift from the Gods and cannot go to waste.
Even though swine flu deaths have paled in comparison to that of the seasonal flu – 1,000 U.S. swine deaths thus far to an average of 36,000 annually of the seasonal variety – we have before us a "pandemic" (crisis word) that's so bad Obama had to declare a "national emergency" (crisis phrase). The media has swarmed all over the calamity before us and has helped spread the panic of H1N1 much faster than say…the actual production of the vaccine. More on that later.
So why would the White House pounce on this and exaggerate the reality of this illness? Because they'll take credit for saving or creating thousands upon thousands of American lives when the number of swine flu deaths fails to spike. They'll find a way to use their "success" to promote health care reform. They've also created a sweetheart deal for Big Pharma to produce the vaccine – a favor that will be asked to be returned in some way to help ObamaCare sometime soon.
I can already envision the Obama spin press conference – "let me be clear, without our immediate implementation of our pandemic response plan, millions of Americans would have succumbed to horrific deaths. This is why we need a robust public option and with the help of GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis, we can make this happen."
The reality? Swine flu deaths were not going to reach pandemic levels, ever. The problem? Obama's administration hasn't been able to implement their pandemic response as planned and is looking like an inexperienced and clueless group that can't steer this bloated bureaucracy to its destination. Sure Obama has told us to wash our hands more often and the Health and Human Services Secretary, Kathleen "Sebbie" Sebilius, has instructed us on how to sneeze correctly, but the crux of their pandemic propaganda has been swine flu vaccinations and those have become less abundant than Obama's meetings with his military advisors.
The vaccine has been in short supply and just when the peak of the flu season is approaching, many families and physicians have expressed their displeasure with the lack of vaccine available and are looking at the Obama administration for answers, especially as those around them get all flu-like. So cue the never-accountable, blame-game master, White House Spokesperson Robert Gibbs and he says…it's the manufacturers fault. Right…you guys just whipped everyone into an unnecessary frenzy and suggested they get the vaccine or face certain death, even though you knew manufacturers might not be able to make it fast enough. Hey, at least they didn't claim they inherited the problem like everything else.
So could this be Obama's Katrina? If this was under Bush, it would no doubt be painted as Katrina 2 by the left, but since the left is the main stream media, Obama will get a pass…for now. As the instances of incompetence continue to grow however, expect more of Obama's network friends to cause some ripples in placid Lake Hopenchange.
