How the Snarling Tea Bags Started the 2014 US Ebola Virus Epidemic

EBOLA!! No, Just Relax. It's Time for Tea

Wing nut GOP terror mongering at its sleaziest.

Put the roll of construction plastic and the duct tape back in the closet.

Of course there is no ebola epidemic in the United States -- that was just a eye catching title for the post. Still, because there may be MeanMesa visitors not familiar with this viral pestilence, we should probably look briefly at what the ebola virus is actually like in the places where it's a problem. This particular malady wasn't chosen lightly by the fear spewing Republicans. It is hideous.

The problem in their terror soaked scheme comes from an unexpected defect. The robotically manipulable hill billies, bigots and, of late, immigrant children haters, in their Party's base have practically no idea what ebola is. Even worse, aside from the implied suggestion that it should be very very frightening fostered by the GOP "spokesmen," that base of theirs has no interest in knowing anything about it, either.

In fact, the GOP base reveals astonishingly little interest in learning anything about anything besides the twisted talking points eagerly pumped out by those "closer to the oligarchs' think tanks."

A Little Bit About Ebola

Sub-Saharan Africa -- not Guatemala

Where ebola actually occurs [WIKI]

Although the "ebola scare" is extremely cheesy, claptrap nonsense, we should briefly look at exactly why the story falls apart without requiring any additional contradictory facts. 

It does.

The map [right] shows the locations of recorded ebola virus outbreaks -- primarily limited to the time span when such records have been kept. Although there are different strains of the viral infection, the fatal mortality rate is uniformly high across all of them. [Read the WIKI article  here.]

Because of the virus's high mortality, it is a potential agent for biological warfare.

Given the lethal nature of Ebola, and since no approved vaccine or treatment is available, it is classified as a biosafety level 4 agent, as well as a Category A bioterrorism agent by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It has the potential to be weaponized for use in biological warfare. [WIKI- source cited above]

Those infected with the ebola virus generally get much too sick to travel fairly quickly, making the prospect of infected Central American immigrant children making their way across Mexico to the US border extremely unlikely. Even more complicating, ebola virus has never historically appeared anywhere on the American continent with a handful of exceptions of laboratory workers accidentally infected while studying the disease in reseach environments. The lethality of ebola infection is fast moving, making even the transportation of a contagious ebola victim on a direct airline flight into the US very unlikely.

This brief run-down sets the scale for calling the Republican "terror rumor" utter, unabashed nonsense.

The Current Ebola Epidemic in West Africa

There is an actual ebola outbreak going on right now.

The site at Examiner.com offers some good reporting for those who might like to know more. Coverage of the Western African epidemic has been over shadowed by competing events in the domestic media's "news world."

Norman Byrd, Newport Beach News Examiner
June 21, 2014

[Links remain enabled. Excerpted. Read the entire article  here.]

The World Health Organization (WHO) has updated their case count in the Ebola outbreak in western Africa, noting that the death toll has reached a staggering 337 individuals thus far.

Al Jazeera reported June 19 that the Ebola virus is suspected to have infected over 500 people so far in Guinea, where it is believed that the outbreak originated, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. The outbreak is the largest on record.

Most of the cases uncovered so far have been detected in Guinea. Most of the deaths have occurred there as well. This stands to reason, as the Ebola virus, a horrific hemorrhagic contagion, has no known cure and, according to the WHO [World Health Organization], has a fatality rate of 90 percent.

The most recent cases have come from Sierra Leone and Liberia. There previously had been no known cases in those countries for two months.

It's NOT a Viral Virus - It IS a Viral Talking Point!

All that's needed is a loud mouth GOP wing nut, a microphone and an audience.

The main thread for this post isn't an ebola epidemic at all. In fact, that imaginary "epidemic" has practically nothing to do with the message here. Instead, we'll have a look at the viral toxin which oozed out of the pink little mouth of this nit wit. Examiner.com did a pretty good job of reporting the facts.

Fear Mongering GOP Congressman Warns Immigrant Children Carry Ebola Virus

Norman Byrd

July 16, 2014

[ Read the original Examiner.com article  here.]

Republican congressman Phil Gingrey of Georgia wrote a letter to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in which he listed unsubstantiated claims that the immigrant children coming across the Mexico-US border were unvaccinated carriers of disease.

Mother Jones reported July 14 that Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.), an avid anti-immigration conservative, stated that there were reports that the undocumented immigrant children, some of which are being temporarily housed for processing and almost assured deportation back to the Central American nations from which they fled, were carriers of swine flu, dengue fever, Ebola virus, and tuberculosis.

"Reports of illegal immigrants carrying deadly diseases such as swine flu, dengue fever, Ebola virus and tuberculosis are particularly concerning," the congressman wrote. "Many of the children who are coming across the border also lack basic vaccinations such as those to prevent chicken pox or measles."

What is particularly troubling about Gingrey's letter is that he is a physician by trade. And then there's the claims he makes, which have no substantiation in fact, a sort of urban myth kind of support system -- like when Rep. Michele Bachmann told her story on the "Today" show about the woman who said the HPV vaccine had caused her child to become "mentally retarded." Add to that the fact that Rep. Gingrey is an advocate of not vaccinating children from certain diseases himself.

As Mother Jones noted, the congressman has himself pushed legislation to discourage some kinds of mandatory vaccinations in the United States. He has a long-standing relationship with the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, a far-right medical group that opposes all mandatory vaccines.

Besides, there has never been an Ebola virus outbreak in the Americas where humans contracted the pathogen. (However, there was an outbreak at a medical holding facility for test monkeys in Reston, Virginia, where a variant strain, Ebola Reston, was discovered. No humans were infected during that outbreak.)

At present, there is a catastrophic outbreak of the Ebola virus in western Africa. In fact, it is the worst outbreak in history and just recently topped 600 in dead, according to Reuters. The disease, however, is so far relegated to the nations of Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea.

According to the CDC, the Ebola virus is actually a family of viruses and are some of the world's most dangerous pathogens. Hemorhaggic fevers, they generally present with influenza-like symptoms and progress to massive internal bleeding. Contraction of Ebola is fatal more often as not.

If his pestering the CDC with a letter that carries spurious information wasn't time-wasting and ignorant enough, Gingrey was also wrong about those diseased immigrant children. The Texas Observer reported that not only are Guatemalan, Honduran, and Salvadoran children (the Central American nations the children are primarily from) more likely to be vaccinated than their counterparts in the United States, but NBC News reported that many of the immigrants are carrying their medical records with them to the U.S.

It would appear that Rep. Phil Gingrey has conflated the very real crisis in Africa with the immigrant children situation slash border security concerns presently affecting the Mexico-US border. But doing so is not only distracting, it places the congressman at the forefront of irresponsible fearmongering in his efforts to push for stronger border security and stricter immigration reforms. He joins, among others, fellow Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) in brandishing fear and ludicrous responses to the current border security and immigrant children situation.

Last week, congressman Gohmert said that President Obama should send troops into Mexico to stop the immigrants and the drugs. He also stated that terrorists were using the border to get into the United States, a claim that he said was informed by unnamed border officials.

Gingrey's Phony "Hemorrhagic Virus" Goes Viral  

On the Right Wing Peripheral Media

Oh boy! Happily, the "no facts" were injured while preparing this rumor.

We're talking "really peripheral," here. Once the Congressman "quoted" the "unnamed border security" guard, the ebola, Dengue Fever and tuberculosis tale instantly "grew legs" of its own. The usual right wing -- fact free -- mouth junk pundits grabbed it up, broadcast it for a few minutes, then finally actually "tasted" the ridiculous story and promptly dumped it.

However, a little ways farther back into the darkness the little stinker encountered its next strange collection of grotesque "pet owners." In the basements of moms' house across the nation creepy little doom and terror forecasters seized on the rotten thing immediately -- promptly claiming that it was the best bit of whore house propaganda since Reagan invented sliced bread.

Briefly ascending from their "low readership" wet dream fantasies, Gingrey's tall tale emerged as a nothing less than a "shining beacon of hope and opportunity" which could usher their little home spun "news outlets" into an atmospheric dream realm inhabited by two digit audiences in practically no time.

Surprised, mom was so encouraged by the extraordinary, frothy optimism she heard from her usually morose off spring in the basement that she made pork chops and kraut for a special dinner.

Let's have a look at a few samples which illustrate just how far back in the "back woods" the Congressman's awesome "breaking news" fabrication ventured before the train wrecked. Our first visit will be to Natural News, a heady, inebriated mix of vitamin suggestions and Obama-phobia masquerading as a self-help site. [Visit the site here.]

Natural News

Sunday, June 29, 2014
Mike Adams

Natural News: The federal government's policies of allowing the mass migration of infectious disease-carrying people into the United States while transporting them to America's largest cities is a "perfect blueprint" for seeding a deadly pandemic. Right now, we are witnessing the engineering of a public health and humanitarian disaster optimized for rapid disease transmission that puts all Americans at risk.

...

The perfect blueprint for causing 

a nationwide pandemic of infectious disease

When I realized the pattern of what was happening here, it suddenly become obvious: this the "perfect storm" of infectious disease. And the White House stance of standing down while this public health crisis worsens is beyond reprehensible... it is negligent and dangerous to us all.

It almost seems as if a runaway pandemic is what this administration wants. Unable to accomplish anything based on its failed philosophies of usurpation and despotism, this administration's only remaining tool seem to be fomenting crisis, then exploiting that crisis for political gain.

After all, compare the government's handling of unvaccinated school children to its handling of illegal immigrants. Infectious disease is so dangerous and deadly in public schools, we're told, that even a healthy child with excellent hygiene and zero symptoms of any sickness must be denied a public education if they refuse to be vaccinated against diseases that haven't existed in America for decades (such as polio).

But at the same time, the White House and its supporters openly welcome massive waves of illegal immigrant children flooding across the border in the United States regardless of what diseases they may be carrying: AIDS, swine flu, tuberculosis, influenza and others. After all, those are future Democratic voters!

This unrelenting wave of immigrants -- which the White House has no intention of stopping -- is already infecting U.S. Border Patrol agents to potentially deadly diseases. "...Doctors providing medical care for immigrants being released by U.S. Border Patrol ahead of their court dates say those recent detainees were not appropriately screened or treated for illness while in federal custody," reports the Texas Tribune.

Our next example is this breathless "breaking news" from someone named Dr. Rich Swier. Clearly, the brave All American mom with the sign in the photograph has received Congressman Gringrey's "startling revelation" about the dangerous outbreak of ebola trying to sneak through the border to infect her "little darlings." [Visit the site here. ] It looks like the "riot police" and "Federal Marshals" part of the Doctor's report must have "crept in" somewhere along the line before Dr. Rick had a chance to spread his "urgent" tale.

See, there really were a few Federal Marshals in Murietta [Ca.] trying to protect the bus loads of immigrant children from these "ebola fighting" wing nuts, but by the time the tea bag "Road Warriors" had finally found an actual bus [it turned out to be a load of YMCA kids from a near by town headed for summer camp], the actual immigrant children has already crossed the "border" several days previously and thousands of miles to the east in Texas. If the Congressman's wild fantasy had any shred of credibility while it was still fresh, that is, while he was still ranting about the unnamed border guard in the "Dengue Fever stage," by the time it got to Murietta not even the outright lies survived to reach Dr. Rich's pronouncement intact.

Our next example comes from the Latino Rebels web site. MeanMesa was somewhat heartened by the picture because it shows that the Congressman's hare brained, now already quite road weary, fish story had finally joined up with the calibre of tea bag misspelling which could serve as comic relief. Perhaps. the short skirt, under better circumstances, ...no -- forget it.

What began as Gingrey's "fantasy quote"
[Image - Latino Rebels]

There really is a point to be made amid all these complaints and guffaws.

This crazy, fabricated tale was originally cooked up by some think tank psych tech working for an oligarch PAC somewhere. Neither knuckle dragging Gingrey nor anyone in his staff could have ever assembled "all the moving parts" without the assistance of someone who had read Encyclopedia Britannica at some point.

Yet, we can look at the examples -- Natural News and Dr. Rich Swier -- and see the incredible depth to which this icky little fantasy penetrated into the wing nut world all around us. There is, unmistakably, a real constituency of health care free Obama-phobes still grumbling and stumbling to the constant propaganda of the oligarchs.

Further, that "constituency" is not specifically just a geopolitical phenomenon. To be a member, one must be eagerly naive to the degree that stories such as Gingrey's ebola epidemic are comfortably credible.

THAT state is not the result of political persuasion. No "silver tongued" propagandist convinced these people to be stupid. No political strategy produced the spelling on that woman's sign. The "work" which has carefully groomed this bizarre demographic into such an embarrassing place was, necessarily, accomplished slowly, relentlessly -- and perhaps most importantly -- quite maliciously.

We are staring at the results of an accumulated effort. Congressman Gingrey's half baked scheme is not the problem. The possibility that Gingrey's scheme could infect such a wide spread collection of voluntary "hosts" is the problem.

THAT's the epidemic.

American Democracy: No Debate, No Checks & No Balances

A Few Fundamental Responsibilities of Citizens

Theoretically, the American democracy was designed to rise to all challenges.  There were no foolish expectations that Americans would simply "get along" as the Republic moved ahead through its life time.  The ingenious mechanism at the foundation of our Constitution was intended to guarantee that no matter what sort of challenge we might face, our structure of government could successfully host our efforts to resolve it while respecting our fundamental commitment to egalitarian participation in the direction of things.

The ancient nation which adopted that Constitution enjoyed a few equally fundamental qualities which we seem to have conveniently forgotten.   One notable example was that the citizens of that early Republic were vividly interested in its success.  In those early days there abounded a great cultural memory of the pre-Revolutionary conditions and the price paid for liberation.

In, say, 1800 this served as a platform to compare, well, everything.  Citizens were innately interested in all things about the government --  policies being developed, decisions being made, debates between politicians, dealings with other countries -- because there was simply no way for them to not fundamentally value their responsibilities in the democracy and respect the tenuous idea that they were, in cold reality, charged with running the thing.  This was not a high flung sort of responsibility, either.  These citizens knew that they "were on the hook" to either make the democracy work or lose it.

Just about everyone in the country had seen first hand exactly what forces were standing by to retake control.  The British may have been the new nation's most visible antagonist, but it was no secret that there were others also lurking in the near by shadows.

Having invested almost without limit in the instruments and institutions of our national security, we no longer peer nervously at our ambitious neighbors.  We, as citizens, haven't had this type of concern for years.  Perhaps the last real instance of worry in this shade came after the Pacific fleet was destroyed in 1941, but even that calamity only strengthened the national resolve to fight for the West Coast if things came to that.

Moments during the Cold War with the old Soviet Union may have been even more darkly threatening, but by that time the threat was no longer graduated or particularly subject to opinion.  It had become absolute.

The point here is that during such times, the United States citizen turned out to be remarkably well versed in the details, facts, estimates, theories, politics and events of the moment as well as also having a profoundly insightful understanding of the "Big Picture" which accompanied such daunting instances.  Of course there were "differences of opinion," but there were seldom deeply seated "differences about the facts."

2013 finds this situation altered in some interesting ways.

Checks and Balances 

When There Are No Checks and Balances

The recent flurry concerning the President's order for drone assassinations of ex-patriot American traitors offers an immediate and chilling illustration.

Amid the predictable feeding frenzy over this issue, MeanMesa watched an uncommon rush to common purpose between the bigots and the hill billies of the Republican base.  Worse, the "red meat" treat also found plenty of volunteers among the more progressive voices.

In literally no time at all, every loyal, patriotic American citizen -- you know, the ones who find time to vote in almost every other election -- was horrified with the possibility that a drone was headed right to the house where they were sitting, eating cheezoes and watching television.

Clearly missing in all this furor was a single voice obliged to call it all what it was: ridiculous.  What's left of the last remaining check and balance process around here, elections, would correct such an over step very quickly.  Granted, voters would have to actually do something, but, well, confronted with such a situation, they might.

Still, the "slippery slope" hyperbole was being gulped down like a chocolate milk shake.  In fact, at the time of this post, that milk shake isn't even half finished yet.

Hysterically, there has even been talk of requiring the Congress to authorize such specific killings.

Congress?

Really?

That would be the same Congress that just cut US carrier deployment in the Gulf from two to one in order to save money.  (Read the story here.)  This while the blow hards are still thumping their chests for war with Iran -- which happens to be "the other side" of the Gulf.

So, things would be much better if the black man had to run to Capitol Hill for permission to use the drones every time, right?  MeanMesa is sure that the target for that attack would wait patiently by his car until all the details got handled.

This is the Congress with a Senate permanently paralyzed by political filibusters and a House with barely enough time to pass 31 bills obliterating ObamaCare, gut Social Security, loot the Post Office pension and still become experts on vaginas, rape, abortion and austerity.

The Republican Party message is clear enough.  "Because of the way WE are, you can't trust anyone!"

Now, sure enough, even the Americans who decided they could trust the President, after listening to the constant fear mongering of the other side, have decided that they couldn't trust the President.  The "reinforcing" message right behind this is also oozing out of the scaredy cats.  "You may be able to trust this President, but what if someone like Perry, Santorum or Cain became President?  Then what?"

Well, what then?

The "what then?" question only begins to intimidate us when we continue to think that there is simply nothing we can do for any other outcomes.  While this stoic hopelessness has been a well financed meme of the GOP for several elections, it is utter nonsense.  If the electorate remains as uninvolved and uninterested as it currently is, we could shortly face a very material version of this hypothetical construct.

This idea goes along with the notion that politics, elections, policies and the like just happen.  They don't.  Whether we are ready to accept the responsibility or not, we create those things.  This is a democracy.

Just having someone available to blame for our own national mis-steps doesn't change the facts.  As citizens, we sign off on everything that goes on in our democratic government.  If we don't like it, we change it -- we don't just complain endlessly.

A Few Conclusions Might Help

First, we really have to disabuse ourselves of the whimsical possibility that the Congress can or will function.  It doesn't function.  In fact, there isn't much of any reason remaining to assume that it will ever function again.

Second, the GOP's House and Senate "war experts" aren't.  They're bigots.  They are obsessed with "correcting" the last "check and balance" process by undercutting the President.  If that happy dream of theirs includes undercutting the Republic while they're at it, they're willing to pay that price.

Third, we are squarely confronted by the unavoidable evidence that spending cuts, austerity and every other cheaply camouflaged version of adolescent schemes for wealth distribution will not recover the US economy.  Of course the actual facts about the budget, deficit, debt and so on, mean nothing when voters never hear enough actual information -- or even take the time--  to know what they are.

Fourth, we must not expect the "fourth estate" to take any effort to rectify the incredibly saturating misconceptions it has been paid so very well to insinuate into public perceptions of such matters.

Fifth, we shouldn't fool ourselves into thinking that the traditional process of "checks and balances" remains in place.  Exaggeration?   Think back.  The time to have a debate about the drone wars was during the Presidential election.  The GOP nominee didn't know drones even existed, and the President could hardly  debate himself without "hanging his panties" in front of the FOXite bulls.

Sixth, don't think that the entire world doesn't knows all about the US Republican Party.  They see and hear the crazy, self-serving piety, the misogyny, the oligarchic colonial ambitions, the weirdly convenient religious fundamentalism and the shallow bellicosity.  The rest of the world also remembers the Bush Jr. "Church of Death," giving them pause should they have any inclination not to take the shatteringly grave but fickle "killing power" of the United States too lightly.

We're smiling because we have decided to paralyze the Senate, protect the rich and trash MediCare. (image source)

The rest of the world knows that the United States is now unable to ratify even the simplest international treaty.  The rest of the world knows that with Republicans tacitly in control of the Congress, American leadership is presently crippled, divided, paralyzed and and wounded -- mortally wounded.  The rest of the world knows that a political patriciate has absconded with the control of the American democracy, a recklessly ambitious monied class with obscured motives quite estranged from what has been made to appear to be a simple racist tantrum.

Seventh, our next task on the path back to nation maturity is to quit pretending that the Congressional part of our democracy can still work when the population suffers mass demographies of voluntary political illiterates.  Ask a few of your acquaintances why they voted the way they did -- if they voted at all.  Pay close attention to the verbs in their responses.

"I feel..."

"I believe..."

"I don't trust..."

These are not the way we vote in our democracy. 

These are all evidence of a carefully crafted, logical cul-de-sac.  These are not the products of investigation or even curiosity.  They certainly are not displaying  the evidence of responsibility.  They represent a logical cul-de-sac because each of them is a doleful solicitation to be delivered, not a statement of determination to run things as well as possible.

Should you encounter a conversation partner brimming over with facts and conclusions, you need to take note.  "This one is ready for 'checks and balances.'  This one has an opinion based on something beyond what someone else has simply told him."

The fact is becoming abundantly clear.  There is not a single American who is too busy to be up to his neck in politics.  The neglect with which we have indulged this destructive habit has now come home to roost.

President Barack Obama is famous for his cool, calm and collected attitude toward things.  However, when it comes to the nation's descent into oligarchy, the President is painfully aware.  His Presidential prerogatives during his term in office have been constantly limited by the perpetual threat of civil war.

Although such a war would have ground troops of hill billies fighting for issues of racist supremacy or salvation, the financiers of such a conflict would be a familiar clutch of faces indeed, the Kochs,  Addelson, Rove, Simpson and probably Romney along with the others.  Even the eager, fascist Supremes have remained perched and ready to leap and exploit such a fray.

There is only one power remaining on the planet which can halt this advance.  That is elections conducted by an informed electorate.  That idea, "informed electorate," means voters capable of debating and willing to engage in "checks and balances."

The dreamy ambition of the oligarchs is that they can manipulate that electorate just long enough to render it toothless and powerless.  Once they have accomplished that, the future of the Republic is permanently changed.  Citizens already lacking an interest in operating the democracy all around them will never rise up to challenge the established authority of their new masters.