Marc Thiessen is worried about Ebola you guys pic.twitter.com/b1BB2ymEtA
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) October 21, 2014
Mark Thiessen, former speechwriter for George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld, is very worried! From the NYTimes, this morning:
… Ebola has dominated the news this month.
But it’s still not the No. 1. concern among Americans, according to a Gallup survey released Tuesday, although viral fears have cracked the top 10. About 5 percent of respondents said Ebola was their top concern (tied with education and the Islamic State).
The findings raise questions of how effective Ebola and the threat from the Islamic State will be as campaign issues when voters head to the polls in two weeks.
Ebola ranks sixth on the list of concerns, with the old standbys — the economy (17 percent), government dissatisfaction (16 percent) and unemployment (10 percent) — as the top three, according to Gallup…
Real-life CDC notice: pic.twitter.com/qSFj5eURi6
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) October 21, 2014
And here I was, wondering if Thiessen would like a chlorox chaser with his nice cool glass of STFU.
***********
Apart from marveling at the persistent malignity of certain primitive life forms, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
Mike J
Did you notice that Ari Fleischer replied to him, concerned that Weigel wasn’t as panicked as his betters thought he should be?
Trollhattan
Know what else will “spread quietly”? Waistlines in winter.
Bam!
As a speechwriter, he does so perfectly fit his old boss.
kdaug
I’m trying to avoid getting sunk into any more #gamergate crap or the latest with Paranautical Activity.
Intertrons iz hard.
(ETA: Is ebola still a thing?)
dmsilev
I’m thinking that CDC notice needs to be circulated among the right-wing, along with a blaring headline asking what it is that Obama’s “Health” organization is trying to hide from Americans.
the Conster
Well, ABC World “News” Tonight just informed me that sleepy drivers and ATM attacks are the “new national threat”. Ebola, ISIS and undocument children from Central America are SO last week.
Suffern ACE
I guess terrorists are suicidal maniacs anyway, but I would think it funny if they wiped themselves out by bringing live Ebola viruses back to their training camps.
Baud
I fear Marc Thiessen is right. My sources tell me that terrorists have already put this devious plan into motion. They intend to spread the ebola virus by infecting voting stations in rural areas of swing states. For the love of God, country, and family, voters in the affected areas should quarantine themselves until all is clear. Probably sometime in 2018. We’ll give you signal when all is clear. Really.
Roger Moore
@dmsilev:
This. It’s finally a legitimate chance for Obama to warn people not to drink bleach.
ETA: Maybe we should have big headlines telling people the CDC is sure that you can’t get Ebola by watching Fox News.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
@Mike J: Dear Ari Fleischer:
ان شاء الله، ونحن لسنا أغبياء كما تظن نحن.
الحب والقبلات
أبو بكر البغدادي
kc
I think Michelle Obama ought to do a PSA advising people not to drink chlorine.
kc
@Roger Moore:
Damn it!
JPL
@Roger Moore: Great idea. Twenty sever percent would not follow his advice.
Howard Beale IV
Rats. Moderation.
Ari Fleischer’s a flaming douche canoe.
عزيزي مارك ثيسن:
ان شاء الله، ونحن لسنا أغبياء كما تظن نحن.
الحب والقبلات،
أبو بكر البغدادي
Litlebritdifrnt
I posted this earlier Weigel tweeted “how about ACORN operatives put Ebola on door knobs of GOP precincts” GREAT IDEA! Just don’t give the game away Dave!
Joel
Given the need to transport a virus that is 1) highly infectious and 2) has a very short shelf life, this is not a practical avenue for terrorism, as I’m sure you are all aware.
scav
Hey, how perfect! I’m still off playing with the pidgin so I can play with the oyinbo and just hit: Lwkmd
Belafon
I’m missing the reason for the hate on Weigel in this case. I’ve seen a number of tweets where he’s called out those who are panicking over ebola:
Keith G
Damn. I was hoping to begin marketing an anti Ebola cocktail. Chlorine and Chevis – called a Bleached Blonde.
Mike J
@Belafon: Who’s hating on Weigel?
Abo gato
Waiting at a table outside of Garbo’s Lobster in Austin. My friends are going to be here soon. Tuesday is lobster special night where you can get a whole one for like $16.00. For the win!
Trollhattan
@Joel:
Did they learn nothing from Bush’s forgotten anthrax attacks on how it’s actually done? And also, too, the smallpox panics around that time?
Didn’t think so.
The Other Chuck
I dunno, if you drink a bottle of bleach, chances are you’ll never have to worry about Ebola again.
Belafon
@Mike J: AL
Mike J
@Belafon: Sorry, I didn’t even see her hed. It does seem like the wrong target.
Howard Beale IV
@Belafon: @Baud: Oh, the irony of it all – here the GOP has put the fear of ebola being used in all matter of political ways – now to deploy it to prevent people from voting and even being used as a potential terrorist weapon…
Holy backfiring plan, Batman…
scav
@Mike J: Or, maladroit / floating,she could just be upset he’s warned them about the nice healthy cocktail they were about to chug.
tsquared2001
“But it’s still not the No. 1. concern among Americans,”
Despite our best efforts, he neglected to add.
Mnemosyne
Moving truck comes tomorrow morning to move the big stuff (couches, refrigerator, bookcases, etc.) and are we in any way ready? Fuck, no. I guess it’ll be a really late night tonight …
srv
Unless Oscar is Jaco Pastorius’ kid or something, why should a meteor of blondes not be crashed into the Beeb?
Damn Dan Rather, will no one give me the right frequency for truth? The least worst channel is going to be RT soon if the Beeb has jumped the shark.
Major Major Major Major
The problem with Weigel is that he’s an asshole. Everything he writes just grates, when he isn’t deliberately trolling. Like his post linked above about how we don’t have a surgeon general because democrats made a bad bet on a guy who supports some mild gun control, so the NRA opposed him, so there was no vote, without even mentioning that maybe the problem isn’t with the nominee or the Dems but about, I don’t know, the goddamned NRA?
Tenar Darell
@kdaug: Shh. That’s a batsignal for trolls! Shh!
ed
Coming up this week on New! Disease! to FEAR!!!!! Plague or maybe just the flu
Keith G
@Mike J: Hey guys, the “Shut up, Dave” is about him warning Thiessen about the dangers of drinking chlorine
The joke was a reach too far, but the bread crumbs were easy to follow.
Chet
World Series starts tonight. ‘Bout fucking time.
Giants in six.
srv
@Abo gato: Wells Branch is not Austin.
Howard Beale IV
@srv: Getting pretty hard these days to find a news organizations that doesn’t have an ox to gore of some kind or another. It’s almost like you have to compartmentalize each news organization and say I’ll watch A for this, B for that, etc. etc. etc. Pretty sad state of affairs.
Major Major Major Major
@Howard Beale IV: ’twas always thus, save for a couple few decades in the latter half of the 20th century.
Howard Beale IV
BREAKING: Ben Bradlee, former Washington Post editor for 26 years, dies at 93.
srv
@Howard Beale IV: You should write an app for that.
I’m in for $10 at your kickstarter.
scav
can someone hit reply to ed at 31? I”m getting tossed to the below, which is fantastic — pure quantum tunneling fodder. And All I had to contribute was everyone catching the Hebola-Jeebies!
kdaug
@Abo gato: Haven’t been. How is it?
Russ
I am thinking that those of us that hang around the blogs and pay attention to what is happening and don’t believe for a second that the polling people know what areas to call to get the results they want that the actual outcome of the election is beyond anyones control. Ohio 2012 tells me that those that spend a lot of money believe that their money can buy elections but there is a huge amount of votrs that just show up and vote. all of the political masturbation in the world might fill airtime for radio and tv but most voters vote their conscience and someone conscience is not easily swayed.
Frankensteinbeck
@scav:
There are roughly 4 cases of plague per year per state West of the Rockies. This is part of a global pandemic. ‘Pandemic’ can be a strange term to define.
tsquared2001
@Major Major Major Major: Has the nominee even come out for mild gun control? I thought that like scientists are wont to do, he simply called for some money in order to study the data.
Keith G
@Major Major Major Major: If I understand your comment, your reason for dumping on DW is errant.
The NRA will do what they do, just like public employee unions or trial lawyers. Their evilness is a known quality. Weigel is just pointing out that red state Dems were chicken shit (my term) and rolled over in order to feel less heat.
.
…And a bit lower
Yes the NRA is evil. And now there is a null where there could be a strong policy voice taking on that evil. That fact is purely because of the Senate Democrats.
kdaug
@srv:
Pfluck off, asshole. Pflugerville is pflabulous!
(Sold my house there last year).
Roger Moore
@tsquared2001:
The NRA doesn’t even want people to study the issue, since they know what answers are going to turn up.
Steeplejack
Glad to see my fellow conservative citizens are finally recognizing the threat this nation faces from education.
Quaker in a Basement
I just heard a new ebola joke. You probably won’t get it.
Roger Moore
@Steeplejack:
Damn straight. Education is the road to Godlessness.
scav
@Frankensteinbeck: Plague, yes. that’s usually ticking over at low levels. I just wasn’t expecting to find that as a “reply” off BJ. Truly a full-function blog.
ETA: isn’t the “pan” just basically about being on multiple continents? Outbreak and Epidemic are the more scale-laden terms I thought.
Howard Beale IV
@Major Major Major Major: Sometimes even our pubic TV, who you would think is the least bit cowled by their shit-stirring, gets blindsided.
Steeplejack
@Mnemosyne:
You have to have your own refrigerator in a rental place? That seems weird. Although it did happen to me once. But that was an unfurnished house, and also I chalked it up to the landlord being a bit sketchy.
Major Major Major Major
@Keith G: Examine the prose. He’s being a dick. He has a strong libertarian streak and it shows in his differing representations of liberal and conservative groups. Maybe I just don’t like his writing because he’s sarcastic and mean and disagrees with me. But blaming senate Dems for behaving like they want to get re-elected (which is really fucking important) is stupid. Take Udall–he’s a pretty good senator, a bit weird but you just don’t get elected in CO by making even the slightest pro-gun-control peep (it’s actually a good way to get recalled). Without that sort of context his piece is worse than pointless.
Howard Beale IV
@Roger Moore:
That they all suffer from lead poisoning?
Major Major Major Major
@Howard Beale IV: Isn’t it even illegal to use federal funds to study it or something?
srv
@Steeplejack: They’re German.
SiubhanDuinne
Ben Bradlee has died.
Felonius Monk
@Quaker in a Basement: I didn’t catch what you did there.
Howard Beale IV
@Major Major Major Major: Dunno-the recent Seattle TImes article seems to be the most recent shit-stirrer on the whole issue of the fallout of those who have been suffering lead poisoning from working at shooting ranges and how little enforcement/penalties there have been at both state/federal levels. which seems to fit with typical Liberterian behaviors-appeal/work the system long enough so we don’t have to pay shit.
divF
@scav:
Back when the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Review (MMWR) used to come out in hard copy, we subscribed to it. Every so often, they would do a summary of the less-frequently seen diseases, like plague. There were so few plague cases (like 10), that they would list every one of them in a table. My favorite from one year went something like this.
Location: Texas
Gender: female
Age: 96
How disease was contracted: handling infected squirrels
Outcome: patient recovered
SiubhanDuinne
@Quaker in a Basement:
Stealing that.
kdaug
@Major Major Major Major:
Heard Chris Mathews (hold up) make a good point once – we don’t choose our elected officials. We choose from a self-selected group of people who choose to run. It takes a certain kind of asshole to think that they can rule the city/state/country/world.
Reckon someone has to. But I sure as shit wouldn’t want the job.
Pogonip
@Howard Beale IV: What does the Arabic say?
MPAVictoria
I used to think I was emotionally strong. Not anymore.
scav
@divF: Now we’re really into the golden oldies. Remember Mad Cow and Scrambled Squirrel Brains in KY?
Central Planning
@Roger Moore:
But you know the right-wingers will do it
Keith G
@Howard Beale IV: The public health costs of gun violence. “Guns are a health care issue.”
@Major Major Major Major: Maybe he is being a dick. He is being irreverent. Same thing?
Those Dems quite actually made a deal with a devil…
“I will let you scare me and I will give you yet another public policy victory. You will call off the dogs for the mid terms.”
Well, the dogs came out attacking anyway. We will lose the Senate and not get the appointment.
Maybe I am cutting Weigel a break since he is being a lot nicer than I would be.
m.c. simon milligan
Was he talking about Shola Ameobe?
Major Major Major Major
@kdaug: I’m a mild sociopath and even I don’t want to be in congress.
divF
@scav: I particularly liked the recipe for Kentucky Burgoo stew that was included for those who didn’t get the point of the rest of the entries.
They still make Burgoo, but the squirrel has been replaced with chicken.
Major Major Major Major
@Keith G: Never underestimate a lame duck session. Playing BS politics to try and get re-election isn’t terminal if you lose, you still get a couple months. Even if you’re retiring… See: Lieberman, Joe, in re: DADT.
Howard Beale IV
@Pogonip:
Dear Marc Theissen:
God willing, we are not stupid as you think we are.
Love and kisses,
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Keith G
@Major Major Major Major: Well if lame duck it is to be, it will be busy. There are 63 vacancies in the fed judiciary. About half of them have a pending nomination. Harry Reid will be losing sleep, or should be.
beth
I just watched the South Carolina gubernatorial debate. Nikki Haley just couldn’t bring herself to say that perpertrators of domestic violence should have their guns taken away. She suggested that since women were afraid to go to the police, the churches needed to get involved to help shelter and support women in those situations. How any woman can vote for her is beyond comprehension.
On the other hand, there’s some black man running. I don’t know who he is but he was a hoot. His only issue seemed to be legalizing marijuana and every time it was his turn he asked “what was the question again?”. If they post clips on YouTube it’s worth watching him for the entertainment value.
Anne Laurie
@Belafon:
I like Weigel — just joking that Thiessen might’ve been dumb enough to drink bleach if his twitter-alert hadn’t explicitly warned him against it!
Roger Moore
@Central Planning:
Of course I do. People around here have been exhorting Obama to warn against the dangers of drinking bleach for years on the theory that spiteful wingnuts would do it and kill themselves. I always thought that was fanciful because those warnings only spur the crazies to do things if they already had some idea of doing so, and nobody was planning on guzzling bleach in the first place. Now that people are actually talking about it, there’s a real possibility that Obama will have cause to give the warning.
WereBear
And people say wishes don’t come true.
Howard Beale IV
@Anne Laurie: Too bad he couldn’t have drank the orginal formula for Lysol….
Bill
I hear the most likely place to contract ebola is the voting booth. Only people who think ebola is not a threat should go there.
agorabum
@tsquared2001: he just noted shotgun bullets are bad for your health
Roy G.
I’d like to see ACORN make a comeback on Election Day, and hire some people of obvious African descent to stand outside the Red State polling precincts coughing and sneezing. Plus pay for some hidden cameras to watch the fun.
Howard Beale IV
@Roy G.: If only….
Abo gato
@srv: What do I know? I live in SA, just here for work till Thursday. Feels like Austin to me. Besides, the food was great.
Abo gato
@kdaug: Very nice. They have fried lemons that are the shiz. Slices with rind, battered and fried. I am so going to make some at home this weekend.
Another_Bob
I almost get the sense that some wingnuts have a secret wish that something really terrible happens so they can blame it on Obama. Just like they spent so many years trying to get revenge for Nixon being driven from office over Watergate, now they’re getting their hopes up for the umpteenth time that ebola may finally hand Obama his Katrina-Waterloo. They were probably disappointed when those people in quarantine in Texas were given the all clear.
A Humble Lurker
@Another_Bob:
You think it’s a secret?
Omnes Omnibus
@Another_Bob: Katrina Waterloo? I think I dated her. Nice girl, IIRC.
Frankensteinbeck
@Roger Moore:
I believe the limitation is that conservatives aren’t against what Obama says he wants, they’re against what they think he wants. Extend this to liberals and Cleek’s Law in general. They take all kinds of crazy positions to fight a conspiracy theory image of us in their heads. In this case, it would be very hard to make them believe Obama doesn’t want them to drink bleach. It’s not part of their fantasy world.
g
If the terrorist really want to kill us, they’ll send out a mass text to all of us, so that those of us stupid enough to read it while driving will have a horrible accident!!!
Yeah, that’s it!!
opiejeanne
Got a newsletter from my broker today detailing the reasons for the stock market drop last week, and the #1 reason listed was Ebola hysteria.
Thanks, Republicans.
trollhattan
@Another_Bob:
Or simply blame it on Obama after he’s out of office, like 9/11 was all Clinton’s fault.
Amir Khalid
@Frankensteinbeck:
Your American conservatives are against Obama. All else is but the tactic of the moment.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
CDC – Could it be Ebola? (PDF poster).
A good, clear summary for healthcare workers.
Cheers,
Scott.
Howlin Wolfe
@Joel: YOU CAN’T BE TOOO CAREFULL!! VIRI ARE WILY CREECHURES WHO CAN MEWTATE TO DO EAVIL STUFFF!