MARCIA BLACKBURN APPEARS IRRATIONAL

Some prefer to look at political beliefs as being on a line with the extremes at one end or the other with most of us hovering somewhere in the middle. My mother, who was a consummate debater of all things political, often referred to what she called a ‘political circle’. Her point was simply that if you go to one extreme or the other it makes no difference, you are extreme or more meaningfully, you are irrational. This morning Steve Kornacki’s on his show UP (MSNBC) had a politician as a guest, which was usual. What was a bit unusual was the circumstances; there was breaking news, there was the second confirmed case of EBOLA in Dallas, Texas. The guests, a congressional representative from Tennessee with no special credentials in health matters that I could see, commented on the occurrence of the “first” infection in the United States and make the comments she did. Every responsible person was going out of his or her way to avoid inducing panic in the United State. To be frank, for me, her comments were classic examples of what is wrong with politics in the United States.

The magic of democracy is that if what is decided “by everyone” is, by definition, not extreme, which is what makes democracy, as a form of government, much more rational than dictators, royalties, or caliphates. We assume the same thinking applies to election of our leaders, including heads of political parties, presidents, senators and other congressional representatives, which is what the guest was. We have numerous examples of failed states around the world in addition to having the success of our own 238-year long history to prove the general accuracy of that thinking—stating as the somewhat trite “shinning light on the hill”. This morning, Steve Kornacki’s guest proved the system is fallible; there are imperfections. Virtually every one of her many utterances appeared carefully calculated to instill panic over EBOLA in the American People—I am left confused in trying to figure out what her objective in doing this might be. Instead of a rational representative of reason, she sounded the same as a newly graduated journalist looking to build a reputation, as Sarah Palin who in her ignorance thinks EBOLA is a country, or as a Fox News commentator motivated by hate.

For examples of the nature of her remarks, when asked to comment on the case in Dallas, she responded, “We have 8,000 cases and 4,000 deaths”. Clearly, she was citing worldwide statistics but pointedly use the pronoun “we” in the context of Texas with the obvious intent of making it sound as if these cases and deaths were taking in the U.S. The truth is there was only one death in the United States (Eric Duncan) and not 8,000 with 4,000 deaths. She claimed that the man who died from EBOLA virus in Dallas lied and because of his lie, the health officials in Liberia allowed him to enter the United States. Clearly, she was implying the screening procedures had failed, meaning we are at high risk of an EBOLA epidemic. He did say he had no exposure to EBOLA patients. Much to his credit, he had helped a woman, who was in the throes of going though stillbirth, travel from hospital to hospital looking for medical assistance. She died of EBOLA but he did not know that at boarding time for his flight to the U.S.—as far as he knew, he told the truth.

Marcia Blackburn (R-Tennessee) clear is an extremist speaking as a “medial” authority because of her elected position with the intention of inciting panic. Her political party affiliation has little to do with this extreme position. Only she will know the inter workings of her devious mind; thus, explain why she feels inducing panic in America over EBOLA virus. As an experienced politician, she should know that panic leads to dangerous and irrational decisions. The book, Shock Doctrine; The Rise of Disaster Capitalism (2007) by Naomi Klein is well known, clearly associates the use of disasters, either natural or created, for political gain, which boils down to economic gain—just plain greed! If that was what she was doing on UP this morning—creating a shocking event—I have no idea of what she will gain or how she will gain, what ever it is she is seeking. It is easier for me to think that she is simply so far right she appears irrational—not making sense to anyone even other extremists in either political party; she has gone the full circle.  

URL: firetreepub.blogspot.com Comments Invited and not moderated