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October 4, 2005
This Game is Getting Mighty Scary
Let's see, Gitmo, the Patriot Act, and now this, President Bush thinking about using the military to quarantine sections of the country in the event that the avian flu mutates, which is impossible under Intelligent Design mind you, to prevent anyone from entering or leaving that particular area. Is it just me, or do I sense a trend here?
President Bush, increasingly concerned about a possible avian flu pandemic, revealed Tuesday that any part of the country where the virus breaks out could likely be quarantined and that he is considering using the military to enforce it.
"The best way to deal with a pandemic is to isolate it and keep it isolated in the region in which it begins," he said during a wide-ranging Rose Garden news conference.
But such a shift could require a change in law, and some in Congress and the states worry it would increase the power of the federal government at the expense of local control.
At the time the order was signed, a spokeswoman for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the Public Health Service would probably recommend home quarantines when possible, but said they would be voluntary. It's unclear whether the federal takeover of state and local quarantine powers that Bush discussed Tuesday would be limited just to travel or involve broader home quarantines as well.
We can trust him, and Karl, and Scooter, and Dick, and Tom and Bill of course, don't you think?
Posted by Chip Spear at October 4, 2005 1:55 PM