Frieden's Fiasco 

Faith in the government's ability to handle major crises has been falling year after year. A Gallup poll last month found that it has fallen 17 points since 2012, to its lowest level ever. 

It's no coincidence that a majority of Americans no longer trust the president either -- faith in the government and the president often go hand-in-hand. A July Fox News poll found that 68% of Americans disagreed with the president's claim that his administration is the "most open and transparent in history." And a June Gallup poll found that a majority Americans did not believe that Obama was "honest and trustworthy."

This lack of faith and trust is the result of a series of scandals and government failures -- stimulus boondoggles, shovel-ready jobs that weren't, the Obamacare website disaster, the IRS scandal, Benghazi, the VA scandal, Fast and Furious, the Secret Service scandal. 

This is worth remembering now when government officials from the president down are telling us about Ebola, "Remain calm. Trust us. We've got this." But day after day events call into question their competence and honesty. For example:

During a conference call yesterday, CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said:
 

"If you're a member of the traveling public and are healthy, should you be worried that you might have gotten [Ebola] by sitting next to someone [on a bus]? And the answer is no. . . .if you are sick and you may have Ebola, should you get on a bus? And the answer to that is also no. You might become ill, you might have a problem that exposes someone around you."

That is a contradictory answer. If a sick person on a bus could expose you to Ebola then obviously you can get Ebola by sitting next to a person on a bus! 

Comments like that are contributing to a growing credibility gap that could fuel panic and damage the economy -- at the very moment we're being urged to remain calm. Unfortunately, there's more. 

How Much Risk? 

Dr. Frieden told Fox News that Amber Vinson, the Dallas nurse who had been treating Ebola victim Thomas Duncan and who tested positive for Ebola, should not have gotten on a plane and flown to Ohio. 

Then late yesterday we learned that Vinson called the CDC to tell them of her travel plans and reported that she had a fever. The CDC gave her the green light to travel because the fever was not high enough. 

Was it okay for the nurse to fly? Was it not okay? Do the bureaucrats manning the CDC hotline have the right information? 

According to CBS News Medical Correspondent Dr. John LaPook, the nurse's fever of 99.5 meant that she "didn't officially fall into the category of high risk." But what level of risk was it? And how much risk is the CDC willing to take with other people's lives? 

Here's something else to consider. This nurse got on a plane when (forget the CDC) common sense dictates that she shouldn't have. Does the CDC have a clue what any of the other people who are self-monitoring are up to? I doubt it. 

Initially, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins (who is really more like a county commissioner than a judge) said, "We are not going to put protective orders [to not travel] on 75 health care workers." Later in the day Jenkins claimed that no one at the CDC said the workers should not travel. It defies logic, but then again the CDC evidently told the nurse it was okay to fly! 

What a difference a day makes. Dallas County commissioners are holding a meeting this afternoon to consider an emergency disaster declaration which, among other things, would enable county officials to "impose new travel restrictions on health care workers." 

And because the nurse was permitted to fly, five schools in Texas and Ohio have been closed. Among the passengers on the plane with the nurse were students and school employees. 

According to the New York Times, "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials were 're-evaluating the health risk to some passengers' on the flight, and that as a result, they had decided to shut the schools to clean them. It was not clear what had caused that re-evaluation of the risk." 

Dr. Frieden wants us to believe that you can't get Ebola just by sitting next to someone on a bus. But because of one flight with a supposedly low-risk patient, five schools are now closed and are being disinfected.

Feeling any better? 

Screenings Start Today 

Stepped-up screenings begin at four airports today, including Dulles International Airport just outside of Washington, D.C. Given the fiascos in Dallas, what confidence do we have that the screeners at these airports know what to do? Do they know what the CDC's safe fever level for flying is?

CDC officials said today that if someone at the airport presents with a fever, it is up to airport personnel to transport them to the hospital. Did you see the pictures of Amber Vinson getting on that medical transport plane? Do airport personnel have that kind of protective gear? 

But since we know that you can have symptoms without a fever, and that such screenings would not have kept Thomas Duncan out of the country, we get back to the question of why anyone from the afflicted countries is being allowed to enter the U.S. Two-thirds of the public supports a temporary travel ban, but our embassies are still processing about 100 travel visas a day from the "ground zero" West African countries. 

What About The Left? 

Three left-wing House members aren't satisfied that U.S. troops in West Africa are building infrastructure and improving conditions in the afflicted countries. That's not enough. 

In a letter to President Obama, these representatives wrote: "We write to urge you to consider allowing military medical and technical personnel to provide direct care to and to come into contact with patients in West Africa."

They want U.S. servicemen and women treating the Ebola patients, cleaning up soiled blankets and changing vomit soaked clothes. That's what they think would be a really good idea for our men and women in uniform to be doing. I doubt the public would agree. 

More members of Congress, including Speaker John Boehner, are calling for a travel ban. The public overwhelmingly supports that idea. Even former White House Press Secretary Jay Carney says that "substantive actions" like "flight restrictions" need to be taken. 

Chag Same'ach 

Carol and I wish all of our Jewish friends and supporters celebrating Shemini Atzeret a happy and joyous holiday!