I wrote about the overreaction to Swine Flu here. Since Tuesday, the number of cases in the United States has topped....hold your breath...drum roll........100.
Vice President Biden has embarrassed himself and the rest of us with his mouth again. While President Obama preaches calm and serenity, Vice President Joe Biden hit the talk-show circuit on Sunday and told everyone to avoid "confined places" like subway cars, airplanes, coffee shops and restaurants, and everything else that we like doing.
Biden would avoid subways, planes after swine flu outbreak
In an interview Thursday on NBC’s “Today” show, Biden said, “I would tell members of my family — and I have — I wouldn’t go anywhere in confined places now,” Biden said on NBC’s “Today” show.. “It’s not that it’s going to Mexico. It’s [that] you’re in a confined aircraft. When one person sneezes, it goes all the way through the aircraft. That’s me. …
“So, from my perspective, what it relates to is mitigation. If you’re out in the middle of a field when someone sneezes, that’s one thing. If you’re in a closed aircraft or closed container or closed car or closed classroom, it’s a different thing.”
A little more than one hour later, Biden rushed out a statement backing off.
Biden’s remarks contradicted more restrained advice from President Barack Obama and the federal government — and the last thing the White House wants to do right now is shut down the airline industry and big-city subways out of mass panic.
The White House quickly arranged for Biden to make this statement through a spokesperson.
“On the Today Show this morning, the vice president was asked what he would tell a family member who was considering air travel to Mexico this week. The advice he is giving family members is the same advice the administration is giving to all Americans: that they should avoid unnecessary air travel to and from Mexico. If they are sick, they should avoid airplanes and other confined public spaces, such as subways. This is the advice the vice president has given family members who are traveling by commercial airline this week. As the president said just last night, every American should take the same steps you would take to prevent any other flu: Keep your hands washed; cover your mouth when you cough; stay home from work if you're sick and keep your children home from school if they're sick.”
Host Matt Lauer had asked the vice president: “This is by no means a ‘gotcha’ type of question. … But if a member of your family came to you … and said, ‘Look, I want to go on a commercial airliner to Mexico, and back within the next week,’ would you think it’s a good idea?” Biden made it unmistakably clear he would not want his family to make any trips on planes or subways.
These sorts of comments are what the Obama administration fears from Biden, who after more than three decades in Washington is known for making gaffes. (emphasis mine)
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