President Obama called Republicans who are promoting fear and cowardice as an answer to the Ebola outbreak. Obama dropped the facts on those who looking to create hysteria for political gain.
Video:
http://youtu.be/TmilUE6aNxM
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President Obama was introduced by Dr. Kent Brantly, who was diagnosed with and recovered from Ebola.
Obama reminded everybody that the best way to protect Americans from Ebola is to stop the outbreak at its source. The president praised healthcare workers who are going into the heart of the Ebola epidemic. The president called these people American heroes who deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.
The president said that he believed in American exceptionalism because we don’t run and hide from our problems. Obama denounced Ebola fear and hysteria.
President Obama discussed the progress that has been at the source of the outbreak because of the leadership the United States has shown on the ground. Obama cautioned that none of this means that the outbreak has been solved. The president warned that if the U.S. doesn’t deal with the problem in West Africa, it will come here.
Obama called out the quarantines imposed by states as a way of discouraging healthcare workers who are needed from going to the source of the outbreak. Obama added that until the outbreak is stopping in Africa we may see more cases in the United States. He said, The only way to make sure that we are safe is to deal with the disease is the most acute.”
The president said, “In order to prevent its spread, and to keep America safe, we have to go to the source.”
Obama said that his biggest message was that it was critical that we stay focused on the facts and the science. The president pointed out that all seven Americans who have been treated for Ebola in America have survived. Obama said, “We know that this disease can be contained and treated.”
President Obama took a direct shot at states who are quarantining healthcare workers upon their return from treating patients in Africa. The president’s message was that the healthcare workers who are treating patients and trying to contain and defeat the outbreak at its source are heroes.
Republican governors and Democrat Andrew Cuomo in New York have jumped on the Ebola hysteria bandwagon by treating healthcare workers like criminals. Chris Christie is the poster boy for using Ebola for political gain, but Republican governors who are facing closing reelection contests are doing the same thing in states like Georgia and Maine.
The president was right. Healthcare workers who are treating Ebola patients deserve our respect and admiration. They don’t deserve to be stuck in a tent, or preemptively quarantined for political purposes.
Hard work and science will defeat Ebola. Political exploitation only causes panic and hysteria that will make the situation worse. Obama is facts and knowledge to put the Republican Ebola fear mongers in their place.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
