White House Missing Key Players in Flu Crisis

If this Swine Flu outbreak turns into something really big the White House is missing some important people who would be needed to oversee the crisis:

The Obama administration declared a “public health emergency” Sunday to confront the swine flu — but is heading into its first medical outbreak without a secretary of Health and Human Services or appointees in any of the department’s 19 key posts.

President Barack Obama has not yet chosen a surgeon general or the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. His choice to run the Food and Drug Administration awaits confirmation.

In an unusual Sunday briefing at the White House, acting CDC Director Richard Besser appeared on camera with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Obama homeland security adviser John Brennan to announce the emergency declaration in response to the swine flu outbreak.

Napolitano is the former Arizona governor, and Brennan is a longtime CIA counterterrorism specialist once thought to be in line to run the agency.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs insisted the vacancies won’t hinder Obama’s response.

“I want to be very clear here: There is a team in place. Part of it is standing behind me, and part of it working as we speak to identify exactly what [Besser] and others have talked about,” Gibbs said. “This notion that somehow that if there is not currently a secretary, that there is not the function that needs to take place to prepare for either this or any other situation is just simply not the case.” “I think it’s all hands on deck, and we’re doing fine,” Gibbs said.

If the president could nominate people who haven't skipped out on their taxes or who weren't in the pocket of the nation's most ardent abortionist, perhaps he could get a nominee through.

The team in place has not chosen to place additional controls on our borders or screen people coming into our airports from Mexico for flu symptoms. The same cannot be said for our European allies.

The EU has issued a travel advisory for trips to Mexico AND the United States, and the Brits are screening every passenger getting off flights from Mexico. I don't see why we couldn't try and do the same.

Wouldn't it have been nice to have a big, secure fence along the Mexican border right about now?