Side note, today a 23 month old died from the Swine Flue…..

Dems using the flu to hoist their bonafides.

“With the swine flu officially out of the pen in the United States, Democrats and their allies have taken to heart Rahm Emanuel’s maxim that “you never want a serious crisis to go to waste.”

The first 48 hours of the health emergency saw everyone from the president to the left-wing blogosphere finding opportunity at hand – with Republicans spending most of their time trying to inoculate themselves from blame.

President Obama used the outbreak as an Oprah-style teachable moment, drawing a connection between the flu scare and the need to fund scientific research.

The commander in chief noted during a speech at the National Academy of Sciences that “if there was ever a day that reminded us of our shared stake in science and research, it’s today,” and he underscored the idea that “our capacity to deal with a public health challenge of this sort rests heavily on the work of our scientific and medical community.”

Up on the Hill, flu-fighters pumped out press releases of the don’t-just-stand-there-do-something variety.

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) put himself on the pandemic map by calling for the State Department to issue a travel advisory to Mexico – something it did later in the day. Weiner also urged Health Subcommittee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) to call hearings on the “success of the steps” taken to contain the spread of the disease thus far — but he would have had to have been up earlier in the morning to beat Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), who announced hearings to “examine the recent outbreak of swine flu and the next steps for a federal response” an hour before Weiner’s office issued its press release.”

Waxman would have hearings on flatulence if he could get away with it. But seriously, isn’t this what the Democrats constantly crowed about Bush using disaster to advantage?

Yes they did, here, and here.

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