The Hill is reporting something that many of us have been saying for quite some time: Ebola is this election cycle’s October surprise.  Liberia already cancelled their elections, and some worry that the same could occur in places like Texas or Connecticut.  Today the city of Dallas will vote on whether to declare a local disaster, and make no mistake: If they do, it opens the door for martial law.  They won’t say that, of course, but that’s exactly what it is.

Approval of the proposed order would implement the county’s emergency management system, according to the declaration.

We all know what that means.  Certainly SWAT teams won’t suddenly be demanding “papers, please” of city residents, but once that declaration is made, they can do that if they choose. That’s what the law is all about. Don’t worry, of course.  It’s all for your own good, comrade.

Meanwhile, Dallas residents are not happy…or safe.  The recent events have rendered parts of the city quiet.  One independent candidate for Congress is even calling for a citywide “no contact” policy, while residents are clearing the shelves of hand sanitizer.

“My wife and I went to look for some — we had to go to three different stores before we were able to find one bottle of sanitizer,” [Eric] Williams said. “And that was at the dollar store. They had three bottles left on the shelf.”

The candidate has suggested a citywide “no-contact” policy: no handshakes, no hugs.

In Cleveland, the plane that carried Patient Two–the second nurse from Dallas to become infected—sits grounded; it did, however, make five more flights first, putting others who flew on it in those two days at risk if they happened to touch anything the patient did.

And just in case you still think the government has everything under control, consider this: Patient Zero, Thomas Eric Duncan, sat in a crowded waiting room for several hours at the ER.  During that time, he had diarrhea and vomiting.  Did he touch anything? Of course.  Did he use the restroom?  Probably. How many people went in and out of that ER while he was there?  How many of them sat within 3 feet of him?  How many sat in the same chair after him?  Did the government find all of them too?

I guess we’ll never know.