Thomas Eric Duncan was fighting for his life at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital at the same time Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price decided it was time for grandstanding.

According to Matthew Watkins of the Dallas Morning News:

Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price questioned the motivation of the hospital that is treating Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan, suggesting that race and income may have been a factor in him not being diagnosed earlier.
Two days before he was admitted and placed in isolation, Duncan was treated and released by Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. He had a slight fever at the time and was complaining about abdominal pain. He reportedly told a nurse that he had been in Africa, but was not tested for Ebola. Instead, he was given antibiotics and released.
Price, who is black, called the reasons for that mistake an “elephant in the room.”
“We know why what happened at Presbyterian happened,” he said. “It is historical what has happened in this community. If a person who looks like me shows up without insurance, they don’t get the same treatment.”

On the heels of that statement, Price also defended the county health department saying:

“I don’t want us to get caught up in the Ebola hype and fright,” Price said, after reminding the court that it was flu season and commending Thompson for DCHHS’ work.

No, he certainly doesn’t want to add to the hype, fright, and conflicting information regarding Ebola and this case in particular. John Wiley Price is a straightforward well-meaning commissioner who only has Dallas and his constituents best interests at heart. I mean, he seems like a really nice guy!

A quick search for John Wiley Price and you find all sorts of interesting information. Lets start with his own website. There you will find the following:

If there were a movie to depict the life and times of John Wiley Price and his work as a Dallas County Commissioner, the marquee would read “Management on Elm Street.” His unyielding dedication to and direction of Dallas County resources toward fiscal health and efficiency have quieted the Nightmare that usually exists in local government. John Wiley Price’s activism and commitment to his divergent constituency would be the only logical sequel.

Alrighty then! Sounds like a GREAT guy right? If he is, then how come he was arrested this last July? Yes, you read that correctly. According to Frank Heinz of NBCDFW.com:

A 13-count indictment unsealed Friday names Price, his longtime chief of staff Dapheny Elaine Fain and two political consultants, Kathy Louise Nealy and Christian Lloyd Campbell.
Price and Nealy are accused of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud and tax evasion. Campbell is accused of participating in the conspiracy.
Price and Fain are accused of running a business that provided Price with another $133,000 that was never reported on income taxes.
In total, Price is accused of receiving around $1,150,000 in bribes and other taxable income from several sources that was concealed or disguised, according to the indictment.

A 13-count indictment with over $1 million in bribes for a case that has been in the works for years is no small thing.  For anyone who is interested, you can find a copy of the indictment here.  By the way, Price has been in trouble before.  The FBI arrested him three years ago and confiscated over $200,000.  And that’s not all!  Lets add an arrest in 1991, 3 arrests in 1992, 1993, and 1994 to name a few.  Not to mention the video of him going completely berserk in December of 2009 during a County Commissioner meeting.  One more thing.  Did you know that the astronomy term “black hole” is racist?  Neither did I.  John Wiley Price, however, thinks otherwise.

John Wiley Price, ladies and gentlemen is indeed quite the character. One who for some strange reason; no matter all of his arrests, outbursts, and a major federal indictment on his resume, keeps getting elected.  Meanwhile, Thomas Eric Duncan has died from a horrible disease, another has been potentially identified as suffering from Ebola, and many others in Dallas remain at risk.  But that doesn’t matter to Price.  He’s too busy as “Our Man Downtown” searching for anything and everything that might be racist, and hopes we’ll all ignore the major elephant in the room:  the 13-count federal indictment hanging over his head.