Up until five years ago I worked as a speech pathologist in a large Midwestern public school district. Every year the poor school nurse had to be roped into presenting a horribly-produced bit of video on “Blood Borne Pathogens.” It was old, it was cheesy, and had this awful soundtrack that remains in my head like the Earworm That Wouldn’t Die.

We were instructed on the proper way to handle the cuts and scrapes that happen regularly among the elementary school population. We were taught the proper use of surgical gloves, how to dispose of them, how to dispose of anything soiled with blood or body fluids. The use of specialized cleaning chemicals was the purview of the janitors. Ebola wasn’t an issue back then, but we were supposed to be covered for such things as Hepatitis or even HIV (which never entered our school).

Imagine my shock when I saw this picture of a man delivering food to the family of Ebola patient Thomas Duncan, quarantined in their Dallas home:

And then there’s this photo taken by a Dallas news helicopter showing men cleaning up Mr. Duncan’s vomit outside his apartment. No hazmat suits, and pressure spraying the body fluids. 

In the meantime, Dallas officials are understandably having problems finding people to clean up the Liberian man’s apartment, and it’s reported that the sheets and dirty towels he used are still inside.

The Centers for Disease Control are telling us that Ebola will be “quickly contained” and that a wider outbreak of the killer disease is not likely. Furthermore, CDC Director Tom Frieden said on Thursday, “We do not shut our borders to countries affected by Ebola.”

Feeling assured yet? I sure don’t.

Neither does Dr. Gil Mobley, an emergency room trauma doctor and microbiologist. On a flight Wednesday from Guatemala to Atlanta, GA, Dr. Mobley reported that no one checked his equipment or interrogated him. Coming through customs, he said that the only question asked of him was if he had tobacco or alcohol. In anger, he donned a protective hazmat suit prior to his flight out of Atlanta with the words “CDC is Lying” written on the back. He told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

‘The CDC is asleep at the wheel …It’s going to be bad, and I want to make sure that this conversation is happening that this could get out of control in the United States. With 10,000 people flying out of west Africa daily it’s only a matter of time until all corners of the world are exposed. Once it devours third world countries, the US will be importing these cases daily. Eventually the clusters will overwhelm even the most advanced countries’ ability to isolate and quarantine all those exposed. The CDC needs to be honest with us.

But it doesn’t stop there, dear reader. Another dirty little secret is that Ebola patient Thomas Duncan should have never received a non-immigrant travel visa in the first place, according to the Center for Immigration Studies. The Center reports that Duncan, a 40-ish, single, unemployed Liberian from Ghana had six strikes against him which should have prevented him from obtaining a visa to enter the US. They include the following:

1. First time traveler to the United States
2. Living outside country of citizenship
3. Liberian (5th highest overstay rate)
4. Unemployed
5. Single
6. Sister living in the United States

Duncan also settled in an area of Dallas known as the “Ellis Island of Dallas,” which host some 10,000 Liberians who, according to the LA Times, “. . .wait in the low-slung, working-class apartments to find out whether they will be granted asylum. . .”

In other words, there’s a bunch of illegal Liberians living there, including those who may come and go between Liberia.

And that’s not all.

The Daily Caller reports that there are about 13,500 people holding US visas who hail from the Ebola-stricken nations of Liberia, Sierra Leon, and Guinea. Jessica Vaughan of the Center for Immigration Studies, alarmed by these numbers, states:

“It would be reasonable [for the president] to designate Ebola as a communicable disease of public health significance. That would enable the State Department to impose tighter restrictions on visitors” (from countries with Ebola outbreaks).

Seems reasonable, no? Furthermore, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky) told radio host Laura Ingraham, “I am concerned about it, and it’s a big mistake to downplay it and act as if it’s not a big deal.” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tx) honed in on the Federal Aviation Administration, writing in a letter to FAA Administrator Michael Huerta, “It is imperative that the FAA take every available precaution in preventing additional cases from arriving in the United States,” in a manner similar to British Airways and Kenya Airways.

The Democrats, naturally, are blaming a lack of health funding for the crisis. Rep. Rosa DeLaura (D-Conn.) said,

“Funding for biomedical research is crucial and when Congress works on a funding bill in the coming months we need to ensure the [National Institutes of Health] is fully funded.”

So is this really a issue of mo’ money, mo’ money, mo’ money?

I don’t think so.

Thursday found President Obama doing what he does best, which is certainly not acting like a President, but rather like the community organizer he really is and firing up a group of immigration activists:

“The clearest path to change is to change [the voter turnout] number. Si se puede, si votamos! Yes, we can, if we vote!”

Of course. Obama has no desire to put the kibosh on anything that might impinge upon his goal of ‘transforming America’ through importing vast numbers of new immigrants — people who will vote for the party that brung ’em to the Big Dance that is America, replete with all the goodies she can provide.

He wrapped up his speech with this:

“And six years ago, I asked you to believe, and tonight, I ask you to keep believing, not just in my ability to bring about change, but in your ability to bring about change. Because in the end, DREAMer is more than just a title, it’s a pretty good description of what it means to be an American. . . .

“That spirit is alive in America today, and with that spirit, no force on earth can stop us.”