A SHOT OF COURAGE
With doses of flu vaccine in short supply, Bush has set an example and forgone his own shot this year. And, in 2002, when the president ordered the U.S. Armed Forces inoculated against smallpox, he similarly led the way--in that instance, by getting a shot. "As commander-in-chief, I do not believe I can ask others to accept this risk unless I am willing to do the same," he declared at the time. With regard to the anthrax vaccine, however, Bush has been uncharacteristically modest in his leadership. While the inoculation is mandatory for servicemen deployed in "high risk" areas, dozens of service members--citing reports of severe side effects and the absence of anthrax stockpiles in Iraq and Afghanistan--have refused it and faced court-martial. But what about the president? What if, in an attempt to reassure service members, he had received the inoculation but forgotten to let us know? The New Republic called the White House to find out. Spokesman Allen Abney first told tnr that it was his "recollection" that Bush had received the vaccine, but then decided he would need to check. He later informed us that he had attempted to contact the president's doctor, but the doctor was out--and, in any case, privacy laws could present a problem. Since then, however, Abney has been mysteriously distant, away from his desk and apparently unable to return our phone calls. So has everyone else at the White House. The question, therefore, remains unanswered--sort of. In any case, even those who question Bush's bravery have to admit that the president, when faced with danger, has never flinched from putting others in its way.
www.tnr.com
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(Keep in mind Bush's father makes big bucks from the Carlyle Group, which as we have posted before, owns a major share of the only American company that makes the Anthrax vaccine. Coincidence??? We don't think so..) |
