Battle Lines on Ebola?

This CBS News headline struck me as odd:

White House pushes back against Ebola response critics

Hmm. Who are those critics, again? The story hints at the culprits in the 4th paragraph:

Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina even accused the administration of neglect Friday for not having an Ebola czar.

So the first critic mentioned was "Republican...". The story then mentions the administration's pushback, specifically the press conference given Friday at the White House. Yet nowhere did it mention the TOUGHEST QUESTION ASKED during that presser, which came from.... the New York Times.

So are we witnessing a mainstream media outlet trying to use the Ebola event to draw invisible battle lines between the White House and the GOP, perhaps using the fact the virus comes from Black Africa to suggest racist overtones before the mid-term elections? It wouldn't be surprising.

Meanwhile, more is coming out on the Dallas infection. Some Fed Ex workers in Monrovia claim Duncan knew he had the infection and was trying to reach America where health care is better to save his life. That certainly would be consistent with initial reaction by many here in the states.  By the way, that does not necessarily mean he was symptomatic and therefore contagious on the aircraft--just that he suspected he soon would be.

As to the administration's press conference, this was a talking point offered:

"Every Ebola outbreak over the past 40 years has been stopped," said Monaco. "We know how to do this, and we will do it again."

And we can all hope and pray they do. But we've never had a case in the United States, so this is uncharted territory.  By the way, the attempts to quell panic are understandable, but if they are misrepresenting the threat (such as what they've done with "core" al Qaeda) it does nothing but lessen confidence people have in government, something we all will need if things get worse. 

MORE  10/5/14

Legal Insurrection taking notice with a nice roundup.