Mexican Standoff

MSNBC is reporting Mexico is basically going into shutdown mode to fight the spread of Swine Flu.

Mexico on Wednesday suspended nonessential services at government offices and private businesses in an attempt to fight the widening swine flu epidemic.

The decision came as global health authorities warned Wednesday that swine flu was threatening to bloom into a pandemic, and the virus spread farther in Europe even as the outbreak appeared to stabilize at its epicenter. A toddler who succumbed in Texas became the first death outside Mexico.

Health Secretary José Angel Córdova Villalobos announced the move to shut down most of the country’s government and economy shortly after his department reported that confirmed cases of infection with the new strain of influenza had risen. The death toll in Mexico is believed to be 160.

This seems well over the line. If Obama tried this here, the cries of "fascism!" would almost certainly lead to an armed revolt across the country. On the other hand, if people somehow start dying from this in the US, the exact same thing could easily happen.

Imagine Obama getting on TV across the country and closing schools and businesses like this until further notice. You'd have riots within days. Imagine too that people are dying and Obama doesn't close businesses and schools. The riots would come, only it would take longer.

I don't like where this is going. As it is this country is a powderkeg. I'm honestly worried, not about the Swine Flu, but the response to it.

I don't like it at all. Thousands of people die from flu each year. Why is this a global emergency?