MEXICAN FLU AND SWINE FLEW

A couple of news items come to mind - the swine flu and Senator Spcter's flight to the Democrtic party.

As we approach Stinko de Mayo, we can thank Mexico for exporting the swine flu to other parts of the world. Outbreaks have been reported in the U.S., Canada, Europe, New Zealand and Israel. France has called for the European Union member states to stop all airline flights between the continent and Mexico. Shouldn't we do the same? Because pork is not kosher in Israel and the Middle East, some Israelis have demanded that the swine flu be called the "Mexican Flu."

The Obama administration, worried about hurting the pork industry, will no longer call it the swine flu - it is now officially the "H1N1 flu," evidence that the silly season is upon us. H1N1? Sounds like one of those robots (R-2D-2) from the Star Wars movies. And speaking of silly, Egypt has just ordered the slaughter of all the country's 300,000 pigs, even though it has not had a single case of swine flu and the virus is not transmitted by pigs. Since the religious schools in Egypt teach children that Jews are pigs, maybe instead of the four-legged swine, what they really meant was to kill all the Jews.

As for Mexico, first it exports illegal immigrants in droves across its border with the U.S., and now it is exporting a disease that may make us all sick. So, instead of that H1N1 shit, why can't we call it what it really is - the Mexican flu? Oops! - I suppose that's not diplomatically or politically correct.

Arlen Specter, the long-time moderate, if not liberal, republican senator from Pennsylvania, has switched to the Democratic party. But he didn't switch because he is now a true believer in his new party's agenda. He fled his former party to avoid being defeated in the upcoming Republican primary where polls showed him behind by 20 percentage points. So, in order to preserve his seat in the Senate, Specter fled the Republican party. I call that the "swine flew."

I'll give Specter this much - at least he was honest when he announced why he caught the swine flew. His switch and the expected seating of comedian Al Franken from Minnesota will give the democrats a 60 vote filibuster-proof majority in the senate. That's not necessarily good for the country. Worse though, Specter's flight leaves the Republican party looking more and more like an extreme right-wing party. And that's not good for both the party and the country.