Politifact reminds us that mosquito menace is not just trump's problem. Trump as you no doubt know is petrified of mosquitos. He is not wrong to be scared out of his mind. We are facing an ever-growing risk of airborne disease and Mosquitoes are part of the problem. Trump's attitude toward mosquitoes is documented in the following video.

The mosquito danger is not fiction

The warmer the earth gets the more likely we shall face risk from airborne causes of disease. This is frightening because our capacity to protect against such a scourge is almost nonexistent.

We cannot cover the globe with toxic pesticides. We cannot breathe while encased in a plastic shroud. The New York Times has within the last week published an extensive investigation of the current influx of mosquitoes, the product of extensive global travel.

To complete this sourcing of a huge and disturbing breaking news story we need to see how President Trump, an announced climate change skeptic who has no compunction about proposing huge cuts in anything Obama did on health, has targeted the agencies that could protect us from airborne diseases. Here from NPR, another candidate for cutting, describes it.

Hair trigger nation

We know from reactions to other things like major storms and Zika that the United States has more or less been softened up to become very alarmed even by the possibility of some health or weather catastrophe.

News that the president, who rightfully sees there is a danger in mosquitoes, not to mention other insects like ticks, wants to slice money from what qualifies as the first line of national defense, is daunting. There is no easy way to quantify the actual results of the Trump cut if it is enacted. But it is not a prioritization, it is a cut.

And that speaks volumes when the announced intention of the president is to strengthen the military at the expense of every other government function.

News media silence

Another problem that results from this exploration is the failure of news media to ask specific questions of the president directly. This is partly because the president has been dismissive of the media calling them snakes and fake and such. But a question related to mosquitos and the New York Times story and the budget cuts referenced in the NPR piece might have the effect of gaining at least a bit of interest from the leader of the free world. It is worth a shot. Who knows, the reporter who asks it might save a life or two.
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