Tommy Thompson must go
by Glenn R. Jackson
The September 11th attack on this country and the response of the New York Fire and Police departments have created a sub-theme to what is written and said about this first war of the Twenty-first century. Peggy Noonan, writing in the Wall Street Journal, was one of the first to point out that “men” by the hundreds gave their lives rushing into burning buildings to save others. And what kind of men were these? According to Ms. Noonan these were the rough men of society, the working day guys, but it was more than just that. If you add in the men on Flight 93 that attacked their terrorist and thwarted their evil plans by crashing that jet in the fields of Pennsylvania, you find another characteristic of these American men. These men hailed from an old American masculinity, one that valued duty, honor, action and service, as opposed to equivocation, temporizing, playing it safe and finding the angle.
Ms. Noonan’s latest (WSJ Oct. 12, 2001) drew the comparison between the masculinity of these real Americans and the image of the American male epitomized by John Wayne, “the Duke”. Her conclusions were that the Duke still lives in the hearts and spirits of the working day American male. Ms. Noonan drew an image for us of investment bankers, lawyers, and former speech writers standing on a street corner cheering their thanks as truck after truck load of working day American males rushed to the collapsed towers to conduct rescue efforts.
Yes, suddenly those master’s of the universe, those deal makers, those who value the loophole or finding the next “angle”, find themselves looking up to and cheering for the working day American male. When the balloon goes up and the elephant is on the loose trampling everything under foot there are no angles to hide behind. When war comes we look not only for rough men, but also for men that are real and honorable. We look for men who deal in simple terms of duty and honor to stop the enemy, to place themselves between their family and friends and the wars desolation. After all it was men with those characteristics that settled a nation and won two World Wars.
Did these men of the New York fire and police departments think of the risk they faced? Surely they did, but they knew their jobs and they knew their duty, and that led them to take those risk in order to save as many as they could. So they rushed into the towers, provided a calming and authoritative presence and ushered as many out of harms way as they could.
We know and value these characteristics when we see them, so we know the real America and real American masculinity when we see it. We know the difference between those who temporize and try to mitigate the risk, and those who know what must be done to do their duty and do it regardless the personal risk. How many of us sing the praises of the “play it safe” Columbine sheriff’s department sitting outside that school in their bullet-proof vests, while inside a hero teacher is allowed to bleed to death. No, our instincts are true, we value action derived from duty and honor, and disdain the over slow and over cautious as they temporize and hunt an angle to substitute for doing the right thing, all the while fearful of any risk.
Unfortunately, it is likely that this nation’s home defense and our citizens protection has been assigned to men in the mold of the master of the universe, more interested in equivocating, temporizing and mitigating risk, rather than quickly and decisively serving and protecting this nation’s citizenry
Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson looked to be a good choice for the Bush administration. Clearly Tommy Thompson would help the Bush administration move their health care plans through the legislative process. Thompson was a man who could work the Congress, could help find the angles and get a Bush patients bill of rights passed, or develop a healthcare drug plan that would pass Congressional muster. Secretary Thompson was an astute politician, a man who would mitigate the risk for this administration, avoiding mistakes and preserving the appearance of action.
From day one of the anthrax outbreak Tommy Thompson has temporized and made every case an isolated occurrence. He has made no authoritative statements, instead letting events outpace his response. Thompson has allowed rumor to replace reality. His performance to date contributes directly to the amount of panic the public feels about this anthrax threat. Secretary Thompson, by not being forthcoming and by trying to mitigate a political risk to this administration, has allowed a poorly executed terror act to become a real fear with the majority of Americans.
Tommy Thompson’s benefits to this administration clearly have gone by the board with the events of September 11th, and he is no longer the man for the job. Thompson’s responsibilities now stress heavily the arena of public health protection. While we must give Thompson some benefit of the doubt for the swiftness with which public health concerns have topped the list, his actions in the aftermath of September 11th and the outbreak of the anthrax attacks have been abysmal. Thompson has been criticized for overplaying U.S. ability to respond to an anthrax attack, and has taken no steps to increase the supply from the only U.S. manufacturer of anthrax vaccine. There has been no call for the FDA to remove the barriers to the vaccine’s production, and production remains slowed to a stop by government regulation. Congress has roundly criticized him for claiming that the U.S. was prepared for a smallpox assault, when all data shows that to be totally false.
This is a war with a clear and present danger in the public health arena, and we are one full month into that war’s declaration by our enemies and public health is still not on a war footing. There has been no emergency legislation to free drug and vaccine production from red tape, nor has there been any recommended executive orders for the same. According to Thompson it will be over a year until we have a large repository of small pox vaccine, and even then we have no clear plans to administer that vaccine in a preventive manner.
Compare Tommy Thompson’s performance with that of New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani on Sunday as Giuliani dealt with New York City’s anthrax threat. There was Ruddy calmly explaining the exposures to anthrax in New York City. He recommended action, he clearly explained what to do when a suspicious letter was opened and you felt you had been exposed to anthrax. “Don’t show the letter around to your co-workers” he said, “don’t panic, wait for an emergency response team.” Giuliani’s comments were matter of fact and direct to the American people and the people of New York City, they instilled both understanding and confidence. This was the way to deal with a public health crisis, by facing reality and not letting rumor run the show.
Once again we see the difference between men of action responding in duty and service to the public, and those who are temporizing for fear of a “political” mistake. As we saw with the men of the NYFD and the NYPD it is time for our leaders to do their duty to protect and serve the citizens of the United States. There is no time for men like Thompson to change their strips.
Having failed to demonstrate the kind of wartime leadership needed, it is time for Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson to step down or to be removed. This is war and American civilians lives are at stake. While there is clearly no need for panic at the moment, planning for the worst case is the duty of our national leadership; Thompson has failed in his duty to the American people. We have no time for second chances.
Glenn R. Jackson