John Barry's "The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague"

[Mabus]

Remember this book? It was on Bush's reading list during his most recent summer vacation. Now all we're hearing about is the Avian Flu. Hmmmm. :tinfoilhat:

Petrol prices are climbing, motorists are fuming, and President Bush is at his ranch with a book about the history of salt. There could be a connection.

According to the White House, one of three books Mr Bush chose to read on his five-week holiday is Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky, who chronicled the rise and fall of what once was considered the world's most strategic commodity.

The other two are Alexander II: The Last Great Tsar by Edvard Radzinsky and The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History by John Barry.

***

Barry said the Administration was investigating what steps public officials could take to lessen the severity of a flu pandemic. A central theme of Barry's book is that the 1918 outbreak was exacerbated in the US by the government's attempts to play down its significance, partly to avoid undermining the war effort.

source: Bush plays it by the book

What if, instead of downplaying an outbreak to avoid undermining a war, you use the fear of a pandemic to divert attention away from a war?

:tinfoilhat:

[niyad]

1. I just want to know WHO was reading these books to him--FAR more

advanced than "my pet goat".

[Mabus]

2. Does the name "Miers" ring a bell?

I don't think she actually read it to him, rather she summarized the key points for him and put it in a PDB so he'd look cool to Jenna and Barbara.

[DesertRat]

3. Interesting theory...

but I seriously doubt that Bush read *anything* during his vacation.

[Mabus]

6. I agree

just because it was on *'s reading list doesn't mean he read it. I'm thinking it was actually on Rove's reading list.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. No way he read that book.

Too much detail, too much science. Way over his head.

[momster]

5. Which is Scarier?

George Bush reading about pandemics or about ruthless dictators with all the trappings of royalty?