Given the pressure to act and apparent urgency to calm the public over the Ebola pandemic, it is likely no surprise to hear that President Obama decided to play a quick round of golf (for 5 hours) Saturday morning before arranging a late evening meeting convening "members of his national security and public health teams to update him on the response to the domestic Ebola cases," according to The Daily News. "The meeting concluded with a discussion of broader steps to increase the preparedness of our health sector nationwide," which one would imagine the newly appointed Ebola Czar would be directing - think again!
The full list of everyone who attended, according to the White House, is:
- The Vice President
- Chuck Hagel, Secretary of Defense
- Sylvia Burwell, Secretary of Health and Human Services
- Jeh Johnson, Secretary of Homeland Security
- Denis McDonough, Chief of Staff
- Shaun Donovan, Director of the Office of Management and Budget
- Susan Rice, National Security Advisor
- Neil Eggleston, Counselor to the President
- Antony Blinken, Deputy National Security Advisor
- Lisa Monaco, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism
- Thomas Frieden, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Katie Beirne Fallon, Director of the Office of Legislative Affairs
- Benjamin Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting
- Jennifer Palmieri, Director of Communications
- Anita Decker Breckenridge, Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations
- Suzanne George, Executive Secretary and Chief of Staff of the National Security Council
- Rand Beers, Deputy Assistant to the President for Homeland Security
- Brian Egan, Deputy Counsel to the President
- Colin Kahl, National Security Advisor to the Vice President
Ron Klain, who was appointed Ebola Czar on Friday by Obama, is not on this list... and this is the second meeting in as many days that the man in charge of 'implementing a solution'.
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Who could have guessed that!
