Pigs don't fly

So a friend told me she was worried because the President had just declared an emergency around the swine flu. Her worry was that if they want to, they can forego regulations otherwise required to speed treatment and reactions to the flu as it spreads. After all, 1000 people have died. (Of course, 35000 died last year with all of that in place.)

To console her, I said "Hmmm, well, in a national emergency virtually anything is on the table for the sake of averting the emergency. For example, some liberty might have to be suspended in the interest of protecting us from the flu. Like involuntary segregation of the sick and well. At home? Not necessarily, in publicly monitored places. Actually, that didn't console her.

I think that is something to watch. How much freedom is on the table? The party line is that this flu is a threat through the winter. Seems odd, doesn't it? The flu would be a threat from last spring through the winter? Will we forget about the suspension of the rules during that time? Not if we make a point of watching.