There Are No Ebola Zombies

Is the fact that people must actually state in plain language that Ebola will not and has not led to an epidemic of the undead shambling about a case of wishful thinking or plain stupidity? Look, we all love The Walking Dead but isn't the whole zombie fad starting to lose a little steam? Or is there truth when AlterNet asked, Are We That Gullible? No one really knows how far Ebola will get in the US or the extent of mutation in the virus, but it is just the slightest bit unlikely that casualties will be reanimated.

Before the current pop culture fascination with the living dead I had an idea to write a thriller about the zombie apocalypse occurring in the midst of complete governmental and societal dysfunction. But I never thought it would actually happen. Now we get to see how our eviscerated government, useless for-profit media, and large minority of completely insane and rabid 'wingers react to an outbreak of this dangerous disease. As much as I would like to believe Shepard Smith that we have absolutely nothing to fear, the truth is that the danger is not zero. Nor is it so great as to warrant the hysteria you see on the news.

Shep Smith is the guy Fox News turns to when they cross the line. When the blow-dried troglodytes and leggy blond idiots take some issue too far, Smith comes on with a reassuring break in the insanity to provide the propaganda network some CYA insurance. Freedom of speech and of the press is a great thing, but even in our system it has limits. The noise machine has lately been shouting "Fire!" in the crowded theater of America's living rooms on Ebola, feeding nicely into the extreme right's conspiracy-fueled madness.

It would be great if this Ebola Zombie business was a way to punk cable news, and provide that left hook of incredulity to shock the dumb from our collective consciousness. But according to Weathers the public has been just eating it up, even if the stories are coming from parody and satire sites. Max Brooks took on this topic in World War Z where a character laments the conflicting commentary and misinformation from media during the denial and great panic stages of the zombie war. "So much spin, so few facts" or words to that effect.

I guess it is too much to wish for that the professional journalists of our time rise above the level of a comment section troll or people would not fall for something as stupid as Ebola creating zombies.