Neither hot chicken soup nor aspirin tablets have the healing power to deal with the H1N1 swine flu outbreak threatening the world's health. So for now, President Obama is offering calm and common sense as the first line of defense against the deadly flu virus.

In his weekly address, President Obama gave a sober, reasoned approach to battling the disease, which includes commonsense prevention rules (cover your mouth when you cough, wash your hands frequently, stay home from school/work if you exhibit symptoms) as well as government plans to spend $1.5 billion to purchase antiviral medicines and develop a vaccine.

But all of Obama's cool reasoning belies a thorny nest of questions and reactions that have emerged since the flu outbreak hit.

Obama's own vice president , Joe "Shoot from the Lip" Biden, seemed to hit the panic button a little early last week, saying he would advise his family members to avoid "confined places" such as subways and airplanes until scientists had a better handle on the situation.

The White House quickly pulled back from Biden's comments.

Then a White House press briefing was nearly derailed when questions surfaced over whether Obama's health was compromised during his recent visit to Mexico, the flu's epicenter. A member of Obama's advance team, in Mexico ahead of the president's visit, came down with the flu, which has killed more than 100 people south of our border but appears to be far less lethal in this country.

Some are calling for closing the Mexican border to stem the spread of the disease. Putting concerns about damaging diplomatic relations with our southern neighbors and political correctness on the back burner, they argue that the promise of better medical care in the U.S. might prove a powerful lure for sick Mexicans to illegally cross the board and further spread the disease.

Just what Obama's needs: a potential world health meltdown to follow the world economic meltdown.

Again, Obama is showing leadership instincts far beyond his years in presenting a calm, almost serene, hand of leadership in these trying days. And I hope his patience is rewarded by a global reduction of the disease in Mexico and across the world.

But we all can read the newspapers and listen to the news reports as well as the president.

When the World Health Organization raises its swine flu alert to category 5, meaning there is a genuine risk of a global pandemic, we all understand that chicken soup and aspirin won't work anymore.

+ Swine Flu 2.0 - The Disco Swine Flu Remix

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