Cincinnati becoming world's bedbug capital

The Bush Who Brings You Bedbugs strikes again.

As America has seen an alarming rise in bedbug infestations under Bush, Cincinnati has been the nerve center of this vile trend. So much so that the Los Angeles Times has even reported on it.

I blackballed the L.A. Times months ago, and I ought to continue to do so, because it tries to blame the DDT ban for the bedbug pandemic - even though DDT was banned decades before the current rise of bedbugs started. But make no mistake about it: The bedbug crisis began right after Bush seized power. It's sadly amusing to watch the media place the blame everywhere except where it belongs.

How out of control is the bedbug situation in Cincinnati? In the past year, one out of every 6 people in town has had bedbugs. And that doesn't count those who don't know it yet. Hamilton County received only 2 bedbug complaints in 2003 - but almost 300 in 2008.

As another kick in the teeth, renters' insurance is often a scam: In many states, including Kentucky, it won't cover furniture ruined by bedbugs - thereby proving once again what a rip-off insurance is.

But why would bedbugs be so out of control in Cincinnati of all places?

Well, how come I managed to have both salmonella and dengue fever near Cincinnati in the same year (1989)? Why does Cincinnati seem to have a whooping cough epidemic every few years? It's probably because the Cincinnati region in the '80s and '90s had a pattern of bad public policies that took years to break. Officials at the time were more worried about fighting "smut" than in public health.

Bedbug infestations are what happens when our public officials think that someone reading Playboy in the privacy of their own home is a more urgent threat than germs and vermin.

In the meantime, lawmakers should require renters' insurance to cover bedbug damage.

(Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bedbugs4-2009jan04,0,1108531.story)