The Sunday Morning Shows finally began to tell us what we really need to know about how to get along without a flu vaccine this winter. We all understand how we arrived at this horrendous outcome, in short, it's a simple combination of poor planning, pitiful oversight and outsourcing, {sound familiar?} but the real issue is: what do we do to cope and adjust.

On NBC, Tim Russert encouraged us to sneeze behind our Kleenex and wash our hands much more often than usual. This will undoubtedly address a remarkable percentage of the problem, but we wonder, is this the moment for surgical masks, a la Michael Jackson? Or shall we simply hide under the covers until Spring and hope for the best.

This certainly is not the moment to draw any analogies between this sad situation and the price of gasoline? Because even if we did, nothing would change. It's "hard" to run a country. Just ask the guys who are in charge at the moment.