A legislative stroke of the pen would put charter planes or military transport in service to move aid workers to and from affected areas.
Our legislative branch is off on vacation. Apparently they do not think this is as big a threat as the usual suspects have whipped the general public in to a frenzy to believe. Even some of the politicians have been doing the fear mongering in hopes of furthering their own gain.
I'm not sure why the New Yorker would limit their commentary to cable news. How about blogs, newspapers, radio, network TV...
The New Yorker piece was satire. It is trying to point to the absolute nonsense of getting all worked up about something that hasn't caused nor is it about to cause the deaths of thousands of Americans.
Hurricane Sandy caused more than 100 deaths in the U.S. That is more than Ebola has so far, but not much is being done to protect us from future super storms.
Guns kill about 30 people a day in the U.S. Again, that is more than Ebola. Why aren't we doing something about that?
Our political system has become one of "pay to play." Who is going to pay our representatives in Congress and the Senate to pass such legislation?
More likely as you have suggested the interests of the big airlines not wanting a travel ban, they might have already paid Congress to do nothing.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)