Feb 12, 2016 4 min read

Editorial voices from newspapers around the United States as compiled by the Associated Press:

Sometimes, it feels really good to get angry.

It’s a perfectly natural emotion that can be healthy when used appropriately. When anger provides the impetus to correct an injustice, it’s a very good thing indeed.

But it goes without saying that anger can be dangerous. Angry people are susceptible to taking regrettable actions.

There’s a lot of talk out there about how American voters are angry, and maybe some of it is true. If you pay attention to things like Donald Trump rallies, you hear lots of spite and bile, a lot of free-floating anxiety being converted into resentment of vague groups and institutions – “Washington,” “Hollywood,” “the 1 percent” – and other candidates. And while we don’t mean to pick on Trump, sometimes it seems as though his campaign exists to exploit the discontent of Americans, to distill their disappointment into something that feels a lot like hate.

But prospective voters are charged with being adults here. Understand that when candidates call for voters to get mad, they’re really trying to manipulate voters into suspending their powers of rational observation.

They’re asking for more than support – they’re asking for fealty. And they aren’t entitled to that.

The blame game was in full swing as Congress held hearings on the Flint, Mich., water fiasco. There, people drank water tainted with lead for months before anyone did anything to deal with the threat.

But the bottom line is clear: Local officials knew there was a problem and, for too long, did nothing about it. State officials knew there was a concern, but issued no orders to deal with it. And U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials warned there was a risk to the public’s health, but took no decisive action to eliminate it.

Local government is supposed to look out for the best interests of people. State officials are entrusted with ensuring that happens. Federal agencies are expected to serve as a backup when serious health or safety risks are involved.

Now, all levels of government must work to make the situation right. They must make sure all Flint residents get clean water free of lead and contaminants, and they must make the situation right for all of those who were sickened or otherwise harmed by the water.

World health officials are concerned a mosquito-borne virus spreading across the Americas could be driving a spike in birth defects. The virus may be linked to Guillain-Barre syndrome, which also causes temporary paralysis.

In May, an outbreak of the so-called Zika virus was reported in Brazil. Since then, the disease has apparently spread to 23 countries and territories in the region. Health officials are trying to determine whether the virus is to blame for an increase in the number of Brazilian infants born with microcephaly. The condition is associated with abnormally small heads and brain damage.

In the United States, a handful of cases have been reported in roughly a dozen states. But because the United States has relatively effective mosquito control, a widespread outbreak is not expected here.

Nevertheless, the possible link between the Zika virus and potentially devastating effects for infants is alarming. El Salvador has advised women to avoid pregnancy for the next two years. Such advice may be extreme, but the sooner scientists can prove (or disprove) a link, the better. Unfortunately, no vaccine exists yet, nor is there even a simple diagnostic test for the Zika virus.

Brazil is scheduled to host this summer’s Olympics. Given how much international travel can aid the spread of disease, public health officials have all the more reason to swiftly solve this medical mystery.