obama-concernHow concerned is President Obama? From his news conference last night:

About the new flu: “deep concern”
About Pakistan, overall: “gravely concerned”
About Pakistan’s government: “more concerned” (than nuclear threat)
About Iraq bombings: “legitimate cause of concern”
About Fiat-Chrysler merger: “ongoing concern” (in the sense of a business)

New flu:

Well, first of all, as I said, this is a cause for deep concern, but not panic. And I think that we have to make sure that we recognize that how we respond — intelligently, systematically, based on science and what public health officials have to say — will determine in large part what happens.

Pakistan:

I am gravely concerned about the situation in Pakistan, not because I think that they’re immediately going to be overrun and the Taliban would take over in Pakistan; more concerned that the civilian government there right now is very fragile and don’t seem to have the capacity to deliver basic services, schools, health care, you know, rule of law, a judicial system that works for the majority of people.

Iraq:

Well, first of all, I think, it’s important to note that although you’ve seen some spectacular bombings in Iraq that are a legitimate cause of concern, civilian deaths, incidents of bombings, et cetera, remain very low relative to what was going on last year, for example. And so you haven’t seen the kinds of huge spikes that you were seeing for a time. The political system is holding and functioning in Iraq.

Fiat-Chrysler:

All that promises the possibility that you can get a Fiat- Chrysler merger and that you have an ongoing concern. The details have not yet been finalized, so I don’t want to jump the gun, but I’m feeling more optimistic than I was about the possibilities of that getting done.