It’s getting horribly tiresome seeing Atlanta attorney Andrew Speaker on camera wearing his mask and bleating about how he has been victimized during his ordeal with a drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis.

He arrogantly disregarded sound medical advice, traveled around to serve his own purposes and now is trying to con us into believing he is the one who has been mishandled and mismanaged – despite how many others he may have exposed to his dangerous malady.

His disease, which has been killing millions in poorer parts of the world, is horribly frightening. For someone of his means and education not to realize what he has and that it can cause untold misery and death is disgusting.

Optimists see all this as an opportunity rather than a threat to public health. “Maybe one air trip involving an infected American will do more than 1.5 million annual world TB deaths to spur development of options to protect everyone,” said one observer.

All well and good, and that might happen. But right now that long-range view is not any comfort to people worrying whether Speaker infected them.