DOCTORS' LOUNGE
DOCTORS' LOUNGE
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Since the Current Occupant moved
in, the country has been divided
as never before. People who are rational
in other endeavors – skilled
craftspeople, students, teachers,
business owners, ministers, even
some dentists – refuse to believe
that COVID-19 is monstrous and
that they too should fear it.
Why? It could be willful ignorance. It could be stubborn disobedience
to any authority figure. It could be blind selfishness or
plain old meanness. Or, it could be that the TV news sources of
their choice told them so. Early on, back in the winter, they toed
the President’s line, and told America that masks were not needed.
They were not effective, said some talking heads. The mask-wearing
was painted as a sign of disagreement with the President’s plans.
On March 9, Sean Hannity of Fox News told his viewers, “They
are scaring the living hell out of people—I see it again, as like, let’s
bludgeon Trump with this new hoax.”
Early on in the pandemic, wearing a mask was not universally
recommended - not until April 3 did the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention finally say so. But multiple medical doctors
appearing on different network shows, and in print, recommended
universal mask wearing in March, citing the course of the pandemic
in South Korea and Japan, where masks were mandatory and citizens
complied. Daily news images on all networks and newspapers
came pouring out of New York City, which by April was importing
refrigerated morgue trucks amid an eerie, empty city of COVID-19
ghosts. The nation was transfixed.
BAD NEWS
AUTHOR Mary Barry, MD
Yet as recently as July 15, Fox’s Laura Ingraham noted on her
show that Dr. Fauci originally said not to wear masks, and correctly
noted his reason then was to save scarce personal protective
equipment for the people on the front lines. But she went on to
say that, “The emotional argument [to wear masks] is really wonderful.
[But] before Americans are forced to accept new restrictions
on their freedom, or even be shamed or beaten up for not
complying with these mandates, shouldn’t state legislatures hold
hearings and pass actual laws?…We must demand to see all of the
science behind the lockdowns, social distancing and the masks.” 1
Is she waiting for Einstein to show up with flash cards that say
“science stuff?” Need a copy of Masks for Dummies? I’d expect a
news person to be grateful for the onslaught of COVID-19 research
data. There’s so much material: no need to strain for topics, they
stream to us daily. She could bestir herself to take a look, to ask a
question, before her head hits the pillow. But she wants a bunch of
state legislators to get all masterful first.
If she’d look, there is “some science” about that. She could have
found a study the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics at the
University of Chicago published as its Working Paper No. 2020-44,
“Misinformation During a Pandemic,” by Leonardo Bursztyn et
al. 2 Half the prime time viewers of the Fox News network are over
65, and 94% of its news show viewers are white, according to Eric
Schaal in Showbiz. It’s America’s most-watched cable news network
and Tucker Carlson Tonight and Hannity are the most-watched
news shows overall in this country. 3 Dr. Marc Siegel, quoted in
Chris Ingraham’s June 25 Washington Post article, said on the
March 6 th Hannity show, “The virus should be compared to the flu.
Because at worst, at worst, worst-case scenario it could be the flu.” 4
Per this study, host Tucker Carlson warned viewers early in February
about the dangers of the virus. Sean Hannity scoffed at the
risk until very late in February. Hannity’s viewers – the every night,
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