FOX New commentators have been apologizing.
Dr. Drew said on FOX News that the flu was far worse than the coronavirus.
Dr. Anthony Fauci pointed out that the coronavirus has a mortality rate that is ten times worse than the flu. Dr. Drew apologized.
Dr. Phil said that automobile crashes, swimming deaths, and smoking cause more deaths than COVID-19, yet we don’t close down the country for them. He claimed there were 360,000 swimming pool deaths annually, which was ten times the actual number. When reminded that automobile deaths, drowning, and smoking are not contagious, he apologized.
Dr. Oz said that schools should be reopened, even though there might be a mortality rate of 2-3% and got such a loud and angry response that he apologized.
FOX News did not apologize.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Of these 3 phonies, Pinsky gave the more sincere appearing apology, Oz said he misspoke and “Dr.” Phil claimed he gave the figure for worldwide pool deaths!! Huh? I think Phil is still lying, his pseudo-apology was the worst. The best apology would be for these 3 slimy attention seekers to take a five year hiatus from TV, radio, the Internet and the media.
LikeLike
Out of respect to the American public, FOX News should do penance by going off the air for six months and return with an Inspector General who has the authority to punish employees and guests who spread lies on air.
LikeLike
Dr. Drew and Dr. Oz can apologize all they want; it’s still irresponsible on their part and frankly, extolling the virtues of student deaths is disgusting. Why is Dr. Oz still a credible television personality? Fire him immediately.
LikeLike
He is a television personality. He’s never been credible.
LikeLike
Once upon a time the man had a fine reputation. He performed life-saving, minimally-invasive heart surgery at NYC’s Columbia-Presbyterian on a close friend (20 yrs ago). Months later she & I attended a [free] lecture he gave at a NJ church in our nearby hospital’s town. He was sharing how his dept was revamping its recovery area to incorporate mindfulness et al ancient Eastern med practices in the hopes of minimizing painkillers & speeding holistic recovery. He was well received by an audience of regional medical professionals.
Sad what he’s become.
LikeLike
This line of argument reminds me of a person who justifies crime on the basis of its not being as bad as another crime. Covid may not be as bad as various other maladies, but that is no reason to blow it off, for doing so may make it much worse than other maladies.
The cholera wiped out whole Blackfoot villages when it traveled up the Missouri River. It brought the proudest and most powerful people in the high plains to their knees. It was really no worse than the other plagues. It just happened to be the one that wiped out whole peoples that summer.
Sooner or later, we will have to go back to work and learn to live with this plague. Let us do it with logic and courage instead of false bravado.
LikeLike
Is it just me? I find comparison w/the annual # of flu deaths (let alone irrelevant stats from non-infectious causes) completely illogical. We resign ourselves to it because it’s the remnant after herd immunity & annual vaccination protects most. We have neither for covid-19.
And how is it acceptable to slap another 30k-70k deaths [or many more– we’re already at 33k] on top of the flu stat?
LikeLike
You are right, bethree5, underlying all these “lies” is a simple logical flaw which is intentionally made by these celebrity experts: the protective measures against the spread of corona is justified by the necessity of flattening the curve, that is, to prevent that hospitals get overwhelmed. These people, on the other hand, do not attack the reason for the protective measures, but they make up various separate reasons, like the deathrate or total death numbers.
The logical flaw can be easily pinpointed In these simple if-then sentences:
If we don’t take these protective measures, (then) hospitals will get overwhelmed.
The apologizing celebrities say:
Even if we don’t take these protective measures, (then) few people will die.
These kinds of logical flaws are regularly employed by teenagers, and even they know that what they say makes no sense.
Jenny, if you drive after 11pm, the police will pick you up.
Mom, if I drive after 11pm, it still won’t be too dark.
LikeLike
Exactly, Bethree and Mate!!!
LikeLike
Fox News is not the only misinformation media outlet that should be sued out of existence.
There is also One America News Network and Sinclar Media.
LikeLike
Yes. Thank You. Management requires local broadcasters to deliver scripted news delivered to them. This news is propaganda. It undermines any trust that local broadcast journalists may have earned and pre-empts time for authentic local news.
LikeLike
Here’s hoping that these state propaganda networks lose billions to lawsuits from victims of COVID-19 who heeded their dismissals of the issue.
LikeLike
LikeLike
Not to defend TV doctors, but I believe Dr. Oz was trying (very poorly) to say that the overall rate of deaths would increase by two to three percent, or something like that. (He was referencing a study.). But he expressed it in a way that sounded like he was saying that “only” 2% to 3% of students would die (and Alston used some strange language, like “appetizing”).
LikeLike
WHERE are the TESTS?
LikeLike
1% of the population has been tested.
LikeLike
Tampa opened a drive-through testing center at BUCS stadium. It closed after a couple days. They had a little over 600 tests.
LikeLike
Population of the Tampa-St. Petersburg metropolitan area: 2.783 million. So, there were tests enough for about 2 one hundreds of a percent of the population.
LikeLike
Why did the Tampa testing center close?
People didn’t want testing?
LikeLike
They ran out of tests. They had only 600 of them.
LikeLike
Brilliant!
I tried to get a test but learned online that the nearest testing station was inundated with phone calls and it was impossible to get through. And if you went there without an appointment, you would not be tested.
I think I am okay, and I believe I may have had a mild case a few weeks ago.
But the antibody test is not available at all.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Trump lied (no surprise there since his entire life is based on lies) said there were plenty of tests for the country.
But there are not enough tests to return to business as usual. Anyone that can stay home, should continue to isolate yourself from everyone, even if Trump manages to have your state return to the old normal.
If anyone reading this thinks they have no choice and have to return to work because you think earning money to pay for your bills is more important than your life or the lives of your friends and family, good luck.
The states that do what Trump wants will see the virus spread and the deaths climb and climb and climb.
LikeLike
Didn’t Trump say that anyone who wanted a test could get one?
That’s not true.
1% of the country has been tested.
Here’s worse news: The tests often give false negatives.
LikeLike
China reported that some of the people that landed in the hospital there and recovered with their tests saying they had the antibodies, ended up getting sick again after being sent home.
A replace. The experts said maybe that was because their bodies were not producing enough antibodies, or the virus mutated.
LikeLike
I was so worried, Diane, because of all the recent travel that you had been doing. I, too, believe that I had this thing. I had neighbors who traveled to Puerto Rico back at the end of January. They all came back sick with TERRIBLE colds. I was not getting out much at the time, and I caught it from one of them, I’m pretty sure. I lost my sense of smell. Had a cough. I slept, literally, 20 hours out of every 24 for 3 days. And then, poof! It went away. The weirdest cold I’ve ever had. In the past, they all lasted 7-14 days.
LikeLike
I would love to get an antibody test. Not available.
LikeLike
If Trumpty Dumpty had a brain instead of the alien Trump-Fox-Hannity-Limbaugh Parasite that controls him like a puppet, he’d have done everything possible to get a reliable antibody test out there ASAP. Then everyone that tested safe could get a quick photo ID to carry around with them proving they were safe and not contagious.
I mean, Costco members can have their photo taken at Costco and a few minutes later they have their membership card with image handed to them. I think it is a safe bet that the other membership warehouse have the same ability.
Then Trumpty Dumpty would be able to start back to normal when people that passed their antibody tests and got their cards and could now return to work, go out to eat in restaurants and get drunk in bars again where they pick up strangers and then risk getting HIV.
LikeLike
It occurs to me this is like Tojo saying “oops” on December 8, 1941.
LikeLike
LOL
LikeLike
These 3 aren’t Dr.’s they just play them on TV. Dr. Phil has a PhD in Psychology but doesn’t even have a license to practice, Dr. Oz just likes to tout the latest mega-miracle product (marketing!!!) and I don’t know anything about Dr. Drew except that he can cure alcoholism with some weird method(?). They just aren’t making any money right now because filming has shut down…..their cash flow has been impeded by an invisible boogey man. I wouldn’t take any advice from any of these quacks. I’d trust Dr. McDreamy, Dr. McSteamy, Dr. Meredith Gray or any of the other Dr’s or residents on Gray”s Anatomy before I’d listen to these dunderheads.
LikeLike
LikeLike
LikeLike
Thanks, SomeDAM, for showing us what, in this environment and age, what credible medical professionals look like.
LikeLike
You mean, Mark, of course, like Dr. Trump
LikeLiked by 1 person
Of course Bob. Remember Dr. Science? “He knows more than you do!”
LikeLike