AP - "76 U.S. children dead of swine flu as cases rise" - Beck & Rush Say Avoid The Vaccine

[TomCADem]

The right wing conservative body count may get a few more victims, as both Beck and Limbaugh tell their listeners not to worry about the swine flu, and not to get immunized with Beck suggesting that the vaccine could be "deadly":

http://mediamatters.org/research/200910070043

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Beck, Limbaugh fomenting fear about H1N1 vaccine

In recent days, both Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh have suggested that the H1N1 flu vaccine may be unsafe and questioned the Obama administration's recommendation that Americans get vaccinated, with Limbaugh asserting that "ou'll be healthier" if you don't believe what the government says and Beck suggesting that the vaccine may be "deadly."

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Meanwhile, as swine cases rise, children die. The question is whether any right wing parents are swayed by Beck and Limbaugh's rants, and avoid having their children immunized:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33243503/ns/health-swine_flu

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76 U.S. children dead of swine flu as cases rise
CDC: 16 have died in past week; regular flu kills between 46 and 88 a year

ATLANTA - Health officials said Friday that 76 children in the United States have died of swine flu since April, including 16 new reports in the past week — more evidence the new virus is unusually dangerous in kids.

The regular flu kills between 46 and 88 children a year, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

With swine flu cases increasing throughout most of the country, more deaths are likely, Dr. Anne Schuchat said at a press conference Friday.

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[SemiCharmedQuark]

1. *Right* wing body count? There are lots of people across the political spectrum saying this.

Check out the videos forum.

Honest to god, not too long ago someone posted a link to a website that argued you could "cure" injection sites (of vaccines) with zinc.

[TomCADem]

2. Do They Have Near The Audience of Glen Beck or Rush Limbaugh?

I would not really care if it is some random post on Free Republic or DU. But, if you are aware of some liberals with an audience comparable to Beck of Limbaugh suggesting that the H1N1 vaccine is "deadly," then please let me know who it is.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

6. That's true.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. +1 the anti vax crap is not limited to the right wing

I wish it were limited to one side of the spectrum, but 'gnorant Muricans are proud of their magical thinking. I mean them guv'ment folks don't do nothing but do the wrong things fer us... and they wanna kill us.

I mean what do them eggheeds, who ken read, know about them bugs?

I wish this was not fully, or accurate, but it is... Anti-intellectualism and distrust of the government can and are a deadly mix.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

5. Even Keith was pushing the "bomb the moon" crap a bit on last night's show.

At least he a guest from NASA on his show to explain the situation. Even so, he kept piping up with his reservations about "bombing the moon".

Keith is not a stupid man. He can be pompous sometimes but he's not stupid. I don't understand why he would perpetuate that meme.

It seems the standards for science topics are much lower than for anything else. One site that was posted here and taken as gospel also featured reports about the evils of ACORN and Barack Obama. Any other topic and that site would have been ridiculed and unrec'd into oblivion. But because it was arguing that the government was experimenting with vaccines on people all of a sudden if you disagreed with it *you* were the moron.

[nadinbrzezinski]

I think he was trying to make fun of it

that said, it was wrong. I sent an email to the program because I objected to it. Why? Sarcasm does not work when at least half of your population believes it was a real bomb that would destroy the moon.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

10. On Facebook, Rachel posted a blog entry from someone that worked on the program.

She was talking about how cool it was. I read through the comments that followed her post and 3/4 of them were anti-science foolishness.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. Well the problem is... when you are on top of your society

and went to school in very good schools... thinking that this sarcasm might be missed...

Look at this place. The anti science crap just oozes.

[Fridays Child]

4. Cure injection sites? What does that even mean?

[Horse with no Name]

7. Well you know sometimes us wicked healthcare providers

decide to use 14 gauge needles (the 25 gauge are sooo overrated), but they tend to leave big gaping holes in the skin that must be cured.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Damn why not a 12 gauge?

I mean the 14 gauge is so yesterday!

:-)

[SemiCharmedQuark]

9. Wolfsbane and 3 cloves of garlic will do the job nicely.

[tabasco]

22. What's the listening audience of the left-wingers saying it?

Tell me which "left-wingers" are saying this on the radio or tv.

Just name one.

Standing by.

[ginnyinWI]

12. Maybe if those parents sued these guys...

they'd stop with the lies and distortions. But it won't happen.

[old mark]

13. Good. Fewer republicans to worry about.

Means a lower audience for Beck and Rech.

mark

[conflictgirl]

14. Just because some of us don't trust the media or Big Pharma doesn't mean we're anti-science

I am college educated, not ignorant of science, I do vaccinate my children, but they will not be getting the H1N1 vaccine. It is no surprise to me that less than a week after reports surface that a surprisingly small number of parents said they would be getting the H1N1 vaccine for their kids (I think it might have been only 1 in 3 were getting it? Maybe 2 in 3? Either way it was a very high number opting out), all of a sudden the media is reporting how dangerous this particular flu is. Right after Gardasil came out, when very few young women were getting it, all of a sudden women's magazines and media outlets were running terrifying stories on the horrible risk of cervical cancer. Then they tried to push it on boys - now the stories are coming out that it's not that effective in boys and may not be worthwhile. I work in media, I know how this cycle works. Big Pharma comes out with this expensive new vaccine, and if enough people aren't convinced enough of the need for it, the media will make sure to issue lots of terrifying stories to scare people into getting it.

It's not that I don't believe in science or trust the government, it's that I don't trust Big Pharma AT ALL, especially when it come to new vaccines. I'm also extremely skeptical and wary of the fact that they've already said they can't be sued over any negative outcomes related to this vaccine because of how quickly this vaccine is being released. Considering the health insurance threads here recently, I'm always surprised by these vaccine threads and pharmaceutical companies are against us when they're charging us $200 for $4 worth of product. There's so much mockery aimed at anyone who's skeptical of vaccines because suddenly the pharmaceutical companies are our "friends" when it comes to vaccines. Honestly that doesn't even make sense to me.

[Confusious]

15. If you're skeptical then the anti-science anti-vaccers have won

Diseases wiped out world-wide because of vaccines

Smallpox (killed hundreds of millions the past 5000 years. 30%-40% morality rate)

Diseases that do not exist, or have a low incidence in the United States because of vaccines

cholera
bubonic plague
polio
hepatitis A
yellow fever
measles
rubella
mumps
tetanus
diphtheria
Tuberculosis

3rd world countries, with no vaccines, have a large incidence of those diseases.

Most companies make little or no money off vaccines. As with everything, there is some danger.

They used to give newborns penicillin. Well, I'm allergic to penicillin and had a bad reaction. Does that mean we should do away with all antibiotics?

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. Just one correction, the US does not do the TB vaccine

on the other hand Mexico does... for good reason by the by

[KittyWampus]

19. if you are NOT skeptical you are simply a follower of authority. Skepticism is a part of science

but I am sure that simple point escapes you.

It's sad.

[Posteritatis]

20. False dilemmas are so cute (nt)

[Maru Kitteh]

21. Skepticism is without the employ of reason and logic is not scientific

Such as the manner of zealotry one finds in the anti-vax religion.

[stray cat]

17. Its made the same as the seasonal vaccine is -

[stray cat]

16. So does Bill Mauer and many at DU - I guess death of a natural cause like flu is ok

[malletgirl02]

23. Rush

I'm not sure about beck since, I'm not sure how old he is, but Rush doesn't have to worry about swine flu, because I heard most of the cases occur with people who were born after 1957, so he is just grandstanding.

[Maru Kitteh]

25. He'll probably still get vaccinated though. He's a lying hypocritical jackass.

He doesn't care when his bloviations create human suffering and death, particularly if those doing the suffering and dying happen to be females and children. In that way, he has a lot in common with Bill Maher.

[Sheltiemama]

24. I sincerely hope ...

... that people aren't taking medical advice from nonmedical sources.