Popular podcast host Joe Rogan was recently under the media spotlight for suggesting something that the health authorities in Washington, D.C. and their cohorts in the mass media found unpalatable: He expressed an opinion that runs contrary to their own. Moments after his faux pas, the full might of the political establishment came down on his head. Yet why should this Damoclean sword not hover over the heads of others – perhaps even those who do not list “entertainment” as their field of expertise?
President Biden made an arguably worse stumble during his recent speech to Congress. Yet in his case silence prevails. Could this have anything to do with one Joe having the gall to speak to the likes of Alex Jones and the other being the bagman for just about every progressive ideal that has failed to launch in the last 30 years?
It’s worth a little time to examine the statements compared to the reality of each of these gentlemen.
Joe #1
During his address to the joint session of Congress, President Biden opened the proceedings by talking about the COVID vaccines being a ray of hope in the lives of Americans. He said:
“At a mass vaccination center in Glendale, Arizona, I asked a nurse what it’s like. She looked and said every shot feels like a dose of hope. A dose of hope for the educator in Florida who has a child who suffers from an auto-immune disease. She wrote to me that she was worried about bringing the virus home. When she got vaccinated, she sat in her car and just cried. Cried out of joy, cried out of relief.”
Well, the CDC, the WHO, and Dr. Anthony Fauci each have a dose of bad news for that Florida educator. Even after vaccination, you can still carry the coronavirus and still pass it on to those around you; this is why masks are still being required. A parent having mistaken – or just plain false – information is one thing. When the President of the United States compounds the apparent fiction that taking the vaccine will protect family members, one would think that the notables in the news media industry might think to take note. Apparently not.
Joe #2
As for Joe Rogan, he discussed the use of vaccines for younger people on a recent episode of his show. He said:
“But if you’re like 21 years old, and you say to me, ‘Should I get vaccinated?’ I’ll go, ‘No.’ If you’re a healthy person, and you’re exercising all the time, and you’re young, and you’re eating well, like, I don’t think you need to worry about this.”
This was Rogan’s opinion, couched in a hypothetical question. Yet this didn’t stop the great and the good launching a campaign of vitriol against him.
Dr. Fauci, speaking with CNN on the matter, said, “So you have to put a little bit of societal responsibility in your choices, and that’s why I disagree with Mr. Rogan under that circumstance.” Joe Biden’s communications director, Kate Bedingfield, also joined the CNN pile-on saying:
“I guess my first question would be, ‘Did Joe Rogan become a medical doctor while we weren’t looking?’
I’m not sure that taking scientific and medical advice from Joe Rogan is perhaps the most productive way for people to get their information.”
Here’s a question for Ms. Bedingfield: Did Joe Biden become a medical doctor while we weren’t looking? Should people be getting their information from … I don’t know … President Joe Biden? Because if they did, there may well be a lot of freshly vaccinated folks thinking they can’t pass on COVID to their immune-compromised family members right about now.
Whose Sin Is Greater?
Joe Rogan is being shouted down by almost all left-leaning news outlets, pilloried by talking-head doctors. The Wokeratti are demanding that Spotify do something “serious” about his lucrative contract. And what of the other Joe? Well, it appears crickets have taken over the airwaves, and not a single soul cares that Biden may have misled thousands of people – or more – on what they should and shouldn’t be doing to protect their loved ones.
One Joe is a podcast host; the other is the leader of the free world. Who should the Fourth Estate be holding to account?
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Read more from Mark Angelides.