# Why the liberal 'pooh-poohing' of the Ebola danger? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 4, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388 "2014-10-04T16:33:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/141 "2015-02-23T12:27:02Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > And science says measles is very contagious. So? Judging by the small subtext about Fox, I think Blucher’s point was that in addition to the liberal poo-poohing of Ebola there was also some liberal poo-poohing of the those groups attempting to pooh-pooh measles vaccination. And that those liberals pooh-poohing the vaccine pooh-poohers were correct in their predictions that eventually lack of vaccination would lead to many people finding themselves in the pooh-pooh. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/142 "2015-02-23T12:44:24Z")
Well, pooh. ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/143 "2015-02-23T16:35:58Z")
> [@slaphead](#): > > Judging by the small subtext about Fox, I think Blucher’s point was that in addition to the liberal poo-poohing of Ebola there was also some liberal poo-poohing of the those groups attempting to pooh-pooh measles vaccination. > And that those liberals pooh-poohing the vaccine pooh-poohers were correct in their predictions that eventually lack of vaccination would lead to many people finding themselves in the pooh-pooh. They pooh-poohed the pooh-pooh? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/144 "2015-02-23T16:41:21Z")
Hey, who ordered the pooh-pooh platter? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/145 "2015-02-24T00:37:28Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > You want a “cite”? Read Michael Fumento’s _ **The Myth of Heterosexual AIDS.** _ He had the story right 30 years ago, but nobody was listening to him (and the few that did called him a bigot or a self-loathing gay man). > > P.S. Why the “ahem”? Because Magic Johnson has LONG been rumored to swing both ways, and everybody in the sports world knows it. I firmly believe he will be officially outed after he dies and is no longer of any value as a symbol of “heterosexual” AIDS. Regarding the P.S.: When he was doing commentary, my brother heard him say, “Look at all the beautiful bodies down there on the court!” He said, “Nope, Magic Johnson did not get AIDS from a woman.” I think we all may be right; he’ll admit to the truth about his sexuality when and if he’s ready, IMNSHO. :o I’m just glad his wife and kids are OK, so far. As for the Fumento book, I read it, and an updated version that came out a few years later, in the early 1990s. It was really obvious to me that the people who criticized it had not read it. SPIN magazine had a monthly column about AIDS around that time too, and they printed a quote from an ID physician who said, “In 10 or 15 years, AIDS will mostly be a disease of drug addicts, and you won’t hear much about it.” I’m skeptical of futurist predictions, but in this case, that doctor was right. When I was a hospital pharmacist, probably 90% of the AIDS patients we saw had been admitted from the jail, or had other signs indicating substance abuse. And as for the risk of Ebola transmission, this story is quite thought-provoking. The hysteria is the main theme of the story, but TL : DR - she didn’t know she had Ebola until much later, and none of her 74 human contacts got it. [http://news.sciencemag.org/africa/2015/01/famous-ebola-patient-who-remained-anonymous-20-years](http://news.sciencemag.org/africa/2015/01/famous-ebola-patient-who-remained-anonymous-20-years) I honestly think that the first two American patients would have remained anonymous (especially Nancy Writebol) had they had any idea that their stories would generate worldwide headlines. Dr. Brantly had no idea that it was until he talked to his wife and parents after he was admitted to the hospital and they were so happy that they saw him walking into the hospital (I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE HE DID THAT) and he assumed they saw it on a security camera and they replied, “No, it was on CNN Breaking News.” ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/146 "2015-02-24T00:52:05Z")
Here’s an essay written by American survivor Ashoka Mukpo. I follow his Twitter feed because it’s open, and since he’s a public figure in some circles for reasons completely unrelated to this, I don’t feel like a voyeur looking at it. > **[I Got Ebola. Why Did I Survive When So Many West Africans Haven't?](https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/02/why-didnt-ebola-kill-me/385335/)** > > The ongoing debate between doctors over why survival rates are so much higher in Western countries. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/147 "2015-02-24T01:06:23Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Plus, we don’t sit around worrying that HIV, which is present across the population, would all of a sudden become airborne. Ebola’s been around since 1976, longer than HIV. So while it’s technically true, there are so many other things to worry about first. Ebola was discovered in 1976; the HIV virus was identified in 1985. Retroactive testing of some of the blood samples from the 1976 Zaire outbreak revealed that some of them came from people who were also HIV-positive. HIV itself is believed to have crossed into the human population before 1920, and was a just another wasting disease that struck some people in southern Cameroon until roads, etc. allowed people to travel more extensively. I realize many of us already know this; I posted it for the benefit of those who didn’t. Around the time this thread started, one of my IRL friends posted on Facebook that she’d just had a long conversation with her 15-year-old daughter, who was terrified of getting Ebola. She assured her daughter that this was highly unlikely, and then told her how frightened people were of getting AIDS, which she first heard about when she was about 15 (she’s 48 now), in part because nobody knew what caused it. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/148 "2015-02-24T01:21:02Z")
Back in 2004, there were liberals claiming that there was going to be a draft over Iraq. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/149 "2015-02-24T01:29:39Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > “Recovers” is a bit of an ambiguous term in this regard. There is science backing up the notion that ebola has been found in semen after a patient is asymptomatic. If the male victims want us to know that they had to beat off in a cup prior to their discharge, they’ll tell us. :o Trust me, this would have been one of the less embarrassing things that happened to them in the course of their illnesses. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/150 "2015-02-24T01:44:34Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Back in 2004, there were liberals claiming that there was going to be a draft over Iraq. That’s politics, not science. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/151 "2015-02-24T01:58:36Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > That’s politics, not science. My point being that liberals are as prone to irrational fears as conservatives. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/152 "2015-02-24T02:09:04Z")
It wasn’t necessarily an irrational fear. I made fun of all my fellow liberals when they thought Bush was really going to invade Iraq before finishing his other war. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/153 "2015-02-24T02:14:21Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > My point being that liberals are as prone to irrational fears as conservatives. Are they? Which liberals were making that claim? Were they party leaders or elected officials, or random dudes with blogs? How many liberals were making that claim? Was it a common sentiment, or just something coming from the lunatic fringe? How does it compare with the idea that, say, Obama was born in Kenya, which is an idea that has been promoted not just by the right’s lunatic fringe, but by members of the Republican party at virtually every level, up to and including serious\* candidates for the Republican party presidential nomination? \*For certain values of “serious.” ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/154 "2015-02-24T20:01:11Z")
> [@hotflungwok](#): > > They pooh-poohed the pooh-pooh? If there is too much pooh the Milnedew starts to spread. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/155 "2015-02-24T20:09:17Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > My point being that liberals are as prone to irrational fears as conservatives. That was hardly irrational. Back then the military was short of people, the National Guard was being called up, and some people were doing multiple rounds of service there. Plus. sometimes predictions are made to prevent what is predicted. A better example would be the fear that the Fed’s policies and the debt will cause massive inflation any minute now, which has been predicted for the past six years at least. On the liberal side, the fear that the Iraq War would be mismanaged. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/156 "2015-02-25T13:21:23Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > A good point. > > Meanwhile I think a few people caught measles in 1… 2… oh, 8 states? > [Cite.](http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-measles-outbreak-at-149-cases-in-eight-states-canada-and-mexico-20150220-story.html) > > When you believe in things that you don’t understand, > Then we suffer, > FOX News Reporting ain’t the way. See? We didn’t take Ebola seriously, and all of a sudden BAM Measles. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/157 "2015-02-27T01:14:31Z")
Here’s an essay from someone who was part of the “fear”. It appears that Dr. Spencer is fully recovered, or at least nearly so; while he said at his discharge press conference that he wasn’t going to do any more interviews, he was a guest of honor at the White House a couple weeks ago, along with several other American survivors, including Dr. Sacra, who had just flown in from Liberia hours earlier. 🆒 [http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1501355](http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1501355) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/158 "2015-03-10T19:12:27Z")
And this is an essay from another American survivor. I could tell he didn’t write this, because he usually uses bigger words. :o Anyway, he said on his Twitter feed that there was no way he would wear a shirt or shoes like this. 😛 I follow it because it’s open, and like I may already have said in this thread, he’s a public figure in some circles for reasons completely unrelated to this. > **[Living through Ebola](https://www.vox.com/a/living-through-ebola/ashoka-mukpo)** > > Stories from the people who are witnessing the virus firsthand ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/159 "2015-03-10T20:08:15Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Here’s an essay from someone who was part of the “fear”. It appears that Dr. Spencer is fully recovered, or at least nearly so; while he said at his discharge press conference that he wasn’t going to do any more interviews, he was a guest of honor at the White House a couple weeks ago, along with several other American survivors, including Dr. Sacra, who had just flown in from Liberia hours earlier. 🆒 > > [http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1501355](http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1501355) Literally the best snippet from the article : > [@](#): > > Meanwhile, politicians, caught up in the election season, took advantage of the panic to try to appear presidential instead of supporting a sound, science-based public health response. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/160 "2015-03-10T22:30:31Z")
I had zero concern about the virus but I did have some concerns over what appeared to be a growing panic over the disease. It never really materialized but it seemed like a lof of folks were right on the edge of panic shopping and stocking up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388.md?page=9)