The irony in Joe Rogan getting COVID-19 is off the charts. So is the danger in his words – The Arizona Republic

Joe Rogan tests positive for COVID-19

Podcast host and comedian Joe Rogan revealed in an Instagram post that he has tested positive for COVID-19. His show in Nashville has been postponed until October 24.

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Joe Rogan contractedCOVID-19 after previously downplaying vaccines and announced that among the medicines hes taking is ivermectin, a veterinary drug which is used to deworm horses. Health experts have warned against taking it to treat the virus.

The irony is off the charts. So is the danger. You cant censor people like Rogan, but you canignore them, and you should.

Millions wont, alas. People listen to him. Rogan hosts The Joe Rogan Experience, the most popular podcast in the U.S. He is absurdly influential, a big voice in the Im free to make really bad decisions and you cant stop me camp.

Hes not alone, and there is a much darker irony at work here. At least four conservative radio hosts who spoke out against the vaccine have died of COVID-19. Think about that. Some made deathbed conversions and encouraged their listeners to get vaccinated. But it was too late for them.

This is maddening, but its also incredibly sad, not just for the hosts who have died but for the many people influenced by their words. How many of their listeners have died or gotten sick, or will because they tookadvice from a media figure they trusted? How many will start taking ivermectin thanks to Rogan, despite the Food and Drug Administrations stance against its use in humans to fight the virus? Its memorable tweet in August spoke volumes:

You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, yall. Stop it.

Truth and facts have been devalued to the point that a major government agency has to tweet colloquial common sense just to try to convince people to do the right thing failing that, at least not doing the wrong thing. Why arent the people with powerful voices in media doing the same?

Fact check: Ivermectin is not a proven treatment for COVID-19

Words matter.

Its that simple. That phrase has been bandied about forever, but with a special urgency in the last five years. When you have a powerful platform it comes with responsibility. And yet responsibility has become something that hosts like Tucker Carlson on Fox News scoff at.

Some of it plays like a game, an obvious attempt to get attention, not some deeply held belief. Its almost like a joke. Except that the joke is on the audience, and its not funny at all.

Marc Bernier, a radio host in Florida, said the government was acting like Nazis by trying to get people vaccinated. He died of COVID-19. So did Dick Farrel, also a host in Florida, as well as Phil Valentine and Jimmy DeYoung in Tennessee. All encouraged coronavirus vaccine skepticism. Now all are dead.

Getting COVID-19 doesn't make you a bad person. Telling people not to worry about it, or convincing them they shouldn't take precautions, on the other hand ...

Whenever anyone questions such irresponsible behavior, the cries of censorship begin. Oh, so anyone you disagree with should be silenced?

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No. Censorship isnt the answer. Doing the right thing is. The First Amendment is necessary and crucial to the survival of democracy, and that is not hyperbole. Yet it is also easily taken advantage of by unscrupulous showoffs who believe it is their job just to make you just a little bit madder than you were yesterday. Its a power trip, and far too many people fall for it.

Getting vaccinated or wearing a mask doesnt take any of your freedoms away. It grants you more freedoms, like the freedom to open the world back up in a safe way. Yet for some, fighting against science and common sense has become a kind of badge of courage, a show of patriotism, as if not doing the least little thing you can for your community somehow wraps you in the flag.

Thats ridiculous.

But people predisposed to that sort of thinking are being egged on by voices like Rogans. Thats not freedom, either. Its foolishness.

Rogan is lucky, relatively speaking. Hes said that he feels fine now.Bernier, Farrel, Valentine and DeYoung werent so lucky. Its likely that their deaths could have been prevented. Its also likely that their broadcasts have endangered others.

Words matter. Use them wisely and use them responsibly. If you cant, maybe dont use them at all.

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Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: @goodyk. Subscribe to the weekly movies newsletter.

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The irony in Joe Rogan getting COVID-19 is off the charts. So is the danger in his words - The Arizona Republic