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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIt's Time for Oprah to Renounce Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz Over Their Dangerous Coronavirus Propaganda
Dr. Daniel Summers writes about the harm these two TV personalities are causing amid the pandemic (on Fox News, naturally), and how one person could put them in their place.Theres a simple concept I try to teach my kids: If you make a mess, you should be responsible for cleaning it up. Its a work in progress with them, but were hoping sooner or later it sticks.
Of course, this rule doesnt just apply to small children. All of us should work to remedy problems that are in some part the result of our own actions. Even if we happen to be one of the most famous people on the planet.
Especially if we happen to be one of the most famous people on the planet. The bigger the audience weve created for our mess, the greater the obligation to mop it back up.
This means you, Oprah.
Oprahs role in creating the dual fame of Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Phil McGraw, better known as celebrities without their first and last names respectively, is not a new topic for me. Neither of them would be household names were it not for her. And its a problem of increasing seriousness that they are.
While only Oz is an actual medical doctor, the Dr. in their professional monikers confers an aura of authority, and it is as authorities that they have been appearing on television to discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic is being handled and how patients are being treated.
Unfortunately, there is a widening gap between the perception of their authority and their genuine credibility. In the setting of a public health crisis that can get better or worse depending on how closely people adhere to recommendations for keeping it under control, undermining those recommendations poses a threat to everyones safety.
The problem of Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz is not a new one. Both have prioritized their fame over professional ethics for some time. Dr. Oz is a particular source of ire for me as a fellow physician, because I have to believe that somewhere inside himself he must know that the pseudoscience he all too frequently promotes is wrong.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/its-time-for-oprah-to-renounce-dr-phil-and-dr-oz-over-their-dangerous-coronavirus-propoganda
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I never got the appeal of Oprah Winfrey. She's another media personality foisted upon us during 1980s as direct competition to Phil Donahue and helped dumb down the medium. To think that people thought she'd make a good political leader... really?
IcyPeas
(21,857 posts)just want to be popular on the teevee.
Butterflylady
(3,542 posts)When she had W and Laura Bush on her show. Haven't watched it since.
GWC58
(2,678 posts)FUCK those two (2) BOZOs! Paging Dr. Oz, paging Dr. Phil - Go Fuck Yourself, you frauds!!
stillcool
(32,626 posts)my god. Obviously, it's time for me to take a break. Going after Oprah?
Bradshaw3
(7,510 posts)FACT: She brought these two charlatans to a national audience. It is time to take a break when we stop admitting facts like the other side does.
stillcool
(32,626 posts)I have never watched any of the 3...but, I do not blame anyone for what someone else does. Tellme...When does 'my side' get a time out?
tenderfoot
(8,426 posts)From the article:
Is Oprah directly responsible for any of these recent statements? No. But since the miasma of ersatz authority that still clings to these two is her handiwork, she should consider using her own immeasurable fame and authority to waft it away.
It would doubtless be difficult and probably unpleasant to repudiate people whose careers as public figures she has created, but she is uniquely positioned to do so. Very few people have the wattage to take on Fox, which seems hellbent on promulgating the dangerous notion that the threat from the novel coronavirus has been overblown and we should all return to business as usual as fast as we can. It is using the celebrities she created to lend credence to a plan that could reverse all the gains that have been made in slowing the pandemic.
There is a mess being made. She has the chance, and the obligation, to help clean it up.
stillcool
(32,626 posts)I do not understand the relationship, or the importance of Oprah, in creating and molding these persoanlities. I thought they were 3 adults making money in show biz in the talk-show venue. My ignorance knows no bounds. I wouldn't blame Johnny Carson for what Ed McMahon did either.
Bradshaw3
(7,510 posts)People need to be held accountable, even celeb heroes of Democrats.
GoneOffShore
(17,339 posts)She's always been a shark.
shanti
(21,675 posts)marianne williamson. so yes.
GoneOffShore
(17,339 posts)Totally Tunsie
(10,885 posts)She fancies herself as the expert in all things, and foists her opinions on an unsuspecting populace.
Oprah epitomizes the phrase "Legend in {her} own mind".
Doremus
(7,261 posts)GusBob
(7,286 posts)If you set around on the couch with the remote in your hand, you share the blame
Its a boxfull of idiots