PolitiFacts lie of the year By Nick Gass 12/15/14 It was the global health scare that spooked a nation. Fear of Ebola’s potency and spread sparked “exaggerated claims” and statements from politicians and pundits, collectively earning the dubious distinction of PolitiFact’s Lie of the Year, the organization announced Monday. Editors made their pick according to “how broadly a myth or falsehood infiltrates conventional thinking.” Conservative commentator George Will drew sharp criticism for his miscommunication of how the disease spreads, after saying on Fox News that it can spread through the air. Ebola can only spread through direct contact with bodily fluids, regardless of whether it’s a sneeze or cough. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) told CNN that Americans were promised the disease would never reach its shores. “We were told there would never be a case of Ebola in the United States,” he said on Oct. 12, a claim refuted by public statements from administration and CDC officials. As far as Sen. Rand Paul’s assertion that Ebola was “incredibly contagious,” “very transmissible” and “easy to catch”? Mostly false, PolitiFact ruled in October. PolitiFact mentions that while Ebola can be spread if precautions aren’t taken, it is “less contagious and transmissible than many other diseases.” Weeks after the death of Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan in Dallas, lawmakers speculated that suicide bombers infected with the virus could inflict mass casualties in the United States. Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) wrote the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to warn of “reports of illegal migrants carrying deadly diseases such as swine flu, dengue fever, Ebola virus and tuberculosis.” And New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie predicted the 21-day medical quarantine on medical workers returning from West Africa would become “a national policy sooner rather than later.” Following the arrival of the first infected American medical workers in August, PolitiFact said, websites like InfoWars incorrectly claimed that a presidential executive order “mandates the apprehension and detention of Americans who merely show signs of ‘respiratory illness.’” PolitiFact rated 16 separate claims about Ebola and its spread in 2014 as mostly false. Last year’s Lie of the Year was the president’s oft-repeated health care mantra: “If you like your health care plan you can keep it.”
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 08:42:40 +0000
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