RUSH: As I told you yesterday, I love puncturing myths. I love blowing things up as stupid conventional wisdom stuff that people believe and act on, like coffee will kill you or that oat bran will make your bowel movements more regular, whatever they try to say out there. There is a great story — this is in The Atlantic — and it’s by a babe named Megan McArdle. And the reason I like this is because Megan McArdle, when she has intended to or not, has much better than I ever have over the course of many years of doing this program expressed an opinion I have about all of that, all of these so-called stories that we get on our health. What are they all oriented towards, if you play them out, so that we’ll never die. Don’t do that, no trans fat, watch your salt, whatever.
The Nanny State, don’t eat too much sugar, or whatever it is ’cause it’s all gonna do what? It’s gonna lead to disease, heart attack, death, or what have you, as though that can be missed, as though that can be avoided and here’s a story that cuts right to the chase, simple as pie. Everyone, as they get older, will get sick and die. It’s a news flash to people at the Atlantic.
Now they tell us we’re gonna die? (laughing) “You mean it doesn’t matter what I do?” That’s right. You are going to die. It doesn’t matter what you do. “This is something that gets obscured in today’s medical reporting — everyone, as they get older, will get sick for some reason and die at some point. The biggest risk factor for heart disease and cancer isn’t BMI, cholesterol, blood pressure, etc. … it’s age. And to a large extent, the incidence of those diseases is random; doing everything right lowers your risk of disease, but not to zero, and usually not to that small a fraction of the risk for the general population. There is no magic set of behavior that will prevent disease.” There’s no magic set of behavior that will prevent you from getting sick.
There’s no magic set of behavior that will expand your health measurably. (interruption) No legislation, either. That’s exactly right! There was no legislation that will make you healthy. I just said it. (interruption) How else could I say it any more plainly than I just said it? There is no magic set of behavior that will prevent disease. Now, you might not think this is earth-shattering. To me, it’s earth-shattering, only because you know how I reject conventional wisdom. I’m not a follower, I reject it. Where the crowd goes, I don’t go. When the crowd forms, I pull back. I’m not a conformist, a group-thinker or anything of the sort — and I really, for some reason, have a pet peeve about people who get caught up in it.
All it takes is from some stupid group like Center for Science in the Public Interest to come out and say that Chinese food is an early killer. It is a crock! It is an absolute crock. All of these health warnings from the standpoint of… I mean, what’s their purpose? Their purpose is to control us. That’s what I resent about all this. It’s the root of my problem with all of this, “Don’t eat trans fat!” and the government deciding who can and who can’t and where it’s gonna be served. That’s a great incursion on our freedom, and that’s what I reject, and so here it is plain as day: “The biggest risk factor for heart disease and cancer [is] age.” There it is, and there’s nothing you can do about that. There is not a single thing you can do about that!
You can’t wear a wrinkly ribbon. There is no ribbon for aging. There is not a thing you can do. It doesn’t matter what you inject yourself with. You can do like the Pelosi route and go all Botox, but it doesn’t matter. You’re still gonna get old — and the older you get, the greater the risk that you’re going to die, the older you get the greater the risk that you’re going to get a disease. Now, these health scares are just… I’ll tell you what they are. They are nothing more than tiny, little, incremental, almost-unnoticeable-losses of freedom, all designed for what? Our own self-interest, our own life improvement. They care. They have greatest of compassion for us. They don’t want us to get sick.
They don’t want us to die. They don’t want us to get cancer. They don’t want us to have high blood pressure. They don’t want us to do any of that — and so don’t do that, and don’t do this. I mean, all of these health scares — and that’s exactly what they are. I’ve often said, “If you really care about death, ban the wheel!” The number of people killed by the automobile every year dwarfs those who die by virtue of disease. Ban the wheel,” and they’re not gonna ban the wheel. Ban tobacco! Of course, tobacco’s a lifetime killer. It doesn’t kill you instantly. That’s another thing that’s absurd about that, so the basic lesson here is: Life kills. If you are alive, you are at risk. I hate to break it to you. If you’re alive, you are at risk. You are going to get sick.
We had this stupid story yesterday that 27% of people who watch TV and drive cars have heart attacks. Do you realize how absurd that is? That’s exactly the kind of thing I’m talking about. Do you realize everybody who has eaten carrots is, or will be, dead? That’s about what that statistic means. What are the numbers on the people who have eaten carrots who have been involved in automobile accidents in the following six months? I guarantee you it’s almost total, damn high. So if we stop eating carrots we’re not gonna get in any auto accidents? I resent attempts at mind control. I resent the attempts at mass manipulation — and that’s what the left does, and they use these health scares as just another tiny little way to get everybody dependent on the government.
The government has safety warnings. The government will protect you. The government will care for you when you get sick. The government this, the government that. Look at the news about red wine! “60 Minutes” does a story on the French are thin and they have red wine and, “The secret is they have cheese with it.” I have read it in the “South Beach Diet”: Go ahead and drink the red wine but have some cheese with it; that’s what the French do! That cuts the insulin released in half, and insulin is a trigger in weight gain. So if you want to drink, have some cheese or protein nearby to cut the insulin release. Well, fine, but that doesn’t matter a hill of beans now, because the story came out yesterday that the researcher who came up with all this made it up!
Just like the global warming crowd made it up, and these are all people with government grants or involved in government linkage some way — and they’re all liberals, and they’re all using control mechanisms here, under the compassionate guise of having your best interests at heart. Here, I happen to have a companion story. This is outrageous, and if I… (sigh) Well, here, let me just tell you: “Energy Drinks Can Trigger Heart Attacks — A prominent Sydney, Australia, cardiologist…” So one doctor! One doctor in Sydney, Australia, can make worldwide news! “A prominent Sydney cardiologist has called for greater caution with the purchase of energy drinks, warning they can trigger heart-attacks and other life-threatening conditions in young people.”
Well, when I read that, I said, “Okay, buying them does that? What about drinking them?” This idiot doctor or this idiot journalist said “the purchase of energy drinks … can trigger heart attacks.” Just buying them! Do you understand that? You don’t even have to drink them. You just go buy them, and your heart attack risk is increased. That’s how silly and stupid this is. Does anybody believe this? One doctor in Australia! How does this even make worldwide news? But it did, because we’re all oriented to panic. We all want to be told how we’re going to die. No! That’s not right. We all want to be told how we can escape it. We all do. How much of what you deny yourself is based on the fact that you think you’re increasing your lifespan? How much of what you deny yourself, enjoyment or otherwise, is because you’ve been convinced you’ll live longer?
It’s bogus.
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RUSH: And look at this, folks. Here is some more health news. This is from Fox News. The news is this: “One out of every 900 sex acts transmits the HIV virus.” Well, that just tells us to stop at 899, then. I mentioned that to Snerdley. He said, “No, I’ve blown through my limit.” (laughing) I said, “Really? Wilt Chamberlain Jr. here!” But what is this, “One in 900 sex acts transmits the HIV virus”?
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RUSH: More health news. Once this stuff starts, it’s like a snowball. From CBS News: “Is drinking America’s favorite pastime? The CDC estimates that 38 million US adults binge drink.” What would the number be if they added teenagers to this? Have you seen the binge drinking that goes on in sororities and fraternities? This is just adults, 38 million US adults binge drink. “That means one in six people drink at least four or five alcoholic drinks on a single occasion.” Who can blame us? I was stunned it’s only 38 million. I was stunned. It’s only four or five. Where I live, sipping cocktails, gin and tonic, preferably at 4:30 in the afternoon, is what you have to do to be in the club. That’s what the queen drinks. Prince Charles, gin and tonic, start at 4:30 in the afternoon, you sip cocktails. Binge, five or six, hell, that’s the first half hour. I’m not trying to be profane here.
So, how many of you over the course of a nice dinner might have three or four glasses of wine? Oh, come on Dawn, I’ve seen it, I have seen it. Do you consider yourself a binge drinker? Of course not. But now we all are. You have five or six adult beverages, you’re a binge drink and there are 38 million of us, and listen to the last paragraph. “The CDC is calling on federal and local governments to roll out community strategies to educate people on the dangers of binge drinking.” Right. We need our governments to spend time and money educating us on binge drinking. They’ve been warning against this since I have been alive, but this is exactly my point. So you put out a number, 38 million adults binge drink — who can blame ’em, again, given the Obama administration — and then the CDC urges federal and local governments to roll out community strategies.
And then, of course, there’s a companion story. It doesn’t stop there. This is from Blast magazine: “Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his administration have come up with another health initiative for New York City; it’s to limit the sale of alcohol in the city to curb excessive drinking.” You see how this works? I think this Bloomberg news is before the CDC report. I don’t think the CDC caused this. Bloomberg is just naturally inclined this way, trans fats, smoking, salt, what have you. Michael Bloomberg wants the city of New York to limit the sale of alcohol in the city to curb binge drinking. This is how they control you, folks. And of course this is what causes you to get sick, might get liver disease, cirrhosis, then you get cancer, you might die, as though you won’t otherwise. This, my friends, is how it works.