HMPRESENTLY: Slicey and Dicey?

Saturday night on Fox News, Dr. Deborah Birx was asked: “Do you believe the media in this country have been fair during this pandemic?” She’s the White House coronavirus response coordinator, and she was doing media rounds, it seems. She was also interviewed on CNN, in the wake of the President wondering, out loud, whether disinfectants could possibly be used in treating coronavirus. That sure stirred things up.

Companies that manufacture disinfectants were issuing warnings, so folks wouldn’t start swallowing or injecting sanitizing products.

Unfortunately, you just can’t believe everything a POTUS says, judging, in this case, by the mad scramble by the manufacturers to clarify the President’s wonderings.

So, on Fox News, Dr. Birx, complaining about media coverage, said: “I think the media is very slicey and dicey with the way they put together sentences in order to create headlines.”

Perhaps she could have qualified her comment, a bit? By suggesting that media can be slicey and dicey, rather than “the media is very slicey and dicey.” Watch video of the President wondering about treating COVID-19 with disinfectants. And, then, check how media reported the story. And, yes, while media can be — they weren’t all that — slicey and dicey in their stories.

The President said what he said. Cameras were rolling, it was recorded.

Well, that was one of many disturbing things over the weekend. There was news that a COVID-19 vaccine may be impossible to produce, and an article about secret parties for rich folks… in the nation’s capitol, of all places! There’s was an earthquake risk map in the news that, in stark colors, showed the most risky, moderately risky, and the least risky places throughout the country. Where we reside was vividly highlighted.

There was some good news, maybe? By 2022, there will be a 3D dashboard for cars. The weather was pretty good, late Saturday afternoon. We could sit out back. But that patch of sky, off in the distance, where we usually can see airplanes on their approach to San Francisco International Airport, was eerily different. We saw just one plane the entire time we were outside.

But it was peaceful, and there were lots of birds. Under current circumstances, that was okay.

Harvey Radin

Harvey Radin is former senior vice president in charge of corporate communications and media relations, Bank of America Western Region. He makes his home in Redwood City, CA.