Satire and reality violently smash into each other

The Onion: Obama's Declaration Of Swine Flu Emergency Prompts Pro-Swine-Flu Republican Response

Media Matters: Misinformation pandemic, Beck, Limbaugh fomenting fear about H1N1 vaccine

• Glenn Beck on H1N1 vaccine and fear mongering about the vaccine being mandatory:

Vaccine may turn out to be "deadly."
"I'd do the exact opposite of what the Homeland Security says."
"You don't know if this is gonna cause neurological damage like it did in the 1970s."
Beck suggests government will say "everybody" has to take the flu shot, may "line up" people to get mandatory flu shot.
"U.S. out of my bloodstream."
"If government says it's OK," why are health care workers protesting mandated vaccinations?
Massachusetts Senate bill "could be paving the way for forced vaccinations."
People rejecting vaccines because they don't trust the government.
Obama is "just declaring a national emergency so [they] can take power."


• Rush Limbaugh fear mongering over the H1N1 vaccine:

"You'll be healthier" if you don't listen to the government.
"Screw you, Ms. Sebelius! I am not going to take it, precisely because you're now telling me I must."
Government might be "hyping the number" of H1N1 cases to "create panic and chaos, sell health care."

Sorry Onion, looks like reality is just a little bit funnier than you. Although its funny in a "horrifyingly funny" way, as Beck and Limbaugh are trying to fear mongering and stoke panic in a way that could actually get people killed.

Now normally I'd hear the phrase "Beck and Limbaugh are actually trying to kill their audience", smile politely, and skip down the street whistling a jaunty tune. But, seeing as this might actually result in deaths, I figured not even an obsessive fan of those two deserves a flu death. Plus, I would like to spare these people the indignity of reaching the pearly gates, explaining that they died of the flu because they listened to right wing commentators, then having to endure the spectacle of St. Peter calling over the Holy Trinity and all the angles in heaven to laugh at them.

So let me just say this, even though I know it won't do any good: For the love of God, don't listen to Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, or anyone on Fox News when it comes to science, health, common sense, or really anything. I know that's a large leap for most of you, but try just starting with the science and health parts; it'll probably keep you alive longer. Thank you.