One of the frustrating things during the health care debate was that real problems got pushed aside by fake debates on ZOMG socialism and death panels. Sometimes I wonder if conservative propagandists are just lucky people who’ve never had to worry about making money or getting treatment when they’re sick.
On yesterday’s episode of “Fox & Friends,” viewers saw this exchange:
Steve Doocy: [President Obama] was talking about Planned Parenthood being this great provider where women can get blood pressure checks and pap smears and breast examinations…
Brian Kilmeade: Which you can get at Walgreens.
Steve Doocy: Exactly right.
Seriously, that’s what they said. There’s video proof.
I went ahead and did a little research on this, and while Walgreen’s press office wasn’t available last night, my cursory review suggests there isn’t a Walgreens in the known universe that offers pap smears and mammograms to its customers. The very idea is … what’s the word I’m looking for … crazy.
Honestly, does the cast of “Fox & Friends” even know what pap smears are? For that matter, do they know drugstores do?
To be sure, I understand the point of their claims. Republicans, like their cable news network, would like the public to believe the preventative health services provided by Planned Parenthood aren’t especially necessary or worthy of funding, since they’re readily available everywhere — as if every block in America has a Starbucks, an ATM, and screenings for cervical cancer.
Do they have special Walgreen’s near the Fox studios with stirrups and mammography machines in the back? Seriously, huh? I guess I’m leaning towards clueless on this one because why would you tell such an easily disprovable lie? Fox’s older audience is probably well familiar with what is in a drugstore.