Sue's Noose Goose Snus Snooze

Yep, that's a tongue twister I'm using for the title of this post. Does it make sense? Well, not exactly, but it's fun to try to say it ten times. (Betcha you can't do it!)

Moving on.

Fans of truthiness are troubled when they encounter bogusivity. But how can you even tell which is which?

Case in point. Snus. Electronic Cigarettes. Dip. Vapor Stick. Chewing Tobacco. Snuff. Dissolvable Tobacco. Cigarette Substitutes. Smoking Alternatives. All will get you the nicotine you are addicted to. But are they healthy? Are they a good idea? Should you try them? Should you buy them?

Dr. Brad Rodu, D.D.S. is making a career out of promoting tobacco and nicotine via delivery systems other than smoking. He even advocated that Senator Barack Obama (now President Barack Obama) use smokeless tobacco.

Dr. Brad Rodu is a Professor of medicine at the University of Louisville. He holds an endowed chair (more about that in a future post) in tobacco harm reduction - or THR as he calls it.

(Clarification Note or Full Disclosure as they call it in journalism and politics):

His research, and thus the
lifestyle that he's become accustomed to,
is supported by tobacco manufacturers.

So, I'm wondering. Is he really concerned about all this tobacco and chew and snus and snuff, or is this just a prelude to his launching his career on some competing television channel (such as FOX) as an alternative to Stephen Colbert's "The Colbert Report" (TCR)?

There are so many similarities it's just uncanny.

* Both are doctors.
* Both use statistics.
* Both document their sources.
* Both talk about pharmaceuticals.
* Both use the internet to get their point or points across to a wide segment of loyal followers.
* I could go on and on but I won't.

Funny note here. Some would suggest that Stephen Colbert of "The Colbert Report" often talks with tongue in cheek. Ha ha ha. Ha ha. Ha. People who use smokeless tobacco would talk with tobacco in cheek. Both of those would be called TIC. Tongue In Cheek. Tobacco in Cheek. Get it?

Anyway, what makes me think that Dr. Brad Rodu may be trying to take over the late night conservative pundit job that Dr. Colbert is doing so well is that he uses similar tactics to push his agenda. Dr. Brad Rodu is very good at using truthiness as I have explained in in a previous post. (See November 30, 2010 post entitled, "The Truthiness, the Whole Truthiness, and Nothing But the Truthiness.")

Dr. Rodu tells you some of the story, but not the rest of the story, just as Dr. Colbert often does. I mentioned in that previous post on "The Truthiness, the Whole Truthiness, and Nothing But the Truthiness" about Dr. Rodu talking about our life expectancy being better than it used to be. But it's 14 years less for smokers than for non-smokers, so that's the rest of the story.

And then it gets all confusing when people try to make other people think that it's the smoking that's the problem and not the tobacco that's the problem. There's been so much emphasis on quitting smoking, when it really probably should have been an emphasis on quitting tobacco.

"I wish I could quit you." How many smokers have said that? And how many times have they said that?

Dr. Colbert has his Cheating Death segments [here] and Dr. Rodu seems to be saying that smokeless tobacco can help tobacco users cheat death. But again, is that all tongue in cheek talking by one or both of these doctors?

It's a new year and anything is possible. For now I will leave you with some sources to check out [here] and [here] and [here]
and [here] and [here].

Also [here] and [here] and [here] and [here].

Interestingly enough, on a Wikipedia entry, Dr. Rodu's blog was listed under NON-medical blogs and commentary. That is yet another indication that there is a potential of a possibility that perhaps, maybe, a competitor to Dr. Stephen Colbert and The Colbert Report (TCR) is in the planning stages or at least in the "thinking about it" planning stages.

FOX, are you interested? We need more comedians in these tough times.