Dr. PAUL & GOVERNOR CHRISTIE GET CAUGHT FOLLOWING UNSCIENTIFIC IDEOLOGY

 

...Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) the ophthalmologist that should know better.

 

Why would anyone today ignore proven scientific findings that save lives every day?

One would think that by now, when you do things that emulate the 2012 GOP primary performance of former Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), you are probably shooting yourself in both feet.

You may recall that Ms. Bachmann was no longer heard from during the 2012 primaries, after the then congresswoman warned of “very dangerous consequences” of the HPV vaccine, citing a woman whose daughter “suffered mental retardation as a result.”

Apparently it’s already been decided that the GOP’s talking point for the 2016 campaigns has to do with the ideology of American’s “personal Freedoms”, and with ridding the nation of government intervention in American’s lives.  Therefore, with the world-wide re-introduction of new Measles cases in America, having the “freedom” to decide whether to have your children vaccinated has become one of those “freedoms” that the Republicans have taken on with gusto.

But it is appearing that they didn’t quite think through that particular approach. 

As an example, Republican Congressman Sean Duffy (R-WI) has said that only an “oppressive state” would mandate that all children get vaccines, and that shouldn’t be happening in a free America.

Duffy made it clear that he vaccinates his own children on most things, but other times determines it might not be the best course.  When asked about the risk that not vaccinating poses to other children in public schools, Duffy said that then perhaps, they should not be allowed to attend school w/o being vaccinated, but it still should be the parent’s choice. 

Unfortunately, Duffy wasn’t asked about un-vaccinated children being exposed to others in public places such as those that had spread the disease after being exposed at Disneyland.  Or that those Measles cases could have also come from being exposed at a shopping mall, or on a train or subway, or even at a fast food restaurant.

But now, Republican presidential hopefuls such as Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) a doctor, and Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) have been exposed to the immunization issue and that issue is not going well for either of them.

However, first I want to say something about Rand Paul that comes from another similar instance.

Senator Paul has once again made a ridiculous statement about vaccinations. He’s tried to say that he did not say what he said, and then when challenged on it, he blames the media for him being misunderstood and the 24-7 reporting spreading this misunderstanding everywhere.

In this particular case, Senator Paul did make a statement, suggesting or implying that vaccines could cause “profound mental disorders”.  Then, when challenged by a reporter, the senator said he did not say that vaccinations caused the disorders, he said, “I did not say vaccines caused disorders, just that they were temporally related, I did not allege causation.”

Bull!  What he said was a direct implication that “vaccines could cause profound mental disorders”.  There was no “implication” that he was saying they just happened to occur at the same time.

In another discussion on a tax bill with CNBC’s Kelly Evans, he had the gall to put his finger to his lips and “suhh” Ms. Evans in mid-sentence, then tell her to “calm down a bit”.  He then preached to her that this is why he doesn’t like TV interviews that allow misinformation to be spread.  All Ms. Evans was asking was a clarification of an issue, and the Senator kept interrupting her.

This is a total re-play of Paul’s previous flat denial that he had plagiarized other writers material.  He later had to say, “yes, he apparently did”, but this time he blamed his aides saying that they must have taken information from others and added it to items under his signature.  This seems to be a regular way of doing business for Mr. Paul.

All this Republican vaccination brouhaha actually began with New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie’s visit to Great Britain.  But Christie’s gaffe ended up sounding almost statesmanlike after he was out, “personal freedomed " by Senator Paul.

When in London, Christie was asked whether parents should have their children vaccinated, Christie answered, “We vaccinate ours, and so, you know, that’s the best expression I can give you of my opinion, you know it’s much more important what you think as a parent than what you think as a public official. And that’s what we do. But I also understand that parents need to have some measure of choice in things as well, so that’s the balance that the government has to decide.”

But this is the same Governor Christie, who had no hesitation about imposing mandatory, and medically unnecessary quarantines on health-care workers returning from Ebola-ravaged countries.  Now, “Mr. Vaccination Christie” is all about parental choice versus public officials. In these issues, Christie is against the best scientific evidence in both cases.

Christie’s office quickly caught his mistake and they issued a swift clarification: “The governor believes vaccines are an important public health protection and with a disease like Measles there is no question kids should be vaccinated.”

But this Christie gaffe took up so much attention for the rest of the overseas visit, Christie refused to take any further questions from the press.  This was a perfect case for showing Christie in an international political setting, but now it was totally a wasted trip.

But in Senator Paul’s situation, one publication wrote: “Senator Paul made Governor Christie look like Jonas Salk. This was when the Kentucky senator said in a TV interview: ‘I have heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking, normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines.  I’m not arguing vaccines are a bad idea. I think they are a good thing. But I think the parent should have some input. The state doesn’t own your children. Parents own the children, and it’s an issue of freedom and public health.’ “

Yep, there he said it and he also remembered the party’s talking point and he got his “freedom” comment into the interview.

There is no question that in some very rare cases, vaccines don’t work. In some others, both children and adults may have underlying medical conditions that have left their immune systems too compromised to be safely vaccinated.

But just one family’s irrational decision not to vaccinate can threaten hundreds, even thousands of other families.  Just look at how many cases and how many states now have Measles cases, all due to one visit of one contaminated child in Disneyland.

It is becoming a serious issue when a major political party wants to ignore well established scientific facts, just for showing support of their unscientific political ideology.  We rightfully complain about how disgusting it is that the ISIL terrorist follow their ideology that allows them to kill anyone that doesn’t believe as they do.  For the conservatives to follow their bizarre ideology that ignores science, whether it’s for vaccinations or climate change, that’s just as bad as the Muslim extremists. 

In either case, innocent people can or will die.

Copyright G.Ater  2015