April 5th, 2009
I’m sure it will surprise no one when I say I am in favour of vaccines and think the anti-vaccine folks are pretty koo-koo. Just getting my bias right out there before I express my incredulity and despair over the Jenny McCarthy, Jim Carrey travelling road show of vaccine scare mongering. (For those not in the know: McCarthy had a son who was/is autistic and she blames vaccines. Currently not technically advocating people to not get vaccines… but to lobby for pharma companies to make safe vaccines – which is a weasely way of saying she thinks the existing products will cause autism and if that’s not a secret message to not vaccinate I don’t know what is.) Okay. This is the thing: it is conceivable that there could possibly be danger in vaccines (I don’t believe this is the case and the research backs me up but am positing it as a possible for the sake of the argument). If that is the case, people should know. So far so good.
Here is the question: given the above, why on earth would people turn to a pair of actors for the relevant advice? Why the fuck would you ever, ever, ever take the word of someone whose major achievement is getting paid to pretend to be someone else on screen when it comes to making crucial medical decisions about your child? That… is stupid! It’s irresponsible! I’m sorry but if you turn to McCarthy and Carrey for vaccine advice it basically means you are the intellectual equivalent of a turnip and should have a turnip’s rights when it comes to making decisions for helpless toddlers (ie none)!
I mean, I frequently offer my opinion here, but unlike those two fruitcakes, I make it clear that it’s just my opinion and, as much as possible, try to provide my line of reasoning so you can see the whole works for yourself, without deception or an agenda. If I didn’t think it up, I cite (I even write out proper APA style citations so you can easily find my sources!). I would never offer you medical advice or financial advice or even mechanical advice because I am wise enough to know my own limits. And as a result I like to think no one will die because of my uninformed or partially-informed opinions. The same cannot be said of Ms McCarthy. The arrogance of that woman is breathtaking.
In short: vaccinate your kids and don’t take medical advice from actors. I mean… that’s a no brainer, right?
Edited to add: If you would like to read more about vaccinations and the public controversy surrouding them, I recommend the Science Based Medicine blog, written by doctors who know how to analyze and explain research. Today’s post is about Jenny McCarthy, and if you look in their categories, they have almost 50 posts about vaccines you can look through.
But expectant mothers huffing gas get to keep their rights…
right?
~I.