Why do major Republican figures keep saying stupid things?
It’s one thing to trip into a gaffe or a misstatement. That happens to people who have to live in front of cameras all day long. What we’ve experienced just over the past two weeks are calculated statements and actions – attempts to express a deliberate position – which are too skull-numbingly idiotic to be defensible on any level. We’re not just talking about Louie Gohmert or Steve King. Even Chris Christie has joined in.
Two weeks ago far-right Republican Congresswoman Renee Ellmers tried to persuade the party to back away from another pointless losing fight over rape and abortion. Now she’s been tagged as the GOP’s “abortion barbie” and she’s lined up for primary challenge.
Bobby Jindal, who one chastised Republicans for becoming the “stupid party” went all the way to England to repeat a laughably idiotic falsehood about Muslim “no-go zones.” He’s still doing it.
House Speaker John Boehner for some reason thought it would be cute to invite a foreign leader to address a Joint Session of Congress for the express purpose of undermining America’s stated foreign policy. Needless to say, that move isn’t working out the way he’d planned.
As measles outbreaks spread across the country, physician Rand Paul could have encouraged people to do the responsible thing and ensure that they vaccinate their children. Instead he recognized a vital opportunity to lecture people about “liberty.” Again. Along the way he accidentally encouraged people to do something that is not going to help him or the GOP at all. Journalists have been looking back over his deep history of interactions with conspiracy groups and other nutjobs.
Chris Christie took a forceful stand against the spread of diseases that could threaten his constituents when he personally intervened last year to illegally imprison a nurse who had been doing charity work with Ebola patients. Now that we are facing a real outbreak of a disease that we will genuinely have difficulty controlling, he waffled this week on the importance of mandatory vaccinations.
For some inexplicable reason, new Republican Senator Thom Tillis felt the need to speak out for liberty by deriding rules that force restaurant workers to wash their hands. This is not an issue on anyone’s agenda. It is not controversial. No Congress or legislature is about to vote on it. He just felt the need, as a public service, to make sure people are aware of how batshit-delusional many Republicans are by mouthing off on an irrelevant matter.
And as a preview of stupidity to come, the Republican-controlled Senate once again failed this week to re-authorize the budget for the Homeland Security Department. McConnell is trying and failing to stop the Senate’s Cruz wing from blocking funding to protest the President’s immigration plans. This is an absolute loser on every possible level.
There is no less politically advantageous hostage they could have taken. Republican stonewalling over Homeland Security funding is exactly the kind of childish, self-defeating tantrum that McConnell promised would not happen and I said we should expect. Here we are. The funding deadline (set by Republicans in negotiations last year) is February 27.
I’m out of explanations. Really, I do not understand why these grown men and women are so consistently taking actions that seem not only at odds with the national interest but with their own. This is bizarre. There has to be someone in the GOP who can make this stop, but it’s not clear who that may be.
Chris Ladd is a Texan living in the Chicago area. He has been involved in grassroots Republican politics for most of his life. He was a Republican precinct committeeman in suburban Chicago until he resigned from the party and his position after the 2016 Republican Convention. He can be reached at gopliferchicago at gmail dot com.
GOPLifer 
Is there a full moon tonite because the GOP is bringing the crazy out in force today.
We got another idiot in Arizona that is working on another nullification bill. Doesn’t the party of constitutional defenders understand the document at all?
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/kelli-ward-arizona-federal-gun-nullification
Res Hell: I was struck years ago reading the Odyssey and the Aeneid, and Dante as each picked up so much from the former. Great stories.
OT but applies to previous blog post, “Bobby Jindal, WTF?” and crazy comments and actions by some Republican Presidential aspirants.
Here’s a Politico link that is scathing in its criticism of Jindal. You may recall me stating that all six siblings in my family, despite a clear political divide, agree that Jindal has been a terrible governor, and 5 live in LA (not me). He embodies the worst of the conservative movement which is especially disappointing because he has benefitted so greatly as a minority. He has devastated Louisiana…..all in the name of being a fiscal conservative. And, he proposes the same modus operandi should he be elected President.
It’s sort of like what is happening in conservative Texas. Revenues generated for roads, parks, cancer research, etc., are not going to these cost centers; rather, they are being held to “balance the budget”, or, worse, allocated irresponsibly through no-bid contracts. Meanwhile, the multi-billion dollar rainy day fund chugs right along. Is it any wonder that people are beginning to question conservative’s ability to run government responsibly?
Is it all a “shell game”?
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/02/bobby-jindal-campaigning-114948_Page2.html
Chicken pox and shingles. A vaccination for the first prevents the second. Chicken pox, like measles, is a highly contagious airborne disease with almost identical consequences in severe cases with the additional caveat of a lingering dormant virus that hides in the nervous system. Shingles outbreaks in people about 60 years and older if they have had chicken pox as a child or young adult. Antivaxxers are not looking at the long term benefits that some of these vaccines can provide. Makes one wonder if they have ever seen a case of Shingles in an older relative that could have been prevented with a simple vaccine for chicken pox.
Sassy – As big a proponent as I am for vaccination, there are people who have auto immune issues and cannot safely have a live virus vaccination, which the shingles vaccine is. In fact, some rheumatologists recommend that persons with compromised immune systems (think Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, etc) should not be around an individual who has taken the shingles vaccine for approximately 10-14 days. That seems extreme but I guess it depends upon the proximity of the two individuals and how badly compromised the immune system is. Same applies with flu vaccines that contain live virus.
The same applies to people who are immune compromised and measles vaccines. The point I apparently made badly was if you had taken a chicken pox vaccine as a child and never had chicken pox you would not therefore be at risk for Shingles. I am quite aware that someone who has a compromised immune system typically cannot take a live virus vaccine as I also have a compromised immune system (think liver disease and cancer).
Sassy I didn’t mean to be condescending. But, there are people who don’t know the danger of live virus vaccinations and this is who my message was intended for. I know your health is a challenge and I’m just glad you and your husband have found a happy place with good air to breathe. Peace.
By the way Shingles is not passed person to person but if someone who has never had chickenpox comes into contact with some with shingles they can come down with chickenpox. That is if I understood this correctly.
http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/29/5-things-you-should-know-about-chickenpox-and-shingles/
I didn’t take it that way Mime. My point was that if you were vaccinated as a child for chicken pox and you never had it you are far more likely not to develop shingles (not 100%). You might find this interesting.
http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/29/5-things-you-should-know-about-chickenpox-and-shingles/
Oh hell this thing is driving me nuts. It seems I have double posted again. sorry
A must read.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/02/this-is-the-charred-body-of-jesse-washington-and-whites-from-waco-not-isis-burned-him-alive/
“For two hours, Jesse Washington — alive — was raised and lowered over the flames. Again and again and again. ”
So it sounds like these people were even worse in their cruelty than IS. I didn’t watch that video of the murder of the pilot (and I won’t), but I get the impression that it wasn’t dragged out over 2 hours. Feel free that correct that conclusion if you know otherwise.
I will not watch it either.
They are quite the brazen batch of bastards, aren’t they, demanding a prisoner exchange well after they murdered him. I was dismayed that Jordan was even publicly negotiating with such scum, but at least they demanded proof of life. I really hope this backfires on them, in the worst possible way.
How could anyone watch it? Why would any U.S. network show it?
Ah, yes, in the heart of the bible belt. More Southern Christian “goodness”. Every picture I see like this has a bunch repulsive white men standing around smiling. You have to wonder how they could justify hate like this and think it fun. I cannot wrap my head around it. I could never see doing this even to the worst sort of criminal.
A classic:
http://www.theonion.com/articles/god-angrily-clarifies-dont-kill-rule,222/
You know, Fly, this piece in The Onion sounds a little more serious than most. It is a classic and I will share the link. Thanks for the post.
If you think that this is just a thing of the past… one only needs to look at Jasper, Texas in recent years.
And as a follow-on/connection to the article about the Southern Baptist Church, here’s a piece about the staffer Rep. Aaron Schock had to fire this week. Good SBC kid who has dutifully swallowed the Kool Aid. Bigotry is ugly, even when it smiles and says ‘bless your heart.’
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/wp/2015/02/06/rep-schocks-former-senior-aide-featured-in-film-about-saving-jews/?hpid=z4
A few excerpts:
“A Jew who comes to recognize Jesus as the Messiah is a fulfilled Jew,” Cole told Manin. “It doesn’t bring me any pleasure to say, but anyone who at the moment of death either ignorantly or willingly has rejected Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior will spend eternity in a Christless hell, a place of eternal torment and suffering.”
Early in the film, Cole said “abortion is nothing short of infanticide and murder.” And “I think homosexuality is an abomination…” Later, when discussing, with a group of sorority girls, what types of sex acts were off limits even after marriage, he said “some thing are just wicked, just pagan.” Asked if he meant anal sex, he said, “I don’t want to go into specifics.” In the film, Manin said Cole told him to put less gel in his hair “because it made me look like a Mexican.”
Cole also shared some thoughts on politics: “I could not with a good conscience be a member of the Democratic Party, and I don’t see how any good Christian can be.” And, taking Manin to a shooting range, he said, “We cannot become a communist state as long as the NRA is out there and Charlton Heston is passing out ammo.”
Are these aides not vetted? I like Rep. Shrock – think he is an open, good new member of Congress. Surely, someone up there in GOP leadership had an inkling of what Cole was all about. Sad, but glad he’s gone. Wonder how many others remain and if there will be a sense of urgency by the GOP and Dems to look more deeply into people they employ.
“Are these aides not vetted?”
Would it be more mind-blowing if Cole hadn’t been vetted, or if he had been? The comments on Jews going to hell is pretty standard fundamentalist Christianity (anyone who doesn’t accept Jesus as the Lord and Savior is going to hell). Shrock needs to reach that demographic and what better way to do that than a true believer who speaks their language?
Until there is confirmation that Shrock knowingly hired someone whose beliefs were this heinous, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. Still, there should be a process within Congress that fully vets any aide to a representative or senator.
There are bad people in the world but there are also good people – in both parties. I choose to believe Rep. Shrock was not the culprit here. Of course, time will tell.
“..but anyone who at the moment of death either ignorantly or willingly has rejected Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior will spend eternity in a Christless hell, a place of eternal torment and suffering.”
That’s a major reason the religious mindset so turns me off. So God zaps people for what is essentially a thought crime (the willing rejection) or zaps them for daring to be born into the “wrong” culture (the “ignorant” rejection). I cannot feel anything but revulsion for such an unjust deity.
More gems from Cole:
“Think Progress and Buzzfeed News unearthed Facebook comments written by Cole that included comparing black people in his neighborhood to zoo animals and suggesting a mosque be built at the White House so President Obama would have somewhere to pray.”
That’s Facebook’s redeeming feature IMO, that you can find out what people really think and get a more accurate assessment of their character.
My, my what a thoroughly loathsome little creature he is. He’s a perfect representative for the SBC since so many I’ve met are judgmental hypocrites masking incredible bigotry.
I just love **sarcasm** their thought that all “good” christians have to be GOP members and carry guns. I’ve nothing against gun ownership but, still, their belief that “their” God = weapons that kill is telling and strange to say the least.
If people like him go to heaven, then DO NOT WANT!!!!!!!
LOL…I like South Park’s version of Hell where all the fun people have parties and Heaven is full of good, clean, wholesome Mormons singing Kumbaya or something. No offense TR.
Seriously, I think some of these people may be in for quite a shock about where they end up. Not that I believe in either of them in the conventional Christian sense. Their version of hell was made up by the early church to scare pagans into compliance.
Lifer, we both recognize that the Democratic Party is coalescing into a more focused centrist organization, and the extreme right wing of the Republican Party is growing, to the detriment of the GOP’s long term health. Just opened the recent Gallup Poll and found the chart showing GOP growth to be static (which is better than declining) except that liberals are growing (albeit slowly).
It is my belief that the run up to the 2016 election is going to be a watershed time for the GOP. They will either govern responsibly thus validating their 2014 sweep, or they will forever turn back the clock. It’s their choice. Demographics are not on their side so the only way for the party to survive is to do their job very, very well. All the money in the world will not be enough to hide from irresponsible governance and spokesmen making inane and irrational decisions that counter national interest.
Here’s the link:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/180452/liberals-record-trail-conservatives.aspx?utm_source=position5&utm_medium=related&utm_campaign=tiles
I would highly recommend watching the Jon Stewart clip. It’s surprisingly “fair and balanced.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/02/04/jon-stewart-on-the-only-thing-the-unites-red-and-blue-america-measles/
Another wacky, whack job science denier …..
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/robert-kennedy-jrs-belief-in-autism-vaccine-connection-and-its-political-peril/2014/07/16/f21c01ee-f70b-11e3-a606-946fd632f9f1_story.html
This is an area in which nut job right and nut job left are not too dissimilar. I think they’re all idiots.
Agreed. States like West Virginia and Mississippi have very high rates of vaccinated children because they do not allow exceptions but places like California with exceptions have measles outbreaks. For once these two states are on the rights side of the curve.
Agreed. UnlIke some other issues (I.e. climate change, evolution etc) the idiocy seems to run on both sides of the political spectrum on the Vax issue. Hopefully sense prevails.
A nutjob is a nutjob and I’m NOT on Kennedy’s side here.
I weighed on an anti-vax blog a FB friend posted the other day, and was immediately attacked by a swarm of angry anti-vax mommies. That is one group you don’t want to tangle with, lemme tell you. My friend is one I’ve known since high school, and I knew she was a homeschooler, I knew she was a vegetarian, and I knew she was a Republican. I did not know she was sympathetic to anti-vaxxers, though she insists she does not oppose vaccinations. She just thinks it ought to be a choice.
It’s obviously not a partisan issue, exactly. Common anti-vaxxer characteristics include: high level of education. Upper middle class. Professionally successful. White. I don’t know if these views are more common among homeschoolers, but it seems to make sense. My theory is that these folks are a kind of extreme form of the modern, over-achieving Super Parent; their kids are involved in a thousand activities, they compost and eat organic and avoid plastic like the plague; they practice “attachment parenting”, they read a million books on every child development-related topic under the sun. They spend the extra $200 on the top-rated safety seat. You can be damn sure their kids wear helmets when they’re riding their trikes. Etc. All things that many of us, myself included, have done to various degrees as parents, because you’ve got the money and you reason yourself into corners responding to that little voice who nags you with that question, “are you sure you’re doing enough for your child?”
A parent like that has so much under control, they aren’t going to surrender their decision-making authority to a doctor. They’re going to ask questions (good thing) and they’re going to not take the Establishment’s Word on anything (maybe not so good) because they’re intelligent, they’re educated, and they’re not lazy, and they’re going to prove to everybody that they are the Greatest Parents Ever.
This is one of those times when intelligence and education can work against a person’s judgment. It’s great to ask questions and do your own research, but it’s also wise to know where your expertise actually lies, and to not be overly confident in a field in which you’ve had no formal training beyond reading mommy blogs and bad scientific studies.
There’s one thing that might have missed in your description of these highly educated, intelligent, over-protective parents –
common sense
In the meantime we have this….”An outbreak of the measles at Kenneth Copeland’s Texas megachurch has gotten some attention because (1) measles is something children are generally vaccinated for, these days and (2) Kenneth Copeland is, of course, an anti-vaccine crackpot. In what seems to be yet another bitterly ironic attempt by God to teach noisy religious fundamentalists what-for, the church has thus become the epicenter of a small but worrisome outbreak that has so far infected 10 and resulted in the Department of State Health Services issuing an alert spanning North Texas.”
“She just thinks it ought to be a choice.”
I’m down with choice when the chooser is cabable of an informed decision, and any physical harm pretty much begins and ends with said chooser. So vaccinations don’t make that final cut.
Helicopter parenting. Don’t even get me started on the attachment parenting.
Anse, Think about it: homeschooler + vegetarian + Republican = anti-vax! Simple !
Public schooler + eats anything + Democrat = Vaccinated. Simple!
You are reducing my post a bit too far, and that’s fun. But if we haven’t already, let’s go ahead and state that this little movement probably started with leftwingers, and remains a popular thing in areas known to lean left. But there’s no doubt it’s crossed over. Like I said, it’s not partisan. I just gave the example I’m personally familiar with.
I was just having fun, and, you are correct. There are foolish parents on both sides of the aisle. Isn’t that sad. To live in a time when so much has been sacrificed to make life better for us, and to piss it away.
OT, Today I’m joining the rolls of the retired folks! I’m turning it over to the young’ins and I’m going fishing! Tomorrow night my employees are throwing me the “Thanks God He’s Gone” party with I’m sure suitable roasting.
Congrats
Thank you Anse, right now I’m feeling really good. Of course that might be from the champagne that we have been drinking since lunch.
Oh, happy day.
Yep, I wondered if I’d ever live to see this GG.
Congratulations! Enjoy the fishing!
Thanks objv.
Thanks ya’ll. Crappie fishing starts soon and I’m gonna be there!
Way to go, ROR! I’m happy for you and your wife.
LOL, poor Savannah, I hope I don’t drive her nuts. Me and the 3 pooches will be headed for the fish camp the last of the month so she gets a break. I’m looking forward to Spring Break with all the college age grandkids this year.
Catch your limit, Righton and enjoy every minute of retirement.
Thanks 1mime, I’ve been working since I was 15 and this old man needs a break. Now, I just hope I live at least 20 (and in decent health) more years to get my money’s worth!
Peace be the journey my good man! Hope you catch many brown trout.
Brown trout being beer for the layman.
LOL, I may be catching more brown trout than crappie Tex.
Congrats to you and I hope you enjoy yourself.
Gonna enjoy myself Fly even if it kills me!
Yeah!!!! It takes a little getting used to just don’t drive your wife nuts!
Yeah!! It takes a little getting used to you’ll wake up in the mornings and go through your getting ready for work routine but that to shall pass. Just don’t drive your wife nuts and enjoy the slower pace.
Well it looks like I double posted. Dang it!
We will do some traveling, however I’ve done so much traveling it’s going to be nice just to putt around here.
Congrats!!! I can just imagine the stories that will be told tomorrow night.
It’s gonna be sad for me but I have got to let go. I watched most of my employees grow up and they are like my own kids.
Congratulations RoR! And my sympathies to your wife. 🙂
She has about 500 honey do things on her list to keep me busy.
Mazel tov my friend!
Godspeed
A sheynem dank HH
One state has found a way to significantly reduce teen pregnancy rates. But is its solution realistic for the rest of the United States?
Colorado’s teen birth rate dropped 40% between 2009 and 2013, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment announced this week, in part due to a program that provides long-acting contraception to low-income women.
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/10/health/colorado-teen-pregnancy/
SHHH…..don’t let the contraception deniers know……
I was going to give Thom “the gub’mint ain’t making me wash my hands” Tillis the idiot prize for this week but a late entry has beat him to it.
State representative Brian Kurcaba (R-evolting) of West Virginia stated Thursday:
“Obviously rape is awful. What is beautiful is the child is that could come from this.”
He made these claims after the West Virginia state legislator voted to remove the rape and incest provisions from an anti-abortion bill.
I guess that conference the GOP had last year concerning avoiding the rape issue did not stick.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/02/west-virginia-republican-says-rape-can-be-beautiful-if-it-produces-a-child/
O.M.F.G…….
West Virginia where the family tree branches in?
Only a brain dead idiot would say such a thing.
Yes, I think you picked the winner there TR (if by winner you mean loser). I’m sure it’s just coincidence that the people who say these sorts of things are almost always those who can’t be impregnated against their will. How noble of them to offer up others for pain and sacrifice.
Believe me, if I could ever implement my evil plan to retroactively genetically engineer the human race, pregnancy via rape would be physically impossible. Hell, rape would be physically impossible.
And people would be better at risk assessment.
When I read about people like Kurcaba making inane statements like “rape….a beautiful child could come from this….” I wonder, do any of these people who make statements like this ever, ever think what they might do if their daughter was involved in a situation like this?
Un-freeking-believable!
One of my formerly good old buddies in Wisconsin has signed on for the Anti-Vaxxer detail.
He’s not a total nitwit, so I can’t really fathom why he’s pressing it except that there’s some sort of political gain to be had.
Some of the other guys have bought into to the Blaze, which is trash grade news. Again, these guys are Beta Plus so they’re relatively intelligent. It really calls the question regarding their political ethics.
Either way it’s a brilliant demonstration of mass hypnotic technique. The only problem is we don’t know how to wake them back up.
My take on the rape buzz in the party is that No means No and Yes means No. If you weren’t such crappy Christians there would be no debate on this issue. We used to refer to sex outside of wedlock as fornication. There’s a reason for such strong directives regarding human sexuality in the Bible. Do you really want to be led by your…really?
Seems pretty stupid to me anyway.
Hey-lest I forget. The old days, ah yes. Child in shopping cart at checkout causing a fuss and crying because mommy won’t buy the Frankenberry Cereal. Parental response “I’ll give you something to cry about,” smack. Old school, like 1974.
Post post script.
Glenn Beck take your filthy hands off of my girlfriend.
Did you see this?
http://www.salon.com/2015/02/04/utah_republican_wonders_if_its_ok_to_rape_an_unconscious_woman_as_long_as_that_unconscious_woman_is_your_wife/
You know, if your wife is unconscious shouldn’t you be a bit more concerned that she’s UNCONSCIOUS and call 9-1-1?
Love the Ramones, thanks Willy!
@GG, it depends on what the unconscious wife is wearing 🙂 <=sarc smiley
Maybe his love life is so bland he can not tell if his wife is unconscious or not, or she might be playing possum because she detest him and he thinks it is the norm.
Hey guys, I just saw this. Taiwan’s healthcare system provides hand jobs to the disabled. After initially laughing I have to say that it would make people’s lives happier. It is a basic human function.
http://www.vice.com/read/hand-angel-hand-jobs-taiwan-748
Ya watchin’ Lifer? Makin’ a list? I’d be embarrassed for these people if they weren’t so serious. They believe this stuff and they are hell-bent on making it the law! Geez.
Well, hey…….Did you see what that unconscious wife was wearing? She was asking for it.
And then there’s the GOP-dominated, southern white-guy, low-income, uneducated bastion of Marin County with about the highest percentage of unvaccinated children anywhere in the country.
Gosh I wish we could just contain the nutballs to a single party. Things would be so much easier to understand.
“Gosh I wish we could just contain the nutballs to a single party. ”
What we need is the perfect branding.
Does your belly have a star? 😉
Dr Suess = national treasure.
Phew! After I posted that I momentarily panicked, hoped you didn’t think I was referring to a tramp stamp or something! (An affinity for that sort of thing, I’d never ascribe to you!)
!!!YES!!!
Until 2 weeks ago I pretty much thought the anti-vax movement was a liberal thing. I pretty much still do. So why why why why why would Chris Christie think that he needs to weigh in on their side?
What brain-eating virus (spread by vaccines???) has infected Republicans. I am totally lost here.
Just saying…..
http://www.science20.com/news_articles/democrats_redeemed_republicans_more_antivaccine_says_paper-152810
Anyone who doubts the problem your average human has with making accurate risk assessment need look no further than Christie. Yes, Ebola is scary, but there is no credible threat that it gets entrenched here. Measles, OTOH is a real threat.
So if you said MMR would protect against Ebola, how many people would change their anti-vac stance?
Chris – I don’t know. (shakes head)
RoR – That link was mostly about the swine flu vaccine; an entirely different animal than childhood immunizations. It drew parallels between the two that I don’t think are valid. Just sayin’…
Oh now come’on fifty, if they are afraid of the flu vaccine they sure as hell aren’t gonna be agreeable to vaccinations for children.
“When the researchers used a statistical model to analyze the data, they learned that confidence in government was the driving force in vaccination views.
Those distrusting the government’s ability were more likely to be older, middle income, politically conservative and less likely to follow media reports about the outbreak”.
Just saying….
Sorry Chris, the data doesn’t support your assumptions. I don’t know why you would have had the impression you had until 2 weeks ago.
http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/americans-and-scientists-agree-more-on-vaccines-than-on-other-hot-button-issues/
RoR- I didn’t get an H1N1 vaccination. I’ve never had a flu shot. Here are the reasons:
I do not work with the public, or in or near large groups of people. My exposure potential is therefore quite limited. I am not in a group that is at high risk of complications should I contract it. The efficacy of the average flu vaccine is such that, when combined with my estimated exposure risk, some back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest it would prevent me getting the flu about once in the next 75 years. And while not exactly supportive of my conclusions on the risk issue, I have never had the flu. Ever.
This is a completely different from the outrageous risks associated with large numbers of schoolchildren running around unvaccinated for the major childhood diseases.
Now, you could argue whether or not I’m politically conservative. (Many here have!) You could argue whether or not I’m middle-income. You could also argue whether 59 is ‘older’. What you cannot argue is that I have an abiding and uncritical trust in government to ‘do the right thing’. So if I find myself not fitting neatly into some particular collection of characteristics, I have a difficult time concluding others must.
Fifty – the flu vaccine is not mandatory, as you know, and your decision was thoughtfully made assessing not only your risk potential but also your interaction with others…(I’m assuming you are an astronaut and work at the space station (-: ) The problem I have is with those whose jobs/situations are interconnected with others, who we seem to agree should be vaccinated.
1mime- I’m going to go out on a limb here, but I’d wager that pretty much 100% of healthcare workers, (yes – the same people that seem to have a problem washing their hands), get flu shots. And teachers. And flight attendants. And on and on. Where I one of them, and not an astronaut, I would too. 😉
Well, Jindal, Christie, and Paul must have a communicable disease. Maybe there’s a vaccination for it (-:
Fifty – RE betting most health professionals/teachers/flight attendants do wash their hands. My husband receives home health services (Parkinson’s Disease) and you would be surprised at the inconsistency.
Yes, I pretty get ‘antivax’ stuff from the same people who want me to ‘boycott’ oil companies when gas prices go up
Too tired on Friday to write gooder.
fifty, I don’t argue one way or the other as to your political convictions, I honestly could care less. Most people that are afraid of the government seem to be Conservatives, not Indy’s or Dems. That’s what the data shows, I didn’t write the data or influence it one way or the other.
I don’t ‘fear’ ‘the government’. I’m wary of it. Frankly, anyone who isn’t is a fool.
My point was that immunizations for childhood diseases are different than flu vaccinations. And they are.
Amen brother!!!! You have my profound sympathy over having to share your party with so much crazy.
I’d like to propose that from now on should any politician utter the phrase “legitimate rape”, that he or she is fair game for being pelted with rotten produce.
I’m also reminded of the old saying “Beware of what you wish for, you just might get it!!!”
I think Chris Christie has lost his mind.
Christie vetos “buy American” legislation
http://www.northjersey.com/news/business/christie-vetos-34-buy-american-34-legislation-1.1265576
My son is 27 so it’s been awhile but when he was in school they required proof of vaccinations before he could start. Is that not the case anymore?
They always included a pretty wide range of exemptions. Mostly due to the fact that some lower income kids weren’t getting access to vaccinations on time for whatever reason.The exploitation of those exemptions has, let’s just say, expanded…
It should be done AT school. No one needs to worry about it, no one needs to go out of their way, and the government should have no problem paying for it because it’s one of thhe best medical investments it can make. Paying for vaccines saves the gov’t a shit tonne of money.
To really date myself I remember a nurse from the health dept coming to school and vaccinating us. Also, I don’t remember having a choice or my grandparent having a choice. When I took my last polio vaccine it was oral and I drove back to my high school to take it. I’ve been vaccinated for everything including Cholera. That shot hurt like hall.
Same here ROR. We’d all line up and a nurse would come by.
At least in Texas, lower income babies and kids have had access to free vaccinations for a long time.
http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/immunize/tvfc/tvfc_about.shtm
My son was born in 1991, There was a clinic in the county I lived (Brazoria) that offered free vaccinations regardless of income level.
True. Lower income kids have free vaccine access almost everywhere. They often run into issues just getting them done. Exemptions were largely justified around the concern of avoiding blocking them from going to school while the school helps them get set up.
I know it has been a few years but I remember lining up in the hallway in elementary school to get small pox and polio vaccines in Florida. The only choice most parents had back then is either get them free through the school nurse or pay for them with your family doctor.
Should I be pissed my parents didn’t love me enough to just say no?
Constant examination of premises would be a good place to start.
http://fatasmihov.blogspot.com/2015/02/those-mountains-of-debt-and-assets.html
Before the 2014 election, I thought that it would better in the long run if the Democrats lost control of Congress. The Republicans wouldn’t be able to control themselves, and Americans would vividly see what to expect should the Presidency fall into GOP hands in 2016. So far my prediction seems to be accurate. I’ve stocked up on popcorn.
Looks like Bibi & Israel is throwing Bohner under the bus.
(Reuters) – A senior Israeli official suggested on Friday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been misled into thinking an invitation to address the U.S. Congress on Iran next month was fully supported by the Democrats.
Netanyahu was invited by the Republican speaker of the house, John Boehner, to address Congress on March 3, an invitation Boehner originally described as bipartisan.
The move angered the White House, which is upset about the event coming two weeks before Israeli elections and the fact that Netanyahu, who has a testy relationship with President Obama, is expected to be critical of U.S. policy on Iran.
“It appears that the speaker of Congress made a move, in which we trusted, but which it ultimately became clear was a one sided move and not a move by both sides,” Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister Tzachi Hanegbi told 102 FM Tel Aviv Radio on Friday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/06/us-israel-usa-congress-iran-idUSKBN0LA1AG20150206?feedType=RSS&feedName=Iran&virtualBrandChannel=10209&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&dlvrit=59365
So I guess Bibi is so outraged at being misled he is cancelling his speech. Yea right.
Let him come and look like an arse.
I don’t believe for a moment that he was misled by Boehner. Bibi is a snake in the grass and throwing Boehner under the bus will not bother him one whit.
Snake in the grass is putting it politely, he and Cruz are twins.
Texan, you aren’t by any chance posting on Raw Story are you? I noticed that same avatar.
No I am not, but I am glad there is another person personifying this handsome face.
That is so bad but so funny.
That should have gone under your Tourettes Guy video.
How likely is it that Netanyahu will win re-election?
Firebug, if it’s up to my son’s in-laws Bibi’s chances are slim to none of being re-elected. Contrary to popular GOP belief Bibi just isn’t all that popular with Jews who think for themselves.
Tex, you know I always try to keep a polite decorum at all times.😆
I thought I’d been reading that he wasn’t a shoe-in. But then I read something this morning (in Politico maybe?), that made his re-election sound inevitable.
Hanegbi didn’t explicitly call for Netanyahu to cancel his trip, he was trying to provide cover for Israel with American Jews who are upset with the decision. Bulls&*%. Frankly, I hope he comes and speaks to only the GOP. What a visual for Dems. Netanyahu has become a blow-hard and it’s time for him to go crappy fishing, right Rush?
Yes, Viking, my brother feels the same way. I don’t because too much harm can be done. Witness the funding debacle for Homeland Security. The GOP never saw a budget request from the Pentagon they didn’t like, yet they will tie up Homeland Security politically at a time when ISIL is be-heading Americans, we have soldiers in harms way in Afghanistan and who knows what other countries, our Coast Guard operations will be hamstrung, etc etc. Not to mention all the people who work for these agencies within Homeland Security who by law will have to report without pay – even if it retroactively comes. Such crap.
So, I don’t agree. America has real problems to work on. We are delaying these at our own risk and at a time when the global economy is strained. So smart.
BUt,but,but they can “Govern” they said so!
It ain’t ever easy and they will find that out. Far better to work together but that is looking impossible. I’m proud of the way the Dems have comported themselves since the Repubs took over Congress. Very disciplined, very focused, very principled. THAT will be noted by the public just as the wingnuts are.
But Chris there may be some light at the end of that very long and very dark tunnel.
Anti-Abortion Republican Rejects Junk Science, Embraces Public Funding Of Birth Control
http://all-len-all.com/anti-abortion-republican-rejects-junk-science-embraces-public-funding-of-birth-control/
See, to me, abortion is a good issue to be “controversial”. That is, a reasonable person could take either side, and so debate can be healthy and constructive.
The whole adherence to junk science thing, or believing Jenny McCarthy over 95+% of scientists/peer reviewed science on an issue is another thing. That’s both idiotic and a self sustained mortal wound for the repubs. Contrary to the GOP’s beliefs, most people AREN’T stupid. The GOP has been fooled because the stupid minority has been disproportionately loud the past few years, and the GOP is mistaking breadth for depth.
And the GOP went chasing the moronic minority the past few years assuming that this is the group that’s going to lead them to the promised land, and they’re encouraged by the apathy of the huge moderate/sane group that comprises most Americans. They’ve mistaken the apathy for acquiescence, but that will only go so far. Once the majority of sane people see that there is an actual chance the lunatics might come into real power, they’re going to mobilize in droves.
Personally, I think it’s happening already, I see it everywhere I look. Sanity is finally pushing back against idiocy. And if (as I think will happen) the Repubs get absolutely demolished in 2016, the GOP leadership will realize they’ve been following a false messiah and I (I think/hope) the GOP establishment will swing back towards the center where they should be and finally provide a legit counterbalance to the Dems.
Personally, I’m a liberal, but closer to the centre then anything. I think there is danger at either end of the idealogical extreme and I think the only place for a safe/sane/effective/moral/responsible government is with a credible and sensible balance. Right now there is no credible balance. The GOPS have maneuvered themselves into a corner of non legitimacy by falling all over each other to prove their convervative bonafides. And most normal people can’t stomach that.
Roba – Couldn’t agree with you more on the issue of abortion. Problem is, pro-life people will not respect pro-choice and when they take stands against reasonable contraception and exceptions for rape, incest, they have created an impasse. This is unreasonable. It makes no sense to not provide family planning, contraception and anythng else that will educate and encourage conception. So, with you all the way on that.
Let’s hope he succeeds. Have a friend from Jefferson Cty in CO and have forwarded the article to her for her reaction. She’s usually on top of things like this so will share.
Sorry Roba – meant to say “discourage” conception. How are we going to feed all these people?
Lol no worries, I knew what you meant 😉
How is it a free market approach to sanitation to require restaurants to inform the public that their employees don’t have to wash their hands? Wouldn’t a truly free market policy be to just let people get sick, and then let consumers figure it out while they’re vomiting?
Exactly. I found it ironic that Tillis’ alternative would require precisely the same amount of government involvement as the regulation in question. But this seems to be the stock in trade of today’s GOP–proposals that lack both intelligence and integrity.
Ah, but haven’t you figured out that Repubs only oppose government involvement they don’t want. They pick and choose their government involvement, and, that’s different.
Strange that so many anti-vaxxers don’t uphold the choice for abortion but are quite willing to allow their un-vaxxed kids to infect infants and others and quite possibly cause death.
On another note, the autism fear is questionable as it’s been my experience that many of the kids with “autism” seem to basically be the result of lazy parenting, lack of structure and discipline. Autistic people do exist but, and you can call me an old fart, when I see little Jayden running amok causing problems while the parents sit there and say “oh, well he’s autistic” all I can think is maybe cut his sugar out, put him on a regular bed schedule, smack his ass once in awhile and say “no” for once.
Great points GG!
A possible solution to the vaccination problem is to deny health insurance to unvaccinated children (except, of course, for those who are immunocompromised and can’t safely receive vaccines). Or, at the very least, impose a hefty premium increase to offset the health risks. Money talks.
Yeah, you can’t deny the kids. It’s not their fault their parents are fucking idiots.
Of course, the vast majority of these anti vaxxers got the vax themselves. I wonder how many of them are alive/not crippled/not disfiguured todday because of it?
I get that some (maybe most) anti vaxxers are legitimately concerned about their kids welfare. There’s also a huge number (maybe majority) who simply like it as a way to make a political statement (“No way is Big Brother telling me what to do with MY kids. If I want my kid to die of a preventable disease, that’s my right and Gub’mint is not gonna tell me what to do. LIBERTY!!!”). These sacks of human excrement don’t see anything wrong with risking their kids health/lives to make a political statement against something that they themselves have personally benefited from when THEY were kids.
This is one of the few things we have done right in Mississippi. We haven’t had a case of measles in over 20 years, because vaccinations are required for public school and there are no non-medical exceptions. Of course, that could change any minute. Now that this intrusive government mandate has been pointed out, and everyone saw “Obummer” say you should vaccinate your kids, it probably won’t take PhilBilly long to get busy dismantling the regulations.
Viking – denying health care or making it inordinately expensive as a penalty for not vaccinating, just hurts children.
You are an old fart, wrong and unfortunately use the same “logic” as an anti-vaxxer…….
I think it’s a pretty reasonable opinion that autism, while obviously a legit diagnosis, is over diagnosed today, caused (sometimes) by lazy parenting, and lazy doctoring.
Remember all those ‘bad’ kids when you were in school? No doubt many of them had ‘bad’ parents and on and on we go, blaming victims and wondering why so many people died of ‘indigestion’ in the 19th century……
People don’t fit into neat categories of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ and now that we subject children to years of sloth, sitting in desks and meeting mandatory goals of ‘behavior’ we see that the spectrum of the human mind escapes easy categorizing. So we try harder to understand the workings of the human brain, and make mistakes along the way. We can still wonder why parents go ‘bad’ when they are alone trying to deal with a child who can’t sit still in class. Or the car. Or anywhere.
Yes, GG, you are a science denier as far as autism is concerned. It is not a result of bad parenting.
Through the years, I’ve met many parents who have kids with autism or Asperger’s disease. The parents I’ve known were well-educated and caring parent’s. The mothers often had to give up their careers since taking care of a child with autism is such a challenge. If you only knew what many parents with autistic children go through, you would never say such a thing.
Ooops , that would be Asperger’s Syndrome – not disease
From: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm Note the last sentence.
Scientists aren’t certain about what causes ASD, but it’s likely that both genetics and environment play a role. Researchers have identified a number of genes associated with the disorder. Studies of people with ASD have found irregularities in several regions of the brain. Other studies suggest that people with ASD have abnormal levels of serotonin or other neurotransmitters in the brain. These abnormalities suggest that ASD could result from the disruption of normal brain development early in fetal development caused by defects in genes that control brain growth and that regulate how brain cells communicate with each other, possibly due to the influence of environmental factors on gene function. While these findings are intriguing, they are preliminary and require further study. The theory that parental practices are responsible for ASD has long been disproved.
I believe in autism but not when it’s a matter of a normal kid being a bit hyper and misdiagnosed as autistic. I think both autism and ADHD are being overdiagnosed. I only know one Aspie who is very high functioning and just comes across as a bit socially awkward.
I just read this somewhere else. I thought it was interesting.
“For decades research has focused on women but new research shows older sperm can have the same effect as an older egg. And there is a link to autism and older fathers. It has become much more prevalent in our society for men to start a second family in middle age. My sister teaches elementary school and while certainly there are young couples with autistic children, my sister says she and the other teachers noticed that as the number of autistic children exploded in the school they noticed they were seeing more older fathers on a second family with a younger wife. When she heard about the new research looking at a link between older sperm and autism she said she and the other teachers had already figured that one out. Another reason why both middle-aged men and women should think twice about having children.”
You ever seen the tourettes guy,
“Another reason why both middle-aged men and women should think twice about having children.”
Yep. Better to have them in your 20s & 30s. But our current economic system doesn’t encourage having children during peak fertility. This is also where I take issue with the segment of lefties who get all hostile and defensive if anyone tries to broach the subject of the female biological clock and how you can indeed wait too long to start a family. Biology is what it is, and it doesn’t give a damn about anyone’s career goals. So young women AND men need to know this and be prepared to decide about children early on in adulthood.
Yep fly, we do not want the movie Idiocracy to come true.
Autism is a complex spectrum disease, meaning it can exist in severe to mild forms. It’s largely genetic, though there may be environmental triggers as well. It’s not parenting, although I suspect the quality of parenting can make a difference in the severity. Curiously, a lot of the genetic mutations implicated in autism are not passed down through generations in a family, but are spontaneous mutants that arise in just the sperm or egg that makes the kid in question. That’s a pretty unprecedented finding.
When I grew up, autism was unheard of. I’m sure there were autistic kids out there, but it was not part of the consciousness of the average person. Sure, Jimmy was a little slow and Cindy seemed a little creepy, but so what? A huge surge in diagnoses began in the late ’80s, but this had more to do with an increased recognitions of autism by parents and doctors than an actual increase in the disease. Anti-vaxxers point to some changes in vaccine formulations in 1986, but there’s no science behind this. Instead, I think another event in 1986 had a lot more to do with it: Rain Man. Had any of you who are old enough heard of autism before Dustin Hoffman took a drive with Tom Cruise?
“Curiously, a lot of the genetic mutations implicated in autism are not passed down through generations in a family, but are spontaneous mutants that arise in just the sperm or egg that makes the kid in question. That’s a pretty unprecedented finding.”
It makes a lot of sense to me though. Autistic traits are a big drag on your chances of reproductive success, so that’s one possible mechanism. I’ve also heard of a too-much-of-a-good-thing hypothesis, where a cognitive skill that most would deem useful, such as the ability to focus on a task (where you could have a positive selection for the trait in the right amount) can go to a socially disruptive extreme. The spontaneous mutation explanation does match well with the idea that older sperm increases the risk.
I suspect the legends of changelings and demonic possession could have a basis in autistic children who seemed normal at first and then regressed in their development.
Agree, Objv. The sacrifice parents of autistic kids have to make is incredible.
I would like to see a Venn diagram of anti-vaxxers and allergy activists. What percentage of this group would throw a fit if I sent my son to school with a PB&J sandwich for lunch?
Oh, the allergy activists. I loved the one who wanted all trees cut down around the school because her little snowflake had a nut allergy and the ones who petitioned to have peanuts banned from sports arenas because one teeny tiny nut particle in the air would send their kids into full on anaphylactic shock. Here’s an example.
Texas, this is one of my favorite scenes from a movie.
Yep!
GG we agree on a great many things but your take on Autism is just simply wrong. I have a grandson with Autism and a cousin with ADHD. My cousin is an adult and she still struggles to be able to focus on many tasks even though she is taking medication for the condition. She did manage to get her nursing degree as an adult but as a kid her parents and teachers wrote her off as being “learning disabled” with a low IQ.
Nut those are you experiences. I totally agree that most cases (including your own) are “legit”. That doesn’t mean that it’s an over diagnosised condition today and is an easy way out for lazy diagnosticians.
When my son was in grade school he had a teacher mention off record that I should get him tested for ADD so I took him to a child psychologist that was recommended. After testing and talking she decided he was ADD. After a consultation with me I found out that all four of her kids were on Ritalin. That set off alarm bells in my head and I never took him back which is a good thing because it turned out my son actually was just very smart and was simply bored as hell in school. He’s always been very bookish and curious about science and history and reads one book after another. After being around my uncle’s young son, who is ADHD, I am so glad I didn’t put my son on Ritalin. My little cousin is exhausting and really can’t focus or sit still at all. I hate to say it but he drives me nuts to be around. BTW, my uncle is an older man who had a third child late in life with his second, much younger wife. Thirty years to be exact so maybe there is something to that “older” sperm thing.
I don’t disagree completely with the idea that ADD and ADHD have been misdiagnosed in a good many children and I don’t completely agree with throwing drugs at a problem becuse it’s easier.
My stepson was one of those kids that was diagnosed with ADHD. His doctor at the time suggested having him allergy tested rather than medicated. His take on the diagnosis from the school psychologist was that it had become a catch all for kids with problems that could not be assigned an obvious cause. Turns out he was allergic to most food preservatives and yellow and red food dyes. He also processed sugar in a way that made his hyperactivity worse.
We did not want to put him on drugs so we took the approach of reducing his exposure to processed foods and heavily processed sugar. Within 3 weeks the turn around was amazing.
I am huge advocate of second opinions and personal research, but I would have put this child on medication if in fact what we did did not work. Common sense is not always very common.
You took the sensible route, Sassy, and it paid off. Ever take your child in to the orthodontist for an opinion on whether or not they need braces? You can take it to the bank that they all will. Don’t know how all we “orthodontistless” baby boomers have made it without braces (-:
A child who is suspect for ADHD presents a much more serious condition, but, my point is – common sense needs to be exercised. As Rand Paul said in his vaccination diatribe, and, I paraphrase: “parents ‘own” (?!) their children” and they should have a say….”. I’m not in with the “owning another human being bit” (even one of our own), but I do think adults need to do just what you did with your stepson – exercise caution and good judgment. Good doctors usually recommend allergy testing first. If they don’t….get another opinion.
Sassy, I do agree totally that a lot of the problems we see with kids today is the crap put in processed foods and items manufactured with harmful chemicals. Take carpeting for example. Total toxic stuff.