Disqualifying?

The editorial board of the once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle says this about the recent statements on vaccinations by Gov. Chris "Krispycreme" Christie and Kentucky Sen. "Ayn" Rand Paul (Nut-Self Certified):

TWO POTENTIAL Republican presidential candidates, Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, have made irresponsible comments about vaccines at a time when measles has reappeared in the United States. Their remarks call into question their judgment and their fitness for higher office.

Ya think? You can add these items to the mounting evidence of their unfitness as well:

During Krispycreme's "disaster" (Economic World) visit to Great Britain this week, the conservative Daily Mail reported the anger- management- challenged Christie had this exchange (via Washington Monthly):

‘Is there something you don’t understand about, “No questions”?’ Christie snapped when a reporter asked whether he’d discussed the Islamic State group during his meetings with dignitaries during the visit to the Globe [Theater].

There's also this piece of patronizing condescension by "Ayn", who doesn't exactly exhibit Presidential qualities when speaking to this reporter (via Rachel Maddow Show):



That these two thin-skinned egotists would appear on any organization's list of potential Presidential candidates only makes sense when you consider it's the Stupid Party we're talking about.

Today's Dispatches From The Stupid Party

Public health? Ick!

As we've seen highlighted in the past few days, the Republican/ New Confederate/ Stupid Party is struggling with the concept of public health versus Freedumb! Zero sum game there, doncha know.

Two of the party's presumed candidates for President in 2016 have already provided us with their dangerous, deluded thoughts on the matter of vaccination, and now other geniuses are opining on other matters bearing on your right to a healthy life and their right to (wait for it) live in Freedumb! Here's recently elected Sen. Thom "Bacillus" Tillis (Crank-NC) on not forcing food workers to wash their hands after leaving the restroom:

“I said: ‘I don’t have any problem with Starbucks if they choose to opt out of this policy as long as they post a sign that says “We don’t require our employees to wash their hands after leaving the restroom,” Tillis added. “The market will take care of that.”

Steve Benen has the proper question for Bacillus Tillis:

If I understand his argument, the North Carolina senator would let Starbucks opt out of one regulation (hand-washing) in exchange for another (a mandated sign that says “We don’t require our employees to wash their hands after leaving the restroom”)? Is that what constitutes “regulatory reform” for Tillis?

(We pause here for our usual kudos to those Democrats who sat on their asses in North Carolina last November - this lump is your prize.)

Then there's former and future failed candidate and company sinker Carly Fiorina, who chimes in:

I do think parents have to make those choices. I mean, I got measles as a kid. We used to all get measles. I got chicken pox, I got measles, I got mumps… I think parents have to make choices for their family and their children.  (our emphasis)

Choice, yes!  Precious, unalienable choice!  (Except when it comes to women's reproductive health, let's be clear about that.)

If only we could get our border under control to keep them germs from comin' in!  That's what Rep. Mo "Slo-Mo" Brooks (R-Texass) is a-thinkin':

"I don’t think there is any healthcare professional who has examined the fact, who could honestly say that Americans have not died because the diseases brought into America by illegal aliens who are not properly health care screened, as lawful immigrants are."

Uh, how can we put this to Slo-Mo... no:

The congressman mentioned enterovirus, the spread of which conservatives blamed on undocumented immigrants. The Centers for Disease Control said there was no evidence linking immigrant children to the virus.  (our emphasis)

So, maybe the Congressman would propose immunizing those "illegal aliens" before they sneak across the border?  See, that way American kids could have the Freedumb! not to be immunized! Except,

According to the World Health Organization, immunization for measles in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, where a majority of undocumented children have recently emigrated from, is about 93 percent. Children are also vaccinated at processing facilities just across the border.  (our emphasis)

That would be a better vaccination rate than in, say, Orange County, California, United States of Freedumb!  But, we're not scientists, so...

UPDATE:  Now that the tree has been shaken, the nuts are falling out.  What a pitiful excuse for a "Doctor."

There's No Vaccine For Stupidity

Like unvaccinated carriers of an infectious disease, the anti-vaxxers in the Republican/New Confederate/Stupid Party are exhibiting symptoms of anti-medical science stupidity.  We noted yesterday that New Jersey Gov. and poster boy for anger management Chris "Krispykreme" Christie and Kentucky Sen. and self-certified ophthalmologist "Ayn" Rand Paul  think it should be up to the parents whether or not to vaccinate their children.  That "thinking" back in the 1950s would have led to an epidemic of polio, even with the Salk vaccine available.  Smallpox has largely been eradicated as a result of worldwide immunization efforts.  Medical experts are appalled at the dangerous ignorance on display by Rethuglican politicians, especially with the outbreak of measles in dozens of states.

The latest hack to spread the anti-vaxx disease is Wisconsin Rep. Sean "Dr. No" Duffy, who thinks an "oppressive state" shouldn't tell parents to immunize their children.  Savor that bat-sh*t wingnuttery for a moment:  what he's saying is that public health officials -- even personal physicians -- represent an "oppressive state."  This clown has seven children, by the way, and each of them one day could be carriers of an illness, simply because their dad is a right-wing kook.  For those who remember the far-right crusade against fluoridation that was boosted by the likes of the ultra-rightwing John Birch Society, this is a reboot of the same science-denying, paranoid, anti-public mindset that threatens us all.

BONUS:  We'd like to quote, at length, Charles Pierce's take on the matter:

Coming after Chris Christie's similar comments over the weekend, it is now incumbent upon us to ask whether the anti-vaccination theories are on their way to becoming one of those conservative conjuring words, like "Keystone XL pipeline" or "school choice." This is especially true since both Christie and Paul have framed their remarks with boilerplate conservative defenses of parental rights and personal freedoms. So is the measles virus the new handgun? Will dozens of sick kids in California join dozens of dead kids in Connecticut as the price we have to pay for our freedoms? Are we going to Teach The Controversy on this one, too. Is this, like The Bell Curve was for Andrew Sullivan and The New Republic, Open For Debate? It's one thing to dance away from science on global warming. It's quite another to have one of our only two political parties line itself up against medical science. If the voices in your head and the clamor of your own ambition can drown out the simple fact that we had measles defeated in this country in 2000, and now, after a long stretch of know-nothing propaganda, measles are back with a vengeance, then you can quite simply use politics to defeat public health in the lives of us all. For a physician like Rand Paul, the son of Crazy Uncle Liberty (!), who also is a doctor, lending your credibility to the quack healers of the Internet bespeaks a certain contempt for learning that has become all too common.