Problem is that the rhetoric is so much part of the position, it’s next to impossible for them to back up to a reasonable position.

“There is far too much thimeresol going into our kid’s schedule”
Fine, thimeresol use drastically reduced.
“No,we want thimeresol completely OUT of vaccines. Trace amounts, emergency supplies, even in the manufacturing process…otherwise, your….BABY KILLERS”

“Get ALL toxins out of vaccines”
Concept is fine, until the rhetoric starts and the extremist misinformation takes hold. Every negative aspect ever discovered in or about vaccines is then haphazardly dragged out from antifreeze to fetal tissue to show “how bad” the vaccines are. Intermingled are the rare legitimate vaccine injuries, and ‘bad lots’ just to give it a hint of validity. But when push comes to shove, they will wind up saying that vaccines are inherently ‘toxic’ and there is no redeemablity to vaccines.

“We want a safe vaccine schedule”
Problem is, they’s painted themselves into such a toxic corner that no one aside from Dr. Sears will even propose alternatives. Otherwise, the demands always seem to be too extreme; the testing too stringent; the requirements too high to meet (nothing drives a scientist to drink more than the statement ‘prove 100% safe’). The ‘safe’ vaccine and schedule that they seek is almost always unattainable: economically, logistically, scientifically….practically…

In short, they may not ‘say’ anti-vaccine, but they certainly walk, look and quack like a duck…

Curt Linderman Sr., the host of “Linderman Live!” on AutismOne Radio and the editor of a blog called the Autism File, recently wrote online that it would “be nice” if Offit “was dead.”

I’d met Linderman at Autism One. He’d given his card to me as we stood outside the Westin O’Hare talking about his autistic son. “We live in a very toxic world,” he’d told me, puffing on a cigarette.

It was hard to argue with that.

Wouldn’t “define the list” be a better choice?

What gets me riled more than anything is that all but one of these organizations are either definitionally or overtly using autism as the ‘base camp’ from which to launch their vaccination diatribes. At least NVIC has the ‘decency’ to not try and hide themselves behind an unrelated fascade.

Can’t say I’m a big fan of Offit, but given the choice between someone who has potential conflicts of interest vs groups that are doing real and substantial damage within the autism community and beyond; I’d rather focus my animosity on groups destroying my neighborhood before quibbling over philosophical minutia…

“Vaccines cleared of autism charge (article at Science Daily)

A new review finds that vaccinations do not cause autism. One concern was that a mercury-based preservative in vaccines was at fault, but the preservative was removed from vaccines in California, Denmark, and Sweden and autism rates continued to rise. And while many children exhibited autism after getting the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccination, this appears to be only because the vaccination is usually given about the age when autism first manifests. The actual cause of increased autism (aside from increased diagnosis and reporting) remains unknown.”

This article was also an eye opener to me as I was just finishing McCarthy’s book (at which point I was almost in tears of confusion and even wondering about the small amount of mercury in my teeth).:

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/s.....cines.html

I think most people’s hearts are in the right place. We don’t have the answers and it is very easy for parents to confuse correlation with cause, but certainly it is good that they demand that vaccines be as safe as possible.

I am very thankful to Obama for putting many resources into autism research in his first week in office. Good work is being done everywhere, and maybe we’ll have more answers soon. A genetic variant may have already been isolated.