Guest guest Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 McCain's Autism Comment Prompts Outrage in the Blogosphere Sen. McCain has set science bloggers on fire by saying there is "strong evidence" that mercury in vaccines causes autism. He was responding to a question at a town hall meeting last week, Jake Tapper of ABC News reports. The blogosphere reacted violently — mainly in anger and disappointment. "No, no, no, no, no!" wrote Orac, the anonymous scientist at Respectful Insolence. "McCain needs to replace his medical and scientific advisors forthwith and find some who understand science and clinical trials." "The main problem with such a claim is not that just it's untrue," wrote Carroll at Cosmic Variance, "… in this case the stupidity can cause people to die." By accepting the discredited link between vaccines and autism, McCain has shown his judgment falls far short of that required for the head of a modern nation-state," said Hrynyshyn, the blogger at Island of Doubt. "This is nonsense on stilts," wrote McArdle at The Atlantic's blog Asymmetrical Information. She guesses that he might have said so in order to court the voting bloc of those who believe vaccines cause autism. "The researchers who study [mercury in vaccines] probably weren't going to vote for McCain anyway." Other responses from bloggers included "Absolutely despicable," "He's an antivax idiot," and "when politicians step into the scientific arena, they better know what they are talking about. McCain clearly does not on this issue."http://chronicle.com/blogs/election/1794/john-mccains-autism-comment-prompts-outrage-in-the-science-blogosphere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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