I'd just like to add this post clearing up some bs about Jill Stein:
http://doomy.me/post/148132817882/leftclausewitz-scapetheserpentstongue
There is a lot of nuance at play here, though none of it from Jill Stein. She has never gone full anti-vax, but her answer in the AMA pandered to the anti-vax crowd by implying that vaccines are part of some big pharma conspiracy to make a shit load of money and that the wolves were guarding the FDA henhouse. Her exact words were,
I don't know if we have an "official" stance, but I can tell you my personal stance at this point. According to the most recent review of vaccination policies across the globe, mandatory vaccination that doesn't allow for medical exemptions is practically unheard of. In most countries, people trust their regulatory agencies and have very high rates of vaccination through voluntary programs. In the US, however, regulatory agencies are routinely packed with corporate lobbyists and CEOs. So the foxes are guarding the chicken coop as usual in the US. So who wouldn't be skeptical? I think dropping vaccinations rates that can and must be fixed in order to get at the vaccination issue: the widespread distrust of the medical-indsutrial complex.
Vaccines in general have made a huge contribution to public health. Reducing or eliminating devastating diseases like small pox and polio. In Canada, where I happen to have some numbers, hundreds of annual death from measles and whooping cough were eliminated after vaccines were introduced. Still, vaccines should be treated like any medical procedure--each one needs to be tested and regulated by parties that do not have a financial interest in them. In an age when industry lobbyists and CEOs are routinely appointed to key regulatory positions through the notorious revolving door, its no wonder many Americans don't trust the FDA to be an unbiased source of sound advice. A Monsanto lobbyists and CEO like Michael Taylor, former high-ranking DEA official, should not decide what food is safe for you to eat. Same goes for vaccines and pharmaceuticals. We need to take the corporate influence out of government so people will trust our health authorities, and the rest of the government for that matter. End the revolving door. Appoint qualified professionals without a financial interest in the product being regulated. Create public funding of elections to stop the buying of elections by corporations and the super-rich.
For homeopathy, just because something is untested doesn't mean it's safe. By the same token, being "tested" and "reviewed" by agencies tied to big pharma and the chemical industry is also problematic. There's a lot of snake-oil in this system. We need research and licensing boards that are protected from conflicts of interest. They should not be limited by arbitrary definitions of what is "natural" or not.
and
As a medical doctor, there was a time where I looked very closely at those issues, and not all those issues were completely resolved. There were concerns among physicians about what the vaccination schedule meant, the toxic substances like mercury which used to be rampant in vaccines. There were real questions that needed to be addressed. I think some of them at least have been addressed. I don’t know if all of them have been addressed.
Now, she does say vaccines made a huge contribution, but she panders to the anti-vaxxers by noting potential conflicts of interest in the system and mercurial dangers that quite frankly do not exist. The "vaccine safety" argument has long been a tool of anti-vaxxers in the same way that "health of the mother" has been to the pro-life movement. It is these people that she is trying to dog-whistle at to get their support. The part about "mandatory vaccination without medical exemption" is a flat-out lie, as there are exemptions for those with immunodeficiencies or those whose health may be compromised by the vaccination. The mercury scare was resolved decades ago. Further, most members of the
Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee do not work for drug companies, but academic and medical institutions. Additionally, while drug company representatives are present, they are a non-voting minority, with no say in the FDA's end result. What is more, anyone believing that there is "snake oil in the system" is pants on head stupid as the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee's
meeting materials are posted on the FDA's website in their entirety for anyone to see and read. Finally, childhood vaccination schedules, the mandatory ones, are a bad way for companies to make money as vaccines have incredibly low profit margins.
And all of this is really superfluous, since all she had to say when asked the Reddit question was "Yes, we have an official stance. Vaccines represent a great advance forward in saving lives and preventing diseases. As such, Americans should receive their vaccinations on the regularly recommended schedule, for both personal and public health. My administration will work toward ensure that vaccine manufacturers can continue to produce and supply the vaccines necessary for our nation." Hell, she could've just replied with this Hillary tweet, "The science is clear: The earth is round, the sky is blue, and #vaccineswork. Let's protect all our kids. #GrandmothersKnowBest." But she didn't. She obfuscated the issue by throwing in a fusillade of anti-vaxxer buzzwords and dog whistles about vaccine safety and corporate greed that have no basis in reality and that as a doctor she should know (and as a politician running for POTUS, she should definitely know better). That is why I said she was "pandering to" instead of "going full anti-vaxxer." She's a medical doctor, I know she knows better, but I don't think her ethics are quite there yet.
Speaking of ethics, and brexit, if you still see Stein's old statements, just delete your cache so they'll disappear forever. I wonder how much Bernie-or-Busters would flip shit if Hillary said that.
