At The Huffington Post, Michael John Carley recalls an
infamous congressional hearing. (In T
he Politics of Autism, I quote his testimony.)
We must understand: The comments of Obama, McCain, Hilary, Trump...etc. are mere reflections of the DC-area's widespread ignorance on this subject. That government can be so unintelligent seems like a painfully easy joke to make, but . . . it must be made! Ever seen the only Congressional Hearings ever held on autism (i.e. got 3-1/2 hours) from 2012? A plethora of Representatives espouse this lunacy. Watch for Rep. Dan Burton's (R-IN) movie "proving" a vaccine-autism connection by virtue of one of the most dogmatic and clumsy videos you'll ever see. Lastly, the meeting was Chaired by Darrell Issa (R-CA), an ally of The Canary Party, which pretty much does nothing other than support vaccine-causes-autism theories. If it wasn't so horrifying, you'd be dying of laughter.
I was one of two people on the spectrum who testified later on in those hearings (I got cut off too, partially because I was over time, but partially because I complained about the hearing's emphasis on vaccines), and as such I can promise you that many congressional reps that you'll see screaming at the CDC officials, should you so view these hours, left immediately after screaming/pandering for the crowd (C-Span cameras rarely want you to see how empty those seats are). And as you watch, think of how differently things might have gone--for our country--had the CDC officials being berated shown the slightest dignity or responsibility, and shouted back.
It's a polling game to Washington. Nothing more. So don't get worked up over it. Heck, the National Institute of Health (NIH) allowed this loud minority to bully its way into a $30 million dollar study on Chelation Therapy, when every scientist awarding them so much of our tax money knew perfectly well that they were pissing it away (and if you understand how Chelation works, you'll get that unfunny joke). The funding was later retracted, thankfully.
