Friday, April 10, 2026

Ascendant Ignorance in the Age of Donald Trump. Ignoramus Watch Part 3. The Quack Edition.

  


BASH: Is this measles outbreak a consequence of the administration undermining support for vaccines?

DR OZ: I don't believe so. Secretary Kennedy has been advocating for measles vaccines

BASH: Oh, come on

From a CNN Interview of Mehmet Oz, a prime example of the Oprah Effect.1 

In fairness to Dr. Oz, who in fairness should not be a government official, he does want people to get the measles vaccine.

Also in fairness, the dissing of vaccines isn't really a Trump thing in and of itself, but he gave it some boosted unneeded assistance by taking the political step of promising Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. a job as the HHS Secretary if he'd drop out of the last Presidential race.  Kennedy is a quack, and an opponent of vaccines in varying degrees (it seems to change day by day).  The rise of this movement, however, started with people like Jenny McCarthy who sadly has a son with autism.  McCarthy herself was a Playboy model and her only real expertise is in showing her naked visage, something that really doesn't qualify a person for anything serious, and in fact may achieve much the opposite.

Oh, and by the way, Jenny McCarthy appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show multiple times in the 2000s to discuss her erroneous theories on autism and vaccines, and to promote a book she wrote.

Much of this story has to do with the inability to understand the difference between present conditions and past ones.  People tend to assume that negative developments in a population mean a negative present condition. Sometimes they do, but sometimes they also represent a positive one.  I'll give a personal example.

In 1982 I had pneumonia while at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma.  I was extremely ill, literally on death's door.  

Before the advent of antibiotics the fatality rates for bacterial pneumonia were between 60% and 70%.

Not good.

Now, the survivability rate is pretty good.

I've had a colon surgery for a developing condition that would have killed me even thirty years ago.

The point?  Well, if I go on to develop Alzheimer's, which I pray I do not, it'll mostly be because I didn't die at age 19 of pneumonia.

Also, fwiw, Meet The Press this weekend had a physician on who noted that diseases we can now vaccinate for are associated with cancer, which is a developing field of medicine.  I.e., you get some disease that's not big deal when young, and then you get cancer when older.  You don't want cancer.

A fellow I know who suffered a heart attack, and who was otherwise very healthy, may have developed his heart condition this way as well.

Get vaccinated.

March 10, 2026

The worst cabinet in American history

And it's not even close.

March 15, 2026

The Trump Interregnum is threatening to pull broadcasting licenses of those who do not give a happy spin to the war against Iran.

March 21, 2026

Waging a war against American airports must be easier than waging a war against a real country that fights back:

cont:


Absolutely reprehensible.

At this point, support of Trump is indecent.

March 31, 2026
We were horrible in Vietnam until we did Rolling Thunder One and Rolling Thunder Two, and then we won. As soon as we do half-measures, we lose. The faster we get this over the better. If we seize Kharg Island, it's technically boots on the ground. It could be done almost flawlessly. If we have enough firepower, it would be very easy to defend.
Rep. Rich McCormick, whom apparently is unaware that the US lost the Vietnam War.

April 10, 2026

Melania Trump made a rare and awkward televised appearance to deny ties to Jeffrey Epstein.


The appearance was so rare, and the rumors regarding her association with Epstein so long lasting, that there's lots of open speculation as to why, although the release of a book in the UK asserting she was an Epstein bedmate a year prior to her association with Trump may be the reason.  Or it may just be that she's tired of her reputation being dragged through the mud.

Note, I'm not asserting the book is correct.  I don't know, and I'm not going to read it.  She's asserting that at least some of what's being said are lies, and no doubt some of them are lies.  I'll note the repeated claims that she was a prostitute is a lie.  Her claims that Epstein did not introduce the couple are mostly likely correct.

I'm surprised by how surprised people are that she speaks English poorly.  Frankly, it just sounds heavily accented to me.

I'm not a Melania fan, but I don't envy her position.

Marrying Trump made her rich and we don't know why she married him, and her marriage no doubt now looks like a pretty poor choice to people who do not adore Trump.  Maybe she adores Trump.  It's certainly made her a target, and she can hardly defend herself due to her poor speaking abilities.  

The whole event is rather odd.

cont:

Arc de la défaite?

Footnotes:

1. The Oprah Effect is so named here to explain the phenomenon of Oprah Winfrey putting some flaming bogosity on to her popular daytime television show and thereby having millions of people give it credence.  There are a fair number of examples, including the rise of Dr. Oz.

Related Threads

Doug Wilson, the Calvinist preacher who appeared in Pete Hegseth's weekly Pentagon prayer meeting, says that in his preferred Christian nation, anything that Protestants consider to be a "public displays of idolatry" would be banned, including Catholic parades.

Last edition:

Ascendant Ignorance in the Age of Donald Trump. Ignoramus Watch Part 2. The War is a Racket edition.

No comments: