Ignoring science isn't just a Republican problem. It's an American problem.

By Dan Rather

"I'm not a scientist."  How many times have you heard that lately from politicians who are trying to duck questions about important scientific topics like climate change and vaccines? So many times that it's even become a Wikipedia entry.   But what does that phrase even mean? I'm not a cardiologist. So I go to one to have my heart checked. I'm not an electrician, so I hire one to rewire my house. I trust people who have training in those fields to give me advice on important things. You're right, Mr. or Ms. Presidential Candidate, you are not a scientist. So, why won't you listen to the men and women who are?

I grew up in an age where children were crippled and died from diseases like polio and measles, and now we have Donald Trump irresponsibly repeating long-discredited links between vaccines and autism. It's an offense to reason. Equally, so was the reaction of the two doctors on stage, Rand Paul and Ben Carson.   Sure, if you read their words, they support vaccines, yet raise questions about the timing of giving vaccines that is without scientific merit. Moreover, their tone is apologetic and equivocal. About vaccines! These are medical advances that have done more to alleviate human suffering than anything ever conjured by the ingenuity of the human mind.

And make no mistake, this isn't just a Republican problem. Many of the anti-vaccine hotspots are in ZIP codes that vote overwhelmingly Democratic......To Read More....

My Take - Dan Rather has so little credibility with me I almost didn't post this, but since he's such a leftist fear mongering “journalist”, I thought it worthwhile to post his commentary. Although he is doing a bit of fence sitting here he makes some valid points and it demonstrates even a blind monkey can find a coconut by accident. When he comes out and decries the lies, misinformation and claptrap about Alar promoted by his colleagues on 60 Minutes we'll know he's had an epiphany. Then again, perhaps it's the Alar story he's talking about when he says the media doesn't do science very well.