Conservatives get a lot of blame for ignoring or denying science, notably on climate change, said Samantha Bee on Monday night's Daily Show, but science denial isn't exclusive to the political right. Case in point: the return of measles, mumps, rubella. Of the 288 new measles cases reported in the U.S. this year, 166 of them are in Ohio's Amish community. But lots of the other cases of these preventable diseases are found in white, upper middle class, liberal enclaves.
Dr. Paul Offit at the Vaccine Education Center certainly lays the blame on liberals, especially well-educated ones who "believe simply by googling the term 'vaccine' on the internet they can know as much if not more than anyone who's giving them advice," he told Bee. The foil in this episode is Sarah Pope, a health and nutrition blogger who opposes vaccinations, and The Daily Show gave her plenty of time to prove Offit's case. Eventually, Offit said, the real human cost of these diseases returning will win the day. "So there is a cure for science denial," Bee concluded, hopefully. "Once Florida is underwater and we all have polio, it'll be better." --Peter Weber
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