U.S. Representative Barry Loudermilk is a Republican, of course, and represents Georgia. And he’s on a House of Representatives science and technology subcommittee, apparently because (according to Wikipedia) “he holds an Associate degree in Telecommunications Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Education and Information Systems Technology.”
Whatever science Loudermilk absorbed in school doesn’t seem to have become embedded in his brain, or was effaced by his Republican colleagues. For, as Mother Jones reports, he didn’t vaccinate “most” of his kids, whatever that means:
Rep. Barry Loudermilk, a Georgia Republican who recently became the chair of a key congressional subcommittee on science and technology, didn’t vaccinate most of his children, he told a crowd at his first town hall meeting last week.
Loudermilk was responding to a woman who asked whether he’d be looking into (discredited) allegations that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had covered up information linking vaccines to autism. He responded with a rather unscientific personal anecdote: “I believe it’s the parents’ decision whether to immunize or not…Most of our children, we didn’t immunize. They’re healthy.”
This isn’t really a surprise, since by my count, 72% of the House’s member of the full Science, Space, and Technology Committee (mostly Republicans) are outright climate-change denialists or have voted against bills to alleviate global warming. Some committee: we have foxes infesting the Henhouse of Science!
Here’s the incriminating video; the stuff on vaccination begins at 1:26:00. He also says that he thinks it’s the “parent’s decision whether to immunize their children.”
How embarrassing is this? I want to move to, say New Zealand—or any place where there are no Republicans.
h/t: Gregory
This guy needs to be kicked out of this committee. Honestly, WTF is going on in the minds of the Republicans?
I live in a country where vaccinations are mandatory if you send your kids to school, and it’s mandatory that you send your kids to school. There is no homeschooling in Japan.
Just imagine a whole country forced to run like that? Like the USA! They certainly do wnat us all to have their BS crammed in our brains and if we don’t we could be 86 in the country of our origins. Stalin did that with the quack Lysenko and put the top biology section of the country back for 40+ years never to recover the lead they had before.
I’m in agreement your, and everyone’s, opinion here on this guy, but you flame this guy because he is a Republican. Are you offering that Democrats don’t have the same, if not more egregiously misguided beliefs (I offer Democrat Hank Johnson as an example, youtube his name- it’s embarrassing!)? Just as there are Republicans who think abortion should be a choice left to the individual, or that climate change is real, or that the religious right is helping to destroy the GOP, the left has the same problems that are affecting each member of Congress from providing individual ideas on how to lead. My point is we shouldn’t give into bias because of the parenthetical letter next to someone’s name. What’s next? Is the color of someone’s skin going to determine whether they are afforded certain rights? Quite a slippery slope, don’t you think?
I didn’t flame him because he was a Republican: I flamed him because he was an idiot, and, of course, the chances of finding science denialists, female oppressors, and gay bashers is much higher in the Republican party than in the Democratic party. That’s why I decry the Republican party as a whole: after all, they have a platform, and they generally as a group decry both progressive policies and the good things that Obama has been done. In truth, there are very few Republicans whose policies I like.
You are badly, badly mistaken in analogizing dislike of Republican policies with disliking someone of a different skin color, and for two reasons. First, you can choose to be a Republican (I mean “choose” in the sense of listen to the other side and act after you’ve listened), but you can’t choose your ethnicity. Second, what’s wrong with decrying the policies of Republicans, or the stand of the party as a whole? That is not bigotry in the same sense as disliking someone as a person based on their ethnicity. You don’t seem able to grasp this simple distinction. I am flaming a position, not a person.
And seriously, are you really saying that Democrats have “the same, if not more egregiously misguided beliefs)? That’s just wrong: we’re talking averages here, and you offering one counter-example in the form of Hank Johnson doesn’t change that. Republicans are, on average, more religious, more anti-science, and more anti-gay, anti-immigrant, and anti-woman than Democrats. If you don’t accept that, you’re just blinkered to the facts.
I’m a recovering Republican. If I were to be labeled now, which our society requires for some reason, it would be accurate to label me a Libertarian, but little “l”. Still very fiscally conservative but mostly socially liberal, in the classic sense, though. I’m in agreement there is certainly a bigotry towards homosexuality within the Republican establishment (though I think it’s changing, albeit incrementally). It’s also more likely you will hear a Republican talk about their religious beliefs more readily than a Dem, but I really think this is out of fear of the Jesus-dollars they stand to lose if they don’t – I might add the same thing goes for the Dems. When was the last time you heard an elected national leader talk about their atheism? Never. Rep. Stark and Rep. Frank only had the balls to do it after they left office. My point is both sides, certainly more so on the Right, are beholden to the deep coffers of religious believers. As far as being anti-woman I don’t know where this comes from. Hopefully you aren’t passing along the birth control/plan B deprivation fallacy. If you have examples please pass them along.
And yes, I believe the Republicans and Democrats have equally egregious and ridiculous beliefs. For every stupid belief the Republican establishment has there is an equal on the Democrat side.
Give me a break. Who is against abortion more stridently: Democrats or Republicans? And you’re just talking out of your nether parts when you say that both parties entertain EQUALLY egregious beliefs. Are you serious? TOTALLY EQUAL? Why don’t we start with climate denialism and evolution.
Really, you are making statements that can’t be supported by any evidence.
Please continue recovering, Chris. You’re not quite well yet.
If both sides had “equally egregious and ridiculous beliefs”, then nearly 100% of those Jesus-dollars wouldn’t be flowing in just one direction.
If I was hearing this from the Democrats, I would be saying the same thing. But you see, I keep hearing the same thing from the Republicans. Not all Republicans, of course. But it was the Republican party that appointed him to this committee. It was their decision. I am questioning their choice in appointing such an anti-science representative into a position that I would assume would require knowledge of science.
Indeed, if one were to listen to such a speech without any knowledge of the speaker, guessing his party affiliation would be rather easy.
Most likely, yes.
Ugh. We’re no better here, unfortunately, and the CBC has just put up a documentary about the evolution-and-politicians-belief question. (Which I will watch later …)
I suspect it means that he didn’t vaccinate the children he was certain of.
OH SNAP!
Or perhaps just one gender, because their survival is more important to him!
Are oil companies a gender? I’m pretty sure he is a home oil sexual.
Or an ex-wife got sole custody.
Loudermilk is a very, very bad parent who medically abuses his children and gambles with their lives.
Can we please get Child Protective Services to intervene in this sort of abuse?
I hate to go all cliché…but, just for once, won’t somebody actually think of the children?
b&
We get people like the reporter Jon Rappaport talking like a Libertarian and putting the CDC and the entire medical establishment as some kind of evil conspiracy for profit over lives. Use of force to coerce concerned parents into doing their bidding. That the whole idea of vaccination is false from the beginning and it just goes on.
We need a drug to cure stupidity. And it should be required for all Republican politicians.
Oh, we have the drug: it’s called “rationality.” More people consider that optional than skip vaccinations.
It’s called “education” but they’ve made it hard to come by in the US to ensure the continued supply of Republican voters.
“Most” is a superlative, so I guess none of Loudermilk’s children have been vaccinated.
Let us be concerned that he has enough children that the adjective “most” can be used in connection with them.
Re: “Whatever science Loudermilk absorbed in school doesn’t seem to have become embedded in his brain,…”, reminds me of what Gore Vidal said about Dubya Bush’s education,(IIRC) – “It didn’t take”.
The GOP know-nothing’s are letting China and Europe eat the U.S.’s lunch in scientific achievement. Why do they hate America? I would not have believed 40 years ago that the majority of congress and the entire field of Repug presidential candidates would one day make Eisenhower, Nixon and even Reagan look like center-left operatives, yet it has been demonstrably so for some time, on every single issue of significance. I do expect this will one day change for the better, but in the meantime we are all suffering consequences and people are losing ground that they will never get back.
I, for one, will welcome our robot overlords: they could not possibly be any worse than these odious grifters and lunatics.
“odious grifters and lunatics”.
That has a satisfying, condemnatory ring to it.
And it’s very Gilded Age melodramatic, which I think suits.
It’s like the pleasure of rubbing salt into a wound of your direst enemy…but I mean that in the nicest possible way.
It seems the want lots of us surplus people do die out. They had better be careful if too many of us die, the survivors can get better raises.
Recently, Dr. Julie Madsen was testifying before a state house committee in Idaho about the benefits of a swallowed camera for detecting and treating colon cancer. One of the Republicans asked her if this device could also be used for gynecological exams. Dr. Madsen had to explain that the digestive tract was not connected to the reproductive system.:
http://news.yahoo.com/lawmaker-asks-swallowed-camera-used-female-exam-202411124.html?bcmt=comments-postbox
I saw that too! Absolutely hilarious- and horribly frightening at the same time. How can people like this be making decisions for American citizens?
Ah’d purt near have to be likkered up before I could stand to watch that, so great would be the embarrassment.
“If a woman swallows a camera it won’t end up in her vagina.” This was news to the Repub in question!!
He claims he was making a point that indeed the two areas were not the same, so the relevance of the testimony regarding the digestive tract minimized in terms of the reproductive issue they debating.
I disagree with his position %100 but I think he did know what he was talking about and did make his point.
I don’t see how you get to that, from this:
“Can this same procedure then be done in a pregnancy? Swallowing a camera and helping the doctor determine what the situation is?” Barbieri asked.
Of course, the woman asking the question brings up Big Pharma (ironic, considering the otherwise complete pro-business stance red state representatives have).
Just keep in mind the historical context against which such a conspiracy would have to take place. In 1850, the average life expectancy for a new born in the U.S. was 39. It has now doubled. Over this time, the Government with the help of scientists and evil pharmaceutical companies have discovered and then restricted environmental hazards such as lead and asbestos, passed laws to reduce air and water pollution, and developed pills that regulate blood pressure, triglycerides, cholesterol, and blood sugar not to mention eradicating deadly and crippling diseases.
Despite all of this, pharmaceutical companies are supposedly in cahoots with the Government to make money by supplying vaccines (something that provides them with < 3% of their profits). If this is a conspiracy, it is the most poorly executed conspiracy in the history of humankind.
This anti-vaccination idea is spreading across all spectrums of belief and political persuasion.
Yes, plenty of loony liberals.
I think Stephen J Gould mentions it, and I have seen it.
Take a tour of old historic graveyards and see just how many daughters and sons are there in their little graves, one after the other.
I wonder what the percentage of those that died, before say, 12, was then compared to now.
I don’t know, but a large proportion of increased life expectancy is decreased infant and child mortality.
Which in turn may be owed nearly in full to vaccinations. It’s not like improvements such as fighting Black Lung and mesothelioma had an effect on premature deaths in children.
The “minds” of republicans don’t exist. They create they’re own un-reality. Such as, now the EPA can no longer seek scientific advice. We’re screwed.
I was in New Zealand last week. Believe me, they have their share of stupid people too 😉
sub
This reminds me of an old story about a fellow in Georgia, or it could have been Alabama, or South Carolina. He was fortunately to be able to walk his 3rd grade son to school everyday because they were in the same class.
I’d love to see you in New Zealand, but full disclosure, we have anti-vaxxers here too.
I remember a TV interview a few years ago where the network decided they should present both sides of the argument. An anti-vaxxer told everyone of the dozen children who had died since being given a new vaccine introduced a few months earlier, causing great consternation among those who took him at his word. A dozen children had died – all of totally unrelated causes like MVAs, drowning, even murder.
Ah, yes. Some vaccines contain nearly-unmeasurable amounts of mercury, which is an heavy metal. Lead is an heavy metal. So, of course, in accord with the universal laws of homeopathy, vaccination will inevitably lead to a bullet in the brain and thus impaired cognitive ability followed shortly by death due to heavy metal poisoning.
Makes perfect sense to me!
b&
…but, diluted in water to even less measurable amounts, the heavy metals become protective and shield the brain from harm. Never fear, there are always 2 sides to every story.
Of course, that’s the real irony here.
Vaccines actually do work the way that we’re told that homeopathy is supposed to. “Like cures like.” Take a bit of the stuff that causes the harm, dilute it to almost nothing, and give it to the patient.
You’d think that the homeopathy crowd would be all over vaccines…and, yet, they’re some of the biggest opponents.
…of course, consistency and logic never were strong suits of those people….
b&
My grandfather was a doctor, trained at Hahnemann University in Philadelphia before WWI. He, of course, gave out sugar pills for colds and minor things, but he used penicillin and other antibiotics for serious stuff, and insisted that all of his grandchildren got their vaccinations. When I was old enough to know something about homeopathy, I asked why he was willing to use antibiotics and vaccinations. His reply: “Because they work.”
I forgot to mention that, at the time my grandfather studied at Hahnemann, it was the last remaining homeopathic medical school in the US. It’s been a standard medical school for a long time now.
“Hahnemann… It’s been a standard medical school for a long time now.”
What a relief.
Oddly enough, I was idly wondering today whether homeopathy somehow got its origins from some cack-handed view of vaccination.
Homeopathy is just good old fashioned sympathetic magic which traces back further in humanity to our cultural roots… way before vaccination was figured out.
Way back when it was originally thought up, homeopathic medicine actually had a higher recovery rate than mainstream medical practices, but that was because it consisted of giving the patient water instead of bleeding the bad humors out of them or having them eat poisonous leaves.
Then mainstream medicine progressed, and homeopathic medicine stayed in the Dark Ages.
Anti-vaxxers hate heavy metal?
So does that mean I can chase them off by playing Iron Maiden albums?
Take two ‘Iron Maidens’ and call me in the morning.
Worth a try!
b&
sub
People who are anti-vaxxers that I know tend to be more liberal. I suspect that some republicans who are jumping on the band wagon, like Rand Paul, are thinking that they can attract votes away from democratic candidates.
Nay. lewrockwell.com has long been a bastion of every form of scum and quackery.
Maybe. I am not familiar with lewrockwell.com. I don’t recall right wingers in Congress taking anti-vax stances until now. But, I try to avoid listening to them as in general they have nothing new to say.
As long as we elect people for their ability to kiss babies, kiss asses, and make promises they can’t keep, we’ll continue having to deal with these idiots. I wonder how many members of Congress actually have a science background (and no, a JD is not a science degree).
“Reps. Bill Foster (D., Ill.) and Jerry McNerney (D., Calif.) [are] the only remaining members who hold doctorates in the natural and hard sciences out of the 535 senators and representatives…Mr. Foster said he is considering watering down the criteria of the physics caucus to add another member. Incoming Rep. Seth Moulton (D., Mass.) has a bachelor’s of science in physics.”
http://www.wsj.com/articles/science-advocates-decry-lack-of-representation-in-congress-1420503822
That’s behind a paywall, I think.
But a BSc in Physics is surely as ‘sciencey’ as anyone could wish. Requiring a PhD is seems a bit too strict a criteria.
(Of course neither a Batchelor’s or a PhD is a guarantee against woo)
Unfortunately the US doesn’t have a monopoly on crackpot politicians. We have a few in the UK too, the best example being David Tredinnick MP. I think he has been mentioned on WEIT before but his latest outpourings of gibberish are definitely worth a look: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/nhs/11432344/Astrology-could-solve-crisis-in-the-NHS-says-Tory-MP.html . His best pearl of wisdom has got to be: ‘Astrology may not be capable of passing double-blind tests but it is based on thousands of years of observation’. He also reminds us that: ‘Ninety per cent of pregnant French women use homeopathy’, as if that proves its efficacy. How on earth did someone with such a poor understanding of evidence become a member of the parliamentary Science and Technology Committee? It surely can’t be long before he starts musing on the dangers of vaccinations!
How is it possible that Jimmy Carter came from the same state? (And how does he stand still living there?)
I agree with all condemnation of my fellow posters, but I would like to point out that at this same town hall meeting, one of his undoubtedly christian constituents asked him “Why don’t we take a lesson from Afghanistan and start putting IUDs (sic!!) in the ground” on the border US/Mexico border. Loudermilk said that we couldn’t do that because Americans work there too.I mean, where do you even start with that?
Holy hell.
Do move to New Zealand, we’d love to have you!
He has three kids, all adults, according to his campaign website. Don’t let the photo fool you. One of the younger ones in a daughter-in-law.
http://loudermilkforcongress.com/meet-barry/
Do you know of any public health authority addressing teenage or adult children of antivaxers who may consider having their vaccines?
Sorry, can’t help you. But I was wondering much the same thing myself. I also wondered if the daughter-in-law is going to put up with that sort of BS if and when she has kids.
“he holds an Associate degree in Telecommunications Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Education and Information Systems Technology.”
So he’s qualified to… install telephones. Glad we cleared that up.
Loonies to right of me loonies to the left of me, here I am, stuck in the middle with you..
wherever you go nowhere is safe..B-)