Gov. Christie Steps Over Line Into Scientific Lunacy With Remarks On Vaccines

Christie Proves Again That He Is a “Dangerous Demagogue”

The Bergen Record reports today that Gov. Christie said that parents should have a choice about whether to vaccinate their children:

Governor Christie said parents should have a choice when it comes to vaccinating their children, after touring a lab in Great Britain that specializes in antibody technology.

“I think it’s much more important what you think as a parent than what you think as a public official,” Christie said, adding that his four children have been vaccinated. “But I also understand that parents need to have some measure of choice in this as well, so that’s the balance that the government has to decide.” …

“We have to have that balance in considering parental concerns because no parent cares about anything more than they care about protecting their own child’s health, so we have to have that conversation,” Christie said.

The governor said there should be a discussion about which vaccines are mandatory, though he didn’t offer any specifics.

“Not every vaccine is created equal and not every disease type is as great a public health threat as others,” he said.

The Record story includes a photo of Gov. Christie, decked out in a lab coat, touring  a lab with Rutgers President Barchi.

I assume the Record editors included that photo as some sort of dark, absurd, surrealist joke.

If Rutgers President Barchi has even a shred on integrity, he will immediately correct – or distance Rutges as an institution – from the Gov.’s ignorant remarks.

Gov.’s Christie’s remarks pander to extreme right wing science deniers – right in time for the knuckle-draggers that populate Republican primaries.

[With these remarks, Christie is knowingly engaged in a toxic blend of anti-science, anti-government, religious zealot, and libertarian “live free or die” right wing politics, and dog whistling to that crazy crowd. This kind of rhetoric and tactic is why I called Christie a “dangerous demagogue”.]

The Gov.’s remarks have no scientific validity and seriously undermine the huge public health protections that mandatory vaccination provide.

It is as if Gov. Christie seeks to erase the 20th century – whats next, the denial of evolution and opposition to teaching evolution in public schools?

And even if you don’t give a damn about science and public health, ask yourself what sort of corporate biotechnology or pharmaceutical research venture would want to invest in a State led by a Governor who pandered and denied basic science?

How did Christie think he was attracting biotechnology research investments with those kind of comments?

Governor Christie now builds upon his climate change denial – and adds another example of his warped legacy:

• Governor Christie Is Running NJ Into the Ground