It's the Land of the Ignoramus; There's Plenty of Room for Expansion.

Some readers of a certain age may remember Michael Crichton's sci-fi novel, The Andromeda Strain, in which a space exploration returns to Earth after searching the upper atmosphere for organisms that might be turned into bio-weapons. It works a bit too well, and the citizens of a small town near the landing site all die as scientists work feverishly to nullify the organism.

Scientists working feverishly—as they did with Covid, with AIDS, with Polio, smallpox, and malaria. Scientists working feverishly may soon become a thing of the past, at least if RFK Jr. and his acolytes, adherents, and toadies have their way. They're already laying the groundwork.

Kennedy, an addled heroin addict ( I chose addled over recovering for reasons of logic and veracity), did disappoint his fans last week by endorsing the measles vaccine as the only sure way to prevent measles. Oh, the consternation of the faithful! Except RFK Jr. didn't say that. He did say, "The federal government's position, my position, is that people should get the measles vaccine." In other words, speaking as the Health and Human Services Secretary, he is bound by law to enforce vaccines for preventable diseases that specific vaccines prevent. (The fact that I even had to write such a convoluted sentence proves how ludicrous this all is!)

It's all part of the plan: ignore the proof, ignore the scientific method, make an allegation, defend it with expert influencers and gullible followers, then just wait around for people to die. Kennedy claimed that single-antigen vaccines have never worked. Two hundred fifty years without smallpox indicate that they might, but the point of Kennedy and his ilk is to nourish the cult—to declare facts conspiracies and fact-finders liars. Anecdote and hearsay outrank observation, question, hypothesis, experiment, data analysis, conclusion, and communication. The scientific method has no chance against a good dose of cod liver oil and a vat of Vitamin A.

And The Andromeda Strain? That was fiction, though, since its publication 56 years ago, events have made it appear a little too real. And when the next pandemic settles in and Americans clamor for a vaccine, there won't be one. And it won't only be DOGE cuts to blame; it will also be an atmosphere of distrust and ignorance engendered by sometimes well-meaning people whose distrust of big pharma convinces them to trust big Google instead.

But as with abortions, there will come backroom vaccines, and the black market grifters will supplant the conspiracy hucksters. It's not even five years since COVID claimed upwards of a million and a half American lives and seven million worldwide. Those numbers won't even move the needle next time. (Ooh, I hope needle didn't offend.) And will Kennedy be able to attend all the funerals as he did for the poor child in Texas who died of his influence?

Many of us won't be around to read the history of the early 21st century, but I'd bet that "The New Ignoramuses" will make a popular chapter heading, with RFK Jr.'s photo front and center.