The Dumbest Thing I Saw Yesterday

Toward the end of the day I thought the dumbest thing I would see all day was Democrats and some in the media blaming Donald Trump for the terrible airliner crash outside Reagan National Airport. 

I mean, c’mon. That’s more than a stretch. 

Well, I was wrong. In Washington, there is no depth to which the stupidity can go, and Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire demonstrated once again that there is no level of stupidity below which our esteemed representatives can go. 

Science by definition is not settled. If it were there would be no need for scientists. Get over that idea, it may sound good to spew forth but it’s idiotic. https://t.co/Ka5IQ0lndF

— sal (@tevet) January 30, 2025

Hassan is apparently very passionate about science, although her passion has not led her to learn about science and how it works. In his confirmation hearings, RFK, Jr. took a lot of heat from a lot of people. A lot of the criticism was disingenuous–this is politics, after all, and Kennedy threatens the gravy train that a lot of these politicians enjoy–and some no doubt is sincere. Kennedy, after all, is an iconoclast, and decent people can worry about his unconventional views or approach to health issues. 

Although, given how pasty-faced many of his critics are, perhaps they could find proxies to make their case for them, RFK is ripped. I say this with all due respect to my fellow fat and pasty-faced cohort. 

Hassan, though, is just stupid. Whether her opposition is partisan, self-interested, or genuine, she clearly knows nothing. 

“Science can sometimes be wrong” and “settled science” are essentially contradictory statements, and “progress” in medical science, in particular, is absolutely not predicated on trusting without question came before. We are at the very dawn of medical science, and we have seen so many examples of biologists, researchers, and doctors getting it wrong that you would have to be an idiot to believe that almost anything is “settled” in science. 

We all know about the “settled science” that led us down the garden path during the COVID pandemic, but at least there the problem was novel. What about the “settled science” of Alzheimer’s disease? Twenty years of research and billions of dollars, not to mention the ruined lives of millions, were based on the “settled science” of research fraud.

If you have lost a loved one to Alzheimer’s in the last 10 years, you should know that the long-serving Senators abusing @RobertKennedyJr today are partly to blame for your loved one’s death. https://t.co/lnTYkYaUfX

— Sean Kelly 🪓 (@skenzyme) January 29, 2025

It is probably one of the most significant scandals of the past 20 years, yet few seem to care. Billions of dollars of grants were given out, which, for many, is the real point. 

On the question of vaccine safety and efficacy, even common sense tells you that some of what you are being told is complete bulls**t. By that, I don’t mean that vaccines are ineffective–at least some clearly are, and I am not a vaccine opponent. But if the COVID pandemic showed us anything, it is that the vaccine promoters are perfectly willing to lie, change their stories, make absurd recommendations (COVID shot at 6 months? Who does that?), and that there is insufficient research and curiosity about the costs, benefits, and potential side effects of the range of vaccines that we now routinely give children. 

Vaccines have accomplished enormous good. Millions of people are alive today who wouldn’t be but for vaccines. But that doesn’t mean that any and all vaccines are of the benefit that the polio vaccine provided, or even that the polio vaccine was totally “safe.” In fact, most cases of polio found today are CAUSED by vaccines. That is not an argument that one shouldn’t use the polio vaccine–it is a cautionary tale that no medical treatment is without potential harm for at least some people. 

There are countless examples. Think of nutrition science, which is almost complete BS.

You haven’t been paying attention if you still trust everything the “settled science” says. Even in physics, things which we think are settled are, when you dive deeply, not settled at all. 

Which is GOOD. That is what drives science forward. All the best discoveries are surprises, and skepticism is the core value that we should observe. 

Here is what Dr Vinay Prasad says about vaccines:

Moreover, doctors who say “all vaccines are safe and effective” are usually idiots. They haven’t studied the topic or thought about it for one second. Some vaccines are vital. Some are debatable, and some can be harmful (mRNA for young men during Covid, for instance, too often led to myocarditis). Vaccines are like drugs. We need better evidence.

A simple way to answer definitively which childhood immunization schedule works best is to conduct a series of cluster randomized control trials in the U.S. Have different states or counties or cities give vaccines with different schedules. This would allow researchers to account for additives or combined side effects, a claim that vaccine-hesitant folks have made for years. If he were the head of HHS, RFK Jr. could certainly do this. And he should.

He doesn’t agree with RFK, Jr. on the MMR vaccine, but he also thinks that the people who bow down to the great god Vaxx are right either. Sounds about right. Do the science. 

“Settled science” is the product of scientism, which is yet another substitute for religion for the atheists. Dressing up your beliefs, your hunches, your identity as science is a belief structure. Certain scientists become your high priests, and you celebrate your “rationalism” when in fact you are living in a closed bubble of firmly held opinions. 

If you doubt me, go look up the safety profiles of medicines, treatments, vaccines, or anything else in medicine. EVERYTHING has risks, so the question is risk profiles. Perhaps some people benefit more than others, and others have higher risks. The only way to find out is to look, scientifically. 

Hassan doesn’t understand any of this, and displayed the fervor of any religious fanatic when her beliefs are challenged. 

People like this are much more dangerous than anybody who demands more evidence.