In thinking of this wonderful book, Age of Autism, this quote came to my mind:

"The heritage of the past is the seed that brings forth the harvest of the future."

In searching for the author online I found at Wikipedia, Wendell Phillips [1811-1884] I am not a member of any political party, but in reading about this man I thought "Now here's a man I could vote for". He was anti-slavery, and supported the rights of women and Native Americans, and adamantly spoke out for these causes although this was unpopular in the majority.

In this description about him, I see that he has a lot in common with Mark and Dan: "He was an exceptional orator and agitator, advocate and lawyer, writer and debater." In writing Age of Autism and supporting our cause for our children, Mark and Dan also serve as "lawyers" in the sense that they are "taking our case to the court of public opinion."

Here are a few more quotes from Wendell Phillips that also apply to the work of Mark and Dan and so many others who are bravely taking a stand for all of us.

"What gunpowder has done for war, the printing press has done for the mind."

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

"Physical bravery is an animal instinct; moral bravery is a much higher and truer courage."

"Revolutions are not made: they come. A revolution is as natural a growth as an oak. It comes out of the past. Its foundations are laid far back."

"One on God's side is a majority."

The only thing I fear more than Big Pharma's continued power, is Big Public Health's continued power. Big Public Health opens the door for Big Pharma. Without them, they are cut off at the knees. Any politician that pledges to make the CDC stronger and more powerful will never get my vote. I am a registered Independent, and fear those that want to pat me on the head and tell me they know best on what I need. I will never concede my rights on what I will or will not inject into my body. Everything else is secondary to vaccine rights. When the government can force biologicals into your body against your will, you are their slave. What good is free speech when you are a slave in your very body?

I'm confused. Did you all comment on the article? I did not read one comment that supports a position similar to Dan's book. Did they delete them?
But the comments sure do support Dan's theory of the lack of progressives acting... well...progressive.

Please be careful. I don't see this as a Progressive vs. Liberal issue. There are pro and anti vaccine folks on both sides. I see it much more of an issue of 1) whether the politician receives a lot of $$ from big pharma, it doesn't matter which side of the aisle, 2) whether the person reads just the headlines or actually delves into both sides and 3) to make sure people realize that many of us are not antivaccine just anti the US schedule that requires way too many, way too early, manufactured with way too many metals and chemicals.

Great link, Carol. I wonder what month this came out in?

I read the Daily Kos daily, mostly because they have stories about nuts and bolts politics no one else covers. And on most issues I am what most people call a liberal. But all-in-all I find the people who comment on the Daily Kos to be incredibly narrow, smug, not especially well informed and blinded by ideology, qualities I think most of the Daily Kos people would use to describe conservatives but not themselves.

I think one of the worst qualities George W. Bush brought to American politics was pushing every policy on the basis of fear. And I think the Daily Kos folks do the same thing. Perhaps it is the nature of true-believers everywhere.

"Study after study proves that there's no link between thimerosal and autism." Well, not really.

From "Sorting out the spinning of autism: heavy metals and the question of incidence"

"To summarize, of the 58 empirical reports on autism and heavy metal toxins, 43 suggest some link may be present, while 13 reports found no link. Even with the tendency for null results not to be reported, it cannot be said there is no evidence for a link between heavy metal toxins and autism: although the question may still be open--in sum, the evidence favors a link."

http://www.ane.pl/pdf/7021.pdf

Liberals and Conservatives can find common ground and work together! Again, the political labels just cloud the much bigger issues here. What’s needed is men and women of strong moral character, humility, and belief in the values that our Country was founded on. Medical freedom is IMO an unenumerated right under the Ninth Amendment. We need a new amendment which explicitly preserves our right to medical freedom, not a right to health care.

“Robert Kennedy on the Vaccine Autism Coverup”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrIM2hwrLoc

Here’s a link to a video clip of Robert F. Kennedy Jr, titled “The Mercury-Autism Cover Up”, wherein he talks about the Simpsonwood transcript and the “sickest generation of American children in the history of our country” which began in 1989.

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/644.html

“A Dragon By The Tail” by Lisa Reagan on March 7, 2005.

http://www.putchildrenfirst.org/media/home5.pdf

“On the eve of an historic, billion-dollar world vaccination campaign, a leaked transcript ignites questions of vaccine safety and research corruption. Meanwhile, US senators fast-track a bill to protect vaccine manufacturers from litigation. With millions of lives at stake, and billions of dollars to lose, will a merger of philanthropy, big business and compromised science win an epic race between corporate agendas and medical ethics? In this world exclusive report, byronchild exposes how the most powerful medical research bodies in the United States compromise their vaccine safety research for vested interests, as they assist in a global vaccine policy, while a bill looms in the background to protect it all.”

As they say, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease." Good job, Dan!

definitely sane and reasonable people there from the side that believes in evolution