Why Autism is Like Watergate
By Dan Olmsted
This week’s 40th anniversary of Watergate is a reminder of how quickly good governance can get away from us. The hodgepodge of criminality, cover-up, and sheer paranoid mendacity that came to be known by the name of the building where the break-in occurred is still breathtaking to consider.
But you don’t have to look far for a contemporary analogy – the way the feds have hidden, lied about, deflected and delayed the day of reckoning about the cause of the autism epidemic, and the way the lazy, conflicted “access media” has aided and abetted them, is fully comparable to Watergate. (The two reporters who did dog the story were covering local news at the time and had no access to lose.)
I can hear the skeptics screaming. Well, scream on. A repeated pattern of overlapping cover-ups is amply demonstrated by the record – from the CDC-Verstraeten “Generation Zero” data, to the IOM-Marie McCormick “line we will not cross” minutes, from the Simpsonwood hush-up to the Vaccine Court’s “unanswered questions,” from the Brick Township “zero to 1 in 150 in a decade is not a trend” study to the “fishy” Hannah Poling ruling in which something happened that wasn’t caused by the thing that did it, to the study that showed autism kept going up when thimerosal was removed, when it actually went down, and now, when all else is failing, to the ongoing obliteration of the entire disaster by redoing the DSM-V.
The main objection we always hear – “So you’re saying that all the pediatricians in the United States have decided to harm the children in their care by giving them an injection they know will cause autism?”
No, not saying that. Saying this: Even as it became clear that the CDC-recommended vaccine schedule -- including multiple neurotoxic live viruses injected at once, shots against diseases not worth preventing, and toxins like mercury that were removed from pesticides decades ago -- was likely causing catastrophic sickness in children, self-interested parties played with the numbers, privatized the databases, commissioned conflicted and worthless studies, kept piling on the same calamitous policies, then hunkered down and said, essentially, catch us if you can before we retire to Hilton Head.
How many people knew, how many should have known, how many simply ducked and covered will be sorted out another day (and that day is coming). For now, on this anniversary of the previously biggest scandal in American history, it’s enough to remind ourselves this is what we’re dealing with, and why it’s worth the fight.
--
Dan Olmsted is Editor of Age of Autism
Great comments as always and great article. I wrote about this before, but oh well. I took the bus in from the airport to our hotel with a group of microbiologists who are on the cutting edge of microbe research. To them it is a no brainer that our body is filled with microbes doing the busy work of aiding in the digestion of food, and so on. We are filled with good bugs and those good bugs can turn into bad bugs if the immune system is destabilized--these wonderful microbe folks told me about this. And I related it to what I heard on a taped Wakefield lecture where he described "leaky gut syndrome" and how the "good bugs" in the gut leak out into the blood stream and migrate up into the vulnerable part of the brain, the cerebellum, where they cause ataxia, learning disabilities, dyslexia, etc. Anyway, when I read that "all pediatricians are out to harm kids" I thought about how medicine changes and when it changes some people are stuck in old medicine, clinging like crazy to a lifeboat of a sinking ship (the vaccine idea in general). These pediatricians do not know about leaky gut, good/bad bacteria or viruses, or any of that. They don't believe in or understand the immune system AT ALL. And so they are harm doers. Period.
Posted by: Kapoore | June 20, 2012 at 12:03 PM
Today I was reading about retroviral infection as defined by HIV and the risk of diabetes, coronary disease, cancer etc. I believe much of autism is viral and retroviruses play an important part as we know there is no measle vaccine free of retroviruses.So.. took a look to see if the same early onset of these diseases appears with autism..seems they do.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21905805
Posted by: barbaraj | June 19, 2012 at 05:35 PM
Dare one say that the Nazi mentality in medical science is alive and well.
Shiv Chopra, Author
CORRUPT TO THE CORE: Memoirs of a Health Canada Whistleblower
Posted by: Shiv Chopra | June 19, 2012 at 09:47 AM
What a perfect line: "...something happened that wasn’t caused by the thing that did it."
Forty years from now, we'll ALL get it. But at what cost? :-(
Posted by: BESkala | June 19, 2012 at 09:12 AM
Thank you Dan, and greetings from Wittenberg, Germany, where Martin Luther stood up against the tyranny of the Pope and Catholic Church. We are on an Elbe River cruise, Hamburg to Prague, and (especially in Hamburg, at the Emigration Museum) have seen how people have suffered and attempted to escape or change tyrannical regimes. Tyranny lives on, not only in government but also big organizations like the medical hierarchy. “Question Authority” was the early attempt of my generation, but it is so difficult to be heard as part of the questioning public. I will continue.
The vaccine schedule should be stopped, and research on how the brain is affected done before putting a new schedule in place. And, there is more. The safety of all obstetric and neonatal procedures need to be questioned. By the way, we have seen many victims of prenatal thalidomide use in Europe, in the 1950s, deformed limbs and more. No one wants to talk about it, but it is clearly visible.
I am glad my husband still plans trips like this, and refuses to succumb to total suffering caused by autism. In the past we used to go camping all over Europe with our two autistic sons. Now I send post cards every day to my oldest son who is warehoused in a “community” group home. I hope he can travel with us again sometime -- something to look forward to as well as look back on. . .
Posted by: Eileen Nicole Simon | June 19, 2012 at 06:25 AM
GH
I wonder if all the Congressmen don't already know about vaccines and autoimmune disease; since this matter has been brought to their attention twice now. IACC has to report to Senator Harkin all the time too. Plus they have their fingers in the pie of so much; like secrets of all kinds. So I wonder if their they have already taken steps to keep their kids safe.
Posted by: Benedetta | June 18, 2012 at 10:10 PM
AUT-ERGATE
Thanks Dan!
Posted by: Autism Comic | June 18, 2012 at 09:56 PM
This is for The “Herders”
i.e: The people who believe that the herd immunity is a guiding principle to our health care choices....
Seems simple to me, but, I always thought that here in the United States, we were concerned with the rights of the INDIVIDUAL over the populace as a whole. Maybe I’m wrong, but, I think our Constitution grants INDIVIDUAL rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Nothing is mentioned about the duty of the INDIVIDUAL to protect everyone else… aka “the HERD”.
If the grandma down the street is weak and unhealthy, shouldn’t it be her responsibility to take care of her own health , perhaps by staying at home in times of outbreaks or by wearing a mask over her face to prevent infection , if necessary? Why should my newborn or toddler be expected to protect her from illness? Ultimately, here in the United States, aren’t we expected to be responsible for ourselves? There are always inherent risks to life and we are expected to assess the risks for ourselves versus the benefits of any intervention, medical or otherwise. I think the more important question to ask the HERDERS is upon what constitutional right do they base their argument about having all newborns and toddlers vaccinated so as to protect society as a whole?
My child is not a sacrificial lamb on the altar of the church of big pharma, the CDC and the AAP. While I listen to the recommendations of scientific studies and qualified physicians, I seriously question the motives behind these organizations which purport to be in the best interests of our children, but behind the scenes work to impede the scrutiny of the scientific community at large to investigate the safety of the infant vaccine schedule. If your schedule is so safe that every child can adhere to the schedule without harm, then let’s see the vaccinated versus unvaccinated studies to prove it.
What? They don’t exist? Hmmm….I thought so.
Posted by: Shelly Sulkoske | June 18, 2012 at 09:34 PM
“So you’re saying that all the pediatricians in the United States have decided to harm the children in their care by giving them an injection they know will cause autism?”
The other side spends a lot of time constructing these false, "strawman" arguments which they attribute to us and then shoot down - creating their little straw victories. Too bad the babies being over-vaccinated aren't made of straw too.
Pharma has had many Watergates. Here's just one: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2012-03-05/health-drugmakers-fraud-fines/53372792/1
Unfortunately, pharma cannot be impeached. And it certainly won't resign.
Posted by: first do no harm | June 18, 2012 at 07:00 PM
Sorry, meant "a few" below.
Posted by: Jeannette Bishop | June 18, 2012 at 06:51 PM
There are few disturbing suggestions regarding Watergate out there. It's hard to know if we even know the half of what was motivating or involved, but some degree of corruption was recognized. The evidence of corruption regarding vaccines and vaccine research with autism is ample, but the acknowledgement of the corruption is not.
I think "conspiracy" is apt when you consider the root meaning, "to breathe together." Even more than trying to keep the public in the dark, this seems to be a conspiracy of "authoritarians," with a few exceptions, keeping themselves in the dark. The shutting down any questioning of vaccination seems to be as unconscious as breathing for some.
Posted by: Jeannette Bishop | June 18, 2012 at 06:37 PM
By the law of averages there could easily be a dozen or two congressmen with grandchildren on the spectrum, and when the day or reckoning comes they will be in prime position to demand answers. But only once that day has come.
Posted by: GH | June 18, 2012 at 05:52 PM
I do digress but I just heard Dr. Elizabeth Cohen's comment on CNN regarding jack Osborne's recent MS diagnosis:
And I quote-"Nothing causes it. It just happens."
And this is what she learned after all those years of medical training.? Frightening!
Can we apply this to autism too?
Maurine
Posted by: Maurine Meleck | June 18, 2012 at 05:36 PM
Dan,
Since you brought up the conspiracy theory, I take you back and remind you of this http://www.ageofautism.com/2008/11/the-conspiracy.html, which I wrote and it was posted in 2008. Your words in the comment section are also no less true today as it mirrors this article as well. No conspiracy, just business as usual and the "band plays on".
Posted by: Kendra Pettengill | June 18, 2012 at 04:08 PM
Vaccines are political? One angry overseas political group actually says:
"Stop the drones or we stop the vaccines"
They talk about the drones giving their people mental issues, but I wonder if they are so sure the mental issues are from the drones?
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/taliban-warns-u-drone-strikes-153252109.html
Posted by: Ask just one question | June 18, 2012 at 02:10 PM
“So you’re saying that all the pediatricians in the United States have decided to harm the children in their care by giving them an injection they know will cause autism?”
The majority of society assumes doctors spend oodles and oodles of time researching everything medical. It's impossible. Many are just happy to follow the directives of their association. Because if they don't..........
Whenever HuffPost has a vaccine related post the usual suspects, some claiming to be doctors, show up to comment. They are the ones to bring up conspiracy theories such as the one above. But ask them, "did all the doctors that prescribed Vioxx decide to harm/kill their patients?" Ask them how they feel about the email from Merck to "neutralize" doctors who aren't on side, or how they feel about the email that said "we will seek them out and destroy them where they live". Doctors should be livid. Instead.....crickets.
Posted by: samaxtics | June 18, 2012 at 02:03 PM
Dear Dan Olmstead, The correlations between the economy decline and the increase of vaccines and illness management is a good one. Here is my article regarding current Autism prevalence. The new numbers-1 in 88 are tragically false. Read how in this arcticle.http://holisticremediesnews.com/3298/cdc-autism-statistics-2012-kids-under-12-not-counted-in-study/
Posted by: Shell Tzorfas | June 18, 2012 at 01:52 PM
Spot on as the say when is ok to call someone or somebody crooks..shame on them..
Thanks
Angus
Posted by: Angus Files | June 18, 2012 at 12:14 PM
I don't think it's a coincidence since America has gone to a service economy and manufacturing has been largely outsourced post-NAFTA, that every individual American is now a resource and commodity to be exploited by the medical/pharmaceutical industry. Nor is it a coincidence that as our economy has tanked that the number of "recommended" immunizations has gone up, too.
We now have an entire economy dependent on keeping people sick. In the case of autism: doctors, nurses, office staff, specialist doctors, speech therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, behavioral therapists, alternative medicine doctors (sorry, but you do get paid for your services even though they may be the only thing that helps), special education lawyers/advocates and their opponents: school system lawyers, special education teachers, spec ed assistants and aides, spec ed bus drivers and bus aides....also hospital staffing for kids who need diagnostic testing in that setting. And let's not forget all the Big Pharma employees manufacturing the vaccines that keep this machine going......
I see an analogy to the corrections industry, in which the prison population is comprised largely of a vulnerable, permanent underclass of minority men. These prisoners are the commodity. The police and support staff, lawyers and their office staff, court system employees, corrections system employees: guards, administrators, and vendors who supply food, etc, teachers, therapists, etc. directly benefit from their involvement in the corrections system.
As for me and my house, we'd rather see America take back all the manufacturing currently elsewhere. Let's make durable goods again, instead of relying on this exploitative service economy, where we humans are all commodities. My son is not a car, but he might as well be in the eyes of the 1%.
(My apologies to alternative med. doctors and special ed. lawyers/advocates. You are needed. But you do get paid for your services. I know you share my heartfelt wish that your services weren't needed in the first place.)
Posted by: Sue Keller | June 18, 2012 at 11:38 AM
"Where are Woodward and Bernstein today?" see below- this will make us all feel old.
Photo Woodward and Bernstein today:
http://longislandreport.org/multimedia/woodward-and-bernstein-stress-the-constants-of-journalism/13637
More on Watergate: Where Are the Now?
http://www.history.com/news/2012/06/15/watergate-where-are-they-now/
Posted by: Sarah | June 18, 2012 at 11:34 AM
John, like the Wrights, they are NOT the wrong people, they are exactly what the autism creating juggernaut needs to flourish as well as they have - weak politicians who put public life and a philanthropic facade ahead of doing the right thing for the larger community even as they might fight tooth and nail for their own behind closed doors.
Posted by: Stagmom | June 18, 2012 at 11:29 AM
Dan:
Spot on! Well crafted - sharp and concise.
History does repeat itself and we do need to remember that lies have brought down the most powerfull people in the world...and it will happen again.
Also, excellent point about Woodward and Bernstein - they were not "insiders" who had special access. They were the opposite and that is why they could do what they did.
Louis
Posted by: Louis Conte | June 18, 2012 at 11:17 AM
Thanks, Dan for the comparison as the corruption and cover-up continue. People want to deny it is possible but history shows us that manipulation and lies are hallmarks for scandals. Autism is a big one.
Posted by: Teresa Conrick | June 18, 2012 at 11:04 AM
Dan:
Let us not forget the infamous "enemies list." I am certain that you, Jake, Anne & all of the excellent contributors at AoA have been targeted for speaking out. Shame on our leaders and shame on the press.
Posted by: Christine Thompson | June 18, 2012 at 10:40 AM
People usually don't blow the whistle. I didn't realize just how much people don't blow the whistle until I read _The Plutonium Files_ by Eileen Welsome. Medical experiments with radioactive materials were conducted on unknowing subjects throughout this country for decades.
Just to see what would happen, hundreds of healthy pregnant women in Tennessee were given "vitamin" cocktails of radioactive iron. Stuff like that was going on in hospitals all over the place. In some cases, staff were handling plutonium or uranium so knowledge about what was going on must have been widespread. Hardly anyone made a peep.
When doctors were called to account, they were unrepentant. But they didn't emerge entirely unscathed; they were punished after a fashion. Some of them had to answer questions before a committee and you know how irritating that can be.
Posted by: Carol | June 18, 2012 at 10:34 AM
Dan, wonderful comparison. So where are all the Woodwards and Bernsteins today? Why are so many in the media failing our children? After 20 years of mounting evidence it's far too late for any official to say, "We never knew. We thought they were safe." The only choice left to them is to deny, deny, deny, and rely on weak-kneed forces in the media to back them up. It's only a matter of time before everything unravels in their faces. We simply can't continue to change human demographics like we're doing.
Recently I found this quote from Springfield, IL radiologist David Ayoub, MD: “I am no longer ‘trying to dig up evidence to prove’ vaccines cause autism. There is already abundant evidence. This debate is not scientific, but is political.”
And when all the experts and officials in denial are finally dragged to the table and made to address the vaccine-autism controversy HONESTLY, the issue will not be, DO VACCINES CAUSE AUTISM? Instead, it'll be, WHAT DID THEY KNOW, WHEN DID THEY KNOW IT, AND WHAT DID THEY DO TO COVER IT UP?
And we have the long list of participants who routinely tell us there is no link. Their names will not be forgotten.
Anne Dachel, Media editor
Posted by: Anne McElroy Dachel | June 18, 2012 at 10:03 AM
Stagmom
Yes, in the UK autism knocked on the door of the families of three out of four of our last Prime Ministers but the didn't let this influence them:
SamCams step-sister http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/3339154/I-wanted-to-rip-the-autism-out-of-her.html
Relative of Cherie Blair
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-91387/MMR-jab-Cherie-relative-autism-victim.html
John Major's grandson http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1055646/My-dad-does-neglect-autistic-grandson-Sir-John-Majors-son-defends-PM.html
The Wise Monkeys strike again.
John
Posted by: John Stone | June 18, 2012 at 09:59 AM
Dan (and All), this pdf. should come up if the prior one fails.
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/downloads/parent-ver-sch-0-6yrs.pdf
The Chart propaganda is breathtaking --- David Burd
Posted by: david burd | June 18, 2012 at 09:43 AM
"too big to fail". Same applies to the US immunization program, the money involved and the reputations of those who support it. There are those in our government who made the choice to side with industry years ago and at this stage of the game, for them, there no turning back.
Posted by: Sarah | June 18, 2012 at 09:43 AM
The CDC had the Autism epidemic figured out in June of 2000, with the Simpsonwood meeting.
Aside from the "RFK Deadly Immunity" article, were there ever any written media articles / newspapers / Time/ Newseek ? on this collection of medical criminals ???
The latest chapter involves mystery dead refrigerators at Harvard.
Posted by: cmo | June 18, 2012 at 09:29 AM
Thanks Dan, short and sharp. I am flabbergasted by the latest piece of obscene pro-Vaccine Propaganda issued by the CDC as illustrated by their latest Chart, very recently issued, so perhaps you have not seen it.
Please see and read the fear-mongering dire prospects in this pdf. to stampede parents into all the immunizations. IF one carefully reads all the options, there can be 43 doses of injected vaccines by 12-13 months, plus the mother given a flu shot, adding to 44 doses, adding to many hundreds of neurotoxic ingredients and contaminants.
Here it is; I hope you will comment on it.
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/downloads/parent-ver-sch-0-6yrs.pd
regards, david burd
Posted by: david burd | June 18, 2012 at 09:28 AM
The Wright's like to say, "Autism knocked on the wrong door," but we know that's not really true. We won't have our Watergate moment until it does. Autism has knocked on a lot of doors of people far stronger. But hasn't found the "wrong" door of the American leader/celeb who is above reproach, has the FU money to command attention, doesn't care about personal philanthropic legacy, isn't beholden to an industry or cronies and is ruthless.
Posted by: Stagmom | June 18, 2012 at 08:20 AM
Dan:
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” George Santayana
The US Centers for Disease Control, an agency within the US Public Heath Service, has failed to protect our children by virtue of the fact that the very neurotoxins that they agreed to remove thirteen years ago are currently allowed in over 90 million flu shots.
(1999) “…the Public Health Service, the American Academy of Pediatrics and vaccine manufacturers agree that thimerosal-containing vaccines should be removed as soon as possible.”
http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/04p0349/04p-0349-ref0001-05-Tab-03-Joint-Statement-Thimerosal-AAP-PHS-vol6.pdf
For the past 22 years it has been a crime to intentionally flush an unused thimerosal preserved flu vaccine in the United States under the Resource Recovery and Conservation Act--because the mercury is 250 times higher than the D009 mercury hazardous waste threshold level of 0.2 parts per million mercury by weight.
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=585be1bba828f8a75c042049a67dfe1b&rgn=div6&view=text&node=40:26.0.1.1.2.3&idno=40
And yet the US Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration both state on their web sites that it is "safe" to inject into the bodies of children and pregnant women!
http://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/QuestionsaboutVaccines/UCM070430
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/vaccine/qa_vacpregnant.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/thimerosal/thimerosal_timeline.html
Posted by: Jim Thompson | June 18, 2012 at 08:16 AM
Thank you for this reminder, Dan. Much needed; memorably done.
Posted by: Dan E. Burns, Chair, the Autism Trust USA | June 18, 2012 at 08:09 AM
Watergate like the Vietnam war really blew up politically.
It has been a long time since people have become outraged on anything.
*EPA's "Global Warming" temp. change and all the policial manuvering to make money off the fears of Americans that they might be doing something to change the environment when they are not. It amazing!
*Fast and Furious: sounds like it is 1000 times worse than Watergate, but I don't see the outrage on that one either.
What I see; is helpless shrugs from people, indicating that Ben Franklin's republic has just become to big for the average man to handle.
Posted by: Benedetta | June 18, 2012 at 07:50 AM
It is a criminal matter.
Posted by: John Stone | June 18, 2012 at 07:03 AM