Dachel Media Review: Colbert Report Used by Offit During Autism Awareness Month
By Anne Dachel
Read Anne's commentary and view the links after the jump. The Dachel Media Update is sponsored by Lee Silsby Compounding Pharmacy and their OurKidsASD brand.
Managing Editor's Note: You'd think that Steven Colbert, given the tragedy he has faced, would have more empathy for families affected by vaccine injury. For OUR Pain. Apparently not. He mocks us and our kids while allowing Dr. Offit to further hijack a month that should be about helping people with autism, protecting an industry. Ah, but Colbert's father was a doctor and perhaps this colors his ability to see clearly? In 1974, when Colbert was 10, his father, a doctor, and his brothers Peter and Paul, the two closest to him in age, died in a plane crash while flying to a prep school in New England. “There’s a common explanation that profound sadness leads to someone’s becoming a comedian, but I’m not sure that’s a proven equation in my case,” he told me. “I’m not bitter about what happened to me as a child, and my mother was instrumental in keeping me from being so.” He added, in a tone so humble and sincere that his character would never have used it: “She taught me to be grateful for my life regardless of what that entailed, and that’s directly related to the image of Christ on the cross and the example of sacrifice that he gave us. What she taught me is that the deliverance God offers you from pain is not no pain — it’s that the pain is actually a gift. What’s the option? God doesn’t really give you another choice.”
Last night on the Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert turned his back on a generation of sick kids and joined the rest of the mainstream media promoting every lie about vaccines and autism.
(Starts at 4:17)
In the six and a half minute interview with Dr. Paul Offit, Colbert ignored the fact that officials are clueless when it comes to what causes autism, all that mattered was ridiculing anyone who dares to say it's linked to vaccines.
Amid all the sarcasm and kidding around, Offit described the lifesaving benefits of our ever-increasing vaccine schedule.
Offit got to cite 20 studies showing no link between vaccines and autism. The increase in the schedule and the explosion in autism was just a coincidence.
Colbert talked about thimerosal. He even said it's made from mercury. Viewers were shown an image of the skull and crossbones on the thimerosal container. It didn't matter.
Colbert said 29 percent of Americans don't believe Paul Offit. They think vaccines do cause autism. Celebrities and parents are the only ones who link the two, according Colbert.
Colbert forgot to mention that Offit has financial ties to pharma.
He never tells the audience that vaccine makers have no liability. Neither do doctors.
Colbert puts ignorant parents up against the medical community.
Offit: "It's perfectly reasonable for the parent to ask the question: My child was fine, They got a vaccine. Now they aren't fine. Could the vaccine have done it? It's an answerable question and it has been answered, The question has been answered again and again and again. The question is, Why does the 29 percent still think vaccines may be a problem when in fact, they've been shown not to be?"
Colbert noted that Offit is the head of the Vaccine Education Center at CHOP and he asked him why we still needed to be educated.
Offit: "We shouldn't be. Their record should stand on its own."
Colbert: "What if I were to tell you, you sound like you're in the pocket of Big Pharma. . . " Laughter and applause followed but no mention of his work for Merck.
Paul Offit must love coming on the Colbert Report. There was no pretense of balance here. This was an outrage and thousands of viewers felt it. Colbert and Offit have to hope that most people really are ignorant.
They're betting that viewers are impressed with an expert from CHOP who only wants to protect kids from dangerous diseases. The way they do it is by lying to us. It's that simple. This interview was a fraud.
There are now hundreds of peer-reviewed studies by well-credentialed experts linking vaccines to serious side effects--including autism. Colbert blamed celebrities.
There's the publicity of over 80 vaccine injury cases (most notably Hannah Poling) that included autism and were compensated by the federal government.
Offit has personally made millions of dollars from the development of a vaccine for rota virus. Colbert made a joke of Offit being in "the pocket of Big Pharma" without telling us why.
Offit described outbreaks of communicable diseases that he claimed were ended by vaccines. Colbert brought up autism only in denying any link to vaccines. Neither Stephen Colbert nor Paul Offit showed any interest in what autism is doing to our children.
Offit cited 20 studies showing disproving a link to autism. Colbert never asked about the pharma ties that exist for every one of those studies.
Offit can't figure out why 29 percent of Americans still believe in a link.
The answer to that is simple. We know every one of his lies. We've heard them all for years. What is really disgraceful here is that Stephen Colbert was willing to join him in the cover-up. The Dachel Media Update is sponsored by Lee Silsby Compounding Pharmacy and their OurKidsASD brand. Lee Silsby Compounding Pharmacy is one of the largest and most respected compounding pharmacies in the country. They use only the finest quality chemicals and equipment to prepare our patients’ compounded medications and nutritional supplements. Customizing medication and nutritional supplements for our customers allows them to achieve their unique health goals.
Anne Dachel is Media Editor for Age of Autism and author of The Big Autism Cover-Up: How and Why the Media Is Lying to the American Public, which goes on sale this Fall from Skyhorse Publishing.
It's been a little over a month since the Colbert Report attack and now we have another one from the Daily Show.
Same message, much bigger attack on the credibility of the intelligent consumer, ridiculing and demonizing the educated as disease spreading idiots.
http://www.alternet.org/video/hilarious-video-daily-shows-samantha-bee-tackles-epidemic-anti-vaxxer-idiocy
Posted by: Linda1 | June 03, 2014 at 06:07 PM
I 'love' Stephen Colbert. Although a diehard fan, I too was heartsick when I witnessed him spewing forth the immunization propaganda. I will acknowledge that his show is popular because of its rare breed of sarcasm and sensationalism. However, this topic and the misinformation is one that continues to inflict untold hardship on so many families. I tried to find a website where I could share more information with Colbert, but could not. If he were truly interested in the matter and open to discussion, I would tell him the following.
My youngest son, "A" inherited his father's digestive sensitivities (slight allergic responses to common foods and preservatives). My dearest friends' child, "M" has similar digestive sensitivities (slight but obvious reactions to common foods and preservatives). Both A & M displayed severe flu like symptoms within hours of receiving their MMR vaccinations. Both A & M were taken back to their pediatricians for treatment of the "flu like symptoms". Both A & M were placed on oral antibiotics. Both A & M stopped speaking within 24 hours of receiving the antibiotics. Both A & M were diagnosed with autism. Both A & M had intense early intervention. The incidents occurred six months apart, and treatment was administered by different pediatricians, speech therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapist, neurologist, etc.
A & M are now 18 year old young men. A is entering college, a "typically functioning" honor student. He has received national awards for his presentation and speech skills. He is an exceptional young man. He has learned to monitor his food intake to control his digestive issues. We are definitely blesses beyond measure for many reasons, but chief among them is that he overcame his tragic autism diagnosis. M was recently institutionalized. Although a loving, handsome 18 year old young man, mentally he lingers at about the age of 2. His vocabulary is less than 40 words. He has chronic auto-immune deficiencies and digestive issues that tragically affect his life span. At 6' 2" and 180 pounds, his temper tantrums can inflict physical harm on his parents, siblings, and grandparents. No longer able to control his physical outbursts, his family was recently forced to admit him to a residential treatment facility. Fortunately, they were able to find and to afford a center specifically designed to attend to the needs of adolescents with autism.
What's my point? My friend and I know from experience that the MMR played a role in the onset of the symptoms of autism in both A & M. So did the "digestive sensitivities". So did the antibiotics. Yes, multiple factors each played their own part. The CDC, the US government, and the pharmaceutical companies refuse to publicly acknowledge this. Listen to their jargon and you will hear what they will not say, which is that multiple factors which include the introduction of the MMR to a subset of individuals have been linked to the onset of autism.
Just because triple vaccines are one of a few (or even many) factors, it is a lie to declare that they do not play a role. If the public and physicians were informed about the truth of the matter, then we would all be better equipped to make the right immunization choices for our children. Treat each individual as an “individual” with unique medical concerns. Make the separate vaccines (in lieu of triples or quadruples) available SOMEWHERE in the US for that subset of individuals. Parents would vaccinate their children, if they could simply find a safer alternative. Empower parents in lieu of depriving our country of the truth and of options.
Before someone errantly suggests I have the audacity to rely on my own less than scientific research, please talk to researchers at the Hussman Institute of Genomic Research. While attending a fund raiser at the Institute, I had the privilege of talking to a doctor and scientist who acknowledged that their research has proven what my friend and I have suspected for years. The introduction of the MMR to a subset of individuals with weakened immune and digestive systems is linked to the onset of autism.
What do I know for certain? (1) One should never mix vaccines and antibiotics. Never. Walk out of your pediatrician’s office and never return if they try to administer both to your child. (2) Much of this debate can be ended by simply making separate vaccines available SOMEWHERE in the US. They are/were in production; however, that production is either halted or greatly diminished. Why? I have been told that parents are not trusted enough to bring their children in for one vaccine. The accusation is that if the vaccinations are separated, and three visits are required, then the children may never be appropriately vaccinated. The government does not trust parents. Also, I have been told that the pharmaceutical companies are allocating facilities that once produced these separate vaccinations to the production of drugs for our combat troops (to protect them from biological warfare). I understand this.
What I do not understand is why a viable solution, the availability of separate vaccines, is being crushed instead of being legislated! How very tragically sad, especially for M, my dear dear friend, and too many others who have suffered the same fate.
Posted by: miamimomme | May 08, 2014 at 01:22 PM
Fellow Victim;
Do you like Harry Potter?
Have you read those books?
Did it scare you how they reacted when he told everyone that Lord V was back- they put him on trial.
When you are young - it is hard to understand that these stories are not told in a vaccum --or think they would not happen now - cause we are all civilized and modern.
But a terrible injustice has been done to Dr. Wakefield.
It was not even a court of law - it was basically the Board of Doctors. When another co author of the paper saw how it turned out -- he made sure he went through an actually court of law and was found innocent. Dr. Waker-Smith.
12 children that the study was done on -- are called clinical case studies. -- a very common thing - if a research doctor sees a group of people with similiar conditions -- he will make a study of it - usually a small group -- that is suppose to open doors to larger studies.
In the case of Dr. Wakefield though -- he had opened something that was rotton and -- well you see - the love to put words and phrases together like freud, proven, Wakefield.
The world is a wicky place especially for the people trying to do right.
IT bothers me a lot that such an injustice was done to such a good man.
Posted by: Benedetta | May 05, 2014 at 04:26 PM
Funny how Brian Deer never mentions that Wakefield donated that 400,000 pounds to an initiative to build a wing at the Royal Free for the care and investigation of bowel disease. You'd think that would be important for his readers to know.
You can bet that if it hadn't been donated, Deer would have proclaimed it from the rooftops.
Posted by: Carol | May 05, 2014 at 03:14 PM
Beth Johnson, thank you for your very insightful comment, it definitely explains Colbert's not-so-funny authoritarian opinion.
Posted by: aspiesmom | May 05, 2014 at 02:45 PM
Fellow Victim
Regarding the claims against Wakefield this may help:
http://www.canaryparty.org/index.php/the-news/118-open-letter-to-the-sponsors-of-brian-deers-lectures-at-the-university-of-wisconsin-la-crosse-october-2012-
PS Even if any of the stuff about Wakefield was true it wouldn't mean that vaccines don't cause encephalopathies or autism. That would certainly be faulty reasoning.
Posted by: For Fellow Victim | May 05, 2014 at 02:15 PM
Sorry about the typing errors.
Posted by: Birgit Calhoun | May 05, 2014 at 12:26 PM
Fellow Victim! If you are truly interested in science, you would fo yourself and your brother a service by actually going into the science of mercury toxicity. For you information, it is a wide open fifeld because the pharmaceutical companies are avoiding it, and the funding for grants towards anything having to do with the effects of mercury is virtually non-existent. So, here is you chance to really find out what mercury does. You can start by reading the book "Age of Autism" by Olmsted/Blaxill. If that science is not good enough for you check out and do some serious research on what is known about mercury. The German chemist Alfred Stock wrote about dental amalgam and what it does to people. Read what I have found out about mercury. You can google my name and find out all about the knowledge I have gained by investigating the subject. Come back when you have truly studied the subject, and then I hope you understand why some of us are not in agreement with Dr. Offit. There is a problem when some old men on the Supreme Court decide that vaccines are "unavoidably unsafe" it becomes a reliabilty issue.
Posted by: Birgit Calhoun | May 05, 2014 at 11:55 AM
Thank-you, Benedetta, for being kind and respectful.You're right that I was very young when my brother was diagnosed. But he did not show any reaction to his vaccinations. I appreciate your concern and I wish you and your children the best.
To the rest of you: This is not "hate speech." That would implay that there was hate--there isn't any.
I don't have to sound ignorant to be 17 years old. And I AM 17. Don't stereotype the way I might act and respond, because each teenager has his or her own brain and character. And the fact that you just attack the fact that I am 17 shows that you have little defense for any of your other assertions. And I would have no motivation to pretend to be 17.
And you wanted specific points. Here's one: "Dr." Andrew Wakefield, who claims he found a connection between vaccines and autism has had his license revoked due to his illegimate science. The Lancet, where is paper was published, restracted his paper. In his experiment, only 12 subjects were involved. Some of those were never diagnosed as autistic. He was paid more that 435,000 pounds by a lawyer who had intended to file a lawsuit against vaccine manufacturers.
If you want my sources, let me know.
Posted by: Fellow Victim | May 05, 2014 at 11:45 AM
Fellow Victim
17 years old with a 13 year old brother -
Notice you were a small child when this happened.
As a mother of a now 28 year old son and a daughter now in her 30s-- I was a witness to many vaccine reactions. For my son I witnesse three severe and immediate reactions.
For my daughter it was much more sneaky and invisible.
I feel like I should warn you to be careful - please with your vaccines in the future, for they are coming your way.
So, you are not out of the woods or safe. You will have decisions to make about getting more vaccines in the future -it is a rather sneaky invisible, inflammation disease.
I too thought my daughter got by with the vaccines - She was very good in school --highly intelligent, but there were some health issues that over time have only grown worse. Add more vaccines (she did) and it is gas on a smoldering fire.
So, learn - protect yourself -- know it involves the whole body system; throwing up easily- or other GI problems, being irritable more than sad as in depression - bipolar and other mental illnesses, can be involved, it can involve your monthlies - your thyroid, or weight, anemia, on and on.
Most people don't know what a vaccine reaction is all about -- it is not just about the aftermath of a brain injury - autism.
Good Luck - and please pay attention and learn what to look for.
Posted by: Benedetta | May 05, 2014 at 10:05 AM
@Linda and Fellow victim:-
Yes- I got caught out once on Facebook by a 45 year old woman, posing as an autistic teenager. She was posting the most horrendous lies about Dr Wakefield. She soon cleared off, after I pointed out some people had recently been prosecuted for posting outrageous and litigious lies on social network sites. I tried to deal with her sensitively, until I found out the truth. Adult trolls posing as autistic youngsters, in order to defend the pharma industry, are beneath contempt.
It seems 'Fellow Victim' is not posing as a victim at all, but the 17 year old sister of a 13 year old boy with autism. I agree she does not write like a teenage girl, but then her response to Linda- quote -"You definitely could be wrong." rather gives the game away. A REAL teenage girl would surely have told Linda she WAS wrong!!
Posted by: Jenny Allan | May 05, 2014 at 10:03 AM
Fellow Victim
What's wrong with your comment is that it is just ad hominem - it is just hate speak unless you address specific points.
Posted by: For Fellow Victim | May 05, 2014 at 09:41 AM
I take that kind of personally. You definitely could be wrong. And you definitely could be a little insulted that a 17 year old girl has more sense than you. Of course, since you're associated with this website, I can assume you're a conspiracist. You can go hide in your bunker and gather your canned food while the productive 3/4 of society (that don't think autism is caused by vaccinations) actively search for the real cause, which will lead to the real cure. You can't force vaccines to be the cause, when it is most logically a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
Have a good day!
Posted by: Fellow Victim | May 05, 2014 at 08:42 AM
You know, I could write a comment claiming that I'm 17, but I wouldn't be fooling anyone because I don't write like a 17 year old... and neither do you. I could be wrong, but I don't think so.
Posted by: Linda | May 05, 2014 at 07:43 AM
My 13 year old brother has Autism and I am 17 years old. This website you have here is full of inaccuracies. It saddens me that educated adults can support a theory that has been debunked by hundreds of scientists. There is no theory. It's just bologna elevated by the media. I wish just as much as any of you that autism can one day be cured, but I will not resort to hysteria. I am a supporter of science, not the pseudoscience on which you base your ideals. As demonstrated by hundreds of peer reviewed articles and by hundreds of legitimate scientific experiments (unlike Wakefield's nonsense), there is NO correlation between vaccines and the onset of autism. Parents should vaccinate there children because not doing so jeapordizes the welfare of not just their children, not just their families, but also society as a whole. I have researched this for months. It's personal for me too. My brother is dear to me and his autism is severe. He can never come near to living on his own. But explain how vaccination rates have decreased over 10% and yet autism rates are still increasing? Please, I am begging you, as a fellow victim of autism, to reconsider jeapordizing my future children. It's strange to say: "Well, little Joey died of the measles, but at least he wasn't AUTISTIC."
Also, a lot of what this website says about the interview between Colbert and Offit is extremely inaccurate and you know it! Open your eyes! If we can't trust scientists, who the hell do we expect to cure autism??? Your radical theories? Your ridiculous websites?
Posted by: Fellow Victim | May 04, 2014 at 09:26 PM
Colbert is the son of a physician. I think that plays into his opinion. I felt the same betrayal watching this segment as I did with Garry Trudeau, when I corresponded with him about this topic. GT is also from a long line of physicians. Doonesbury changed for me at that moment, I have never read it since.
Such a betrayal.
Posted by: beth johnson | May 02, 2014 at 02:22 PM
"You people make me sad. I will still feel bad for you when your children die of preventable diseases, though."
Marlene,
Do you realize that many AOA readers and contributors DID vaccinate and their children lost their health or life FROM vaccination?
Posted by: Linda | May 02, 2014 at 11:57 AM
Stephen Colbert is a full blown Big Pharma shill, making hateful 'joke' on Twitter during April Autism Awareness month (the 'comedic' timing was not lost on autism parents).
"Stephen Colbert @StephenAtHome · Apr 28
Who needs vaccines? Many American heroes were never vaccinated. Off the top of my head: FDR. Wait… bad example.
11:51 PM - 28 Apr 2014"
Who would thought, Colbert would be bought?!
Posted by: aspiesmom | May 02, 2014 at 09:25 AM
You people make me sad. I will still feel bad for you when your children die of preventable diseases, though.
Posted by: Marlene | May 01, 2014 at 10:46 PM
I actually agree with Jeanette, it seemed that Colbert was against the pro vaccine stance. He was kinda subtle because if not he would be character assassinated in the media. He said shouldn't parents be able to do what they want with their own children.
Posted by: Lori Moore | April 30, 2014 at 10:28 PM
We definitely need to educate Colbert. I would love to see more men doing the education this time. It's easy for our society to denigrate Jenny McCarthy, the "buxom blonde", and to consider even well reasoned comments made by women to be hysterical and emotional. It's a fact of life in our society, and I do notice pro-vaccine commenters taking advantage of that fact. Moms who have given up their jobs to care for their children are the likely commenters because that's part of the job we have taken on. Maybe we should all comment using male names. Just a thought.
Posted by: Betty Bona | April 30, 2014 at 11:23 AM
Paul Offit acknowledges that an allergic reaction to a vaccine component such as gelatin can be serious. (Such allergic reactions seem to be the only vaccine-related adverse effects that he will concede.) But people are often allergic to thimerosal, the mercury-containing component still in flu vaccines (among others). What would be the effect of injecting this allergen into a person's body if that person would have an allergic reaction simply from skin contact? What happens if you inject it, say, monthly or yearly? Will that person perhaps become more allergic? The following study is talking about prevalence of allergy to certain substances.
"Ours is the first study to compile the entire corpus of published T.R.U.E. Test data and to examine these data using meta-analytic techniques. The meta-analysis shows that nickel (14.7% of tested patients), thimerosal (5.0%), cobalt (4.8%), fragrance mix (3.4%), and balsam of Peru (3.0%) are the most prevalent allergens. The 5 least prevalent allergens are paraben mix (0.5%), black rubber mix (0.6%), quaternium-15 (0.6%), quinoline mix (0.7%), and caine mix (0.7%). By contrast, North American Contact Dermatitis Data Group (NACDG) data show that the 5 most prevalent allergens are nickel (14.3%), fragrance mix (14%), neomycin (11.6%), balsam of Peru (10.4%), and thimerosal (10.4%). NACDG data indicate that the prevalence of allergy to cobalt is 9.2%."
http://www.jaad.org/article/S0190-9622%2803%2904600-0/abstract
Posted by: Carol | April 30, 2014 at 11:14 AM
Stephen Colbert's guest last night, Dr. Paul Offit owns patents on vaccines and profits from them, something he never mentioned. He's a charming fellow but entirely dishonest. The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) has so far paid out over a billion dollars to parents of children injured or killed by vaccines. How could that happen if vaccines are "safe"? The Senate held hearings on Thimerosol during which it was revealed that this form of mercury is a potent neurotoxin. Yet it is still found in vaccines, along with other potent toxins. Vaccine manufacturers managed to get immunity from lawsuits while claiming vaccines are safe.Paul Offit is the wrong person to give the Colbert bump to!
I don't blame Colbert, as he is just ill informed. He's shown the necessary courage to oppose injustices he was aware of (fracking, corruption, etc). It's our job now to bring the facts to his awareness.
Posted by: Alan V. Schmukler | April 30, 2014 at 10:57 AM
Stephen Colbert went from my "On Notice" board to "Your Dead to Me" board.
Posted by: Jillba | April 30, 2014 at 09:55 AM
I watched the segment. Colbert is swallowing the lie whole. Everyone needs to write to the Colbert Report to explain the fallacy behind the statement that vaccines provide "longer, better lives".
And how many deaths are there a year from properly prescribed pharmaceuticals? Manufactured by the same companies that bring us vaccines? Aren't properly prescribed pharmaceuticals the third leading cause of death in America? How about the $2.8 billion paid to vaccine victims? Longer, better lives? Please write to let them know. Don't let this slide. Mr. Colbert and his staff need to be educated on the facts.
One other thing...those shows typically have neon signs that tell the audience when to applaud.
I also see that there is a comment section beneath the episode at the posted link - no comments yet.
Posted by: Linda | April 30, 2014 at 09:08 AM
From the beginning declaration of I'm "anti-disease" with the sarcastic pointing out of how he wasn't going to lose any "sponsors" over this stand to the end if you're going to "play" the live better, longer lives "card" (a major correlation with vaccine use I would love to see pharma back with some good science), well I'm not sure Colbert himself actually endorsed vaccines except for the correlation of having Offit on his show--and maybe I'm just projecting something, but I keep seeing irksome hints of awareness emanating off most MSM personalities that there really is a problem with the vaccine program, no matter what they actually say--and I was left saddened by my awareness that the longer, better lives part isn't really panning out in my family, and I'm not sure vaccine promoters will be able to get away with making that claim in ten years or so.
Posted by: Jeannette Bishop | April 30, 2014 at 12:52 AM
Honestly, I think you're all misreading Colbert. I believe he's secretly on our side, and he's sending that message subtly and surreptitiously.
Remember, he has regularly and scathingly satirized the drug industry. ("Prescott Pharmaceuticals: Our patients expire but not our patents"). Remember also he's a devout Catholic who mercilessly lampoons the Catholic Church. I think he's very good at feigning piety while cleverly subverting authority. The network execs would never allow him to openly question vaccines, but there are ways around that.
So Colbert may appear to be supporting Offit, but read between the lines. In this segment he notes that there have been outbreaks of measles and rubella, but suggests the cause may be the decreasing effectiveness of vaccines. He says that the rise in autism coincided with the increased vaccination schedule. He says many of those vaccines contained thimerosal, and shows a thimerosal bottle with a skull and crossbones. He asks why, if there's no science supporting a link between vaccines and autism, 29% of the American people believe there is such a link. All this is bound to plant a lot of disturbing questions in viewers' minds.
He even suggests that Offit is an agent of Big Pharma. That line got some applause -- true, not as much applause as Offit got, but at a rough estimate, I'd say it was applauded by 29% of his studio audience.
And best of all, Offit never suspected what was up.
Posted by: JerseyGuy | April 29, 2014 at 10:40 PM
Yeah, except, Benedetta, Colbert has a huge young following that has zero frame of reference for infectious diseases that we all had. All they know are the lies they're being spoon fed around the clock. To have Colbert, a brilliant trusted icon, participate in the propaganda, is really very bad.
Offit's camp up until now has relied on their authoritarian power to put forth their message of universal forced compliance with vaccination cradle to grave. Their stance has been that ordinary people can't grasp science, that we all need to follow the scientists' recommendations (those chosen by Offit's camp at the Vaccine Dinner Club, or course) for the good of society, without questioning. Up until now they have ridiculed celebrities, especially blonde female celebrities, who have an opinion that doesn't align with their own. With that strategy failing miserably since people do not trust the medical profession, it appears that they are now resorting to finding their own celebrity spokespersons, with the difference being that the celebrities who have come forward to question vaccines, have done so sincerely on their own. They are individuals who have been moved by their own life experience to speak out and they just happen to be celebrities. Where as it is so obvious that Colbert was put up to this. It was an act, a segment of a show. This isn't (I hope) a personal cause of his because it has touched his life. How Colbert, who really is an extraordinarily brilliant man, could have agreed to cooperate, is beyond my comprehension.
Posted by: Linda | April 29, 2014 at 10:29 PM
I was actually glad to see Offit on Colbert's show again. It's proof that the truth about the dangers of vaccines is getting out there. Big Pharma is losing--and losing a lot of money. The anti-vaccine movement is more than just about protecting our children and demanding real science, not scientism. It's about standing for the truth no matter how much the system oppresses us. We're winning!
Posted by: Tim | April 29, 2014 at 09:55 PM
Tick tock...if he is a true believer in vaccines, and his 3 kids have received/will receive the full battery of vaccines, there is a good chance his children are already vaccine-injured, and he just hasn't made the connection yet. (It's not just autism, Steven, it's diabetes 1, seizure disorders, tics, speech and language disorders, asthma, food allergies, some of which are life threatening, childhood cancer, GI issues, learning and behavioral issues, bowel problems, the list goes on, and I'm betting at least one of your kids has at least one of these issues if they've truly received all of the CDC's recommended vaccines). If not, it's just a matter of time.
Vaccines are immune and nervous system time bombs, and with the amount of vaccines his kids have been injected with (assuming he's not lying and assuming his wife is on the same page and following doctor's orders in the vaccine department), they have already been adversely affected. Each and every vaccine does some level of damage internally, you just can't see it externally, and symptoms might not be immediate. To make matters worse, vaccines have synergistic and cumulative effects which can be very severe. There will most likely be more damage to come as their vaccinations continue, and as they're exposed to more pesticides and toxic chemicals, and eating GMO foods...next up might be fertility and mental health issues, along with the long list I already provided. And time will tell what damage they will pass on to their children, as some of what we've seen the past 2-3 decades is no doubt also a result of the vaccines we received and the havoc they wreaked on our immune and nervous systems.
So, Steven, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but should you look with a more educated and discerning eye, you will see that you've been duped. You will sorely regret your words, your tone, your blind trust in a corrupt system and corrupt individuals, the hurt you inflicted on many of your viewers...and most especially, you will regret beyond belief that which you allowed to be injected into your children by a "doctor" who took an oath to "First, do no harm".
Posted by: Laura Hayes | April 29, 2014 at 09:48 PM
Linda, I agree with you that Goliath is going to get real nasty, attempting to pull out all the stops, now that the word is out. Perhaps unrelated, I would like to pass on the article from the Toronto Star stating that half of elementary principals at one time have told parents to keep their autistic kids at home because there is not enough support for them. The article also explains that over the past decade, special education funding has increased by 67 per cent, to $2.72 billion. This statement really does speak to your argument Anne. Why the increase if autistic kids have always been amongst us -- just misdiagnosed as 'quirky'? Surely these 'quirky' kids would have also needed special education services.
ids_often_told_to_stay_home_from_school_says_people_for_education_report.html
Posted by: No Forced Vacc | April 29, 2014 at 09:33 PM
Bad press, good press - is still press.
Autism (whatever the heck that is) and the word vaccine is linked - together -- Offit - Colbert -- good job.
Posted by: Benedetta | April 29, 2014 at 09:19 PM
Fu€k Colbert and PrOffit! Autism is no laughing matter.
Posted by: Elucidatus | April 29, 2014 at 08:56 PM
I was shocked and disappointed when my son turned this on this morning. To make this into a joke and get people laughing about it is beyond disgusting. Colbert just lost a fan.
Posted by: PANDAS Mom | April 29, 2014 at 07:27 PM
They aren't fooling anybody. More people all the time are questioning.
Posted by: Let them think what they want | April 29, 2014 at 06:57 PM
Offit on Colbert going for the collective American jugular. Not surprising. I wonder where he(they) will pop up next.
And this is all, no doubt, to fight back against the upcoming much publicized release of "Bought" and the recently released "Just a Trace". Goliath is pounding his fist all over the place.
Posted by: Linda | April 29, 2014 at 06:31 PM