After a nationwide outbreak of Measles and other formerly-eradicated diseases have made a comeback, largely due to internet-driven fear mongering about a disproved link between autism and vaccines, a national discussion on whether vaccinations should be mandated by government or parents should have the right to opt-out has ensued.
Some politicians on the right like Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Rand Paul have made public statements affirming the necessity for vaccines but acknowledging the rights of parents as well. These comments have backfired on them by the leftists who are adamantly trying to blame the anti-vaccination movement on conservative conspiracy theorists. The New York Times and The New Republic [1] have already made that claim and now we can add MSNBC [2] into the mix.
On Al Sharpton’s "Politics Nation" Feb. 2, Sharpton and guests Joan Walsh of Salon and Dana Milbank of The Washington Post spent an entire segment bashing Christie and Paul, called “Rage against the vaccine: Is GOP making vaccines political?”
After playing a clip of Sen. Rand Paul saying that vaccines are “a good thing” but we have to be careful because “the state doesn’t own your children, parents own their children,” the Post’s Dana Milbank stepped in:
"I don't know what freedom is when they're saying you own your children. What are they, golden retrievers?” Milbank mocked, while Walsh and Sharpton laughed.
“I didn't realize that parents own children,” he insisted.
Salon’s Joan Walsh also echoed the shocked sentiment. "He went a little beyond what we expect," Walsh said. "Parents owning their children really is a staple of right-wing rhetoric."
The simple notion that parents have the most say in how their children are raised is simply unthinkable to the left. Remember when MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry insisted that “kids belong to their communities [3] in a national promo?” And Hillary Clinton told us long ago that “it takes a village to raise a child.”
Such a “private idea” as Harris-Perry called it, flies in the face of the liberal notion that government knows best and can provide the best, whereas individuals and families can do nothing without the help of the government.
Ironically most anti-vaxxers are predominantly upper-class liberals like the MSNBC panelists themselves. Who says so? The elite left-wingers at “The Daily Show.” [4]
Walsh later calls out Paul for getting “abusive” with a female reporter because he shushed her after she kept interrupting him, in that same interview. Walsh claimed Paul “got abusive with the CNBC reporter in a very touchy way.” Walsh doesn’t acknowledge that MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough does the exact same thing [5] in a later interview, ironically also calling out Paul for his audacity. I guess it’s only sexist when it’s a conservative shushing a reporter.
— Kristine Marsh is Staff Writer for MRC Culture at the Media Research Center. Follow Kristine Marsh on Twitter. [6]