Reuters:
Big U.S. majority favors mandatory vaccinations: Reuters/Ipsos poll
Howard Markel:
According to some accounts, several schools in Orange County, where Disneyland is located, reported that 50 percent to 60 percent of their kindergartners were not fully vaccinated, and 20 percent to 40 percent of parents have sought a personal exemption to vaccination requirements for their children.
While such numbers are well above what the vast majority of people surveyed in the Reuters poll would find acceptable, it is perhaps a predictable outcome given the fact that so many people believe the decision to vaccinate children should be left up to parents. Nearly 42 percent in the national poll believed the choice should be left up to parents.
This erosion to herd immunity reveals the public health nightmare that has arisen in recent years when vaccinations become politicized and then codified in the form of state-mandated, and rather loose, exemption laws.
In the poll, 66 percent of people believe public schools should be allowed to refuse enrollment to children unvaccinated by parental choice. Only 22 percent disagreed.
That any child living in the 21st century contracts measles is both astounding and unacceptable. Measles has been completely preventable with an inexpensive, safe and effective vaccine that has been available for more than 50 years. All that’s necessary is that you be inoculated with the vaccine, typically at 12 months of age and then again between 4 and 6 years of age.
If you have a child in that age range, or one who is not fully immunized against measles, do the best by him or her by getting them immunized.
More politics and policy below the fold.
There are so many wonderful bits in Bill O'Reilly's fictionalized account of the Falklands War
http://t.co/...
— @hunterw
.@hunterw man, it’s as if Bill-O is defending his fictionalized account instead of what actually happened…
http://t.co/...
— @DemFromCT
Hey, here's an interesting 2013 tablesetting piece from
Joe Muto:
Inside the beast: O'Reilly hates Hannity. Producers know what's acceptable. Everyone fears a call from Roger Ailes
David Folkenflik:
Despite Furious Objections, Bill O'Reilly's War Claims Warrant Scrutiny
The interesting thing is watching everyone who's ever worked with him who is willing to come on the record come out and call him a blowhard and a liar. He must have been a real sweetheart to work with.
@EricBoehlert you know who's enjoying Bill-O's woes the most?
Anyone who’s ever worked with him.
— @DemFromCT
Paul Waldman:
To the surprise of no one who is familiar with his modus operandi, O’Reilly has responded to the evidence against him with a stream of invective against anyone who contradicts him. He called David Corn a “guttersnipe liar,” and called CNN’s Brian Stelter, a media reporter whose sin was merely discussing this story, a “far-left zealot.” When a reporter from the New York Times called to get his comments on the story, he told her that if the article she wrote didn’t meet with his approval, he would retaliate against her. “I am coming after you with everything I have,” he said. “You can take it as a threat.”
So why not just say, “I may have mischaracterized things a few times” and move on? To understand why that’s impossible, you have to understand O’Reilly’s persona and the function he serves for his viewers. The central theme of The O’Reilly Factor is that the true America, represented by the elderly whites who make up his audience (the median age of his viewers is 72) is in an unending war with the forces of liberalism, secularism, and any number of other isms. Bill O’Reilly is a four-star general in that war, and the only way to win is to fight.
The allegedly liberal media are one of the key enemies in that war. You don’t negotiate with your enemies, you fight them. And so when O’Reilly is being criticized by the media, to admit that they might have a point would be to betray everything he stands for and that he has told his viewers night after night for the better part of two decades.
Variety:
Why Bill O’Reilly Has a Bill O’Reilly Problem
At the risk of putting him on the couch, O’Reilly gives the impression of still wanting vindication for having left network news and charted his own course, at the newsmagazine “Inside Edition” and for nearly two decades at Fox News. While one might think the success he has enjoyed would be the sweetest revenge, the host’s actions have betrayed a desire for greater respect – including from the old-guard media Fox News regularly skewers – which might explain why the studio-based host is still telling war-reporting stories this many years later.
Viewed this way, the fact that many don’t feel the Mother Jones allegations rise to the level of Williams’ Iraq story doesn’t offer much comfort. Because while O’Reilly gave up the goal of objectivity for opinion a long time ago, he has never wanted to be perceived as having sacrificed any of his credibility or stature.
So while O’Reilly has gotten this far by confronting those he feels have wronged him, at this point the strategy is yielding diminishing returns. Simply put, there’s a fine line between defiantly choosing to “stand your ground,” as he stated Monday, and feeding the media’s appetite for a food fight by slinging insults and name-calling, including the Times’ report of O’Reilly threatening to “come after” one of its reporters. (Fox News did not respond to a request for comment on his statements to the Times.)
PPP:
Walker breaks out in national GOP race
PPP's newest national Republican poll finds a clear leader in the race for the first time: Scott Walker is at 25% to 18% for Ben Carson, 17% for Jeb Bush, and 10% for Mike Huckabee. Rounding out the field of contenders are Chris Christie and Ted Cruz at 5%, Rand Paul at 4%, and Rick Perry and Marco Rubio at 3%.
Walker has more than doubled his support since his 11% standing on our January national poll, and Carson has moved up 3 points. Bush, Huckabee, Paul, and Perry have largely stayed in place while Cruz has dropped 4 points and Christie has dropped 2 points.
Walker is climbing fast in the polling because of his appeal to the most conservative elements of the Republican electorate. Among 'very conservative' voters he leads with 37% to 19% for Carson, 12% for Bush, and 11% for Huckabee. Bush has a similarly large lead over Walker with moderates at 34/12...the problem for Bush though is that there are two times more GOP primary voters who identify as 'very conservative' than there are ones who identify as moderates.
Bush is really struggling with conservative voters. Among 'very conservative' voters on this poll, just 37% rate Bush favorably to 43% with an unfavorable opinion. By comparison Carson is at 73/2, Walker at 68/3, and Cruz at 68/8 with those folks.
ICYMI from Sunday, my piece:
A look at doctors' political leanings by specialty
Take a look at where Walker and Bush stand relative to each other on the conservative scale.
Jonathan Bines:
As an American citizen, I believe that it is my responsibility to participate fully and actively in the democratic process and to stand up for the policies and values I believe in. That is why I have decided to spend $900 million on the 2016 election, and why I encourage everyone who cares about democracy to do the same.
I must admit, I had not originally planned to spend $900 million on the 2016 election. As recently as last month, I had planned on spending a significantly more modest sum, in the range of -- say -- fifty bucks. But then I read that the Koch Brothers had announced plans to spend $900 million on the 2016 elections, and I realized the extent to which I was shirking my own responsibilities as a citizen.
You see, $900 million may sound like a lot of money. But according to the Supreme Court, it's not. It's a lot of speech. And speech is the very lifeblood of our democracy. It is through speech that we represent our interests, argue for our beliefs, and settle our disputes. The Koch Brothers understand this. Their unprecedented commitment to purchase $900 million worth of speech stands as a shining example of engaged citizenship and democratic participation.