A great many threats to Western civilization have arisen as a consequence of Donald Trump's election as president of the U.S. Potentially the most destructive is his quarterbacking the frightening, idiotic war against science, which up to now has, lamentably, gone relatively unnoticed and underreported. His mantra was most eloquently summarized by the late Isaac Asimov: "My ignorance is as good as your knowledge."
To buttress his claim to be recognized as the world's leading luddite, Trump has appointed none other than reality-challenged RFK Jr. to direct U.S. public health policy, and huckster Mehmet Oz to be his assistant. In his first term, Trump managed to knock off close to a million American citizens, which, until Brazil and India caught up, was the worst record in the world. Imagine how much better he'll be able to do during the next pandemic, abetted by these two luminaries.
Incredibly, RFK Jr. has revived the absurd, decisively debunked conspiracy theory of vaccinations causing autism. For those who are not familiar with this issue, the details are as follows: Andrew Wakefield submitted a paper to the prestigious UK medical journal The Lancet. That paper reported a "study" that he had conducted, the "subjects" of which had been 11 children who had attended his son's birthday party. There was no control group. Catastrophically, this absurd paper fell between two stools and was accidentally published in the Lancet, which immediately apologized for the oversight. Too late – Pandora's box had been opened, and conspiracy theories have spread like wildfire. For the record, there exists absolutely no evidence to support Wakefield's ridiculous "findings."
It turns out that all the while Wakefield had been shilling some snake oil nostrum of his own invention which he alleged was a "safe" substitute for vaccination. His medical licence was revoked, and there is now an outstanding warrant for his arrest on charges of fraud in England. He has fled the country and set up shop in El Paso, Texas, no doubt fertile soil for his quackery.
We Canadians ought not to be smug; there is a lurking danger that we could well elect as our prime minister an individual who regards the coarse louts who shut down Ottawa with their trucks as "freedom fighters," and has publicly stated that under his aegis vaccination would be a matter of personal choice, and that the unvaccinated would not be prohibited from any site, no matter how vulnerable might be those present.
The very last thing our civilized country needs is a Trump north.
John C. Simpson
Oak Bay
