Here's why "skeptics" never make any headway with this shit: If you're listening to Jenny McCarthy you're past rationality anyway. Speaking as someone who has regular contact with the anti-vax crowd (we had a pertussis scare just last week, in fact), I haven't heard the name "Jenny McCarthy" mentioned once. not ever. Not in six years of spending time amongst the privileged white women that make up the majority of the anti-vax movement. My wife, who teaches vaccine workshops four times a year, has never heard the name "Jenny McCarthy" mentioned by any concerned parent. Nobody gives a shit about Jenny McCarthy. What they give a shit about is trust. The anti-vax movement got a toehold because when they asked about vaccines, they were told "shut the fuck up and listen to your doctor." Andrew Wakefield got an audience because when concerned parents asked, they were told "shut the fuck up and listen to your doctor." Kennedy's Salon article got an audience because when concerned parents asked if it had any veracity they were told "shut the fuck up and listen to your doctor." Even now, when it's easy to explain to concerned parents that their concerns are 99% groundless and that even when they're brusque and antagonizing doctors really do have medical knowledge that should be respected, "skeptics" insist on saying "see? I told you so. I have no medical knowledge whatsoever but I know you're a fucking idiot because you didn't shut the fuck up and listen to your doctor." My wife's class fills up weeks in advance. She teaches it at three locations. And all she does is go through CDC charts and explain them, parse studies into human language and teach parents how to interpret scientific data. And never once does she say "shut the fuck up and listen to your doctor." And while I know how deeply emotionally satisfying it is to point at idiots and call them names, I would like you to understand, deep down to your goddamn bones, that it's the least helpful thing you could possibly do. Know why there's still an anti-vax movement? Articles like this.