I blame her for our state's recent outbreaks.

Seriously.

Then why not just let Whoopi, Joy, and the other ladies and guests tear Ms. Jenny to shreds, and sit back and enjoy the show?

@ 2, and why suppose that that's going to happen?

Hiring that fuckhead is such a wrong move. She wasn't just a crackpot; she was a bully in the Fox News mold. She should be drummed out of the public sphere and never have another broadcast job.

Because this woman should NOT be given a forum anywhere. She's ignorant and, because she's famous, has access to the media. No, no, no.

Her contention that she "cured" her son's autism is the worst part of her schtick.

Wow, seeing the whole indigo/crystal back story just adds to the case against her being a complete and utter fruit loop. How people didn't see straight through this bullshit is beyond me... I guess it's just the same people who spout off about "toxins" and got duped by Kinoki foot pads.

can we please make a list as to why paul constant is a terrible person?

I will go first: dumpy

Part 4 talked about how the parents of autistic kids can get so desperate for an effective treatment that they'll try anything. As somebody with a very disabled brother, believe me that the parents of disabled kids can be cut off from normal social circles, and moreover from social services. It is surprisingly difficult to get public or social support for raising disabled kids, and desperation often follows. It is unconscionable when people like McCarthy take advantage of these families' difficulties to make money and push agendas. Completely disgusting behavior.

@2: Have you seen how she argues? There is nothing you can say to her that she can't counter with "mommy instinct" and saying that science is "bullshit". There is a reason that scientists are shitting themselves about her new job. It isn't that they don't have logic and evidence to counter everything that she says, but that she is a formidable communicator when it comes to convincing stupid people to do stupid things.

@7, no, parents of disabled kids/people are not cut off from social services, and no, we don't all get hooked by McCarthy's BS. In fact, most of us don't, because the fact that we have an autistic (or otherwise disabled) child doesn't mean we don't have brains.

I liked her so much better when she was just a goofball taking off her clothes

It's situations like this that make me wish my laptop had an "Insert Neil deGrasse Tyson Here" function key. He has a great gift for cutting through the bluster of those people who are good at convincing the stupid to do stupid things (well put, @8)

@11 An 'insert NdGT' button would be the best invention ever.

Maybe I'm being a little thick here, but why would parents consider the opinions of an actress instead of an MD when it comes to vaccinations? Do that many people take her word for it that vaccinations are bad?

@ 13, keep in mind that a journal had published a paper positing a link between vaccines and autism (the paper subsequently retracted, its lead author roundly pilloried and most co-authors having disavowed it). So it wasn't like she had nothing but her own beliefs, although she clung to them as the facts kept coming out.

I'm not exactly a huge fan of doctors. I think many of them have terrible bedside manner, and that's not even going into the ways the medical establishment have massively fucked up lifestyle recommendations over the years, largely in the realm of nutrition, exercise, and obesity.

That said, I find it impossible to believe that every doctor McCarthy encountered tried to bully her or dismissed her when her son was diagnosed with autism.

I was disappointed that the articles didn't explain why anti-vaccine crazies matter.

@13, vaccination rates are plummeting, and kids are dying because of it. Diseases like whooping cough are making spectacular comebacks. It's a genuine public health crisis, and it's largely her fault. She's a murderer.

@13, there's a strain of people in this country who are primed to distrust authority and a disease with poorly understood causes and limited treatment. Today's parents are generations removed from smallpox, polio, measles, and other relatively common and devastating but vaccine preventable diseases. Add in a few very vocal doctors misrepresenting vaccines as a cause of autism, celebs like Jenny given a chance to run their mouths in our "two sides" obsessed media culture, and our internet culture where you can have the information you want at your fingertips regardless of its value and you get the modern anti-vaccine movement.

With herd immunity as strong as it is (or used to be) and pro-vaccination regulations so easy to circumvent, parents can easily choose to opt out of vaccinating their children without being very likely to witness the negative consequences of their actions. We'll see if that changes in the coming years if things continue the way they are.

Quick correction: Seth Mnookin's book "The Panic Virus" isn't upcoming.
It's been out for about a year and available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Panic-Virus-Va…

Quick correction: Seth Mnookin's book "The Panic Virus" isn't upcoming.
It's been out for about a year and available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Panic-Virus-Va…

What isn't mentioned and that many doctors and medical professionals agree on, is that the now COMBINED vaccines for mumps and measles are triggers for autism in certain children. A very respectable medical professional in Massachusetts, Dr. Fouad Yazbak, has mad fit his life mission to uncover the facts. Decades ago, the vaccine for mumps and the vaccine for measles were given to children at different times. Now, due to mandates from insurance companies, the vaccines are given simultaneously - and autism rates have skyrocketed. Jenny McCarthy is no genius, but there are plenty of medical professionals that agree with at least SOME of what she's saying.

@2: "why not just let Whoopi, Joy, and the other ladies and guests tear Ms. Jenny to shreds"

Because they won't, and because she'll get to hurt and kill others.

@21: "What isn't mentioned and that many doctors and medical professionals agree on, is that the now COMBINED vaccines for mumps and measles are triggers for autism in certain children"

It probably wasn't mentioned because you're gullible as hell. There is nobody who practices science-based medicine who believes that load of trash.

http://www.jennymccarthybodycount.com/An…

@21: citation, please.

@21: The vaccine overload hypothesis has been debunked. I'm guessing that you decided to believe this bullshit hypothesis without ever studying how an immune system works? Am I right? Do you know nothing about immune systems and are just a gullible idiot who spreads lies?

TreGibbs, you are a fool.

@24: There are also gynecologists who believe, and are cited to explain how the woman's body can "shut down" a rape baby. These are the sorts of "medical experts" he trusts.