Karl, the supposed political genius, hitched his political wagon to the most reviled and inept presidencies in our nation's history. All the while giving advise. His advise on Democrats is not only a bad idea, his advise in general is a bad idea. He wrote his own mythology and the media dutifully repeated it time after time. He even wrote the whole "turb blossom" myth so we wouldn't assume that Bush wasn't in control. Karl Rove isn't a political genius, he just told us he was.

If it were only so cut and dry. Farhad's hard science on one side of the debate, and kooky mythmakers on the other side.

Alas, science is not static. What we believe, and it is a belief system, to be scientific fact today is radically different from what we believed to be scientific fact less than 100 years ago.

People have noticed firm, and also anecdotal evidence of a connection between vaccines and autism. Studies will happen. Some studies will be published by the industry that provides the vaccine. Some will be published by university research teams. Rarely will these studies be completely independent of the industry in question.

How do you think things like links between health effects and agent orange, Thalidomide, the Dalcon sheild etc... are exposed? Do you think the industries protecting the status quo had more than ample studies they could cite that supported their position, before they were eventually proved entirely wrong?

The job of an independent press is to ask these questions, not to chastise those that do ask these questions. There is nothing mythological the pursuit of the truth.

"Our study does not support a causal association between early exposure to mercury from thimerosal-containing vaccines ... and deficits in neuropsychological functioning at the age of 7 to 10 years."

What does a study that narrows the age range to 7-10 prove when the immunization Schedule for children start as early as one month of age?

In a 2004 study, Dr. Mady Hornig took different strains of mice and exposed them to mercury-preserved vaccines or to the form of mercury once present in many childhood vaccines—at the same schedule, roughly, that children were receiving around 1990. The autoimmune-sensitive strain of mice developed signs consistent with autism. A repeat of the same study did not produce the same results.

A list of additions/permutations to the scientific method over the last 100 years:

Randomized design.

Falsifiability.

Controlled placebo trial.

Computer simulation.

Double blind experiments.

Meta-analysis

Strong interference.

~ source wikipedia.

I prefer to continue the debate.

"one could make the argument that supporting the whole military-industrial complex (thank you, Mr. President) is doing the exact opposite."

These men are no longer "our troops," when they are being used to further the foreign policy goals of multi-national corporations. Unfortunately, they have become "their troops."

Any wounded person, civilian or military, should get first option for travel.

In that conservatives have been meddling with PBS in the last few years, I wouldn't be surprised if this "programming" (infomercials) aren't a plot to undermine the funding of the stations. When PBS starts looking more and more like network TV with infomercials and car ads, the people will feel less inclined to support it or view it as a public trust.

We still have the largest military industrial complex, and it is disingenuous to suggest an equality of power between a country (Russia) with a $2.076 trillion GDP (purchasing power parity), with our $13.86 trillion GDP (purchasing power parity.) Push came to shove, we'd school Russia.

Countries that need to shut off their neighbor's gas in order to wield influence, are not very influential. Russia has energy and their GDP will continue to increase with the rise in energy pricing, but as of late, their economy is equal to that of France, and unless you feel threatened by France's growing economic influence in the world, you are simply enforcing the myth that Russia is big and bad. It was a canard during the cold war, and it is a canard now.

Russia is strong! Vladimir Putin is strong Russian man who will Judo throw you across room! ...or maybe he will give your belly a raspberry. Whateva, let's get back to fear mongering on Iran.

The Taliban would want John McCain to think that video is funny. The Former Iraqi republican guard likes Clinton to think the video is funny. Kim Jong Il and his army of robot men, support Bob Barr, because they know that Bob doesn't think anything is funny... specially tit cheese.

I wonder if paying North Korea cold hard cash to not develop nuclear weapons could be considered appeasement?

The democrat's strategy is just as pathetic and non existent as when they ran Kerry. The republican's are still defining the agenda, still putting the Democrat candidate on his heels, still giving the impression owning the people, still feminizing the male democratic candidates (hysterical.) Democrats are still "explaining themselves," reactionary, on the defensive. The response of a complaint that the Republican statements are divisive, doesn't remove the thought of a weak democrat that has been implanted. The only reason Democrats are having success now is because the Republicans have scuttled their own ship. Nothing the Democrats have done or are doing, shows any kind of strong leadership. Control the agenda. Make them defend themselves. I could care or less if it is divisive. Divide! Please.