Some personal reflections on the anti vaxx movement

Here is my view of MAHA anti-vaxxers. Some diseases can kill or leave you seriously disabled if you survive. Millions have been saved by vaccines. I spent summers confined to a few in my immediate neighborhood in my youth to avoid polio, and only after the vaccine could I again attend movies, go swimming, and even go to church gatherings. In my membership beginning in the 1990's in Rotary, there were still members who were survivors of polio, so Denver Rotary led Rotary's worldwide attempt to stamp out the disease with our Polio Plus project carried forth by Rotary International.. We did, and the Gates Foundation helped, but now some want to reverse that. It is sure insanity. Fauci almost single-handedly broke through and found the treatments for AIDS. However, MAHA wants you to risk your lives because of a few paranoid, uneducated science deniers, parents looking for a culprit other than themselves or their own DNA to blame for the learning disabilities of their kids, and then launch a disinformation campaign to duck data and research results  that debunked their theories or find someone to blame... If they want to put their own children in danger, that is their choice, but to try to force us to swallow their dangerous BS is the problem. Some people do not believe in science or have other motivations, religious, or just plain failed high school biology, or forgot or never learned anything about viruses.(When I was a child, we did not even know about viruses.) They, the uneducate and those looking for an explanation that makes them feel good about themselves, are the victims of this anti-vaxxing proselytizers. Then there are those like political opportunists who ride this issue because it is another one they can falsely lob at those who do not support Trump. They were on display at these recent hearings. Rand Paul is a libertarian who never found a government program he liked and is an ophthalmologist, but he puts his ideologically based politics first and ignores whatever he learned in med school. The eyes may have got it, but infectious diseases, viruses, seemed to have been forgotten. 

What I do appreciate is the ability and freedom to refuse a vaccine to which I am allergic...and my allergist told me not to get: the flu vaccines based on eggs.I am allergic to eggs...seriously. The result would be worse than the flu. I learned that he wasn't kidding when I took the swine flu vaccine. That was the last flu shot I ever took. The new methods used for COVID that avoid the egg stuff are a savior. I am so grateful that mNRA technology works.(MAHA paranoids fear this one) I am high risk for COVID, mostly due to my advanced age, and I had no reaction at all. MNRA may also let me take a flu vaccine someday. Each to his own, but what is good for you and me should be based on recommendations of a person's physician, not on some politically motivated anti-science advocate looking for a political opportunity to thump the table and mislead the public because it serves a political purpose, as it was in that disgusting hearing attempt the other day.. Trump's greatest accomplishment was the fast-track COVID vaccine, but he cannot even boast about it because of the MAHA ideological and science-deniers involved in politics who are so grateful for RFK, Jr. spreading the same dangerous message..

So far as searching for blame for a child's learning disabilities, a parent's time is better spent in providing therapy and help and a whole lot of patience and understanding.  Leave that search for cause in the hands of professionals, instead. 

Stop blaming yourself or trying to find someone else to blame.  It is a far better way to spend time and effort to concentrate on helping a child and other children succeed than to be off on a blame crusade..  I fear that motivates much of the anti-vaxxer's interests.  I can say that because as a mother of 3 and 4 grandchildren, I have been there with diagnosis and therapy at a time before and during the discovery of such disabilities in my own family. They may not turn out to be your ditto or what you wished, but success and talents come in many different packages.

I saw a time when a child tested so low, she was considered "a slow learner, learning challenged" in the terms of the time. But with new techniques of diagnosis and with intense therapy privately and in specialized schools, and the use of the ADA disabilities act, she graduated from public high school and later from a 4-year college. She found a profession where her disabilities were an asset, and she had compensated with other talents::  focus, memory, patience, learning from watching what others were doing, creativity,  and applying these to her own tasks.

She was fortunate: we had the means to afford what seemed best therapy at the time....and for that reason, I am such an advocate for such publicly funded schools that provide those alternative ways to learn, such as the Montessori methods, and for learning disabled specialists to be on hand at all schools. I am particularly grateful for the ADA legislation that permitted her to take exams in ways that let her use her compensating talents to show she had indeed learned the subject matter. 

 

The answer to extremists on both the right and the left iis a vigorous pro-democracy movement

The recent success of both MAGA and the Democratic Socialists of America is an alarm bell clanging loudly that extremism in the guise of sheep-bleating appealing messages is wolves in sheep's clothing who lust after the manipulation or outright end of democracy, including replacement by autocracy,  to gain control for their narrow and defined interests. The answer to combatting extremism from both left and right, my friends, is to fight like hell for democracy as we have known it. Reform to strengthen it, cherry-pick some pubic policy ideas from either camp you like or object to, but be glad those of you in the middle can still have the ability to make your voices heard now and in the future.  Democracy is a benefit that includes all of those that are governed ....not just a benefit for one class, or race, or religion, that provides a level field for those aspiring to get their priorities on the table for consideration without fear of retribution and punishment by government.  It is inclusive of all, not just a designated group that is limited to those with shared self-interests.

This opinion is based on a theory that the two-party system requires compromise early in the election cycles and that essentially Americans are not inclined to support extremist platforms hook, line, and sinker. They are mostly looking for problem-solving. There is a significant middle that sloshes back and forth between the two parties, sometimes leaning to the right and sometimes to the left, sometimes retaining party affiliation or registering independent. Ideas from the extremes are cherry-picked and included under a party's umbrella if they narrowly focus on a pragmatic solution to a problem that becomes a voter-pollled demand to fix. https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-big-tent-of-two-party-system-is-not.html

 At this moment, this is becoming more and more evident as progressive candidates hoping for party and independent support have been quick to deny they support the entire Democratic Socialists agenda.,which includes the end of capitalism. However, ;rogressive Democrats do share with the Democratic Socialists concerns about the affordability of health care, gas at the pump, grocery prices, rent, and utilities, and many even embrace universal health care and rail at the stranglehold the ultrarich have on the economy and resulting income inequality,  The impact of the Democratic Socialist will be absorption into progressive wing of the Democratic party of some specific issues and public policies, and a rejection of other specifics in the Democrtic Socialist platform.

The MAGA base is another case, given the hard core cult like loyality to Trump himself and a current purge of those not deemed loyal enough. It is not so much focused on bringing more into their umbrella, but ridding the GOP of non-MAGA and suppressing the opposition with control of media and the process of rules of who can vote and who counts it.  It ridicules the affordability issue at its great peril. Nearly every public policy plank in the MAGA platform is viewed negatively by at least 60  percent of voters polled . Instead, iMAGA is attempting to appeal to social and racial attitudes to consolidate their base and the structure of gerrymandering and hyper-federal control of government power, wielding the weapons of fear and favor..  Their leader is approved by only 39% of voters per current polling. 

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The answer to the emergence of these extremists is to reveal hidden or open agendas and to promote, not just protect, the structure of democracy we have had for 250 years and to strengthen it.   At issue with both extremists is who controls the policies and powers of government: the people of all stripes who have the ability and chance to influence the direction of leaders, or is it the rule in use of power and policies by one ideology, or "strong leader," an autocracy, who issues edicts and orders as laws to be followed?.  

 Both Democratic Socialists and MAGA have it as a strategy to alter the form of representative democracy as we have known it and reshape it to their advantage. If not the form is altered, there are other ways to subvert and reshape it to help accomplish their goals. Their proposals are not equal or alike in the details, but do share some characteristics. Both Democratic Socialists and MAGA are about what kinds of control over the issues of who can and how people vote. Both are essentially anti-democratic because they subtly or openly advocate that one particular economic or social or racial class should rule over the rest of us using the tools of fear and/or favor.  

MAGA's agenda is subtle and often unspoken, but by their deeds, actions, and suppression of opposition's rights, and those they try to suppress are the tell-tales.  To get where they are going is a matter of deduction. On the other hand, the platform of the Democratic Socialists of America is right there for you to read at https://program.dsausa.org/.  Do a Google or ChatGPT search for better bluntness and clarity.   The question becomes what part of this platform does a candidate running as a democratic socialist support. It may vary a great deal, but the exposure is fair game and easy to do.  When it comes to pinning down MAGA candidates, watch for evasion and code words and dog whistles.  That is much more of a challenge, since overt racism is still not politically acceptable, making it hard to get at to what extent it is a factor. Instead, there is more reliance on deduction of observed impacts, practices, and public policy issue stances.

The platform of the Democratic Socialists of America is now under attack by MAGA, and a walk through Google.com  reveals their real goals: restructuring our form of democracy to give power, not to all of the people, but to one economic class, and the elimination of capitalism. There will be plenty of others from the right to decry this platform and call it out.  It is all there in black and white and in print. and easy to do, but in calling it out, the challenge should be truthful and not attach planks onto the backs of every candidate who claims affiliation with Democratic Socialists.  The movement may have a written platform, but adherence is not uniform.    However, there are those in the left who will correctly call out the MAGA movement's portion that empowers white nationalists,, while suppressing those who rightfully object to attempts to control their rights to vote,  or to participate in governance to which they have been entitled by law to do so, and puts an undo burden on large swathes of women and elderly who will find themselves disengranchised by the harshness of the SAVE act to prove citizenship.

On the other hand, the MAGA platform is also an attempt to change the democracy of rule, by and for the people, to rule by one party for the benefit of one leader, for the benefit of a specific cultural/racial group and suppression of those who oppose that. What is driving it is mostly not spoken, or in print,  but what, in dulcet tones, it promotes if rule by white Christians by their actions.  There is no written platform other than a carefully phrased blueprint in the documents of Project 2025.  IN that regard, the MAGA movement is more insidious than Democratic Socialists, but what issues and practices MAGA promotes are also just as destructive of democracy.  The old "by their deeds you will know them," like the replacement of those of color in the halls of DC and the Pentagon, and actions of ICE and others trampling civil rights, such actions are the marker of a movement whose focus and purpose is to boost those of a certain race and gender.  Democracy is government by participation of all of the people, not just for a chosen socio/econommic/racial group.

Neither Democratic Socialists nor MAGA represent the views of most Americans, who are either not aware of how their control of who governs them is being taken away or are too absorbed with day-to-day life to pay attention. Effective politicians may make hay by painting a political party as taken over by extremists or name-calling them as fascists or communists, but it is not that simple. Simple memes and slogans are for simple minds.  Take the time to think and demand answers.  Ask individual candidates a question: do you want one party, one person, to tell you what to vote for and to disadvantage you if you speak out, or are afraid to. My guess is, most Americans would want to be in control, and not controlled by  some one-party, one-ideology, with overt or hidden agendas.  Americans as a whole are just not into political science or ideology so long as they can vote and have a say.   The NO Kings marches, anti-ICE demonstrations against concentration camps, outrage against ICE brutality,  and the demonstrators' success in changing the outcome show that the power is still with the people. However,  if either Democratic Socialists or MAGA have their way, that too, the will of the people, can be shifted away in favor of the rule of one economic class or racial/cultural class.   Democracy is a system that allows for all to be heard to convince others to follow without fear of reprisals.. Democracy is not for the benefit of selected groups to lead and control over others they disdain.. Neither Democratic Socialists nor MAGA look to govern in the benefit of all in their jurisdictions with even-handed fairness. Instead, both favor benefitting some groups over others. MAGA even uses or tolerates threats and fear with unevidenced pretenses to enforce loyalty beyond the ballot box. 

The answer to both extremes is for the great American middle to become aware and alarmed by either extreme end and to support candidates who will represent all Americans, not just their ideological kin, and who support the institutions of Democracy that have served us well. None should rule out reforming those parts that need reform, especially those concerning grift, corruption,  and exploitation of the weaker, however.  There are loopholes and ways through and around laws unimagined by our founders.

 In micro terms, when specific planks of the extremists are frightening to many, each candidate must be asked if they approve what their ideology/religion promotes.  Step one is learning what either extremist movement truly sees as their end game and how they strive to empower a narrow interest that suppresses yours.  Step two is to support and elect candidates who, likewise, support democracy as we have known it for 250 years, which, in the long run, keeps all people being governed with fair and equal exercise of democracy. 

The alternative to democracy is rule by one or a few, with rights of the opposition suppressed by various means and degrees.  This past year and a half illustrates what happens when those put their trust in one person, and that person goes off the rails, and there is no good recourse, except the ballot box.  Trump was elexted in 2024 by promoses of no more foreign wars, and a reduction of the cost of lving: He has now done the opposite, and given his rule by fear and favor, there is no way out of this excepy by fair and free elections, not elections with voting and tabulaiton contorlled by his federal loyalists, but by the fragmentation and folliwing the rules laid out in every jurisdiction to ensure that the vote and count are open with many bi-partisan eyes on the process and not under threat by armed representatives of the federal government.

What is MAGA. How do you define it? The British tried to explain it in their recent AI version of their famous encyclopedia, but it was mostly a description and history of its trail of beliefs. https://www.britannica.com/topic/MAGA-movement. 

Merriam-Webster :political movement calling for strict limits on immigration and a return to policies and practices in place before globalization and especially before the era of globalization that began in the late 20th century"

Wikipedia :'Defining elements of MAGA include Republicans who voted for Trump in the 2020 presidential election and deny the results of that election,^[2] cult-like behavior as followers of Trump, ^[3] political radicalisation, white nationalism,^[4] anti-immigrant beliefs (including nativism), an emotionally intense sense of shared identity, resentment of specific groups of people, identity fusion, moral self-righteousness, belief in social dominance orientation, and prejudiced aggressiveness.^[

My own definition and a pretty sure indication you are a MAGA if you wear the red MAGA hat and still claim the 2020 election really elected Trump.  Election denialism is a mantra that those loyal to MAGA and Trump must utter to qualify as a member of the movement.  It is more than just a pledge of allegiance to Trump and a membership ritual in MAGA. It is MAGA's foundation and rationale of the Jan 6th attempted coup, of federal one-party takeover of elections determining who can vote, how they can vote, and who counts and keeps control of the ballots per the SAVE ACT, and the basis for ICE cruelty,use of violence, paramilitarism,  and concentration camp internments. Evidence is not important to MAGA.  Just "believe"  those who are brown and black are the likely culprits.

Election deniers on the ballot in Colorado:

 https://electiondeniers.org/colorado/#state-candidates-section

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Tomfoolery Trump tells tales to trick his own troops

Tomfoolery Trump tells tales to trick his own troops.  Here is what I picked up in an interface with MAGA in another FB page:

 Trump's trickery used to fool his followers emerged recently in two issues: 1." If the Gulf of Hormuz and Red Sea ports closed, no problem for prices of gas at the pump because the US is self-sufficient. "We do not need foreign oil," he claims. "Plenty of supply," he says. Low-informed voters do not understand that the price per barrel is set by cartels looking at supplies all over the world, and Trump cannot control that. The amount of supplies we have domesticly do not affect prices. 2." So what's so bad about having to show a picture ID? Libs oppose SAVE because they fear it will show illegals changed the results." Low-information voters swallow that one, too. What Tomfoolery Trump does not tell you is that your driver's license and a whole list of other photo IDs do not prove your citizenship: Only certified birth certificates and proof of any name changes since birth, or a current passport, will suffice under SAVE rules since proof of citizenship is the point of the legislation. Women especially are the ones who will scramble if this SAVE Act passes since they likely did not keep their birth last name when they got married or unless recently retired, do not have current valid passports.

https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2026/07/plain-english-explainer-of-how-trump-is.html  

https://bipartisanpolicy.org/article/five-things-to-know-about-the-save-act/

Plain English. explainer of how Trump is trying to fool his followers not to fear gas prices hikes if Hormuz or the Red Sea closed

 What Trump says about the price is gas at the pump is vintage Trump trickery. He depends on voters’ignorance to explain away why what you see and feel does not resemble his version of the truth. He tells you that the US has plenty of oil, so it makes no difference if the Hormuz or Red Sea oil shipments are blocked, and you wonder why, when you fill up, the price immediately reflects the threat of closing either. He is talking about supply, but at the same time, we are paying more to fill up. Yes, we will not have a shortage, but the price per barrel is not in his control. Foreign cartels set the price based on worldwide supplies on that day. If a shortage in supply elsewhere in the world happens, we get the price hike regardless, even if we have no change in supply. The president can release strategic reserves or reduce federal taxes that fund highway improvements,..but if there are no strategic reserves in the tank…that is useless, and the improvement funds are obligated for a year or two; that one doesn’t help soon either. In short, Trump is fibbing and fooling and hoping you do not catch on.

So why do prices rise in the US too? Because our US oil producers sell on the world market and they want the same high price that everyone else in the world sells their for.

The US strategic reserves are the lowest now since 1983.https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MCSSTUS1&f=M

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/081315/opec-vs-us-who-controls-oil-prices.asp