Not quite sure how I missed this one, either.
Although it does oversimplify matters Jenny McCarthy, saying we shouldn't listen to her because she's a former Playboy Bunny. I honestly don't care what her background is -- I would listen to her whether she was actively filming porn, or a Christian homeschooler -- if she was able to discuss vaccines intelligently.
Instead she keeps changing her story about what effects she thinks vaccines had on her son, uses her professional performing skills to milk testimonials while attacking scientists and doctors on camera (and if you haven't seen her in action, I strongly recommend clicking that second link), argues against toxins in vaccines while rhapsodizing about Botox, and has poured her considerable passion and power into compromising public health.
I don't think she's an evil person, but I do think she's a credulous person, a passionately misguided person, and given her influence on other credulous and passionately misguided people, a dangerous person. I think she is a skilled performer rather than a skilled thinker.
She can still redeem herself, if starts learning from her mistakes instead of rewriting them -- her audience will stick with her, may even like her better, as they did with Angelina Jolie when she reinvented herself, and flipped from blood-vial wearing "whore" to UNICEF-ambassador "madonna."
Our society needs to value children's health over celebrity hubris.
Please do forward this video along.
