Let's try this again. For some reason, @twitter screwed up the threading on this Tweetstorm about Dr. Andrew Zimmerman. So I'm going to try it again. In the process, hopefully I can make it better than the previous version, which for some reason got broken up sorting posting.
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Basically,
@RobertKennedyJr tried to make it sound as though Dr. Zimmerman's expert opinion was the lynchpin upon which the government's case in the Autism Omnibus proceedings depended and that if he had been allowed to testify the government would have lost. 6/Show this thread -
In reality, Dr. Zimmerman's expert opinion was barely mentioned in the Special Masters' rulings and then mainly in passing as supporting the testimony of other experts who did testify. 7/
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This brings us to
@SharylAttkisson. She merely regurgitated@RobertKennedyJr's conspiracy theory based on Dr. Zimmerman's affidavit in her antivax propaganda piece disguised as a news report. 8/https://respectfulinsolence.com/2019/01/09/sharyl-attkisson-is-back/ …Show this thread -
It turns out that
@SharylAttkisson also has a history of spewing antivaccine misinformation going back AT LEAST to 2007. 9/https://respectfulinsolence.com/2007/06/19/antivaccination-crankery-on-the-cbs-news-1/ …Show this thread -
She's also a big fan of
@DrWakefield, the disgraced, struck-off antivaccine "researcher" who ignited the whole scare about the MMR vaccine as a cause of autism 21 years ago. 10/https://respectfulinsolence.com/2009/10/08/complain-to-cbs-cbs-resident-anti-vaccin/ …Show this thread -
That's not all.
@SharylAttkisson has written at least one hit piece sliming@DrPaulOffit. 11/https://respectfulinsolence.com/2008/07/28/more-execrable-journalism-about-vaccines/ …Show this thread -
She's also been suspected of feeding inside information from CBS News to an antivaccine group in the past. 12/https://respectfulinsolence.com/2008/08/01/sharyl-attkisson-of-cbs-and-generation-r/ …
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More recently,
@SharylAttkisson has been palling around with@DrWakefield,@delbigtree, and members of @teamvaxxed, the makers of@vaxxedthemovie, an antivaccine propaganda movie disguised as a documentary. 13/https://respectfulinsolence.com/2016/04/26/the-conspiracy-circle-is-complete-brian-hooker-claims-the-man-has-gotten-to-the-cdc-whistleblower/ …Show this thread -
Here's my review of
@vaxxedthemovie, along with a deconstruction of its antivaccine conspiracy theories. It's propaganda so blatant that it would make Leni Riefenstahl shake her head and say, "Too much." 14/https://respectfulinsolence.com/2016/07/18/in-which-andrew-wakefield-and-del-bigtrees-antivaccine-documentary-vaxxed-is-reviewed-with-insolence/ …Show this thread -
Now, ever since the Hannah Poling case, Dr. Zimmerman has been friendly with antivaxers and, according to his own press release, has been asked to testify on their behalf to say that vaccines + mitochondrial disease = autism. 15/
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As I said at the time antivaxers were flogging the case, trying to link mitochondrial disease as a predisposition to "vaccine-induced autism" is not scientifically supported. 16/ https://respectfulinsolence.com/2008/03/10/the-hannah-poling-case-and-the-rebrandin/ …
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So I ask Dr. Zimmerman: When
@RobertKennedyJr approached you and asked you for an affidavit, what the hell did you think would happen? Of course, RFK, Jr. publicized it! Of course, other antivaxers tried to use it to spin their conspiracy theories of coverups! 17/Show this thread -
Dr. Zimmerman says he's not antivaccine, and I'll take him at his word. However, he has aided and abetted real antivaxers. At worst, he's slipping into being antivax. At best he's been (and continues to be) a useful idiot for antivaxers. 18/
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Let's just put it this way. You lie down with dogs, and got might get fleas. Of course, comparing antivaxers to dogs is an insult to dogs. (I love dogs. I need a better metaphor.) Dr. Zimmerman had no right to complain that he's itching right now. He chose this. 19/
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I'll finish by challenging Dr. Zimmerman through
@UMassMedical: How, specifically, did@SharylAttkisson "misrepresent" you. Please provide concrete examples. I predict that you won't be able to. 20/Show this thread -
Also, so being a useful idiot for antivaxers. 21/
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And, there it is. Let's see if
@Twitter threads this revised and expanded Tweetstorm properly. 22/22Show this thread -
Yay! It appears to have threaded correctly. Maybe it's using the iOS client as opposed to the web client, which is what I did the first time.
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End of conversation
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