Rand Paul is his own worst enemy

From today's Herald-Leader:

(Rand) Paul is in the exploratory stages of a presidential campaign; the country is in the midst of a measles outbreak brought on, at least in part, by parents afraid to have their children immunized because of debunked claims of a link between childhood vaccines and autism.

In that context, Paul deserves all the rebukes he's gotten, including from fellow Republicans, for saying: "I have heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines."

The fact that he's a physician compounds the offense.

Dr. Paul and vaccinations

An editorial in today's Courier-Journal:

(Sen. Rand Paul) dumped gasoline on the fire of incendiary speculation by seeming to endorse the persistent though wholly discredited belief among some parents that vaccines are linked to autism.

“I have heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines,” Mr. Paul opined.

A candidate hasn’t come out with comments that bizarre since GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann in 2011 suggested after a debate that the HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccine to prevent cervical cancer might be linked to mental retardation and “puts little children’s lives at risk.”