The reality of our recent past is that measles was declared eliminated in the US in the year 2000.
Of course, more can come in from immigration and travel, but essentially the US had eliminated the threat.
So what happened?
Anti-vaccination has a history over 200 years long as a small interest and vague worry. That may have been a good thing given the unsterile conditions of medicine of earlier centuries, but did the current US movement gain it's strength as people realized that their government could be producing huge lies that would harm even kill large number of citizens, to enrich and empower their friends and allies?
Until I can find the numbers by year of the anti-vaxxer movement, not just some outraged internet hack yelling at me, I believe that the Bush-Cheney (Cheney-Bush) administration did major damage to the faith that Americans have in people in important, informed, and powerful places to act in their best interests instead of the bank accounts of their own political and financial partners.
Neither the former president nor vice president seem to be harmed themselves from any of this. Bush's brother is planning on carrying on the family tradition of inhabiting the White House, and Cheney's daughters look to be trying to get themselves into powerful positions, as well.
There is a song that we used to sing as kids (okay scouts) that ended with "We're all the broker's men". Just place the Koch bros in the slot for "brokers" (and recognize that women are now considered part of the human race or "men" in most states) and you have the reality of most of the Republican party.
Whatever they say publicly, the Republicans greed for wealth and power may have literally killed kids, even without missiles, and guns by destroying the faith of Americans in their government to promote the common good.
I hope that people can regain their trust in government or at least their realization that they need the vaccinations for their children before great damage is done to more children.
And get those
