A measles dose of anti-vaxxers madness by Mary Long

In Texas, the land of rugged individualism and oversized belt buckles, the measles outbreak is no longer just a simmering threat, it’s a full-blown epidemic. And while children break into fevered rashes and hospitals scramble for resources, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is out there cheerleading the madness. Instead of championing science, he’s doubling down on debunked treatments, while his acolytes scream about freedom and tyranny between coughs.

America has always had a bit of a rebellious streak, something admirable when standing up to actual oppression. But when that rebelliousness morphs into actively choosing disease over prevention, you start to wonder whether the collective brain cells of some officials took a long vacation.

Let’s be honest here, measles is not just a few red spots and a slight fever. It’s a highly contagious virus that can cause pneumonia, encephalitis, and even death. We’ve known this for decades. We’ve developed vaccines. We’ve all but eradicated it ...until a certain segment of the population decided that science is optional and medical expertise is one grand conspiracy. At the helm of this irrational movement stands RFK Jr., not as a beacon of reason but as the pied piper of peril.

The irony, of course, is that these are the same people who would clutch their chests and scream about biological warfare if the virus came from some obscure lab in a distant land. But introduce a vaccine, a scientifically vetted, historically proven shield—and suddenly, it’s the government trying to poison their precious bodily fluids. They’ll happily pop supplements and dubious herbal remedies promoted by pseudo-experts, but the mere mention of a vaccine sends them into an apocalyptic rant about microchips and global control.

And in a bizarre twist of fate, this whole debacle makes you understand why Donald Trump and his ilk despise international courts and outside jurisdiction. It’s not just about sovereignty it’s about maintaining the right to be blatantly, dangerously wrong without consequence. It’s about ensuring that America, the self-proclaimed bastion of freedom, reserves the right to kill itself from the inside out through sheer ignorance.

It would almost be comedic if it weren’t tragic. There’s a disturbing sense of performative patriotism in refusing vaccines, a misguided badge of honour where stubbornness trumps safety. A parade of sickly martyrs willing to risk their own and their children’s lives just to prove they’re not succumbing to some imaginary globalist plot.

Kennedy’s crusade is not about health, but rather about ego and conspiracy masquerading as activism. He’s found a willing audience among those who see every medical advancement as an infringement on their liberty. To them, measles isn’t a public health crisis it’s just another hill to die on.

But the real casualties are the kids, those too young to be vaccinated or those betrayed by their own parents’ fanaticism. Infected children don’t get to make speeches about liberty while their immune systems wage war. They don’t get to debate Fauci or demand YouTube pull down the latest anti-vax rant. They just get sick because adults failed them.

Somehow, we’ve reached a point where facts and science are up for debate, and lies are louder than the truth. It’s not just an outbreak of measles it’s an outbreak of madness, and the fever dreams of anti-vaxxers are leaving a trail of casualties behind. It’s time we stop indulging this reckless ideology and start prioritizing public health over delusion.

So here we are, faced with a simple choice: Do we continue letting ignorance masquerade as freedom while children pay the price? Or do we finally stand up to the dangerous rhetoric of Kennedy and his followers, insisting that reason and responsibility guide our health policies?

It’s time for America to shake off the fever of madness before it spreads any further.