Too good to honestly check

Salon finally pulls a hysterical piece by RFK Jr. that frightened parents into avoiding vaccinations for their children.  It and others like it (and more importantly RFK Jr.'s ignorant, self righteous huckstering on the subject) has sickened tens of thousands and led to the death of hundreds.  I guess this explains how they can blame Sarah Palin for the acts of paranoid schizophrenia:  they don't know science and instead believe lucky sperm Kennedys and articles fact checked by Rolling Stone.  So this is what it looks like when institutions die.

Five years after printing an “exclusve” article by Robert F Kennedy, Jr. indicating  he was “convinced that the link between thimerosal and the epidemic of childhood neurological disorders is real,” and following recent revelations that the research upon which that link was based was fatally flawed, Salon finally yanks the piece. The editors note that the story was “fact checked” by Rolling Stone  and that it had printed five corrections shortly after the story was published.  Here’s the explanation for the five year delay:

“I regret we didn’t move on this more quickly, as evidence continued to emerge debunking the vaccines and autism link,” says former Salon editor in chief Joan Walsh, now editor at large. “But continued revelations of the flaws and even fraud tainting the science behind the connection make taking down the story the right thing to do.” The story’s original URL now links to our autism topics page, which we believe now offers a strong record of clear thinking and skeptical coverage we’re proud of — including the critical pursuit of others who continue to propagate the debunked, and dangerous, autism-vaccine link.

Maybe it’s not such a hot idea to get your science reports from politicians and former politicians even if “fact checked” by Rolling Stone, but Salon doesn’t concede that.

Hat tip Instapundit