A couple of days ago, Joe Mercola tried to seem “reasonable” by contrasting himself to other quacks by “conceding” that SARS-CoV-2 actually exists. Last night Dr. Vinay Prasad tried to do the same thing by “analyzing” the appearances of conspiracy theorists on Joe Rogan’s show. The parallels are eerie.
With social media companies like Twitter and Facebook/Meta deplatforming those spreading misinformation, COVID-19 quacks, antivaxxers, and conspiracy theorists are flocking to Substack, where they can monetize their misinformation.
Antivaxxers are looking at COVID-19 vaccines under the microscope and finding “horrifying” things. This is an old antivax and quack technique that has long produced hilariously ridiculous results.
The Brownstone Institute, a spinoff of AIER and the “spiritual child of the Great Barrington Declaration,” is now embracing its inner antivaxxer by likening vaccine mandates to “othering,” including slavery and Nazi persecution of Jews during the Holocaust.
Since the pandemic I’ve said, “Everything old is new again”, referring to antivaxxers. As 2022 dawned, I thought I’d expand a bit on what I mean. Is there a term for déjà vu, but what I’m seeing now is amplified a thousand-fold? Who could ever have seen this coming? Only nearly all of us who have been paying attention to antivax misinformation and conspiracy theories.
