Who knew!? Orac reports on how when autism-mercury fear mongerer grifter David Kirby goes up against Rosie O'Donnell, it's O'Donnell who comes out on the side of reason. But donchaknow, it's a conspiracy? That's right, Big Pharma has somehow managed to silence Rosie!

Of course, that's not enough for Kirby:

During the breaks, however, I could hear women in the audience murmuring to each other: "But what causes it? Why so many children? What about mercury? How can I get more information?"

During the final break, I asked Rosie when the question of causation would come up.

"We're not doing that," she said, bluntly. "We're focusing on families and their kids."

"Rosie," I replied, "I think a lot of people are wondering about what's causing this."

"We don't know what causes it," she said. "You just want me to ask so you can talk about mercury."

Stung, I explained that her audience members were asking, and that production staff had also asked me about causation privately backstage.

"We're not doing causation," Rosie repeated. "In fact, I told them not to book you."

My head spun as the show wrapped up. Had The View finally squelched Rosie O'Donnell? Did mercury trump Trump? Was this the heavy metal that dare not speak its name, at least on a network flush with Pharma ads?

It's hard to say for sure. Last year, former host Star Jones posed the vaccine-autism question on the air, (but then again, look what happened to her).

Damn. Sometimes I actually miss not owning a television anymore.read more »

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