> To wit: he says that the mRNA cancer vaccines are a scientific dead end, that the existing mRNA vaccines' research can be funded by industry, there are good alternatives, and that the technology has been tainted in the public mind. Therefore he supports de-prioritizing the research.

> None of these arguments can be characterized as "wants to defund mRNA research".

If I said "paying our mortgage is a dead-end, someone else can fund it, there are good alternatives to paying it, and therefore I'm de-prioritizing paying it"…

Would "I'm defunding our mortgage" be a substantially accurate summary of my position? (Yes.)

I’d characterize it as someone who wants to defund mRNA research, because that’s literally what you said he wants to do.

But I’m not a fascist trying to justify the total destruction of the CDC anti-vaxxer dipshits.

I posted evidence: there was a Wall-Street Journal editorial calling Prasad a liberal

That answer doesn't make a whole lot of sense, because I was asking you about a reaction to someone else's claim.

That's the weirdest way of saying "you defend your argument" that I think I've ever seen. Thanks?

It's not a compliment. Axe-grinding doesn't make for good discussion, and you seem far more reliant on rhetoric than would be needed if you just explained your point of view up front. It's getting into sealioning territory.

You're quoting this like it's some kind of indictment, but...it isn't controversial. There's nothing there that's surprising, and it's why he was hired into the role. Nobody is trying to memory-hole this.

Prasad is not "anti-vaccine". He's been explicit that he thinks the Covid vaccine was approved for children without sufficient evidence [1]; he thinks that healthy children don't need it, that there's a documented side-effect that may abrogate any positive effect from vaccination [2]; that some of the vaccines on the childhood schedule are excessive [3]; and that ACIP has historically done a very poor job of reviewing vaccines.

You can have legitimate debates over any of these points, but they're not wacko "anti-science" conspiracy theories that remove a person from polite society.

[1] Because it was. It was a joke of an approval, based on extremely weak surrogate endpoints (i.e. antibody titre)

[2] Myocarditis, particularly in boys. This is just a fact.

[3] I actually don't know which ones he thinks are excessive, but you'll note that he says children should get the MMR vaccine.

You used the term SF liberal. That implies democratic party affiliation.

Neither the strings "liberal" or "democr" appear in the article you linked. The word "conservatives" appears once, and it is in the context of the dude aligning himself with conservatives...

If your friend is a devout evangelical, maybe he'll reconsider his opinion about immigration if you direct him towards what the Bible says about immigrants and foreigners.

https://saintmarks.org/justice/renewing-our-covenant/what-do...

Every time a person says they voted to oppose their least favorite party, we should all remember that first-past-the-post voting is the main reason we have a hyper-polarized two party system.

Your friend might have found another party than the Trump party to support tighter immigration and better healthcare policy. Instead, we have millions of people who will vote to destroy democracy rather than vote for someone who supports abortion or permitting trans people to exist.

> effectively religious and conservative

Your friend should have stuck to his guns, because that old saw is masking the truth: new migrants who become eligible to vote, and their birthright citizen children, overwhelmingly and reliably vote Democrat. And why wouldn't they? They perceive Democrats are who let them in and Democrats give them the entitlements they disproportionately depend on.

It is chicanery to pretend otherwise. It's also a brilliant plan and I congratulate the DNC on the long play. It works out great for their donors as well, as immigration tends to drive down labor costs for things like construction and agriculture.