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| Gietzen. Couldn't find a picture that was for sure a picture of the correct Jonathan Hall. |
Part of the reason why they were successful, was the unconditional and deluded support of Mark Gietzen, president of the Kansas Republican Assembly, who applauded the idea of spreading the word: “Since I am connected to the National Federation of Republican Assemblies. I’m going to try to make fluoride one of our core issues,” said Gietzen, who also likened fluoride to lead and asbestos: “Things that we thought were right back then maybe were not such a good idea after all. That’s where we are with fluoride.” Which is false, but we don’t suppose Gietzen or Hall would be anywhere close to a position to assess the facts or evidence: “[T]he latest science confirms that ingested fluoride lowers the IQ in children,” said Gietzen but didn’t cite any science.
Gietzen is otherwise best known as a prolife activist and the chairman of the Kansas Coalition for Life. One of their major projects was to place crosses each day on public property in front of George Tiller’s late-term abortion facility in Wichita, and they claimed to have saved 395 babies to date. He is also the author of Is it a Sin for a Christian to Be a Registered Democrat in America Today?
Diagnosis: Anti-fluoride scare mongering is really as crazy as anything, and though it may seem like a blast from the past to many, it’s still going strong. Hall and Gietzen are dangerous – but more importantly, they’re tragic figures: Think how much good they could have achieved if they’d devoted their energy to actually helping people.