Public radio comedian in spat over vaccinations

What makes for lousy comedy? The vaccine debate, which pits people with scientific evidence against those who ignore it.

Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me’s Peter Sagal found himself in a Twitter spat today following the weekend appearance by Alicia Silverstone, who wrote in her recent parenting book, “There is increasing anecdotal evidence from doctors who have gotten distressed phone calls from parents claiming their child was ‘never the same’ after receiving a vaccine.”

That brought out a rebuke from Colin Meloy, the lead singer for “The Decemberists.”

Sagal was up to the challenge.

But Meloy countered, saying the anti-vaccine crowd deserves the muting that Sagal said the head of the National Rifle Association should suffer.

Sagal ended the conversation with a head pat.

Related: Delaying Vaccines Increases Risks—with No Added Benefits (Scientific American).