#RFK Jr.

[deadpresidents]

"Somehow disruption doesn't begin to cover it. Upheaval might be closer. Revolution maybe. In less than two weeks since being elected again, Donald J. Trump has embarked on a new campaign to shatter the institutions of Washington as no incoming President has in his lifetime.

He has rolled a giant grenade into the middle of the nation's capital and watched with mischievous glee to see who runs away and who throws themselves on it. Suffice it to say, so far there have been more of the former than the latter. Mr. Trump has said that 'real power' is the ability to engender fear, and he seems to have achieved that.

Mr. Trump's early transition moves amount to a generational stress test for the system. If Republicans bow to his demand to recess the Senate so that he can install appointees without confirmation, it would rewrite the balance of power established by the Founders more than two centuries ago. And if he gets his way on selections for some of the most important posts in government, he would put in place loyalists intent on blowing up the very departments they would lead.

He has chosen a bomb-throwing backbench congressman who has spent his career attacking fellow Republicans and fending off sex-and-drugs allegations to run the same Justice Department that investigated him, though it did not charge him, on suspicion of trafficking underage girls. He has chosen a conspiracy theorist with no medical training who disparages the foundations of conventional health care to run the Department of Health and Human Services.

He has chosen a weekend morning television host with a history of defending convicted war criminals while sporting a Christian Crusader tattoo that has been adopted as a symbol by the far right to run the most powerful armed forces in the history of the world. He has chosen a former congresswoman who has defended Middle East dictators and echoed positions favored by Russia to oversee the nation's intelligence agencies.

Nine years after Mr. Trump began upsetting political norms, it may be easy to underestimate just how extraordinary all of this is. In the past, none of those selections would have passed muster in Washington, where a failure to pay employment taxes for a nanny used to be enough to disqualify a cabinet nominee. Mr. Trump, by contrast, has bulled past the old red lines, opting for nominees who are so provocative that even fellow Republicans wondered whether he is trolling them.

The message to Washington is simple, according to Roger Stone, the longtime Trump friend who relishes his own reputation as a political dirty trickster. 'Things are going to be different,' he said by text."

-- Peter Baker, "Trump Signals a 'Seismic Shift,' Shocking the Washington Establishment,' The New York Times, November 17, 2024.

Here's another incisive article about President-elect Donald Trump's transition and his frightening Cabinet nominees, who are abnormal even for Trump and the personality cult that has been built around him since 2015. For the past quarter-century, Peter Baker has been one of the very best, most level-headed analysts of the contemporary American Presidency, and he seems be stunned by the direction the incoming Trump Administration is already heading. Once again, all of these links are gift links to bypass the New York Times paywall so that you may read and share these important pieces and remain alert to the very real consequences of the 2024 election which are already taking shape.

[culturevulturette]

Heaven forfend!

[tomorrowusa]

The US doesn't need a quack and conspiracy nut like RFK Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services at a time like this.

All these articles from reality-based sources were published in the past 48 hours.

America’s first bird flu death reported in Louisiana

Norovirus on the Rise

What you need to know about HMPV as China sees rise in cases

RSV hasn't gone away.

How RSV Spreads

The COVID-19 emergency is over but that doesn't mean COVID-19 has disappeared.

COVID Map Update Reveals US Cases at Christmas

Get whatever vaccinations and boosters you can before January 20th. In the meantime, contact your US senator and express your opposition to putting a science denier like RFK Jr. in charge of America's health.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. walked into his Senate confirmation hearing like a man stepping onto an ice rink wearing banana peels for shoes. He had one job: convince the world that he was not a bug-eyed conspiracy theorist who once hoarded a whale head and left a bear carcass in Central Park. Instead, he walked out as the leading cause of migraines among Democratic senators.

This was supposed to be his moment of redemption, his big I’m-not-actually-insane speech. Instead, it turned into a political demolition derby featuring protesters screaming that he was a liar and a killer, Bernie Sanders interrogating him about baby clothes, Elizabeth Warren asking if he planned to run HHS like a side hustle, and a surreal moment where Kennedy had to confirm that he probably said Lyme disease was a military bioweapon. By the end of the day, Capitol Police had forcibly removed more people from the chamber than a dive bar on St. Patrick’s Day.

Kennedy barely got through his opening statement before a woman exploded from the gallery like a jack-in-the-box filled with rage and science degrees.

“YOU LIE!” she screamed, holding up a sign that read VACCINES SAVE LIVES before being swiftly tackled and dragged out by Capitol Police.

Kennedy blinked rapidly, which is how you know he was hearing the voice of the worm that used to live in his brain whispering, Abort mission, Bobby. Abort mission.

A brief moment of peace settled over the room, and then it happened again.

“YOU'RE KILLING PEOPLE!” another protester howled, launching into a full-body rage spiral before security carried her out, legs kicking, like a screaming suitcase with opinions.

Kennedy took a deep breath and tried to regain his footing, but Senator Ron Wyden had been waiting for this moment like a prosecutor with a personal vendetta.

“Are you lying to us, Mr. Kennedy?” Wyden snapped, staring daggers at him.

Kennedy forced a nervous smile, but it came out looking like he’d just been told he had to fight a horse for a parking spot.

“That claim has been repeatedly debunked,” he said, attempting to sound reasonable despite an entire room full of people who were watching YouTube compilations of him saying the exact opposite.

Wyden wasn’t buying it.

“You signed a petition to restrict access to the COVID vaccine. Did you or did you not?”

Kennedy mumbled something about the petition being “misrepresented” as the air in the room thickened with sweat, bad decisions, and organic supplements.

Wyden was gearing up for a finishing blow when another protester detonated like a landmine.

“YOU’RE A FRAUD!” she shrieked as security dragged her away in a full-body lock.

Even the cops looked exhausted now.

Then came Bernie Sanders, a man who has not been in the mood for nonsense since 1972.

“Are you supportive of these baby onesies?” he demanded.

The room froze.

Kennedy’s brain crashed like a Windows 98 PC.

“Excuse me?”

Sanders lifted a printed-out photo of a baby bodysuit covered in anti-vaccine slogans.

“These are being sold by the Children’s Health Defense, the organization you founded.”

Kennedy looked like he had just accidentally eaten a ghost pepper and was trying to play it cool.

“I—I don’t have oversight over that organization anymore,” he mumbled.

Sanders cracked his knuckles like a man ready to fistfight a CEO and leaned in.

“Are you supportive of these onesies?”

Kennedy started sweating through his suit.

Laughter rippled through the room. A Republican senator actually covered his face.

Kennedy, now looking desperate for a fire alarm to pull, tried to pivot to his real passion: banning corn syrup.

Sanders wasn’t having it.

Then Elizabeth Warren took the mic, radiating pure prosecutorial energy.

“Will you commit to not taking money from pharmaceutical companies while serving as Secretary of Health?” she asked, in the tone of a woman who already knew the answer but was going to enjoy watching him squirm.

Kennedy grinned like a dog that just chewed up your furniture and is hoping you’ll laugh it off.

“I don’t think they’d want to give me money,” he chuckled.

Warren did not chuckle.

“Will you commit to not profiting from lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies while serving as HHS Secretary?”

Kennedy froze.

The color drained from his face.

“You’re asking me not to sue drug companies?” he said, voice rising.

“No, I’m not going to agree to that.”

Warren’s eyes gleamed like a hawk spotting a wounded rabbit.

“So you’ll be suing the same companies you’re supposed to regulate?”

Kennedy looked like he wanted to melt into his chair.

Then came Michael Bennet, a man who had been waiting patiently to drop a grenade into Kennedy’s lap.

"Did you say that Lyme disease was a militarily engineered bioweapon?” Bennet asked, deadpan.

Kennedy hesitated.

“I probably said that.”

The audience gasped.

Bennet cocked an eyebrow.

“Did you say that pesticides turn children transgender?”

Kennedy turned bone white.

“I don’t recall saying that.”

Bennet’s lip twitched.

“But you do recall saying Lyme disease was a bioweapon?”

Kennedy looked like he had been hit by a tranquilizer dart.

Even the Republican senators were staring at their desks, avoiding eye contact.

The hearing finally adjourned, but Kennedy is not in the clear yet.

His next grilling is scheduled for tomorrow, and there’s no telling how much worse it can get.

His opponents smell blood. His supporters are already crafting conspiracy theories about the deep state.

And if the vote ends in a deadlock, Vice President JD Vance will cast the deciding vote.

Yes, JD Vance—the political equivalent of a wet cardboard box—will determine if a man once partially controlled by a brain parasite will run America’s health system.

The nation waits in suspense. Pass the whiskey.

[Fear and Loathing]

[thingstrumperssay]

Well, that didn't take long.

[mudwerks]

(via RFK Jr. Says Doctors Found a Dead Worm in His Brain - The New York Times)

The presidential candidate has faced previously undisclosed health issues, including a parasite that he said ate part of his brain.

no words

[idvoteforthatdaddy]

RFK Jr. and Ted Cruz

I can work with RFK, looks wises, but that voice… I don't know.

Throw in Ted and could tolerate it.

[bitchesgetriches]

Well here we are, fam. The 2024 presidential election has happened and the outcome was not great.

We took some time to be angry. To be scared. To grieve. We checked in on our community and practiced some highly necessary self-care. Then we spent several cathartic hours scrolling through r/LeopardsAteMyFace. We hope you did too.

Now we’re ready for the next step. For we have chosen to stay and fight. Part of that means embracing our calling as your beloved yet humble Bitches—your opinionated internet aunties—by sharing ideas on how we can prepare to weather the coming storm.

It might not be much of a storm! Could be anywhere from a little light rain to a Category 5 hurricane. But it’s our belief that you should prepare for the worst in such a way that even in the best case scenario, you’ll still end up better off.

This guide includes some instructions specific to a second Trump administration (three words I gag even writing). But some of it is just good practice no matter what happens.

Keep reading.

[deadpresidents]

Thoughts on RFK Jr.'s claim about a worm found in his brain?

A worm that ate part of his brain and then died in his head sure would explain a lot of the goofy shit he believes. Even in a campaign featuring Donald Trump, RFK Jr. was at the top of my list of "Dudes Who Literally Had a Worm That Ate Their Brain".

Between RFK Jr. talking about having a brain-eating parasite and Kristi Noem weirdly sharing that she killed her dog, we've had some unique campaign strategies in the past couple of weeks.

(By the way, some headline editor for the New York Times had the opportunity to earnestly write "RFK Jr. Says Doctors Found a Dead Worm in His Brain" and press *publish* today. Incredible.)

[ivovynckier]

For years, the Democrats were accused of "wanting to take your guns".

When Obamacare is gone and with RFK on the Health Dept., don't the Republicans intend to take your gums?

[tomorrowusa]

A colleague of anti-vaxxing extremist RFK Jr. named Aaron Siri has asked the FDA to revoke approval for the 1950s polio vaccine which has likely prevented millions of Americans from getting polio.

In the years before the vaccine, many people were paralyzed or even killed by the virus. President Franklin Roosevelt, afflicted at age 39 in 1921, is probably the most famous victim of the disease.

RFK Jr. and his wacko conspiracy buddies aren't content just to bring back polio. They are also eager to take away your tetanus, diphtheria, and hepatitis A vaccines.

RFJ Jr. is just one of the dangerously unqualified nominees Donald Trump has put forth. If you wanted to destroy America, you could not find more evil people to put in high level positions to accomplish that.

On a practical note, make sure you are caught up with all your immunizations by January 20th. And if you don't live too far from Canada or Mexico, make sure you have a US passport card so that you can easily hop across the border to get vaccines if another Trump pandemic threatens the US.

–––––

Wanna know how bad polio is?

Paul Alexander contracted polio when he was 8, just before the polio vaccine became available. His infection was about the worst case of polio you can get without dying. He died early this year but spent most of the past 70 years encased in what is known as an iron lung.

‘Polio Paul,’ who spent most of the past 70 years in an iron lung, dies at 78

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

[Cartoons by Steve Brodner]

* * * *

The confirmation hearings of Robert Kennedy, Kash Patel, and Tulsi Gabbard

The confirmation hearings of the three worst Trump nominees took place simultaneously on Thursday—a scheduling ploy designed to overwhelm the attention span of most Americans and the news media.

The hearings shared some common themes that should be disqualifying for each of the nominees.

The nominees lied in response to the questioning.

Everyone in the Senate hearing rooms knew that the nominees were lying—including the nominees themselves. The lies flew fast and furiously.

Kash Patel lied about not knowing that the “J6 Prison Choir” was composed of felons convicted for assaulting the Capitol on January 6—even though Kash Patel is listed as a “producer” on the album of the J6 Prison Choir singing “Justice for All.” See Rolling Stone, Kash Patel's FBI Confirmation Hearing: Key Moments.

Robert Kennedy denied saying, “No vaccine is safe and effective.” See Fact Check.org, Kennedy Repeats False and Misleading Claims in Confirmation Hearing - FactCheck.org. When confronted with a transcript of his remarks saying, “No vaccine is safe and effective,” Kennedy claimed that he had been cut-off by the interviewer and was going to issue a qualification to the statement. However, in later interviews about the statement, Kennedy did not proffer the alleged mental reservation that he failed to express during the original interview.

Tulsi Gabbard claimed “she came under T.S.A. scrutiny for criticizing Kamala Harris, when in fact it was because of Gabbard’s meeting with someone on an F.B.I. terrorist watchlist.” See NYTimes, The Best and Worst Moments From the Tulsi Gabbard Hearing.

The nominees refused to answer damning questions.

Kash Patel refused to answer questions about his pledge to shut down the FBI’s headquarter building on “day one” and re-open it the next day as a “museum to the deep state.” See The New Republic, Trump’s FBI Pick Refuses to Answer Perhaps the Biggest Question of All.

Robert Kennedy refused to answer a question about whether he believed that vaccines cause autism. See STAT, At confirmation hearing, RFK Jr. refuses to say that vaccines don’t cause autism.

Tulsi Gabbard refused to say whether she believes that Edward Snowden is a traitor for stealing and releasing national defense secrets and fleeing to Russia for protection. See Axios, Tulsi Gabbard refuses to call Edward Snowden a “traitor”

The nominees are unqualified without regard to their answers in the confirmation hearings

None of the nominees have the requisite experience to serve in the positions for which they have been nominated. Robert Kennedy has no medical training or management experience; Tulsi Gabbard has no experience in the intelligence community (although she did serve on the House Homeland Security Committee for two years); and Kash Patel has no law enforcement or management experience that would qualify him to run the FBI.

In truth, each of the candidates has been nominated by Trump because of their past statements indicating that they would dismantle, undermine, or otherwise neuter the very agencies they have been nominated to lead. The nominees are part of Trump's revenge tour to punish the intelligence community for investigating his ties to Russia and the science community for opposing his promotion of fake cures for Covid.

No Democrats will support any of the three candidates. The fate of the intelligence community, the health and science communities, and the safety and security of the American people are in the hands of a few weak-willed Republican Senators. Jessica Craven at Chop Wood Carry Water has word scripts and contact information to contact Senators. See Chop Wood, Carry Water 1/29 - by Jessica Craven. Reach out on Friday if you can. Time is short, and the stakes are high.

Short notes.

The DOJ has removed a publicly available database that listed all 1,600 January 6 defendants and the charges against them. The deletion of the database by the DOJ appears to violate federal law, according to a letter sent by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) to the National Archivist. See CREW, Deletion of Jan 6 charges database appears to violate the law.

Jeff Bezos has apparently ordered Amazon to increase its advertising spending on Elon Musk’s revenue-challenged Twitter platform. See WSJ, Exclusive | Amazon Raises Its Ad Spending on Elon Musk’s X, in Major Reversal.

Elon Musk is using a dark money advocacy group to oppose a bill in Utah that would protect existing discounts offered by Big Pharma for certain classes of drugs. See Salt Lake Tribune, An Elon Musk-funded dark group is attacking a Utah bill to protect drug discounts.

CBS appears to be in talks to settle a suit by Trump arising out of his complaints that CBS 60 Minutes interfered in the election by selectively editing an interview with Kamala Harris. CBS’s parent, Paramount, is apparently considering obeying in advance in order to obtain regulatory approval for a prospective acquisition. See NYTimes, Paramount in Settlement Talks With Trump Over ‘60 Minutes’ Lawsuit.

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[tedkennedyswife]

''Ted and Joan Kennedy and their three children share Christmas '78 with Ethel and nine of her eleven children''

[may-odaigahara]

third party voters in America are some of the stupidest people alive

[bitchesgetriches]

Hi there Bitches,

I would like some advice and maybe some hope, if you have some to spare.

I live in a state with a political climate that is quickly becoming unsafe for my family.

We have a mortgage with a very good interest rate that's less than five years old, and there are many major problems with the house (think structural) that it seems like we would need to fix before selling, or else accept an offer that is less than what we owe. On top of that, other recent emergencies wiped out a lot of our cash. We don't make a lot of money, so it's incredible we have been doing so well for ourselves until now. How do we decide what to prioritize?

Thinking rationally, it seems like our idea of moving to a blue (AKA more expensive) state is the wrong financial decision by every metric, but I'm worried that not moving could be dangerous. What would you do to take care of your family?

Despite everything, I'm surprised to say I DO have some hope to spare. "Where there is life, there is hope," and all that. But also... there are so many ferociously determined, good and decent people out here committed to fighting to protect families like yours. The fight isn't over. And you have allies.

To that end, I hope you'll read our guide to getting through Project 2025, particularly the section on how to protect yourself physically. Also, here's a podcast episode we recorded about people in exactly your situation. Admittedly, Trump wasn't in office at the time we recorded it, but I think the advice still holds true.

In sum: find your community. Even in the deepest red states, there are pockets of progressives and allies. Lean on each other, band together, and build your numbers. Some of the most staunch and effective progressive activists I know live in deep-red Utah and Tennessee. Before giving up on everything you've built, look to your nearby allies for mutual protection.

How To Protect Yourself Against Project 2025 

Season 4, Episode 8: "I’m Queer, and Want To Find an Affordable Place To Retire. How Do I Balance Safety With Cost of Living?" 

Did we just help you out? Say thanks on Patreon!