Trouble for RFK, Jr. (And Donald Trump. And maybe us.)
The addled antivaxx Kennedy scion gets confirmed or derailed as HHS secretary this week, when bird flu is killing the only thing besides porn that draws more internet traffic than Donald Trump.
Table the constitutional crisis for a second. Everybody gets a clothespin. You get a clothespin! She gets a clothespin. He gets a clothespin. They them get clothespins!
Clamp that clothespin around either side of your nose and release your grip, because it’s time to hold our noses for longer stretches than we knew possible, so we reach out to our adversaries with more sincerity than has historically been possible. Dare I say: we need to find some Republican senators willing to help Donald Trump. Help him save face by derailing his most self-destructive cabinet nomination, which is saying a lot given what we’ve seen so far. That's RFK Jr., who Trump has nominated to be secretary of Health and Human Services.
Only one cabinet nominee has the leverage in terms of fame, name recognition, and expertise in attention-pulling to outdo President Donald twice-impeached Trump. Donald Trump, the third-highest internet draw of our time. (The first and second highest being pornography and cats, respectively.)
I’ve been watching Trump and COVID for a long time. And I’m telling you: when he pays lip service to the antivaxxers, evidence shows he does so because they attained sufficient political capital to nudge his hand. Seriously. President Trump was actually proud of the COVID vaccine that came out on his watch. He had very little to do with Operation Warp Speed, but he boasted of the results. As I noted in past newsletters, Trump incurred boos promoting the COVID vaccine while campaigning for his ultimately failed bid for his re-election to the White House, a bid he lost to Joe Biden.
But President Trump probably doesn’t want to look like a loser. So he’s pulling his best meme moves to bolster his success rate on cabinet confirmations.
Feb 12 Donald Trump wants to release the remaining classified JFK assassination records. Here is why it's happening now (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) - “The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also confirmed on Tuesday that it found around 2,400 new, inventoried and digitised documents related to JFK's assassination, which it is now transferring to the US National Archives and Records Administration. It comes after Mr Trump signed an executive order on January 23, authorising the creation of a plan by February 8 on how the new US administration should publicly declassify the records.”
We need to help the senate Republicans help our twice-impeached president. Because bird flu, the virus, is mutating, infecting a Nevada dairy worker this week with a new strain. And bird flu, the crisis, is spiking monetary inflation. It’s spiking beef prices. Egg prices. It spurred a cat food recall, since cat food is apparently manufactured from raw bird meat. It’s killing tigers at the zoo and Mr. Tuxedo Paws in your back yard who keeps rats away and the birdsong at a distance.
Managing and containing this virus takes someone with an array of abilities, many of which RFK Jr. lacks. Granted, until now, I thought for RFK Jr. to have gotten this far, even with the assist of his family name, shows he’s clever. And until this week, last night, I thought maybe he could contain his own lies. But lying requires a lot of keeping track, in your head, about what lies you’ve told. And that drains mental power from managing what actually happened, because it keeps one so occupied on what one said had happened.
This is not a full-deck Kennedy.
I have to confess something, like I have in the past. I created these icons to label disinformation and misinformation, and last year RFK Jr. broke my schema. I immediately needed a new icon for “baseless declaration rewarded with headline.” I had a file labeled “RFK Jr. says” just for clips of him saying something that wasn’t backed up in reality.
It’s weird. RFK Jr. throws into relief how Donald Trump is a see-what-sticks speaker whereas RFK Jr. is more of a sloppy fabricator.
Senator Patty Murray held a private conversation with RFK Jr. which was only reported last night. Which is strange, since the conversation took place on January 15th. But it’s illuminating:
Feb 10 Washington state’s senior U.S. senator: RFK Jr. meeting was her most troubling in 32 years (Oregonian) - “Among the claims Kennedy made, according to Murray: He said 99% of COVID deaths were in people who were vitamin D deficient; he said we ‘haven’t done safety studies on vaccines’; and he said ‘there is an entire generation of damaged children.’ ‘I’m looking at him and as I challenge him, he doesn’t flinch, he just leaned into all of these outrageous claims,’ Murray said.”
RFK Jr. can’t seem to keep his vaccine lies under control when courting votes from Democrat senators.
But Donald Trump prides himself on his ability to manage the economy. And this RFK Jr. confirmation, if it goes through in our time of bird flu (which is also cow flu, cat flu, catfood flu and cat-owning human flu,) will sink him on that front faster than anything.
Feb 12 Inflation Was 3% In January Worse Than Expected As Egg Prices Soared 15% (Forbes) - “Inflation was higher than anticipated in January, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index report released Wednesday morning, with one grocery item contributing noticeably to higher prices, causing stocks to decline considerably.”
Feb 12 Stock Market Today: Dow, S&P 500 Fall After Inflation Hits 3% (Wall Street Journal) - The first inflation readout for 2025 is rattling investors.
Feb 11 VIDEO: Egg prices skyrocket to record levels due to the bird flu (Wisconsin State Journal) -
Feb 02 Pro-RFK Jr. letter to the Senate includes names of doctors whose licenses were revoked or suspended (WJTV CBS 12 Jackson MS) -
Feb 05 Waffle House adds 50 cents per egg surcharge amid shortages, rising prices (CBS News) -
Feb 11 Trader Joe's, other retailers limiting how many eggs people can buy amid shortage (Reno Gazette-Journal) -
Feb 10 NC Ag is watching RFK Jr.s confirmation vote this week for challenges and opportunities (Carolina Journal | NC) - “The President has announced that for every regulation that his administration puts out, they will have to get rid of the ten rules, so that’s going to be very interesting to watch something, concluded Russell. You’re going to see a lot of folks finally on energy and unleashing Americas oil and natural gas. I think that’ll be a good thing for America.”
Feb 10 RFK Jr. HHS Confirmation Live Updates: Sen. Susan Collins Says She’ll Support Kennedy (Forbes) -
Feb 07 'Very expensive eggs': Some Boston-area restaurants feel effects of bird flu on egg supplies (WBUR-FM Public Radio Boston) - “When its usual vendors ran dry, Bissanti said Veggie Galaxy had no choice but to call upon and shell out to other businesses. ‘We were able to secure some eggs,’ Bissanti said. ‘Very expensive eggs, but they were eggs.’”
Feb 07 It's like 'dead birds flying': How bird flu is spreading in the wild (WUSF 89.7-FM Florida Public Radio) - “A little over a year ago, Marcela Uhart was walking on the beach in Punta Delgada, Argentina. ‘This time it was silent,’ recalls Uhart. ‘The beaches were just loaded with carcasses.’”
Feb 07 Weekly CDC report returns, omits bird flu studies (WSFA NBC 12 Montgomery AL) - “(CNN) — “The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention published its weekly research report Thursday, the first time since President Donald Trump took office. However, three studies about H5N1 bird flu were missing from the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.’”
Feb 04 Opinion: I’m a pediatrician. When parents attack me for suggesting vaccines, I fume at RFK Jr. (MSNBC) -
Feb 11 New strain of bird flu is detected in a Nevada dairy worker, CDC says (The Detroit News) -
Jan 15 Cat deaths linked to bird flu-contaminated raw pet food, sparking voluntary recall | Feline susceptibility to H5N1 a cause for vigilance (American Veterinary Medical Association) -
Dec 20 2021 Trump met with boos after revealing he received Covid-19 booster (CNN) - This event was in Dallas.
Aug 22 2021 Trump booed at Alabama rally after telling supporters to get vaccinated | "But I recommend take the vaccines," Trump said. "I did it. It's good. Take the vaccines."(NBC News) -
