Robert Kennedy Jr.

RFK, Jr. promotes quack medical remedies

by Dave

It sad, unfortunate and unnecessary. The measles epidemic in Texas is deadly serious. Robert Kennedy, Jr. was the chairman of the Children’s Health Defense from 2015 to 2022. It is a radical fringe organization against approval of many vaccines, including the Covid-19 vaccines. They have filed many lawsuits against mandatory vaccines for children.

The outbreak of measles occur in communities near Lubbock, Texas where the percentage of unvaccinated residents is high. The Mennonite population is reluctant to be vaccinated. This seems to be the principal reason for the outbreak. Measles can be severe if the individual is malnourished. The Mennonites generally do not eat processed food, hence their diet is notably very healthy.

We have proven vaccinations against measles. “I’m very concerned about the messaging that’s coming out,” said Dr. Jeffrey Kahn, chief of infectious diseases at Children’s Health in Dallas. “It’s somewhat baffling to me that we’re relitigating the effectiveness of vaccines and alternative therapies. We know how to handle measles. We’ve had six decades of experience.”

So, Robert Kennedy, Jr. is the last person that should head the Health and Human Services in the US government. It is true that measles is rarely fatal and the fatality rate is one to three for every 1,000 people infected. Of the approximately 300 people infected in Texas, one unvaccinated child has died. I think that’s one too many.

In the past, Robert Kennedy has promoted false information that vaccines are dangerous and can cause autism and that unconventional remedies such as cod liver oil and Vitamin A are effective.

Robert Kennedy, Jr. stated:

“While there is no approved antiviral for those who may be infected, CDC has recently updated their recommendation supporting administration of vitamin A under the supervision of a physician for those with mild, moderate, and severe infection. Studies have found that vitamin A can dramatically reduce measles mortality.”

There is nothing more powerful to persuade vaccine hesitant people to refuse to be vaccinate, than to suggest they can simply take an ordinary over-the-counter supplement. It is especially bad when they also refuse to vaccinate their children.

Vitamin A does not prevent measles and can be harmful to children in large or prolonged doses, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. It has been shown to decrease the severity of measles infections in developing countries among patients who are malnourished and vitamin A deficient, a rare occurrence in the United States.

The community health experts are doing an excellent job of correcting misinformation and giving parents good reasons to vaccinate their children as the first line of defense against a disease that can result in death. Unfortunately, they must contend with a steady stream of misinformation coming from fringe groups, and supported by the Secretary of Health and Human Services Department, that vitamin supplements are effective remedies and there is nothing unusual about a measle outbreak in their community.

Stay tuned,

Dave

Links:

Daily Beast RFK, Jr. asks quack cure activist for help with deadly measles outbreak

New York Times: Kennedy Links Measles Outbreak to Poor Diet and Health, Citing Fringe Theories

AP, West Texans, Mennonites at center of measles outbreak choose medical freedom over vaccine mandates

Wikipedia, Children’s Health Defense

Reuters, Doctors push back as parents embrace Kennedy and vitamin A in Texas measles outbreak

RFK, Jr. – Can you do the hustle?

by Dave

Some things you just can’t make up! I wrote about RFJ, Jr. in 2023:

Robert Kennedy, Jr.

Everything I said then, is even more true. He is intelligent and intense, but somehow his brain got locked into giant conspiracy theories, mixed in with an attack on all vaccines. But, he fell into the deep sink hole of connecting dots that really don’t exist.

He should be with other climate activists, promoting a more green planet and working for our transition to renewable fuels. You won’t see RFK, Jr. at any Earth Day celebrations.

https://www.rescue.org/uk/article/12-climate-activists-inspiring-us-fight-climate-change

He’s busy podcasting deep state conspiracies. Here is an excerpt from his 2020 book. “The deep state is real… The real power behind the curtain is a conglomeration of corporations, coal, oil, chemical, steel, and pharmaceutical – recently joined by telecom, Big Tech/ Big Data.”

Wow. The “Big Everything Conspiracy.” Seem to work for Trump, who wants everyone to believe that the Biden administration can manipulate the FBI and Justice Department, and our entire legal system, including municipal and State district attorneys grand juries and trial juries, to indict him on election interference, illegal possession of classified documents, hush money payments and defamation.

RFK, Jr. can talk all he wants about how government caters to the corporate elites as long as it is confined to the Democrats. He can do the Steve Bannon hustle all he wants. Just keep repeating “Biden-Harris” as the culprits. Never the Republicans.
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Of course, Trump and the Republican Party is and has been in his prior term very supportive of the coal and oil industry. Trump’s cabinet was a gift to the fossil fuels industry. And of course, the cabinet couldn’t care less about carbon emissions, and tried to downplay the effects, like increased forest fires in California.

Trump’s first Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, had been the CEO of Exxon-Mobil for 10 years. Trump’s first Secretary of Energy was Rick Perry, who had been Governor of Texas for 15 years, who supported the US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Change Accords.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry (per the NY Times)

Energy secretary, Mr. Perry oversaw a sharp increase in the production of fossil fuels, particularly liquefied natural gas, and promoted it with a patriotic fervor — even dubbing the fossil fuel “freedom gas” and likening its export to Europe to the United States efforts to liberate the continent during World War II.

“The United States is again delivering a form of freedom to the European continent,” Mr. Perry told reporters in Brussels in May, according to Euractiv.com. “And rather than in the form of young American soldiers,” Mr. Perry said, “it’s in the form of liquefied natural gas.”

Rick Perry became entangled in the Ukraine scandal, and many feel this was the reason for his early departure from the Trump administration.

Ryan Zinke, Trump’s Secretary of Interior, is usually a champion of protected our national parks. Zinke went just opposite way, and wanted to shrink the size of some of the mid-western parks. Per Wikipedia,

In August 2018, Zinke said that “environmental terrorist groups” were to blame for the wildfires in California, and that they had “nothing to do with climate change”. Fire scientists and forestry experts rejected that claim, attributing the increasingly destructive wildfires to heat and drought caused by climate change.[134] Later that month, Zinke walked back some of his earlier remarks, acknowledging that climate change played a part in the fires.[135] He also said that preventing removal of dead trees has increased the amount of flammable material and hurt timber salvaging.[136]

Worse of all, came from the Environmental Protection Agency, under the leadership (attack dog) of Scott Pruitt, who was able to rolled back as many of the environmental programs as possible, including regulations designed to keep pesticides out of our drinking waters, in the name of cutting bureaucratic red tape and saving taxpayer money. The Biden administration restored many of these programs.

See NY Times article: The Trump Administration Rolled Back More Than 100 Environmental Rules. Here’s the Full List.

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RFK Jr. had his chance to work with climate change activists years ago. He latched onto the anti-vaxxers and their misinformation campaign, through the Children’s Health Defense organization.

Wikipedia states: Children’s Health Defense (CHD) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit activist group mainly known for anti-vaccine disinformation, and which has been called one of the main sources of misinformation on vaccines.

Children’s Health Defense

CHD is on track to sue more media organizations than Trump including Facebook, BBC, AP and Reuters for censorship of their views. Like Trump’s lawsuits, when they lose the case, they appeal the decision.

It is all part of the political hustle. I really feel badly for parents who bought into all RFK Jr. rhetoric and have not vaccinated their children. Right now, the parents in the embattled Gaza strip are begging for polio vaccines for their children. The polio virus is a monster, but the vaccine works.

Part of Harris’ campaign is “We are not going back!” She’s right.

Stay tuned,

Dave

Robert Kennedy, Jr.

by Dave

Robert Kennedy, Jr. has never run for any office. I hope people do not vote for him. I’ve seen him several times on Fox News. I guess Fox believes he will pull votes away from Joe Biden.

He just seems always to go off the deep end on issues and would make a terrible president. He is an environmental activist, which I like. I don’t think he would be effective at reducing global carbon emissions, because this requires building coalitions with other countries. I don’t see him quietly negotiating agreements with other countries, as he is too much of a rogue adversary.

On so many issues, he gets off the tracks in big conspiracy themes. He is reckless. You can’t have a president who is constantly attacking government. In some ways, it is a bit like Trump, who would dismember the FBI and Justice Department, if he could. Kennedy would take action against the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency, in his extreme viewpoint that they are colluding with “Big Pharma” and “Big Oil.” At the center of his conspiracy rants, is the big corporations have destroyed our institutions. From Wikipedia:

Kennedy has also stated that the American government is dominated by corporate power; he said the Environmental Protection Agency was run by the “oil industry, the coal industry and the pesticide industry”, and described the Food and Drug Administration as overly dominated by “Big Pharma”.[148]

I want a president who can identify what is wrong with our institutions, and improve them. Trump is hell bent on getting revenge on the Justice Department, while Kennedy would go after the EPA and FDA.

Global problems, like Russia’s invasion into Ukraine, North Korea’s aim to get nuclear weapons and climate change, require strong cooperation with our partners around the world. Kennedy is an isolationist in this regard.

An outspoken opponent of the military industry and foreign intervention, Kennedy was highly critical of the Iraq War as well as American support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion of the country.

Kennedy is an equal opportunity attacker of Republican and Democrats, President and Congress. Don’t waste your vote on him. We need realistic problem solvers. Of all the potential candidates, Joe Biden, is the only one who brings together a real team to pragmatically work with world leaders to solve global problems.

Kennedy is an extreme isolationist. He would have never supported Ukraine to defend themselves against Russia. Russia can not be allowed to redraw its boundaries one country at a time.

As I complete this post, a historical meeting between President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will take place in San Francisco. Biden will press Xi Jinping to join the US and world leaders in persuading the rogue countries like North Korea from sending weapons to Russia, to use in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The summit will be an opportunity for Biden to urge China to break their close alliance with Iran, because of their funding of Islamic terrorist organizations.

Neither Kennedy nor Trump (with 91 criminal charges against him) should be the US next president. They are big on words, but short on actual accomplishments.

Stay tuned,

Dave