Join us next Wednesday for more very special episodes like this, as US Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will be back on the Hill to hear from other components of the Legislative Branch. Republicans, unfortunately, love the guy. This means he’s still successfully bridging the widening gap between MAHA and MAGA, and is on board with the White House demand to tone down the anti-vax stuff until the midterms. Democrats, meanwhile, want to elicit the magic amount of crazy that will stick for those watching. Despite Kennedy obliging with plenty of outrageous statements, including outright lies about vaccines, he has not achieved escape velocity for turning viewer outrage into action. Jessica Malaty Rivera, MS and I think it’s worth documenting, even if it doesn’t have an immediate impact.
Even if Kennedy’s position appears secure for now, it won’t necessarily stay that way. Kennedy is a true believer in a cult of his own creation, but he may not always be its leader. If he doesn’t placate both MAHA and MAGA, whose interests are sometimes non-negotiably opposed, he risks his position. He doesn’t want to go back to just being the Sinatra of the Anti-Vax Pack. He only killed 83 kids in Samoa. He wants to do that to the world, and scaling is a lot easier if you are in charge of all the health of America. He is a delusional narcissist and psychopath who wants to be in charge of everything so he can do whatever weirdo serial killer red flag shit he does in addition to his hobby of performing primitive field necropsies on any animal carcass he happens to spot while on vacation with his children.
He might not be in political death throes just yet, but he is on shaky ground. He’s very skilled at embedding anti-vax doublespeak in everything he says, though, so it’s not even that much of a barrier to not talk proactively about how much he hates vaccines. He doesn’t need to use external policies to ban or limit vaccines directly; he can just pull a bunch of boring administrative levers that nobody wants to hear about and quietly reduce access that way. Enough bureaucratic obstruction has the same effect as a ban.
By continuing to draw attention to the many deceptive and treacherous ways Kennedy is hurting us, and his ambitions to hurt and kill at an even grander scale, perhaps we might eventually accumulate a critical mass that might do something about it. For example, voters could elect representatives in the midterms who might actually take action against Kennedy and/or Trump. Enough bad press could also compel the Trump administration to cut Kennedy loose and hire someone actually qualified. It’s free to bitch on many public platforms, whether you pay or not. It’s free to call your representatives or just pass reliable, truthful, easy to understand information on to your friends and family.
We’re here to try to help provide something you can pass on. We’re really grateful to those of you who have been joining us. Let us know what you think and we’ll see you next week for more of Bobby Morbillivirus and the Loss of Elimination Status denial tour.
Thank you Elizabeth Ginexi, Chris Rogers, Ziggy, John Flack, Christine, and many others for tuning in to TAKING SHOTS with me and Jessica Malaty Rivera, MS! Join us next Wednesday for Kennedy’s next visit to answer to our representatives for his masters’ catastrophic failure to serve the American people and betrayal of our country.
