There was an article I put on twitter about the connection between his voice disorder and other psychological disorders. He seems to have a thought disorder. There's only so much I can say ethically. But thought disorder is disqualifying for a president In my opinion. It's a hard job.
I adore your work.
(Apropos of nothing, did Jeff Toobin actually get bounced out of twitter for being caught masturbating during a stressful time when everyone was trying to figure out how to use Zoom? To me that's heartbreaking. 85% of people masturbate and the other 15% are liars.
When RFK JR said that Covid was engineered to be less harmful to Jews and Asians, I was sick.
However, some of his allegedly extreme claims merit investigation, not automatic condemnation
1) Re the notion that he is a conspiracy theorist: Do you mean to state that conspiracies never exist. Do you mean to assert that when Hitler said that Communists blew up the Reichstag it wasn't part of a conspriacy to blame the Comms. Do you mean to assert that the lies behind the Tonkin Gulf Resolution was not a conspiracy to get us into Vietnam. Do you mean to assert that what Trump, Guiiliani and their confederates did was not a conspiracy. A conspriacy exists when two or more people plan something illegal and then commit at least one act in furtherance of that illegal objective. Conspiracies exist all the time.
2) Vaccines have saved many lives -- and they have also killed quite a few people:
a) The first two polio vaccines were the Sabin and Salk vaccines. The Salk vaccine used dead polio viruses to induce an immune response. The Sabin vaccine used "DEACTIVATED" polio viruses. When the Sabin vaccine was first released, quite a few people became severely ill from polio because the viruses in the vials had not be sufficiiently "deactivated."
b) In 1976, Federal authorites pushed Americans to take a flu vaccine as an especially vicious flu epidemic was envisioned. The vaccine gave tens of thousands of people Gilllian Barre syndrome
c) Many people who doubed vaccines never ever disputed the basic theory of vaccines: That exposing an indiviaul to an antigen (EG,, dead polio viruses) would provode the individual to make antibodies to the bug in question. RATHER WE WERE UPSET AND WARY ABOUT THE PRESERVATIVE USED, THIMERiSOL, WHICH CONTAINS MERCURY, A NOTORIOUS NEURO-TOXIN
D) Kennedy's assettion that environmental factors may have played a role in the rise of transgenderism is entiled to examination, not ouright dismisal.
FOR YEARS, many doctors have hypothesized that biochemical changes, in the environment, are emasculating:
Evidence: Testosterone levels are going down
Gynecomastia (man tits) is on the rise
Sperm counts are fallng
Some doctors have noted that birth control pills contain estrogen and its derivartives, that the introdcuction of B controll pills poured an enormous amount of estrogen into the enviroment, and that the superfluity of estrogen is a source of massive effminization. (Many male fiish, in the Great Lakes, have become sterile in the past two decades)
E) Your attack on RFK jr did not require or entitle you to make gratuitous and hostile remarks about his other siblines, such as poor, sweet David Kennedy.
Jon is spot on. RFK JR. IS a fake. There is nothing compassionate, honest or intelligent about him. He doesn’t even know who he is because he’s had everybody glomming on to that Kennedy look his whole life. Trust me.
I find your thinking to be constrained. You don't like him because he didn't attend class as often as you and was a better skier? Free your mind if you want to live like in a real democracy.
I mentioned two stories from my limited personal connection to RFK Jr. but those are hardly the only reasons I don't like him. Did you read the rest of the piece? I didn't think so.
I would not be paying any attention to RFKJR but for these facts:
1. The Biden administration seems to be committed to staying in Ukraine forever, and certainly not to negotiating.
2. No one in public life other than RFKJR seems to be questioning the Biden policy.
3. And RFKJR is the only person in public life who is drawing attention to the industry capture of every major component of our government.
I recognize that many of RFKJR’s statements about vaccines, Covid etc. are false, whatever his reason. Show me another viable candidate who will blow the whistle on these outrages and I will shift my support.
1. The Ukraine situation is that Russia has invaded Ukraine, you idiot. We should not let up support until Russia is without any means to attack another sovereign nation ever again. Every nation is in agreement of that fact.
2. Plenty leftists do, you just don't use those channels because they don't fit your world view.
3. He used to do that, not anymore since he has been radicalized by misinformation profiteering. RFKjr. is the posterchild for astroturfing. His corporation that nets $7 million currently, Children’s Health Defense, a corporation that does nothing but spend money on bots to spread misinformation about vaccines. They are the one's responsible for giving a voice to the "leaky gut" lies and mercury-based preservatives causing autism.
RFKjr. is an anti-science snakoil salesmen and prolific liar. Has been most of his life, even while he was doing good environmentalist work in his early years.
Thanks for weighing in, Santiago. First, we are not "in" Ukraine; we have no soldiers there, which is not a minor point. Second, Biden is not committed to staying there "forever." Withdrawing support for Ukraine right now would give Putin a huge victory and send a message that "might makes right." Let's see what happens on the battlefield this summer. Many expect there will be talks by the end of the yearr.
We aren't in Ukraine? You are very disingenuous. We installed a puppett government in Ukraine in 2014. We pushed NATO to Putin's doorstep. What if Russia had sympathetic forces in Canada and Mexico? Would the US not react? This is a proxy war. This is what the military-industrial complex salivates over. This is a war between US and Russia.
"We installed a puppett government in Ukraine in 2014".
Liar.
Ukraine held a democratic vote and voted in Zelenskyy.
as Dr Vlad Mykhnenko said, "This is not just a proxy war, with NATO and the Soviets pitched against each other behind the scenes in the remote tropics as happened during the Cold War or as is currently happening in Yemen, where different Middle East factions fund the fighting done by others. This is a real war."
The industrial complex loves all war right and wrong, they make money regardless. They are citizens like you and I, and have every right in a capitalist county to profit from their war technology. Don't like it? Move to a authoritarian fascist country like China, NK or Russia where the government alone controls their industrial complex.
We did not install a puppet government, David. That is false. They held elections in Ukraine. And Russia agreed to the border in 1990. And in answer to your question of whether we would invade Canada or Mexico with claims that they don't really exist as a country, that their Jewish leader is a Nazi--and kill thousands of innocent people--well, I sure as hell hope not. Your dubious whataboutism is showing. And as for defining what "in" means--we were "in" Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and arguably Libya and Serbia (which we bombed), but we are nbot in Germany and Japan and other places where we have bases (which we don't have in Ukraine, btw). Being "in" a country has, for many decades, meant a nation has militarily intervened with boots on the ground or planes in the air--not merely provided military aid.
I think your article on RFKJR is excellent, but the killing and environmental damage continue.
Do we have a statement from Biden or Ukraine committing us (Ukraine) to negotiations without preconditions (which are the only real negotiations)? Do we have a statement from Biden about how long we are going to keep sending arms to Ukraine? In my opinion, statements like "until Russia withdraws from every inch of Ukrainian territory" are not realistic and don't count. The administration's stated goals of bleeding Russia dry and/or regime change sound like "forever" to me.
Russia: "I will bomb every democratic capitalist pig into dust"
Negotiations: "Darn, maybe we are just not asking nice enough............"
It's an easy to understand invasion, Russia leaves, we can have peace. Russia stays and there will be war. Russia is not welcome to invade sovereign countries.
The Democratic Party would not be vulnerable to such a flawed candidate if it wasn't trying to cynically ram through such a flawed dead-end unpopular set of candidates as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. I voted for the Democrat in every presidential election from 1972 to 2012, but now I'm out. The party has entirely sold out to its large donors and consultants and now represents only the big banks and the Pentagon. Just like Trump and the GOP, it stands for nothing except cynical self-interest. More and more voters understand this and are angry at the deeply dysfunctional electoral (and media) system that can no longer offer them even marginally relevant presidential candidates.
Thanks for being in touch, Guy, but your moral, ethical and policy equivalence between the parties is--in light of the last six years--completely unwarranted. Yes, the Democrats shouldn't be running Biden and Harris, as I have explained repeatedly on this newsletter. And yes, there is self-interest on the part of many Democrats. But after the huge public investments of the Biden years, the idea that Democrats represent "only the banks and the Pentagon" is simply untrue.And if it were, do you really think Bernie Sanders would be as enthusiastic as he is about Biden?
Thank you for taking the time and effort to reply. The last six years have, of course, been rough for American's who take our political system and our nation's progress seriously. I was a strong and early supporter of Bernie and, frankly, still cannot forgive his trashing by Hillary, Obama and the Democratic party establishment in both 2016 and 2020. Trump's win was a shock but even more shocking to me has been the reaction of both the Democratic Party establishment and much of the mainstream media. "Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign" by two Politico reporters revealed for me the emptiness and arrogance of the Clinton campaign (and the DNC) and events since then have only deepened my belief that the current Democratic Party (let's call it the Clinton-Obama-Biden Party) has absolutely no ability to constructively deal with the real and serious systemic problems facing the nation. Bernie did good job of outlining most of them on the domestic level in his 2016 campaign. Six years later, neither party has done anything of significance to advance any part of Bernie's program. Not Trump, Not Biden. They are not even considered real issues anymore. Not even lip service. Instead, where are we? The big banks are even bigger. The financial system is even more fragile. The rich are much richer. The middle-class is shrinking. Life expectancy is falling. The U.S.'s pandemic death rate topped the rest of the world. The police are still killing people with impunity. The Pentagon budget continues to grow with unanimous bipartisan support and we're at war with Russia and getting ready for a war with China, if not WW3. Trust in all institutions is falling and what passes as political discussion is ever more dominated by large donors and ever more insincere poll-tested propaganda. And the Democratic Party seems to think this is all caused solely by MAGA people, Twitter, Russian bots, social media and "disinformation." At 76, I have to say that for me the last six years have left me feeling betrayed and saddened. The political party I long supported despite its imperfections has lost its soul, it no longer credibly stands for what it once did, no longer can produce candidates I can vote for, no longer provides any hope for renewal. I now realize I - along with many other progressives - have been left politically homeless. I'm old but this is a tragedy for my daughter and grandson and for millions of other people. I have your book, "His Best: Jimmy Carter, A Life" and will be reading it soon to remind myself of what we once were, and perhaps do some mourning too. Carter is the only president who's hand I ever shook, or particularly wanted to shake. I'm sad that it has come to this and that he has had to see it. Of course, he could never be nominated or elected today.
And he sailed through Harvard without going to class.
He turned his senior thesis into a very good book, while you were struggling at Newsweek.
While Bobby was selected Hero of the Planet by Time Magazine, you were supporting Bush 2 in starting a war in Iraq, which killed more than a million civilians..
How does is feel to be the target of a vicious personal hit job!
This is what you are doing to Robert Kennedy Jr.
You bring out all his personal skeletons from 40 and 50 years ago. Of which he admits.
Did you even listen to his speech in Boston? I doubt it.
You distort his positions.
Are you really against his mission to end the merger of state and corporate power?
He is a lot like Bernie Sander, nothing at all like DeSantis, who he despises.
Our current political system has destroyed our middle class. Kennedy wants to end that.
He is a classic FDR liberal, with a lot of RFK thrown in. He never mentioned vaccines in his Boston speech.
I first met Bobby some years ago and have followed his career closely. I have not always agreed with him, especially about the dangers of the mRNA vaccines, but I know him to be deeply honest, totally dedicated to his beliefs and willing to back them up with personal courage and scientific evidence. Kennedy is a powerful speaker, with a message for change that may be eagerly received by the majority of voters who believe everything is rigged against them. Kennedy says their government has been lying to Americans, and that this is inexcusable. He promises to never lie, a nearly Sisyphean task.
He has a message that America needs to hear.
No doubt the Kennedy campaign is a long shot. It may all depend on the primary vote in New Hampshire. Granite state voters are quirky. New Hampshire is a state filled with disgruntled white voters who are looking for a change. He will also appeal to Republicans and Independents, who can vote in the Democratic Primary.
I have admired your past writing, but this piece is odious personal attack and not worthy of you.
I wonder if you have the guts to put these comments up.
OK, Blake, you're right that Bobby Kennedy has more hair. Touche. I gather you were just trying to make me feel what it's like to be hatcheted (believe me, I know from long experience) and were not actually trying to say I "struggled at Newsweek," which I never did. But to say that RFK Jr. is great except for his attitude toward mRNA is like asking, "How was the theater, Mrs. Lincoln?" The doubts he and other conspiracy theorists sowed about vaccines cost thousands of lives, and abandoning that line now that he's running for president is transparent opportunism. But you are quite right that he will appeal to Republicans and indies who can vote in NH's open primary. He could surprise a lot of people--and then tell his voters not to go for Biden in the fall, which would be catastrophic.
Not only do I have the guts to post your comments, I welcome them--and anyone else's except those of "Carlotta," who after my response above descended into vicious anti-Semitism....
I know this Kennedy from his many ski vacations in Waterville Valley NH. His arrogance is incredible. He is dirty physically and always acted like the world should kiss his feet. Not like the Shrivers and John Jr who skied at Waterville every year. They were genuinely friendly and well spoken and well dressed. ETHELS AND ROBERTS SON IS, IN MY WORDS A LOW LIFE... WHO COMES FROM A GREAT POLITICAL FAMILY. He in no way represents the Kennedy family we all have known.
I'd argue that deplatforming has been ultimately successful. See: Alex Jones infowars, Rush Limbaugh, Tucker Carlson, etc.
Those bases are dying because the average consumer has no idea how to get to their new content. Fear porn and rage bait needs to be constantly pushed to it's viewers to be effective.
People that spread misinformation need a soapbox, and it that's it. Remove that soapbox and they become nothing but tiny fringe nobodies.
RFKjr. is extremely dangerous, and his corporation, Children's Health Defense needs to be destroyed. These people are responsible for millions of deaths regarding public heath and safety.
Excellent job. Totally agree with your last words of advice. But it makes me sad for many reasons. I still have my original copy of the RFK book “To Seek a Newer World”, all marked up and dog-eared from my high school debate days. I was a “true believer” in the value of the Kennedy brand (in its best moments) and still have connections to some members of the family who continue to perform solid public service - without the need for the headlines. So I am saddened on my levels. I just hope we can find ways to rally past this era of self-serving fantasies. At least give us enough respite to crawl over the tipping point and into a “newer world” of productive kindness.
FYI, his tale is so important too. He went from a great advocate and defender of environmentalism, straight into far-right misinformation and death cult lies. All because of his amateur research in mercury levels in rivers and drinking water. Incredibly evil and manipulative profiteers of misinformation got him to drink the kool air at a perfect time in his life, and got him hooked on braindead conspiracy theories. Now his corporation, Children's Health Defense, are one of two of the largest spreaders of vaccine misinformation, and one of the largest buyers of propaganda bots on social media.
Understandable, but there is a big diff between conversational references to past recollections and phony footnoted cites in a supposedly scholarly book about a technical subject!
I found the two cites I investigated to be PHOINY!
Although RFK Jr., most lamentably, has said many bizarre and unscrupulous things and has made common cause with patently disreputable characters, one of his points, while mistaken, has a glimmer of possible truth.
I am referring to vaccines. Of course vaccines can and have savied thousands or more probably millions of lives. Since the small pox vaccine was developed in England in the late 18th century (And some scientific historians suggest that a smallpox vaccine was engineered hundreds of years ealier in the Byzantine empire), it has been one of the salient saving graces of modernity.
There is just one problem. There is a preservative in vaccines -- if my memory serves me correctly it is thimerisol -- that contained MERCURY. Mercury is a NOTORIOUS NEURO TOXIN.
Indeed, the expression "mad as a hatter," is derived from the realization, in Venice, in the middle ages, that hatters often went insane. For some reason, mercury was used in the construction of headwear.
In any event, it is possible that the thimerosol, used in some vaccines, harms the nervous system and causes autism. I have read that some infants are given a triple vaccine, i.e., a vaccine offering prophylaxis against 3 infections, including, I think, whooping cough, aka pertussis, diptheria and something else, that has particularly high levels of thimerosol, which , as stated above, contains mercury.
Unfortunatey, anti vaxers, such as RFK jr, aren't able to distinguish between the life saving vaccine and the possibly noxious preservative and assail us with fussilades of frenzed, febrile baloney.
More lies based on a mercury-based preservative that was taken out of vaccines years ago, that showed zero evidence of any change in participants afterwards.
FYI, you got your conspiracy theory wrong. Thimerosal is what you are referring to, a mercury-based anti-microbial that doctor Andrew Wakefield incorrectly hypothesized that MMR vaccine causes autism. He redacted his statements after his research showed otherwise.
Thimerosal has never been used in MMR to begin with.
I think you really need to take a long look in the mirror at the idiot that stands before you, and slap that person across the face for spreading vaccine misinformation.
I am all for vaccines. G-d only knows that they have saved millions form small box, polio and other hideous, wretched ailments. However, I do get anxious when mercury is used to excess, and its doubly unnerving to try to determine how much mercury an infant can
take.
Mercury has been inserted in vaccines. More specifically, they are used in thimerosol, a preservative used for vaccines.
You claim that thimerosol is no longer a component of vaccines. If that is the case, the Anti vaccine lobby did some good in creating pressue to remove thimerosol from vaccines. (About 5 years ago, I read that thimerosol was in vaccines; I suppose that the compound was, perhaps, withdrawn from vaccines within the past 5 years)
In any event, since mercury is a neuro toxin and since mercury had been placed in vaccines, it is only PRUDENT AND REASONABLE TO:
a) wonder if the mercury in the vaccine can be responsible for emotional ailments in children as the nervous system may be more sensitive to traumas and toxins at the outset of life
and
b) to wonder why we can't LIBERATE THE VACCINE FROM THE PRSERVATIVE by means of refrigeration or some other tool.
Thimerosal is no longer in any vaccines administered to infants. It is only likely to be included in multidose vials of inactivated flu vaccine. For more information, see here:
There was an article I put on twitter about the connection between his voice disorder and other psychological disorders. He seems to have a thought disorder. There's only so much I can say ethically. But thought disorder is disqualifying for a president In my opinion. It's a hard job.
I adore your work.
(Apropos of nothing, did Jeff Toobin actually get bounced out of twitter for being caught masturbating during a stressful time when everyone was trying to figure out how to use Zoom? To me that's heartbreaking. 85% of people masturbate and the other 15% are liars.
When RFK JR said that Covid was engineered to be less harmful to Jews and Asians, I was sick.
However, some of his allegedly extreme claims merit investigation, not automatic condemnation
1) Re the notion that he is a conspiracy theorist: Do you mean to state that conspiracies never exist. Do you mean to assert that when Hitler said that Communists blew up the Reichstag it wasn't part of a conspriacy to blame the Comms. Do you mean to assert that the lies behind the Tonkin Gulf Resolution was not a conspiracy to get us into Vietnam. Do you mean to assert that what Trump, Guiiliani and their confederates did was not a conspiracy. A conspriacy exists when two or more people plan something illegal and then commit at least one act in furtherance of that illegal objective. Conspiracies exist all the time.
2) Vaccines have saved many lives -- and they have also killed quite a few people:
a) The first two polio vaccines were the Sabin and Salk vaccines. The Salk vaccine used dead polio viruses to induce an immune response. The Sabin vaccine used "DEACTIVATED" polio viruses. When the Sabin vaccine was first released, quite a few people became severely ill from polio because the viruses in the vials had not be sufficiiently "deactivated."
b) In 1976, Federal authorites pushed Americans to take a flu vaccine as an especially vicious flu epidemic was envisioned. The vaccine gave tens of thousands of people Gilllian Barre syndrome
c) Many people who doubed vaccines never ever disputed the basic theory of vaccines: That exposing an indiviaul to an antigen (EG,, dead polio viruses) would provode the individual to make antibodies to the bug in question. RATHER WE WERE UPSET AND WARY ABOUT THE PRESERVATIVE USED, THIMERiSOL, WHICH CONTAINS MERCURY, A NOTORIOUS NEURO-TOXIN
D) Kennedy's assettion that environmental factors may have played a role in the rise of transgenderism is entiled to examination, not ouright dismisal.
FOR YEARS, many doctors have hypothesized that biochemical changes, in the environment, are emasculating:
Evidence: Testosterone levels are going down
Gynecomastia (man tits) is on the rise
Sperm counts are fallng
Some doctors have noted that birth control pills contain estrogen and its derivartives, that the introdcuction of B controll pills poured an enormous amount of estrogen into the enviroment, and that the superfluity of estrogen is a source of massive effminization. (Many male fiish, in the Great Lakes, have become sterile in the past two decades)
E) Your attack on RFK jr did not require or entitle you to make gratuitous and hostile remarks about his other siblines, such as poor, sweet David Kennedy.
Bravo, David. Your points couldn't have been made better.
Jon is spot on. RFK JR. IS a fake. There is nothing compassionate, honest or intelligent about him. He doesn’t even know who he is because he’s had everybody glomming on to that Kennedy look his whole life. Trust me.
Trust you? What makes you an authority on RFK Jr?
I find your thinking to be constrained. You don't like him because he didn't attend class as often as you and was a better skier? Free your mind if you want to live like in a real democracy.
I mentioned two stories from my limited personal connection to RFK Jr. but those are hardly the only reasons I don't like him. Did you read the rest of the piece? I didn't think so.
Victoria Nuland
What is that supposed to mean? Some deep dark conspiracy?
Sorry to be a pest about Ukraine, but here is the most recent installment of Jeffrey Sachs on that subject:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEjnVUcrxns
I would not be paying any attention to RFKJR but for these facts:
1. The Biden administration seems to be committed to staying in Ukraine forever, and certainly not to negotiating.
2. No one in public life other than RFKJR seems to be questioning the Biden policy.
3. And RFKJR is the only person in public life who is drawing attention to the industry capture of every major component of our government.
I recognize that many of RFKJR’s statements about vaccines, Covid etc. are false, whatever his reason. Show me another viable candidate who will blow the whistle on these outrages and I will shift my support.
1. The Ukraine situation is that Russia has invaded Ukraine, you idiot. We should not let up support until Russia is without any means to attack another sovereign nation ever again. Every nation is in agreement of that fact.
2. Plenty leftists do, you just don't use those channels because they don't fit your world view.
3. He used to do that, not anymore since he has been radicalized by misinformation profiteering. RFKjr. is the posterchild for astroturfing. His corporation that nets $7 million currently, Children’s Health Defense, a corporation that does nothing but spend money on bots to spread misinformation about vaccines. They are the one's responsible for giving a voice to the "leaky gut" lies and mercury-based preservatives causing autism.
RFKjr. is an anti-science snakoil salesmen and prolific liar. Has been most of his life, even while he was doing good environmentalist work in his early years.
Thanks for weighing in, Santiago. First, we are not "in" Ukraine; we have no soldiers there, which is not a minor point. Second, Biden is not committed to staying there "forever." Withdrawing support for Ukraine right now would give Putin a huge victory and send a message that "might makes right." Let's see what happens on the battlefield this summer. Many expect there will be talks by the end of the yearr.
We aren't in Ukraine? You are very disingenuous. We installed a puppett government in Ukraine in 2014. We pushed NATO to Putin's doorstep. What if Russia had sympathetic forces in Canada and Mexico? Would the US not react? This is a proxy war. This is what the military-industrial complex salivates over. This is a war between US and Russia.
"We installed a puppett government in Ukraine in 2014".
Liar.
Ukraine held a democratic vote and voted in Zelenskyy.
as Dr Vlad Mykhnenko said, "This is not just a proxy war, with NATO and the Soviets pitched against each other behind the scenes in the remote tropics as happened during the Cold War or as is currently happening in Yemen, where different Middle East factions fund the fighting done by others. This is a real war."
The industrial complex loves all war right and wrong, they make money regardless. They are citizens like you and I, and have every right in a capitalist county to profit from their war technology. Don't like it? Move to a authoritarian fascist country like China, NK or Russia where the government alone controls their industrial complex.
At first I thought you answers here were a sarcastic parody, but then I realized, sadly, that you are serious.
We did not install a puppet government, David. That is false. They held elections in Ukraine. And Russia agreed to the border in 1990. And in answer to your question of whether we would invade Canada or Mexico with claims that they don't really exist as a country, that their Jewish leader is a Nazi--and kill thousands of innocent people--well, I sure as hell hope not. Your dubious whataboutism is showing. And as for defining what "in" means--we were "in" Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and arguably Libya and Serbia (which we bombed), but we are nbot in Germany and Japan and other places where we have bases (which we don't have in Ukraine, btw). Being "in" a country has, for many decades, meant a nation has militarily intervened with boots on the ground or planes in the air--not merely provided military aid.
I think your article on RFKJR is excellent, but the killing and environmental damage continue.
Do we have a statement from Biden or Ukraine committing us (Ukraine) to negotiations without preconditions (which are the only real negotiations)? Do we have a statement from Biden about how long we are going to keep sending arms to Ukraine? In my opinion, statements like "until Russia withdraws from every inch of Ukrainian territory" are not realistic and don't count. The administration's stated goals of bleeding Russia dry and/or regime change sound like "forever" to me.
LMFAO.
Negotiations: "Hey russia, please leave Ukraine"
Russia: "I will bomb every democratic capitalist pig into dust"
Negotiations: "Darn, maybe we are just not asking nice enough............"
It's an easy to understand invasion, Russia leaves, we can have peace. Russia stays and there will be war. Russia is not welcome to invade sovereign countries.
The Democratic Party would not be vulnerable to such a flawed candidate if it wasn't trying to cynically ram through such a flawed dead-end unpopular set of candidates as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. I voted for the Democrat in every presidential election from 1972 to 2012, but now I'm out. The party has entirely sold out to its large donors and consultants and now represents only the big banks and the Pentagon. Just like Trump and the GOP, it stands for nothing except cynical self-interest. More and more voters understand this and are angry at the deeply dysfunctional electoral (and media) system that can no longer offer them even marginally relevant presidential candidates.
Thanks for being in touch, Guy, but your moral, ethical and policy equivalence between the parties is--in light of the last six years--completely unwarranted. Yes, the Democrats shouldn't be running Biden and Harris, as I have explained repeatedly on this newsletter. And yes, there is self-interest on the part of many Democrats. But after the huge public investments of the Biden years, the idea that Democrats represent "only the banks and the Pentagon" is simply untrue.And if it were, do you really think Bernie Sanders would be as enthusiastic as he is about Biden?
Thank you for taking the time and effort to reply. The last six years have, of course, been rough for American's who take our political system and our nation's progress seriously. I was a strong and early supporter of Bernie and, frankly, still cannot forgive his trashing by Hillary, Obama and the Democratic party establishment in both 2016 and 2020. Trump's win was a shock but even more shocking to me has been the reaction of both the Democratic Party establishment and much of the mainstream media. "Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign" by two Politico reporters revealed for me the emptiness and arrogance of the Clinton campaign (and the DNC) and events since then have only deepened my belief that the current Democratic Party (let's call it the Clinton-Obama-Biden Party) has absolutely no ability to constructively deal with the real and serious systemic problems facing the nation. Bernie did good job of outlining most of them on the domestic level in his 2016 campaign. Six years later, neither party has done anything of significance to advance any part of Bernie's program. Not Trump, Not Biden. They are not even considered real issues anymore. Not even lip service. Instead, where are we? The big banks are even bigger. The financial system is even more fragile. The rich are much richer. The middle-class is shrinking. Life expectancy is falling. The U.S.'s pandemic death rate topped the rest of the world. The police are still killing people with impunity. The Pentagon budget continues to grow with unanimous bipartisan support and we're at war with Russia and getting ready for a war with China, if not WW3. Trust in all institutions is falling and what passes as political discussion is ever more dominated by large donors and ever more insincere poll-tested propaganda. And the Democratic Party seems to think this is all caused solely by MAGA people, Twitter, Russian bots, social media and "disinformation." At 76, I have to say that for me the last six years have left me feeling betrayed and saddened. The political party I long supported despite its imperfections has lost its soul, it no longer credibly stands for what it once did, no longer can produce candidates I can vote for, no longer provides any hope for renewal. I now realize I - along with many other progressives - have been left politically homeless. I'm old but this is a tragedy for my daughter and grandson and for millions of other people. I have your book, "His Best: Jimmy Carter, A Life" and will be reading it soon to remind myself of what we once were, and perhaps do some mourning too. Carter is the only president who's hand I ever shook, or particularly wanted to shake. I'm sad that it has come to this and that he has had to see it. Of course, he could never be nominated or elected today.
Poor Jonathan,
Harvard was really bad for you
Bobby was and is so much better looking
He got all the good looking girls
He is so much better skier than you
Bobby has all his hair
And he sailed through Harvard without going to class.
He turned his senior thesis into a very good book, while you were struggling at Newsweek.
While Bobby was selected Hero of the Planet by Time Magazine, you were supporting Bush 2 in starting a war in Iraq, which killed more than a million civilians..
How does is feel to be the target of a vicious personal hit job!
This is what you are doing to Robert Kennedy Jr.
You bring out all his personal skeletons from 40 and 50 years ago. Of which he admits.
Did you even listen to his speech in Boston? I doubt it.
You distort his positions.
Are you really against his mission to end the merger of state and corporate power?
He is a lot like Bernie Sander, nothing at all like DeSantis, who he despises.
Our current political system has destroyed our middle class. Kennedy wants to end that.
He is a classic FDR liberal, with a lot of RFK thrown in. He never mentioned vaccines in his Boston speech.
I first met Bobby some years ago and have followed his career closely. I have not always agreed with him, especially about the dangers of the mRNA vaccines, but I know him to be deeply honest, totally dedicated to his beliefs and willing to back them up with personal courage and scientific evidence. Kennedy is a powerful speaker, with a message for change that may be eagerly received by the majority of voters who believe everything is rigged against them. Kennedy says their government has been lying to Americans, and that this is inexcusable. He promises to never lie, a nearly Sisyphean task.
He has a message that America needs to hear.
No doubt the Kennedy campaign is a long shot. It may all depend on the primary vote in New Hampshire. Granite state voters are quirky. New Hampshire is a state filled with disgruntled white voters who are looking for a change. He will also appeal to Republicans and Independents, who can vote in the Democratic Primary.
I have admired your past writing, but this piece is odious personal attack and not worthy of you.
I wonder if you have the guts to put these comments up.
Blake Fleetwood, jfleetwood@aol.com
OK, Blake, you're right that Bobby Kennedy has more hair. Touche. I gather you were just trying to make me feel what it's like to be hatcheted (believe me, I know from long experience) and were not actually trying to say I "struggled at Newsweek," which I never did. But to say that RFK Jr. is great except for his attitude toward mRNA is like asking, "How was the theater, Mrs. Lincoln?" The doubts he and other conspiracy theorists sowed about vaccines cost thousands of lives, and abandoning that line now that he's running for president is transparent opportunism. But you are quite right that he will appeal to Republicans and indies who can vote in NH's open primary. He could surprise a lot of people--and then tell his voters not to go for Biden in the fall, which would be catastrophic.
Not only do I have the guts to post your comments, I welcome them--and anyone else's except those of "Carlotta," who after my response above descended into vicious anti-Semitism....
I know this Kennedy from his many ski vacations in Waterville Valley NH. His arrogance is incredible. He is dirty physically and always acted like the world should kiss his feet. Not like the Shrivers and John Jr who skied at Waterville every year. They were genuinely friendly and well spoken and well dressed. ETHELS AND ROBERTS SON IS, IN MY WORDS A LOW LIFE... WHO COMES FROM A GREAT POLITICAL FAMILY. He in no way represents the Kennedy family we all have known.
That doesn't surprise me. John Jr. was, in my experience, a good guy (I saw him a week before he died) and the Shrivers are a great family.
He is dangerous. Please keep the spotlight on him.
I'd argue that deplatforming has been ultimately successful. See: Alex Jones infowars, Rush Limbaugh, Tucker Carlson, etc.
Those bases are dying because the average consumer has no idea how to get to their new content. Fear porn and rage bait needs to be constantly pushed to it's viewers to be effective.
People that spread misinformation need a soapbox, and it that's it. Remove that soapbox and they become nothing but tiny fringe nobodies.
RFKjr. is extremely dangerous, and his corporation, Children's Health Defense needs to be destroyed. These people are responsible for millions of deaths regarding public heath and safety.
Excellent job. Totally agree with your last words of advice. But it makes me sad for many reasons. I still have my original copy of the RFK book “To Seek a Newer World”, all marked up and dog-eared from my high school debate days. I was a “true believer” in the value of the Kennedy brand (in its best moments) and still have connections to some members of the family who continue to perform solid public service - without the need for the headlines. So I am saddened on my levels. I just hope we can find ways to rally past this era of self-serving fantasies. At least give us enough respite to crawl over the tipping point and into a “newer world” of productive kindness.
FYI, his tale is so important too. He went from a great advocate and defender of environmentalism, straight into far-right misinformation and death cult lies. All because of his amateur research in mercury levels in rivers and drinking water. Incredibly evil and manipulative profiteers of misinformation got him to drink the kool air at a perfect time in his life, and got him hooked on braindead conspiracy theories. Now his corporation, Children's Health Defense, are one of two of the largest spreaders of vaccine misinformation, and one of the largest buyers of propaganda bots on social media.
So just more of this then https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WFRBST01134
"...an entitled fringe candidate whose lies about Covid vaccinations helped cost hundreds of thousands of credulous people their lives."
LOL nothing like a giant helping of 'mistruth'.
Ohhhh the irony.
Understandable, but there is a big diff between conversational references to past recollections and phony footnoted cites in a supposedly scholarly book about a technical subject!
I found the two cites I investigated to be PHOINY!
HWE
A bunch are phony...
Although RFK Jr., most lamentably, has said many bizarre and unscrupulous things and has made common cause with patently disreputable characters, one of his points, while mistaken, has a glimmer of possible truth.
I am referring to vaccines. Of course vaccines can and have savied thousands or more probably millions of lives. Since the small pox vaccine was developed in England in the late 18th century (And some scientific historians suggest that a smallpox vaccine was engineered hundreds of years ealier in the Byzantine empire), it has been one of the salient saving graces of modernity.
There is just one problem. There is a preservative in vaccines -- if my memory serves me correctly it is thimerisol -- that contained MERCURY. Mercury is a NOTORIOUS NEURO TOXIN.
Indeed, the expression "mad as a hatter," is derived from the realization, in Venice, in the middle ages, that hatters often went insane. For some reason, mercury was used in the construction of headwear.
In any event, it is possible that the thimerosol, used in some vaccines, harms the nervous system and causes autism. I have read that some infants are given a triple vaccine, i.e., a vaccine offering prophylaxis against 3 infections, including, I think, whooping cough, aka pertussis, diptheria and something else, that has particularly high levels of thimerosol, which , as stated above, contains mercury.
Unfortunatey, anti vaxers, such as RFK jr, aren't able to distinguish between the life saving vaccine and the possibly noxious preservative and assail us with fussilades of frenzed, febrile baloney.
More lies based on a mercury-based preservative that was taken out of vaccines years ago, that showed zero evidence of any change in participants afterwards.
FYI, you got your conspiracy theory wrong. Thimerosal is what you are referring to, a mercury-based anti-microbial that doctor Andrew Wakefield incorrectly hypothesized that MMR vaccine causes autism. He redacted his statements after his research showed otherwise.
Thimerosal has never been used in MMR to begin with.
I think you really need to take a long look in the mirror at the idiot that stands before you, and slap that person across the face for spreading vaccine misinformation.
Richard:
Do you deny that mercury is a neurotoxin
I am all for vaccines. G-d only knows that they have saved millions form small box, polio and other hideous, wretched ailments. However, I do get anxious when mercury is used to excess, and its doubly unnerving to try to determine how much mercury an infant can
take.
Mercury has been inserted in vaccines. More specifically, they are used in thimerosol, a preservative used for vaccines.
You claim that thimerosol is no longer a component of vaccines. If that is the case, the Anti vaccine lobby did some good in creating pressue to remove thimerosol from vaccines. (About 5 years ago, I read that thimerosol was in vaccines; I suppose that the compound was, perhaps, withdrawn from vaccines within the past 5 years)
In any event, since mercury is a neuro toxin and since mercury had been placed in vaccines, it is only PRUDENT AND REASONABLE TO:
a) wonder if the mercury in the vaccine can be responsible for emotional ailments in children as the nervous system may be more sensitive to traumas and toxins at the outset of life
and
b) to wonder why we can't LIBERATE THE VACCINE FROM THE PRSERVATIVE by means of refrigeration or some other tool.
Thimerosal is no longer in any vaccines administered to infants. It is only likely to be included in multidose vials of inactivated flu vaccine. For more information, see here:
https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/safety-availability-biologics/thimerosal-and-vaccines