Onward Into the Past
They're taking us backward. How far can they go?
I'd like to propose a wager. When will we see the next case of wild polio in America? I know, it's been 46 years, but I have faith that Bobby Jr. can make it happen. In fact, I think if the world's most sycophantic cabinet can finish up with their thoughts and prayers, mixed with obsequious Trump compliments, they can together move the whole country back by decades.
Wondering how? Well, let's look back and see what going in reverse will look like. We can start with medicine.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the head of the Department of Health and Human Services, and runs the alphabet soup of agencies like the CDC and NIH that handle research and recommendations to make us all safer. But, Bobby, who admits he was a heroin addict for 14 years and that a brain worm ate into his skull, decided long ago that there is simply no safe and effective vaccine out there. Yes, he said that in those words.
And now, we have the new Covid vaccine recommendations that essentially make it unavailable to anyone under 65 or without some pre-existing condition that makes them vulnerable. In addition, according to Politico...
In June, Kennedy fired all the current members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and replaced them with people more skeptical of vaccines. ACIP is composed of outside experts who vote on changes to the adult and childhood vaccine schedules.,
Meanwhile, Susan Monarez, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said no. This makes no sense. As an infectious disease researcher, she knew better, so Bobby tried to fire her.
It took an actual firing from the White House to get her out, and she has been replaced with a guy named Jim O'Neill. He was a part of the George W. Bush HHS department as a speech writer. He then went to Silicon Valley to become an investment executive. He has no actual medical training, you know, like his new boss, so he should fit in nicely.
Oh, and all of the top level CDC leadership, who are all actual doctors, resigned.
This comes as there is a new outbreak of Covid in the country, with the highest number of new cases in my home state of Texas. And of course, this comes after the measles epidemic that killed a couple of folks. I wrote about Junior back when he was running for President and was astonished then that anyone took him seriously...
Roger T. Gray
From my opening...
I confess I am absolutely astonished that Robert Francis Kennedy, Jr is on anyone's radar this election season, much less commanding 15-20% of potential Democratic voters. You have to wonder if they really think that, firstly, he isn't clearly certifiable, and secondly...well, there is no secondly after that.
Obviously, it's the name. Kennedy, Jack, Bobby, Camelot. Only now, we are talking Spamalot. That's because in the case of Bobby Jr, the apple didn't just fall far from the tree, it fell into the twilight zone.
But, at least, we won't have any red M&M's, which is good because we also won't have any fluoride to prevent the cavities they will cause. But thanks to the far-sighted folks in the Texas legislature, we will have easier access to Ivermectin, the...
...anti-parasitic medication used to treat certain parasitic infections in humans and animals. For humans, it is available in oral and topical formulations. It works by paralyzing and killing parasites, particularly intestinal worms and some external parasites.
This will come in handy when those creepy, crawly Covid bugs bite. OK, for those not tuned in to irony, there are no Covid bugs, and it is useless. Just for the record.
And when it comes to international negotiation, we have our top foreign emissary, Steve Witkoff, a no doubt sincere guy who spent his life as a real estate lawyer and later, property broker. But he plays golf with the right guy, and that is why we are looking forward to longer wars in Ukraine and Gaza. I am sure Putin was impressed...
And when it comes to protecting American interests through good intelligence gathering, we have the Director of National Intelligence, the delectable Tulsi Gabbard. In a move that would no doubt make "M" proud, she decided to curry favor with the Pres and strip several employees of their security clearances for the cardinal sin of following orders to look into Russian interference with US elections. By elections, I mean, of course, those involving Donald Trump. Here's the problem, according to NBC...
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard blindsided CIA leaders last week when she disclosed the name of an undercover CIA officer on a list of people she stripped of security clearances, multiple current and former intelligence sources said.
Yeah, one agent was still out there agenting undercover when, voila, her cover was blown. It's the worst spy decision since George Lazenby was hired as Bond.
But Tulsi can be forgiven as she was otherwise occupied by former Press Secretary Jen Psaki's comments that "thoughts and prayers" after the Minneapolis shooting weren't enough. In a masterpiece of overheated rhetoric, she called Psaki an "Agent of Darkness." No, really.
Then we come to science and the budget cuts at NASA. It has been decided that the space agency will no longer be the leader it has been in earth sciences and climate research for the last 40 years, and concentrate on Elon's rockets. Sean Duffy is the acting head of NASA, the Transportation Secretary, and the Secretary of Genuflecting.
Speaking on Fox Business on Aug. 14, Duffy said NASA's purpose is the exploration of space - not Earth's climate. "All of the climate science and all of the other priorities that the last administration had at NASA, we're going to move aside," Duffy told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo. "All of the science that we do is going to be directed towards exploration, which is the mission of NASA. That's why we have NASA, is to explore, not to do all of these earth sciences."
Now, this redirection of resources in the agency's budget, which has been cut by 47% by the way, includes a couple of crucial satellite missions, according to NPR...
The Trump administration has asked NASA employees to draw up plans to end at least two major satellite missions, according to current and former NASA staffers. If the plans are carried out, one of the missions would be permanently terminated, because the satellite would burn up in the atmosphere.
The data the two missions collect is widely used, including by scientists, oil and gas companies and farmers who need detailed information about carbon dioxide and crop health. They are the only two federal satellite missions that were designed and built specifically to monitor planet-warming greenhouse gases.
So, why end the earth science missions, you ask with feigned innocence? It's because the President doesn't believe in climate change. Now, doing our due diligence on this subject, we consulted with the climate on this, and were told it doesn't really care what he believes. It will keep on changing anyway.
No, really. We asked.
And that is why we are going backwards on energy as well, and ending any tax breaks for new wind or solar power. Again, why? Because the Scottish government put up windmills that can be seen from Trump's Turnberry Golf Resort, and he thinks they are ugly, that's why. But we can't just make this about Scotland.
The government is only concerned with your health...and the birds...
And of course, we are going to revive the coal industry because, why not? Never mind that fully 20% of the energy for the Texas power grid comes from wind and solar. But, hey, we can probably live without them as long as the planes are still flying to Cancun.
Our military bases are again named for Confederate generals, we've stripped some high-ranking female officers from their commands, nothing will be done about gun violence, FEMA is going away, along with your Mexican landscaper, and if the courts don't get in the way, we have the greatest tariffs since Smoot-Hawley.
The world is settling comfortably back into the, oh, 1950s or so.
All that, and the old dude is back on the sign. Thank you, Cracker Barrel, for your attention to this matter.
Now, he is part of the Texas Outlaw Writers, and if this doesn't pan out, the outlaw part will still work as he will indeed resort to robbing banks.