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Kennedy Is Debating How Extreme to Get about Banning Vaccines

Now that Pete Hegseth has been narrowly confirmed as secretary of defense, anything is possible when Robert Kennedy Jr. comes up for confirmation. Our best guess is that the two women with the firmest spines in the Senate and Turtle (who had polio as a child and understands the need for vaccinations quite well) will be "no" votes on Kennedy. Is there a fourth one? Maybe, who knows?

In an attempt to take RFK Jr. down before the next generation gets to learn what iron lungs are for, more than 80 organizations are actively campaigning against his confirmation. But for different reasons. Most of them are worried about him replacing Typhoid Mary as the new symbol of someone who damaged public health in a big way and not caring about it one whit. However, an organization Mike Pence founded is against him because Kennedy is pro-choice. Telling red-state senators that they could be primaried for supporting an abortionist might actually be able to get the fourth vote.

Despite the opposition, Kennedy is expecting to be confirmed and is already making plans about what he will do as secretary of HHS. A Politico reporter found five people who know what Kennedy is thinking and leaked it. Were they proud of what Kennedy wants to do or were they trying to sabotage him? We dunno. One of the sources said "The people he really trusts are people that obviously are trying to execute a plan to totally take away vaccines."

At the very least, if Kennedy tells everyone that vaccines are harmful, that will undermine many people's view of vaccines and may cause epidemics of numerous diseases long under control. Measles is something of a joke now, but it is exceedingly infectious and can be fatal.

Options that Kennedy is considering include disbanding the main panel of experts that advise the government on vaccine effectiveness and safety. It also recommends which vaccinations children should have. Its decisions determine whether vaccinations are covered by insurance. Another thing Kennedy could do is recategorize some vaccinations as "shared clinical decision-making." This is bureaucratspeak for "You can get a vaccination only after consulting a doctor." This will undoubtedly deter some people, especially people without a regular physician or people who have to pay the doctor for the consultation.

One thing that Kennedy is certain to do is change the wording on the HHS website about vaccinations. Here is an excerpt from what it says now on the subject.

HHS Website on vaccinations. It says: 'Immunization Information for You and Your Loved Ones Vaccines play an
important role in keeping us all healthy. Vaccines save lives by protecting us from serious diseases, like COVID-19,
measles, and whooping cough, throughout life. So, it's important to know the facts about vaccines, immunization, and
vaccine-preventable diseases. Learn about how vaccines work and find reliable, easy-to-understand answers to common
questions about vaccination.'

The message is: Vaccinations are good. They protect us from serious diseases. Imagine that it were soon to read: "Some people think vaccinations are healthful, but many doctors and scientists think they are harmful and cause serious health problems." That alone will cause the stock of medical equipment companies that make (or could soon make) iron lungs to go through the roof. It would do massive damage and all it would take is for Kennedy to order the unit that manages the HHS website to change the message. In 1 minute, he could be responsible for thousands of children dying from diseases that could easily have been prevented.

Kennedy's confirmation hearing is Wednesday inst. Expect him to downplay his decades-long opposition to vaccines (and lucrative business in anti-vaxx books and products), his decades-long support for abortion, and the personal products company his wife co-owns. Instead he will talk about how he wants to make America healthy again by convincing people to eat more veggies and fewer fries. We will be interested in seeing if any Democrats are clever enough to congratulate him for his long-time support for a woman's right to an abortion when she wants one, possibly quoting some of the times he has said that. That will certainly make him squirm and inform any senators who don't already know that. A vote against him on abortion counts just as much as a vote against him on vaccines.

The truly ironic thing about all this is that if Kennedy had cut and pasted his father's 1968 platform (minus the stuff about the Vietnam War) and run for president as a clone of his father, he might well have beaten Joe Biden in the primaries and later been elected president. Then he could have offered Trump the job of secretary of HHS instead of vice-versa.

What Donald Trump probably doesn't understand is that most Americans love all their kids. Trump probably loves 20% of his kids (and not necessarily in a fatherly way), is neutral on 40%, thinks 20% are stupid and 20% are fat. If Kennedy really tries to undermine vaccines and get rid of mandates many states have requiring children to be vaccinated before starting kindergarten, that could ignite a firestorm, with many people demanding that he fire Kennedy immediately. In the end, Kennedy could become a real liability for Trump. (V)



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