RFK Jr. clashes with lawmakers over vaccines and HHS mass layoffs
www.nbcnews.com
The health secretary, appearing before two separate congressional committees, was grilled about slashes to disease research, maternal health and the U.S. measles outbreak.
  • CocaineShrimp@lemm.eeEnglish
    3031·
    25 days ago

    I don’t think people should be taking medical advice from me

    Right… so why did you take the position of Secretary of Health, again?

    • conditional_soup@lemm.eeEnglish
      1211·
      25 days ago

      Exactly. That’s like SecDef being like “idk, I’m really not in a position to gov military advice”. I say that fully aware of the irony, but it’s hard to pick a non-busted example since Trump’s cabinet is just completely full of “meritocracy”.

    • jontree255@lemmy.worldEnglish
      37·
      25 days ago

      He took it because he’s a narcissist who’s convinced he’s right about everything because of his last name and his money. Sound familiar?

      Trump’s entire cabinet was picked for two reasons: Loyalty To Trump and Pissing Off Anyone Who Doesn’t Kiss Trump’s Ass. RFK fills that second one.

      • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        301·
        25 days ago

        Don’t forget he first went to Harris and she turned him away, then he went to Trump. Trump “allegedly” gave him the position in exchange for dropping out of the race and endorsing Trump. Which happened directly after.

        People claimed at the time that would be illegal as it would fall under quid pro quo.

    • whoisearth@lemmy.caEnglish
      191·
      25 days ago

      For those of us like me that can step back. This timeline is absurdly funny.

    • 18USCode2381@infosec.pubEnglish
      5·
      25 days ago

      It appears he has recently received coaching from moderately competent legal counsel.

      This response is for lawyers, not the public.

    • huppakee@lemm.eeEnglish
      3·
      25 days ago

      I don’t disagree but this is a lot better than him giving false ‘information’

    • ryannathans@aussie.zoneEnglish
      3·
      25 days ago

      When was the last time secretary of health was a qualified doctor?

      Edit:

      2017

      Before that, 1989

      Both republican

  • NutWrench@lemmy.mlEnglish
    77·
    24 days ago

    “I don’t think people should be taking medical advice from me,” Kennedy said.

    Well then, the next questions should be, “what is your job title?” and “what exactly is it that you DO here?”

    • atzanteol@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      211·
      24 days ago

      Strictly speaking his job is administrative - he’s not an expert on health nor does he really need to be. He’s a political appointee charged with advising the president and enacting the president’s policies. The career bureaucrats and scientists in his employ are the experts.

      It is, however, expected that he would at least understand and listen to those teams on what the correct science is and provide feedback from those teams upward to the president to ensure that the president’s goals align with good public health policy.

      But he’s a whackjob conspiracy theorist who has no idea what he’s doing.

  • e$tGyr#J2pqM8v@feddit.nlEnglish
    46·
    24 days ago

    Thinks people shouldn’t take medical advice from him,

    …proceeds to give medical advice to people.

  • Gates9@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    454·
    25 days ago

    People gotta remember this guy has been as desperate as Trump his whole life to be accepted as a legitimate member of elite society. You factor that in, you factor in that Trump also wanted to be a crime boss like his mob affiliates from the early part of his career, the motives become more clear, the outcomes become more predictable.

    Also remember, some of this is engineered by both parties to distract us from the everyday realities we are facing.

    Don’t take your eye off the prize. We want a centrally planned economy, we want universal healthcare, we want federally funded infrastructure projects, and we’re gonna take that money from the wealthy.

    Beware “abundance” grifters…

    • P03 Locke@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      143·
      25 days ago

      Also remember, some of this is engineered by both parties to distract us from the everyday realities we are facing.

      Funny how one party seems to push this sort of shit way way more than another party.

      Don’t take your eye off the prize. We want a centrally planned economy, we want universal healthcare, we want federally funded infrastructure projects,

      I just want a functioning democracy, one with less fascists and corruption in it.

      and we’re gonna take that money from the wealthy.

      And how are you going to do that? Are you willing to take it by force? Because that’s the only way it’s going to happen. You have to take it by force.

      • barneypiccolo@lemm.eeEnglish
        01·
        24 days ago

        And how are you going to do that? Are you willing to take it by force? Because that’s the only way it’s going to happen. You have to take it by force.

        No, we’ll take it by legislation and re-writing the tax code, but if they want to hold out, than yes, we’ll take it by force, and that will be a LOT worse for them.

        • barneypiccolo@lemm.eeEnglish
          2·
          24 days ago

          WTF is wrong with you? Of course I’m not taking it personally, and obviously we wouldn’t be taking away billionaire’s fortunes under the current regime. There isn’t the Congressional votes to pass it, nor would HitlerPig sign it.

          IF we manage to take our government back, AND remove the DINO Democrats who are nothing more than Republican-Lites, then we can hopefully have a Congress who will pass legislation authorizing a re-write of the 1974 Tax Code, which baked-in Trickle Down Economics, resulting in an annual $2 Trillion shift of revenue from the middle/working class to the wealthy.

          Study: Inequality Robs $2.5 Trillion From U.S. Workers Each Year

          ‘We were shocked:’ RAND study uncovers massive income shift to the top 1%

          And who would take it? The Democratic government, acting on behalf of the American people. It’s not done with guns (or shovels, WTF?), it’s done with computers, and law enforcement. Their bank accounts will be frozen and confiscated, and their properties and assets seized and sold at auction, or utilized by the government.

          These mechanisms have always been available, the Dems just never used them, while the MAGAs never histate to exploit them as much as possible.

    • gamer@lemm.eeEnglish
      42·
      24 days ago

      We want a centrally planned economy,

      Lmao what? Is this a #JustLemmyThings meme?

    • rottingleaf@lemmy.worldEnglish
      114·
      24 days ago

      That’s interesting. Makes a bit of a connection to Putin and Russian current regime.

      They are mostly children of party bureaucrats, with some mafia and special services seasoning added. That includes Putin himself, people painting him as ex-intelligence or his KGB past as something big miss the point, he had a minor role, he was a kid from a party family and he was sent to GDR because foreign postings were prestigious.

      So they have this inferiority complex to make themselves seem real mafia and special services.

      I wonder if Putin’s hate for Ukraine is a result of its organized crime not treating him as anything interesting. Same with Georgia, it was once the center of the organized crime in the ex-Soviet space, and Saakashvili didn’t end that as much as people think.

      We want a centrally planned economy,

      Oh, so you want real serfdom. Where you have a dossier passed between your employers as if you were a resource. Trade unions being state-controlled and acting in the interest of your employer. Nice.

      we want universal healthcare,

      Teeth being torn out without anesthetics, doctors prescribing donkey piss, people finding the rare good doctors via acquaintances and ties for important operations, because otherwise you might not survive that. Oh yes.

      we want federally funded infrastructure projects,

      Suppose that’s fine.

      and we’re gonna take that money from the wealthy.

      Just remember that the most important part of ownership is deciding how the money is used, and you are giving this to non-elected bureaucrats if you want central planning.

      Nah, should think a bit more.

      A hint - “Soviet system” doesn’t mean the USSR’s system, and it can be good if designed very carefully.

      • Valmond@lemmy.worldEnglish
        10·
        24 days ago

        We got universal healthcare in Europe and people don’t pull your teeth out without anesthetics, what copium are you on, “the american self made man”, “small government” or which delusional one is it?

        Lol

      • barneypiccolo@lemm.eeEnglish
        4·
        24 days ago

        Your description of Universal Health Care is ridiculous, and instantly destroys any credibility you might have.

    • Valmond@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      24 days ago

      So when he says you shouldn’t take medical advice from him, you would not listen?

      /j

    • tigeruppercut@lemmy.zipEnglish
      9·
      25 days ago

      I dunno, he’s prob the go-to guy for techniques about chainsawing the head off a dead whale

      • shalafi@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        25 days ago

        I’m actually that kinda guy. It would never occur to me that chainsawing the head of a whale corpse I found on the beach would be a no-no. It’s already dead! Not like I killed it. I’m also dumb enough to keep bird feathers I find. Yeah. That could be a problem given the wrong cop.

        “SWEET! Giant skull! I’m hanging that shit at camp! (After the ants do their thing.)”

        I really do hang skulls I find on the shed door. Got a deer, a small mammal with pointy canines, a box turtle and pieces of something the raptors left (rabbit?). One time the local dogs dropped a deer skull on my tent. Coughed loudly and scared hell out of 'em.

        • swelter_spark@reddthat.comEnglish
          1·
          25 days ago

          I’ve always loved collecting animal bones, feathers, and sometimes skins that are in reasonably good condition.

  • pelespirit@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    17·
    25 days ago

    What people are missing from the article and headline is that he had vaccinated his children when they were little and the question was whether he would vaccinate his children if they were young today. That’s the question he sidestepped. Yes, I bet he would is the reason for the sidestep. He’s a con man too.

    Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday sidestepped a question about vaccines and whether he would choose to vaccinate his children today against a number of diseases, saying, “I don’t think people should be taking medical advice from me.”

  • Furbag@lemmy.worldEnglish
    16·
    25 days ago

    He doesn’t want you to take medical advice from him, but he does want to dictate what kind of medical advice your actual doctor is legally allowed to give you.