A significant number of people seem to be showing interest in RFK Jr’s candidacy….which I guess is somewhat understandable given the widespread frustration with the two major parties. His highly-recognizable name surely doesn’t hurt, either. But I see major problems with some of his policy positions..and the attitudes underlying those policies.
First, he doesn’t seem to be much of a supporter of free speech–listen to this video clip, in which he expresses a wish that climate change skeptics could be jailed. And note the shot at “the Koch brothers”, which sounds like something one would expect to hear from a politician of the extreme Left. (Also this, which seems to be the first part of the above video) ‘Reckless endangerment’–for what? For operating chemical plants?
Second, he seems to be anti-vaccine…not in the sense of raising specific concerns about a specific vaccine, but much more broadly–read this articleand watch this video clip. See also this NIH paper on vaccine safety.
Here’s an estimate of the number of lives saved by various vaccines over the last 50 years.
I don’t agree with the guy who linked the above chart at Twitter when he said “There is no vaccine problem. There has never been a vaccine problem. There will never be a vaccine problem.” We can’t possibly know what problems will occur with future vaccines, and there have indeed been some problems with past vaccines. But he is certainly correct that vaccines overall have been a major lifesaver.
Neo has done some research into RFK Jr’s past statements about vaccines.
I find it interesting the RFK Jr thinks people should be put in jail for doubting what he thinks is the scientific consensus on climate, while he himself makes quite bold statements against the scientific consensus on vaccines.
Third, here is what RFK Jr had to say about nuclear energy.
So, it sounds like basically he would take nuclear off the table over any relevant time frame…while simultaneously demanding extreme action against fossil fuels in the name of climate.
Fourth, here’s an absolutely bizarre RFK Jr statement concerning Covid and Ashkenazi Jews.
Fifth, here’s what he said about the people who live in ‘red’ states. Reminiscent of Hillary Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” and Obama’s comment about people who are “bitter” and who “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them.”
Overall, RFK Jr seems more interested in attacking and casting blame than he does in solving problems–in this, he resembles Joe Biden.
Your thoughts?
I think he’s a loon and such folks are sometimes blind pigs who find acorns that the two major parties have overlooked. He is a deficit and spending hawk, correct? Way too late for that, but it’s nice to hear that someone still remembers that we used to find such things important. Nostalgic. He’s pro-choice (radically), which some people like.
I think he’s a “What the hell…” candidate for a lot of his supporters.
For the first time since 1972, I may leave the presidential blank. And NH is a contested state.
Agreed on all points. The question, as with all candidates, is whether any of the other candidates is better.
I think Trump is a better candidate than RFK Jr. But in comparison to Biden, I think RFK is better, if only because he isn’t part of the establishment, and because the establishment sees him as a threat (otherwise why deny him Secret Service protection?).
AVI and I agree on RFK for once. I remember him from years ago as a supporter of the MMR-Autisim-Wakefield bushwa. I did a search to refresh my memory and the first links are to Factcheck.org, Business Insider and The Washington POOP:
https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ftsa&q=RFK+MMR+Autism&ia=web
This should give an idea who’s ox is being gored by his candidacy. As David points out, he has a lot of far far left positions, the ones that aren’t far far loon. He’s chosen a real prize for his running mate. I don’t think he’ll steal much support from Trump. The dems seem scared though, so more power to him.
Speaking of the’72 election, I didn’t have any problem voting for Nixon (fist time voting). I figured that Nixon might have been a crook but McGovern was a fool. Infinitely more dangerous.
I think RFK jr is indeed a loon but he has seized the moment the covid catastrophe has given him.
I’ve heard him on the Joe Rogan and Lex Fridman podcasts and from my recollection he kept well away from mentioning his more unpopular positions. Of course.
In my view when the regime attempted to force the covid experimental medical treatment upon everyone- except politically significant regime-friendly groups such as postal workers and welfare recipients- something important in American society broke. That is, the idea that the American government might be bumbling and incompetent but it wouldn’t be deliberately malicious and wouldn’t intentionally work to inflict harm upon the American people. Myriad consequences flow from all that.
Anyway, RFK jr. He’s been around a long time, suing productive industries and chasing economic activity out of the United States. To my knowledge he’s never run for president before and if he did, he obtained no traction.
He has now, at least a bit. That’s a sign of the feebleness of the present regime, not a sign of the awesomeness of his candidacy.
Thumbs down.
Fifth, here’s what he said about the people who live in ‘red’ states.RFK Rr. dixit:
Maybe so, I haven’t checked the stats. Offhand, I doubt they are true. What RFK doesn’t mention is WHO is committing those crimes. Are those Republican-tending or Democrat-tending groups who are committing those crimes? Murder rates, for example.
IIRC, Nancy Pelosi recently said why some people vote Republican, using the guns/religion narrative that Obama did in 2008 regarding rural Pennsylvania voters (who tended to support Hillary instead of Obama.)
The “impregnate you teenage daughter” line is especially rich coming from a Kennedy. Who’s more likely to lobotomize their teenage daughter?
Not only don’t I trust scions of political dynasties, I just don’t trust Kennedys
I know several people who (still) plan on supporting RFK, either from dislike of Trump/Biden or hoping that his election could stave off a national reckoning. Each to his own.
I find RFK’s standing brittle. He exists because no one has cared to go after him yet, mostly o do so is to give him a legitimacy that he otherwise lacks. As several of you have noted, he has some really wacko ideas and last week’s twin killers of no limits on abortion and the “brain worm” show that wackiness lurks just beneath the surface waiting to erupt like some ancient, long dormant sea beast.
His abandoning the Democratic primary going Independent was a shrew move if only because if there is one thing that all-too-long event does is provide enough opportunities for the mediocre and extreme to expose themselves… that is if the media is willing to give such gaffes oxygen. I think the media and the Democrats haven’t quite found the shape of the race yet and what role RFK will play in it, but when they do, and I think they will conclude that RFK is a threat, they will go after him and start creating media cycles based on his views and past history. My guess is that his ego will force a response to it and then it all comes down.
What was Thomas Watson’s quote? “The higher the monkey climbs, the more he shows his butt”? I think we’re just about to see yet another Kennedy make an of himself.
Let’s not kid ourselves that elections will have any impact at this late stage. JFK’s candidacy might give a little bit of interest to the election farce — but, seriously, who among us believes that this year’s election will be honest?
We already know from President Trump’s first election that a President cannot achieve much against the opposition of the entrenched Swamp Creatures. With a nominally “Republican” controlled House, Senate, and Presidency, what happened? Did the Wall get built? Was government over-spending brought under control?
What is really frustrating is the evidence from Ross Perot’s election sorties. If we look at the actual votes cast in those more honest elections, it is obvious there are millions of citizens who will never vote for a Demoncrat … and never vote for a RINO either. These “Contingent Voters” will come out in droves for a Reagan or a Perot, but never for the standard RINO wimps thrown up by the DC Swamp.
The sad future is that even if President Trump is able to overcome large-scale Demoncrat election malfeasance, the Demoncrats will sweep the House & Senate — Speaker Johnson insured that enough voters are now sufficiently disenchanted with Swamp Republicrats not to vote for them. If President Trump manages to win, the Swamp will impeach him before he is sworn into office, stymie all his nominations, and prevent all his attempts to take necessary steps to save the country.
If there were a genuine Republican Party — one that could pull in the votes of the Contingent Voters — it would win and govern. But the Republicrat arm of the UniParty deservedly has no chance.
I’m categorically opposed to political dynasties. and of those existing in this day and age, I despise the Kennedys the most for being, as PJ O’Rorke put it – a family of sewer trout swimming upstream into the body politic. So, the fact that he is a raving loon is almost beside the point – he’s a Kennedy.
…but, seriously, who among us believes that this year’s election will be honest?
Honest, probably not. Unpredictable, for sure. I can work with that.
much of that was before they removed the worm from his brain, of course that diagnosis comes from Peter Hotez, the dwarf behind much of the lockdown foolishness,
he did have Fauci’s number unlike most everyone to the right and the left, he started with the NRDC in part to get out of jail, then branched out into lawsuits over a few tricky spills, now jumping to banning fossil fuels, well thats a reach, however that was the stance of almost all the Democrats on the dais, in 2020, including Gabbard
Perhaps although i look at him through his lens he was a young boy when his uncle was gunned down i dallas the city that had wanted posters out for him that might jaundice my first impression his uncle was killed in la which had similar resonances
There is a lot to like in his present day positions. The dredging up of comments from the past several decades is a standard tactic, and is a little tiresome. Try listening to him explain his vaccine position in his own words. Also, his border position is different today than it was years ago. In spite of the well-researched hit pieces, it is possible for viewpoints to develop over time – we can all, perhaps, look in the mirror for examples of this.
That being said, ‘he’ lost me when I asked the simple question; “What is RFK Jr.’s position on the energy independence that is fundamental to the prosperity he promises?”. I have contacted the campaign at least three times with this question, and although I have received polite replies promising to look into it, the actual answer has been….crickets. That tells me what I need to know, in present day terms.
“I find it interesting the RFK Jr thinks people should be put in jail for doubting what he thinks is the scientific consensus on climate”
That pretty much says everything I need to know about what and the quality of his thoughts are.
re: Miguel
At the Book Depository Museum, they continue to blame conservatives for the shooting. That Oswald was a communist and none of the potential villains raised by alternative theories were conservatives matters not a bit to the hate-filled left spreading slanders relentlessly.