It was SUCH a powerful letter. And knowing how purposefully quiet and self removed from inserting herself into political matters ESPECIALLY given she is JFK’s only living child; this held such weight and power. Lawrence O’Donnell played the entire video statement and it was even more powerful than just the written words. I admire her stance that I would guess caused her and her family, a great deal of pain. I wish more members of the family and people close to RFK Jr would have joined her - and sooner. Maria Shriver certainly has a large platform. And ostensibly could speak to these issues. I know the Kennedy family has many ‘rules’ of engagement but they are also public servants at heart and I’m this moment we ALL have to use whatever tools or contacts or gifts or platforms to resist and protest the horrors that are befalling the entire country.
Many of us have called into question the felon’s mental state, is it dementia or an actual mental illness. However it is clear that RFK, Jr is mentally ill. Could it be his years of illegal drugs, steroids that he must be on? At this point it doesn’t matter, he is not fit to be in the federal government. It will be interesting to see if he is the road too far for Thune’s Goons.
Probably steroids, i heard if you abuse they may affect mental health. But with Kennedy it is a bit difficult to assess since he always looks like he is on something. Either way, drugs or steroids he is dangerous.
From the column: "They also display his sociopathic indifference to the pain these disruptions cause—or, worse, his sadistic pleasure in inflicting it."
This may be the most accurate, and frightening, description of Trump and his presidency I have read. It is plain to see that Trump has no idea what he's doing and doesn't care what damage it does. Saying he takes sadistic pleasure in that damage is something I never expected could be said of a president.
As a senior and somewhat of a political watcher, I have seen the foibles of presidents going back to JFK. None of them, even in their worst moments, come anywhere near Trump's narcissism, incompetence and efforts to enrich himself.
RFK Jr., too, is a danger to our country. To have a relative call you a predator is stunning. I predict he will tone down, or if you want to call them lies, his previous positions to appease senators and be confirmed. When the next pandemic hits, and the bird flu seems to be on the horizon, people will die because of his beliefs. When that happens, every senator who votes for him will also bear those deaths.
The first time I heard it speak during the repugnicant primaries in 2016, I realized that the man is a SADIST. I have never called him anything other than "orange sadist" since those debates. Now I find out the the monster he wants for head of HHS is apparently even more sadistic (on the physical level) than he is. It just keeps getting worse and worse and worse. God bless Caroline Kennedy for caring so much about our country to step WAY out of her comfort zone and tell us what we need to know about her cousin.
The description of RFK Jr’s macabre actions (so courageously identified by his sister Carolyn Kennedy in this essay by Steven)
are so awful you don’t want to believe a person could act in this manner. It’s frightening,
Imbedded in Steven’s article is a link with additional information and a survey offering your chance to log your opinion of RFK. After the survey a graph includes results.
Slight correction. “Caroline Kennedy” is first cousin, NOT sister of RFKjr. He does have a bunch of sisters but this letter is not from one of them. “Carolyn Bessette Kennedy” was the wife of JFKjr and was killed with him in 1999 in a plane crash near Martha’s Vinyard. I am slightly embarrassed that I know all this trivia.
We have a potential new pandemic lurking on the horizon with bird flu. Yesterday a different and more virulent strain was discovered on a farm in CA. It's only a matter of time before it mutates to human-to-human spread. Yet, under Donald Trump, our health agencies are under a gag order and Congress is considering installing a dangerous vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theorist who doesn't believe in science into the highest health care office. Reportedly Moderna is working on a mRNA vaccine. What happens if Kennedy in his role refuses to allow FDA to issue approval for a safe and effective vaccine like what happened during covid?
• We can look to Samoa to see RFK Jr’s approach to vaccines. Today he denied that the deaths that resulted from him spreading panic and vaccine hesitancy there were from Measles. Not addressed was that the seed he planted, vaccine hesitancy, reared its ugly head in Samoa again during COVID.
• DJT admitted to Woodward (on tape) that he knew before it was public knowledge that COVID was airborne. He then talked about how dangerous that was. We know he went on to incentivize creation of vaccines. Then let them sit in warehouses without a distribution system or even “concept of a plan.”
On this they are 2 peas in a pod. They will do whatever lines their pocket, no matter who beneath them is hurt.
He’s famous for suing drug companies (that is how he makes money now) and rather than fight him in courts they settle, a million here and there. Courts have always been trumps specialty too. Actually those two are birds of a sick feather.
The letter from Caroline Kennedy does absolutely nothing. After the shameful confirmation of Hegseth, does anyone seriously think this Senate will not approve Kennedy? They had all the information to not confirm, yet their loyalty is to trump, not the country or Constitution. And knowing his vote would be inconsequential to the outcome, McConnell yet again took the coward's way out. 2nd impeachment permission structure to vote not guilty, anyone? Bueller? For me, I expect more of the same from a group that has effectively become an extension of the executive branch rather than a co-equal branch. The House is already there.
Less an “extension of the executive branch” than an extension of MAGA. As much as I despise the actions taken thus far by Trump and his lackeys, it is the utter failure of Congress to do its job that disturbs me even more.
ALL House members should be livid about the myriad of actions taken that neuter and disrespect the constitutional role of Congress. Instead they either cheer their own submission or appear feckless in the wings.
And the Senate! It is clear that the GOP is intent upon making the federal government so completely dysfunctional and loathsome that no American will trust it. Billionaires will be bigger billionaires and the rest of us just get punked. And Fetterman and Bernie…WTF!
RFK, Jr. sullies the Kennedy name. I am old enough to remember his uncle and father in their prime. Inspiring. Young, handsome, eloquent—they gave Americans hope that youth and strength were just what we needed. RFK, Jr.? Just another liar and sexual predator.
Proof that the first generation does the work, the second generation skates. Likewise, Fred Trump did the lifting, son Donald admires his own genius of being an heir.
Hey Bernie and Fetteredman I'm amazed to hear that RF(u)Kj is the ONLY possible nominee that could be concerned about the heath of American eating.
Impoundment was in fact the basis of Trump's first impeachment. He did it then for "personal political gain" but when is ANYTHING he does not for personal political gain??
It would be seriously cool if some Dem introduced articles of impeachment based on this latest impoundment. In both cases he was using that purported power to scare Zelensky/the agencies into submission.
I was thinking along those lines, like "Are you guys missing the forest because you like a few of the twigs?" Both Sanders and Fetterman like to tilt at windmills to show they can, but iconoclasm alone doesn't make for good policy.
These words I have posted in one form or another in response to several different Substack newsletters. Here below is perhaps a more succinct iteration.
Many are posting writing like this that smack of the “Fierce Urgency of Now!” to quote Dr. King.
It seems to me, elevating the impact of Rep. John Lewis’ “Good Trouble” to a much higher degree of pushback in as much real time as possible is required. If ever there was a moment where the phrase “Desperate times, desperate measures” was relevant it is now! Intense opposition to this continued, albeit now seemingly legal Coup d’état by way of Nov 5, 2024 against The Constitution by way of all the illegal acts noted of late must begin to swiftly coalesce if our country and democracy are to remain free. While we respect the “valid” outcome of the past election, as “time keeps on slipping into the future”, the thing that will be made harder and harder to use freely and fairly, if at all, and its outcome respected will be the ballot box.
Yes, RFKJR is not playing with a full deck. But you can't engage with his supporters and hope to convince them otherwise. What is going to happen when a child with measles sneezes in a movie theatre and infects everyone there? People will die. How will RFKJR respond? Will he think it's necessary to thin the herd? Or what? Ever seen pictures of teeny weeny iron lungs for babies? Without polio vaccinations, the manufacturers of those heart breaking machines will have a field day. Disaster could be coming. We shall see what the wienies in the Senate do.
He will deny and put the blame on something and someone else.
He went to Samoa and planted the seeds of measles vaccine hesitancy. It bloomed. Today he claimed the resulting deaths of children were not from measles.
That hesitancy attracted outside anti-vaxxers like him again during COVID.
RFK, Jr. is sick. No vaccines, etc. "So far, all the epidemics that have happened in the last ten or fifteen years , either the virus has been very deadly but not very contagious like Ebola, or very contagious but not very deadly like Covid-19. What happens when the next one comes along that's both very contagious and very deadly? We're in deep trouble. Much worse than this." --- Noam Chomsky, Democracy Now
RFK Jr said in the hearing Medicaid has not improved health and is bad and was led to promote Medicare Advantage. He is often labeled a “liberal” but he lies like a Republican, particularly about vaccines and his previous comments.
Those who confirm these people need to be responsible legally for their actions and terror on American citizens. If these people are not capable of being in these positions, they need to vote responsibly.
It was SUCH a powerful letter. And knowing how purposefully quiet and self removed from inserting herself into political matters ESPECIALLY given she is JFK’s only living child; this held such weight and power. Lawrence O’Donnell played the entire video statement and it was even more powerful than just the written words. I admire her stance that I would guess caused her and her family, a great deal of pain. I wish more members of the family and people close to RFK Jr would have joined her - and sooner. Maria Shriver certainly has a large platform. And ostensibly could speak to these issues. I know the Kennedy family has many ‘rules’ of engagement but they are also public servants at heart and I’m this moment we ALL have to use whatever tools or contacts or gifts or platforms to resist and protest the horrors that are befalling the entire country.
Many of us have called into question the felon’s mental state, is it dementia or an actual mental illness. However it is clear that RFK, Jr is mentally ill. Could it be his years of illegal drugs, steroids that he must be on? At this point it doesn’t matter, he is not fit to be in the federal government. It will be interesting to see if he is the road too far for Thune’s Goons.
He's a SADIST. From way back when. Don't bother with any fancy psychiatric diagnosis. Sadism is more than enough.
Probably steroids, i heard if you abuse they may affect mental health. But with Kennedy it is a bit difficult to assess since he always looks like he is on something. Either way, drugs or steroids he is dangerous.
He was a sadist from childhood.
Agreed. Given his history of drug abuse and this brain worm, he clearly is not in his right mind. I wonder if his deep tan face is like the felons?
From the column: "They also display his sociopathic indifference to the pain these disruptions cause—or, worse, his sadistic pleasure in inflicting it."
This may be the most accurate, and frightening, description of Trump and his presidency I have read. It is plain to see that Trump has no idea what he's doing and doesn't care what damage it does. Saying he takes sadistic pleasure in that damage is something I never expected could be said of a president.
As a senior and somewhat of a political watcher, I have seen the foibles of presidents going back to JFK. None of them, even in their worst moments, come anywhere near Trump's narcissism, incompetence and efforts to enrich himself.
RFK Jr., too, is a danger to our country. To have a relative call you a predator is stunning. I predict he will tone down, or if you want to call them lies, his previous positions to appease senators and be confirmed. When the next pandemic hits, and the bird flu seems to be on the horizon, people will die because of his beliefs. When that happens, every senator who votes for him will also bear those deaths.
I confirm, Trump does not give a damn. Right now he faithfully act every line of Project2025, under the supervision of those who created it.
The first time I heard it speak during the repugnicant primaries in 2016, I realized that the man is a SADIST. I have never called him anything other than "orange sadist" since those debates. Now I find out the the monster he wants for head of HHS is apparently even more sadistic (on the physical level) than he is. It just keeps getting worse and worse and worse. God bless Caroline Kennedy for caring so much about our country to step WAY out of her comfort zone and tell us what we need to know about her cousin.
The horror story of Trumps appointees continues.
The description of RFK Jr’s macabre actions (so courageously identified by his sister Carolyn Kennedy in this essay by Steven)
are so awful you don’t want to believe a person could act in this manner. It’s frightening,
Imbedded in Steven’s article is a link with additional information and a survey offering your chance to log your opinion of RFK. After the survey a graph includes results.
Slight correction. “Caroline Kennedy” is first cousin, NOT sister of RFKjr. He does have a bunch of sisters but this letter is not from one of them. “Carolyn Bessette Kennedy” was the wife of JFKjr and was killed with him in 1999 in a plane crash near Martha’s Vinyard. I am slightly embarrassed that I know all this trivia.
Unfortunately, the days of Camelot are gone. We now dwell in Hades!
Not just 3 but multi-cheers for Caroline K! And to you for continuing to keep us aware of the dangers of this current fiasco in D.C.
We have a potential new pandemic lurking on the horizon with bird flu. Yesterday a different and more virulent strain was discovered on a farm in CA. It's only a matter of time before it mutates to human-to-human spread. Yet, under Donald Trump, our health agencies are under a gag order and Congress is considering installing a dangerous vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theorist who doesn't believe in science into the highest health care office. Reportedly Moderna is working on a mRNA vaccine. What happens if Kennedy in his role refuses to allow FDA to issue approval for a safe and effective vaccine like what happened during covid?
• We can look to Samoa to see RFK Jr’s approach to vaccines. Today he denied that the deaths that resulted from him spreading panic and vaccine hesitancy there were from Measles. Not addressed was that the seed he planted, vaccine hesitancy, reared its ugly head in Samoa again during COVID.
• DJT admitted to Woodward (on tape) that he knew before it was public knowledge that COVID was airborne. He then talked about how dangerous that was. We know he went on to incentivize creation of vaccines. Then let them sit in warehouses without a distribution system or even “concept of a plan.”
On this they are 2 peas in a pod. They will do whatever lines their pocket, no matter who beneath them is hurt.
He’s famous for suing drug companies (that is how he makes money now) and rather than fight him in courts they settle, a million here and there. Courts have always been trumps specialty too. Actually those two are birds of a sick feather.
The letter from Caroline Kennedy does absolutely nothing. After the shameful confirmation of Hegseth, does anyone seriously think this Senate will not approve Kennedy? They had all the information to not confirm, yet their loyalty is to trump, not the country or Constitution. And knowing his vote would be inconsequential to the outcome, McConnell yet again took the coward's way out. 2nd impeachment permission structure to vote not guilty, anyone? Bueller? For me, I expect more of the same from a group that has effectively become an extension of the executive branch rather than a co-equal branch. The House is already there.
Less an “extension of the executive branch” than an extension of MAGA. As much as I despise the actions taken thus far by Trump and his lackeys, it is the utter failure of Congress to do its job that disturbs me even more.
ALL House members should be livid about the myriad of actions taken that neuter and disrespect the constitutional role of Congress. Instead they either cheer their own submission or appear feckless in the wings.
And the Senate! It is clear that the GOP is intent upon making the federal government so completely dysfunctional and loathsome that no American will trust it. Billionaires will be bigger billionaires and the rest of us just get punked. And Fetterman and Bernie…WTF!
I agree. We're more or less saying the same thing. trump = executive branch = maga.
If only his mother, Ethel were alive. She left him nothing in her will….and didn’t even mention his name! Her firstborn!
Bobby is the third born child of RFK and Ethel, after Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and Joseph P. Kennedy II.
Thanks for the correction. Like you I’m a nitpicker when it comes to uncontested faux information.
RFK, Jr. sullies the Kennedy name. I am old enough to remember his uncle and father in their prime. Inspiring. Young, handsome, eloquent—they gave Americans hope that youth and strength were just what we needed. RFK, Jr.? Just another liar and sexual predator.
Even Caroline is against him.
Proof that the first generation does the work, the second generation skates. Likewise, Fred Trump did the lifting, son Donald admires his own genius of being an heir.
Hey Bernie and Fetteredman I'm amazed to hear that RF(u)Kj is the ONLY possible nominee that could be concerned about the heath of American eating.
Impoundment was in fact the basis of Trump's first impeachment. He did it then for "personal political gain" but when is ANYTHING he does not for personal political gain??
It would be seriously cool if some Dem introduced articles of impeachment based on this latest impoundment. In both cases he was using that purported power to scare Zelensky/the agencies into submission.
I was thinking along those lines, like "Are you guys missing the forest because you like a few of the twigs?" Both Sanders and Fetterman like to tilt at windmills to show they can, but iconoclasm alone doesn't make for good policy.
These words I have posted in one form or another in response to several different Substack newsletters. Here below is perhaps a more succinct iteration.
Many are posting writing like this that smack of the “Fierce Urgency of Now!” to quote Dr. King.
It seems to me, elevating the impact of Rep. John Lewis’ “Good Trouble” to a much higher degree of pushback in as much real time as possible is required. If ever there was a moment where the phrase “Desperate times, desperate measures” was relevant it is now! Intense opposition to this continued, albeit now seemingly legal Coup d’état by way of Nov 5, 2024 against The Constitution by way of all the illegal acts noted of late must begin to swiftly coalesce if our country and democracy are to remain free. While we respect the “valid” outcome of the past election, as “time keeps on slipping into the future”, the thing that will be made harder and harder to use freely and fairly, if at all, and its outcome respected will be the ballot box.
Yes, RFKJR is not playing with a full deck. But you can't engage with his supporters and hope to convince them otherwise. What is going to happen when a child with measles sneezes in a movie theatre and infects everyone there? People will die. How will RFKJR respond? Will he think it's necessary to thin the herd? Or what? Ever seen pictures of teeny weeny iron lungs for babies? Without polio vaccinations, the manufacturers of those heart breaking machines will have a field day. Disaster could be coming. We shall see what the wienies in the Senate do.
He will deny and put the blame on something and someone else.
He went to Samoa and planted the seeds of measles vaccine hesitancy. It bloomed. Today he claimed the resulting deaths of children were not from measles.
That hesitancy attracted outside anti-vaxxers like him again during COVID.
RFK, Jr. is sick. No vaccines, etc. "So far, all the epidemics that have happened in the last ten or fifteen years , either the virus has been very deadly but not very contagious like Ebola, or very contagious but not very deadly like Covid-19. What happens when the next one comes along that's both very contagious and very deadly? We're in deep trouble. Much worse than this." --- Noam Chomsky, Democracy Now
Sick or a grifting exploiter of people’s fears? His children are vaccinated.
Covid was very contagious AND very deadly Joseph !
RFK Jr said in the hearing Medicaid has not improved health and is bad and was led to promote Medicare Advantage. He is often labeled a “liberal” but he lies like a Republican, particularly about vaccines and his previous comments.
JFK Jr. died in 1999. I hope you meant RFK Jr. Please fix.
An obvious typo. Thanks for the correction.
Those who confirm these people need to be responsible legally for their actions and terror on American citizens. If these people are not capable of being in these positions, they need to vote responsibly.