I have a 92 year old great friend who fought in the Korean War. He told me that he got vaccinated many times, for multiple diseases, before he was deployed to the war. He said that he never got sick while in the military and said that he was so thankful that the military had those vaccines to protect him and his fellow soldiers. When the COVID vaccine came out I asked him if he wanted it? His response was, “where do I sign?”. He mentioned that anyone who doesn’t want the Covid-19 vaccine, “I wish them good luck”. My friend is also up to date with all the booster shots for Covid. And so is my wife, my children and I!
Me too, Keith. I always keep my shots up to date, I didn't get the RSV, because my doctor advised against it. {I've been in 3rd stage kidney failure for more than twenty years and there were some isolated cases where RSV vaccine pushed 3rd to 4th) My adult grandchildren dutifully get all their shots too, just as they all vote - Grandma says so! LOL
Heroin addict. Flunked the bar -- probably never should have been admitted.
From Wik : In 1982, Kennedy was sworn in as an assistant district attorney for Manhattan.[2] After failing his bar exam, he resigned in July 1983.[26] That September, he was charged with heroin possession in Rapid City, South Dakota.[26] He pleaded guilty to a single felony charge of possession of heroin in February 1984, whereupon he was sentenced to two years' probation and community service.[27][28] After his arrest, he entered a drug treatment center. To satisfy the conditions of his probation, Kennedy worked as a volunteer for the Natural Resources Defense Council and was required to attend regular drug-rehabilitation sessions. His probation ended a year early.[29]
Daniel, thanks for the history. Until recently, RFK, Jr. was not even on my radar of people to follow. I am guessing there was a reason. He was fooling people even back in the '80s and had he been someone else, he'd have been in jail. I do believe in second and third chances, but not when he is a tool of evil as he is now.
RFK is not anti vax. He is a freedom of choice health advocate.
My health is my responsibility.
He is an environmental hero, balanced not extreme, Hudson Riverkeepers, was a 33 year success .
He is the most honest candidate Ive seen. He has spent years defending people who suffered from corporate irresponsibility. I ask you to open your mind and listen to RFK interview his Vice President. Also the interview of Jocko Willink, former navy seal, veteran hero, entrepreneur, You will still have your right to vote for whom ever you like.
Shellie, I understand you have your position, but I have heard RFK, Jr.'s anti-vax comments myself. I get that he was at some point an environmental "hero," although I am not a witness to that. However, he is not a candidate I can support.
I am a psychology graduate student and I need some advice. One of my professors urged all the students in our class to find the school of therapy that ‘fit us.’ How can I select the school of therapy that would provide the best fit for me? And what is considered to be the best school of psychotherapy?” --Harold
Dr. David’s Answer:
Thanks for your question, Harold. These are important issues! Right now there are hundreds of schools of psychotherapy in the United States, and more evolve almost on a weekly basis. We’ve got Adlerian Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy, Psychoanalytic Therapy, Jungian Therapy, Humanistic Therapy, Existential Therapy, Interpersonal and Transpersonal Therapy, Supportive – Emotive Therapy, Rogerian therapy, Behavior Therapy, ACT, CBT, DBT, EMDR, REBT, TFT, Motivational Interviewing, and more.
It can be very appealing to join one of these schools of therapy, and there are some definite advantages. Once you’ve joined a school of therapy, it will provide you with a sense of security and confidence and give you a sense of belonging. You can tell your colleagues and patients that you are an “EMDR therapist” or a “psychodynamic therapist,” or whatever. We all want something to believe in, and we all like and benefit from the support of like-minded colleagues. But here’s my recommendation, Harold—don’t sign up for any of them.
Why would I take this position? After all, many of the schools of therapy have provided helpful perspectives on human nature along with a number of useful treatment techniques. I have personally been involved in the development and popularization of one of the most widely practiced and researched forms of therapy in the world—cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). However, if you’ve attended any of my workshops, you know that I’m not a fan of any school of therapy for many reasons, such as:
The schools of therapy tend to compete like cults, or religions, fostering competitive feelings and unwarranted feelings of superiority. In addition, many have narcissistic founders who demand strong allegiance to their theories and treatment methods, rather than encouraging objective, systematic research.Nearly all schools of therapy promote unproven theories about the causes of psychological problems like depression and anxiety.Most make fairly bold and unjustified claims about their effectiveness. In fact, the effects of practically every school of therapy can be shown to be modest at best, and barely better than treatment with a placebo, if at all.The practitioners of all the schools of therapy are usually convinced that their therapeutic techniques have highly specific treatment effects, whereas their effectiveness in most cases derives from non-specific effects that are common to all schools of therapy, such as the beneficial effects of the therapeutic relationship, or the patient’s belief that the therapy will help.Most schools of therapy tend to treat all disorders with the same techniques, as if they had one cure-all or panacea all for all emotional problems.I’m going to expand on some of these problems, so if you’re interested you can click here to read more. I want you to know that I share these concerns with apprehension. I don’t want to sound arrogant or overly critical of colleagues. My goal is not to insist that my own point of view is the “right” one, but simply to stir up some critical thinking and dialogue. I also want to emphasize the enormous contributions that most schools of therapy have made, and I want to encourage young practitioners to study them and learn from them. But when it comes time to sign on the dotted line, and become a follower, that’s where I draw the line.
I also want to emphasize that I sometimes hold views that turn out to be wrong. So feel free to criticize me, to comment on this article and to share you own point of view. I have no doubt that if we can all check our egos at the door, we can learn a lot from each other. But of course, that’s not always an easy thing to do.
The Schools of Therapy Have a Lot in Common with Cults
This first topic is perhaps the most sensitive, and I was sorely tempted to delete this section. But I’ll take a stab at it and hope for the best.
You might wonder what in the world schools of psychotherapy have in common with cults like Jim Jones and his Peoples Temple in Guyana, Marshall Applewhite and his Heavens’ Gate cult in San Diego, or David Koresh and his Branch Davidians in Waco Texas. If you look up the definitions of a cult online, you’ll see they have a number of common features, including: 1. A grandiose leader who insists that his or her followers believe things that simply aren’t true. 2. A non-scientific treatment or ritual claimed by the followers to have exceptional healing powers. 3. Potentially harmful effects on the followers. 4. A belief that the cult has discovered some type of absolute “truth” and intense feelings of rivalry with competing cults."
to power corrupts, I really liked and agree with Dr. David’s answer. I was a pediatric psych nurse in the 80’s . We had a great multidisciplinary team and we’re able to provide great progress with families. Since Reagan’s deregulations insurance no longer covers this kind of care but the one thing we all knew was that the techniques are mainly there for the provider’s comfort while the beneficial effects of the therapeutic relationship were what benefited the families best no matter the technique, It is also important to have a wide variety of techniques to draw upon because different patients do best with different techniques. Listening to your patient will usually let you know the best way to help them. Good luck in your career. Being kind, empathetic, and having good listening skills will serve you well. As an aside, when my son died, I tried 3 different grief counselors. They all wanted to tell me what I was going through and wanted to pathologize grief. They were just another level of pain. Humans need to be seen for their truth, for their experience and each one is unique. If you honor, value, and cherish that you will be of great service to your patients,
@Powercorrupts: We have had Freud for over 100 years and people are arguably crazier today than ever before. Talk therapy doesn't work, except in the ways you briefly touched upon. Placebo effect is real. But, as you know, there are certain treatment regimes that have scientifically proven efficacy. For example treatments based on exploiting human brain plasticity - humans can be trained away from problematic or self-destructive behaviors, at least to a degree. I am actually encouraged by progress in brain science, though there is a wide gap between what is known by scientists and what is practiced in the field.
Paying deep attention to my bodywork clients was my greatest gift. Then it was a matter of having diverse tools that resonated with me, with which to address their issues.
Well the fact that he was a heroin addict might be the only interesting thing I've heard about him. I'm sure he has benefited and more or less operated on his family name his whole life, that after all is the Kennedy way.
C'mon! Two were assassinated, and Robert Jr. lost his dad that way. The Kennedy way? Really? Sad that he had that horrible experience! Worse that he lost something important that his father had. Like integrity.
I agree, Laurie. Anyone who understands childhood trauma would know that this man's youth was probably not a walk in the park. He had EIGHT siblings, which might suggest a lack of attention even among many privileges. Earlier I read that his grandfather's enormous estate is being depleted, and while he probably lives better than most of us, it's easy to see the temptation of large donors. He needs to be stopped, but I suspect this would break his father's very large heart.
progwoman ; He, (Jr.), needs to be 'redirected', if possible, he IS a grown man. I think his father's heart was breaking in that picture of them together, because Bobby Kennedy knew how treacherous this world was at the time, He knew then how bad the direction was that it was going in. Imagine how it felt when the music group ; "The Dead Kennedys", were selling their 'music'? free speech is sometimes very bad taste!
Let's also remember that his second wife and mother of 4 of their children was thought to have Borderline Personality Disorder. She committed suicide in 2012. Helping kids deal with a parent's suicide is never a cakewalk for anyone, no matter how much $$ you have or how privileged your background.
I disagree, Kennedy is calm and not cruel. I don't think you have given him a real chance. You don't have to either. However Im on this page because Im an independent and I vote my conscience. I read all sides. I like Roberts experience and some of his perspectives. Im listening to you. Thank You
I wasn't talking about the 2 assassinated Kennedy's, I was speaking on all the entitled Kennedy's to follow. Remember the one who killed his mistress driving drunk? How bout the rapist who got off cause he was a Kennedy? I'm 51 I have been paying attention. The one who was supposed to be "the next Kennedy" died in a plane crash. Most of the others can fuck off. Yea it's the Kennedy way.
Not true. I would never vote for him but he was very instrumental in cleaning up the Hudson River - a multi organization, multi year project which was very successful. Then he lead a program in Boston that advocated for lower income residents who were having trouble paying heating bills. He seemed to be following his family’s lead. But then the strange turn on the cause of autism and the similar tirades against the Covid vaccine. And then the rest of the racist, anti semitic positions he seems to have no problem uttering in public.
Imagine how Republicans would tear into that history if Kennedy were running as a Democrat. His campaign would go the way of previous Democrats like Howard Dean, who was toast after an unfortunate "scream."
Nonsense. RFKj is one of the great people who kicked the drug habit. He attends AA regularly and I'm surprised you dismiss people who suffer from addiction like this. Check out for yourself how RFKj overcame this illness and see if you still think he is a loser. He has won many important environmental battles in court to protect you from a toxic environment and all you can say is he flunked the bar back when he was suffering from addiction. I feel sorry for how mean we've become to each other. Rethink this and you will see differently when you get the facts about RFKj. Stop listening to MSNBC or Fox if this is where you get your information. They are nothing but propaganda machines that support billionaire interests through advertising.
Whoa. Did not know that. I opined (above) that he is mentally ill; and certainly past drug use can scramble the brain. (Shout out to Mike Lindell, the Pillow Guy.) The information you shared aligns with my suspicions about his mental and cognitive health.
He had a severe neurogical injury in his youth. Inflammation increases as we age making symptoms more severe. We need mental fitness exams for POTUS candidates. Conspiracy spewing candidates shouldn’t get approved for high security positions.
We’ve all heard of children who grow up in kind, loving families. There’s some twist in their neurons, that persuades them to conduct their lives opposite in every way to the philosophy and politics of their parents. When a person with this mindset and history, attempts to run for public office, they must be thoroughly vetted physically, and psychologically before being permitted to be placed on any ballot. Money and family influence should not be part of the criteria for successful candidacy.
Also, Hunter's family has embraced and supported him, rather than distancing themselves from him. And, unlike RFK Jr., Hunter never sought the limelight.
He had drug problems. But he became head of the National Resources Defense Council, a prominent environmental group, & he was a leading environmentalist, quite in contrast to what he's best known for today.
I think his transition, however, makes him more of a draw for those who think likewise about vaccines & are drawn to other conspiracy theories, which should make him more of a threat to Trump, since those people tend to make up Trump's constituency, not Biden's.
That is what I wonder also. Perhaps he is emotionally insecure and easily influenced by others in a power position. Surrounded by a malignant group of users playing his vanities, deploying and abusing his family’s political brand name for their benefit. Children of powerful family dynasties are alway potential easy targets for those wishing to destroy them.
Monnina - Kinda sounds like another republican candidate who is trying to run again for president. Money and power is all they care about and not governing for the people who elect them. Follow the money that is helping them campaign and you will find exactly who is behind the curtain pulling the strings.
Monnina - I truly wish that I knew the answer. Imagine what good use all of the money spent on campaigns could do if they were spent elsewhere - actually helping the people and the planet. Some of the people who complain about not having money are unfortunately willing to pay citizen trumps legal fees or buying tacky “souvenirs”.
I know. It’s grim. Also, considering the complicit and very effective social and economic and environmental destruction being wreaked by the propaganda machinery of legacy media for global criminal oligarchs, imagine what common good they could create if they were not ‘owned’ by such sociopaths.
Gandalf, that's the problem. Some folks remember that RFK, Jr. was someone else in the past and think he is the same person; he isn't, or maybe he is but now is letting people know who he really is, and it is not a good person to be leading anything.
I have a friend whose daughter is married to a bona fide Trumper. For years, she kept his extreme views at bay and finally, In the throes of this unhappy marriage, the woman’s succumbed. Her three children have jumped into the mix as well. My poor friend is devastated. Trumpism is truly a dreadful, contagious, disease.
Check out his books. Don't actually read the book If you don't want to. But look in the back at the many many references. He doesn't pull facts out of thin air
If by some chance RFK Jr. is that naïve that he can't see the damage he is doing to this country by even entering the 2024 Presidential race, the man isn't smart enough to fill the shoes of a President. Perhaps his socks are more red than blue.
I have several times heard RFK Jr. brag that his favorability rating is higher than Trump and Biden. Of course it is! Most people know nothing about him and are simply associating him with his famous and wonderful father, RFK Sr. When people learn more about his crazy views, I expect to see his favorability rating to drop like a rock!
Hi Tim have you honestly listened to any of the RFK interviews. Try Jocko Willinik interview of RFK. Willink is a former navy seal, veteran, entrepreneur. check it out. Let me know what you think.
It must be so hard for this Kennedy, growing up in the shadows of his illustrious ancestors, with so much political expectation on him from birth. His life was always going to be a failure - how could anyone make their own successful life when everybody's expectations of him were so impossibly high? No surprise that he escaped into drugs when younger.
This is his last roll of the dice, the last chance to put his name next to the other Kennedy's.
Az--Considering RFK Jr. had a terrible drug habit for over 14 years I can't see how that addiction wouldn't have had an altering affect to his mental abilities. I give the man every chance to lead a full life as long as he doesn't try to run this country.
Right you are, Donald. Notice how similar K jr's conspiracy theory is to Ron Paul's. Both men attack Faucci to deflect blame from Trump 's horrendous failure of leadership during the pandemic. What's more, and this even more important, both men seek to undermine public confidence in the federal government itself, the principal aim of libertarians and revanchist Confederates. This is why Mellon and others support Kennedy Jr.
Thank you for your comments and references. I am quite familiar with Mr Sachs work, and I used to have high respect for him. I still share his loathing of the military-industrial complex, which is leading the world toward catastrophe, but his comments during a recent interview left me puzzled and disappointed. His pro-Putin statements were simply outrageous (and very hard to explain). To me, he has lost all credibility.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve never even been to Russia, let alone having gone there, as Jeffrey Sachs has, multiple times in a professional capacity to advise the Russians on how to adapt to capitalism after the breakdown of the Soviet Union. So I feel Sachs has a lot of credence when he says he was shocked to find that the U.S. had no real desire to help Russia recover but instead found out that our leaders were intent on using economic and military force keeping the Russians down and out of NATO, and that they also had the goal of breaking Russia down into smaller parts such that Russia would never be able to compete with us in any way in our goal of achieving full-spectrum dominance over all the other nations of the world. I especially trust the assessment of Sachs when I read that many, many other experts on the politics and history of Russian say the same thing as Sachs: that the U.S. knew full well that by threatening to further expand NATO, against their previous promise, right to Russia’s border in Ukraine, it was purposely crossing a red line that no Russian leader would tolerate. We wanted the Ukraine war because we thought it would “weaken” Russia. This is one of the first papers I read that explained to me why we would do something so crazy as provoke an avoidable war with Russia: https://michael-hudson.com/2022/02/america-defeats-germany-for-the-third-time-in-a-century/
Similarly, I have never been in a position to interview the scientists responsible for doing and regulating the dangerous gain-of-function research done on viruses as bioweapons that likely created COVID in the laboratory, as Jeffrey Sachs was as the leader of the team charged with doing that by the prestigious medical journal Lancet. However, I am a retired cell and molecular biologists who wells understands what Sachs is saying when he talks about Furin cleavage sites and how research works, so I do feel in a position to judge what Sachs is telling us he found out. This was research that Fauci never should have funded and that he seems to have been involved in covering up. We need to make the world is never again endangered by such destructive research.
RFK, Jr., is a brilliant environmental lawyer who knows all about the history and underside of politics and the corporate capture of government agencies like the CIA and the NIH. Everything he says about Russia and COVID is supported by experts of which Jeffrey Sachs is only one example. The establishment wants to shut Kennedy up, and they do so by relying on the fact that most of us have never been to Russia, don’t understand molecular biology, and we want to believe that our government would never lie to us about either. Sadly, the facts suggest they would.
Thank you for your thoughtful reply. Whether the war in Ukraine was avoidable is a moot question. The US is not blameless, that's for sure, but to take Putin's side is neither smart nor moral. As to the great lab conspiracy propounded by Ron Paul and Kennedy Jr, it is clearly politically motivated, dishonest, and irresponsible. Instead of holding Trump responsible for his lack of leadership during the pandemic, they scapegoat Faucci. It is also a means to undermine trust in the federal government and make people yearn for a "strong" leader (someone like Putin?) Yes, you are right, work with viruses is dangerous, but how do you combat viral outbreaks? How was the spread of Sars-1 stopped? If that precursor of Covid-19 was not created in a lab, then why insist that the latter was? I think that you will agree with me that jumping to conclusions because that suits our preconceptions is unwise and may be dangerous. Could it be that Sachs has also been bought by some libertarian billionaire?
Biden and Trump are both evil in their own unique ways. If they weren't, then people wouldn't be running out of the Democrat or Republican party. Bobby Kennedy is fueled by facts and doesn't just say how high when any governmental agency says jump.
Sharon--If Biden is evil in any way, feed me please. RFK Jr. is history. I've been aware of his misgivings ever since he was a teenager, and the drugs didn't improve his situation in any way either.
Kennedy Junior is the pro-disease candidate. His campaign slogan should be, "Make America Diseased Again." MADA + MAGA (who also want to make America diseased again) The Kennedy-Trump pro-disease crowd must be defeated.
Well, your friend is an AMERICAN, Mr. Olson! Bunkerboy and robby are INSURRECTIONIST TRAITORS that don't pay taxes! As far as I'm concerned, if one pays no taxes, they are about as "American" as Kimmy or Pootin. [sic]
In fact, there were only four vaccines regularly given at the time of the Korean War, and three of those -- diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis -- were combined into a single (DTP) injection. Smallpox, of course, was the other -- and that was pretty much a one-time thing for life.
Flu vaccines were still in their infancy, and polio not yet developed.
I'm a vet with Vietnam service, and regular vaccinations were no big thing.
RFKj is not against vaccines. He is only interested in testing them for safety since they have proven to harm many people as well as helping others. He will appoint a director of FDA to conduct the proper studies. Stop listening to MSNBC or Fox if this is where you get your information. They are nothing but propaganda machines supporting their billionaires through advertising, such as the ridiculous pharma ads.
He will conduct "the proper studies" the way Trump will pack the DOJ to get rid of rivals. The real studies have already been done and millions have benefited from the MRN vaccines. Shame on you!
Mark my words. You do know someone who is covid jab injured. It's just so sneaky that you don't know who they are. And they may even be someone you know well. With censorship abound, you just have to do your own research.
Daniel, I have 1,000 postcard stamps awaiting my GOTV postcards. I wish I was more effective in talking about these issues with others. My sister is a lifelong fiscally conservative (CPA)/socially liberal Republican who hates Trump, but also hates Biden. Plans not to vote. At least she lives in NJ! My other sister is a progressive Democrat like me, as are our husbands. What happened to this sister? I just can't get through to her.
Exactly!! No one on the left is voting for this Trojan horse because people on the left are too smart and see through this ridiculous bait and switch they’re trying to pull. The only people who will vote for RFK are MAGAts who don’t pay attention and don’t know the truth. They’ll see he’s an anti-vax, conspiracy theory weirdo and he aligns completely with them & their movement so they’ll happily vote for him. Biden voters don’t fall for such pathetic grifts so I’m not understanding why anyone believes this will harm Biden more than Trump.
I would like to think they are too smart. But what I learned in 2016 is that idealistic young people will vote in protest without any thought of the real cost of their vote. Many just don’t think critically about the consequences beyond their protest vote. Many of them were protesting Clinton in 2016, and voted third party just to show their displeasure. It made a dent in her campaign, if not costing her the presidency outright. Pragmatism is often the enemy of idealism. Here we are in the middle of a youthful trend toward disapproving of Biden over what’s happening in Palestine. I think we are in even greater danger of the protest vote this year than we were in 2016.
If the Democrats had allowed a Democratic primary election to occur this year, Biden would have already debated Kennedy and one of them would have conceded before the general election. That’s what happened when Robert Reich supported Sanders over Hillary Clinton in 2016. Even the Democrats admitted they cheated Bernie in the primary, yet Bernie stepped aside. I believe that RFK Jr. would have excelled in the primary debates and gone on to beat Trump in the general. Biden will be embarrassed if he has to debate Trump and Kennedy for the general election, and if Biden refuses to debate, we’ll all know why. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/robert-reich-on-whats-next-for-bernie-and-his-supporters-44166/
Many, many people aren't very smart. They don't think of consequences, they can't assemble a 'what might happen if....' scenario in their heads. Not their fault.
We all mix with people of our own level of intelligence, not to mention education, upbringing, social status, etc. In short, we expect others to believe in what we believe in, and tend not to understand when the stubbornly don't! We live in out own bubbles.
But by definition, half of all people have an IQ under 100. For every person with 120 IQ, there's someone living a life coping with 80 IQ. And for every MENSA at 150 IQ there is some poor sod with 50 IQ, who may also have a vote!
I think it is important to recognise this, and how it might affect our expectations about how people, en masse, will act.
Many young people on TikTok encourage voting 3rd party to protest Biden's age, his failure to reduce inflation in practical terms, giving away tax dollars to foreign wars, and taking AIPAC money. He also has promised to sign a bill that would be the demise of TikTok. He hasn't done himself any favors.
This is a very important article, Professor Reich, and one that I hope gets wide attention in other media as well. That video, those words, of Rita Palma is both chilling and infuriating.
Robert F. Kennedy Junior is UNFIT to be President and, considering trump, we do not need another UNFIT candidate!
Americans can (possibly) feel some measure of compassion for a man bearing the name of his widely loved father and the pain of having lost his father and uncle in horrific and shocking assassinations. However, he is a middle-aged man whose own personal history is rife with dysfunction and disorder who somehow embraces - or is performing as if he embraces (perhaps even worse, but is the form of demagoguery) - dangerous and backward ideas. Does anyone ever ask him what qualifies him to promote any ideas about public health, about epidemiology, about vaccines? Will he promise to support for life the children who are being harmed by their parents' following the kind of ignorant nonsense Kennedy Jr. endorses? When they are made blind from measles or totally disabled from polio, will he pay for the lifelong care of the growing number of children his ideas are exposing to danger? These deranged demagogues who show that they will say or do anything to get themselves into the catbird seat of power and wealth are a recurring plague in America (and elsewhere, of course).
Thank you for this article and the video and for keeping us alert to the relentless ways trump and his mob are conniving to get their hands on our government.
Such outrages, harmful dangerous lies by RFK Jr should not be protected speech. It's sickening how tfg and the maga crowd etc all hide behind the First Amendment, the bedrock of our democracy, with the deceitful intent to burn it to the ground.
Yes, it's ironic, isn't it, how the trump mob uses the institutions and principles of this country to their advantage when that advantage will be used to destroy the institutions and principles.
As much as I would like "being in my 70s = middle aged" (I have a vested interest) Bob Kennedy isn't that much younger than the two other old men running.
Thanks - and sorry - obviously I didn't know his actual age and should have checked. I'm always shocked to see "little" Caroline Kennedy with wrinkles and gray hair so clearly I should have been more aware of RFKjr's age. Thanks again for the correction.
As to your noting, "being in my 70s = middle aged", have hope and optimism!
And the "two other old men running" are in some ways older than other old men - or women - their age and in some ways younger than some people much younger than they are. It's not age, it's the person.
Write back when you're past the 70=middle age point and reach 140 = old, eh?
Annie Cross thankyou for your excellent comment,it shares good commonsense points for all of us. Also in this person I see a broken down angry selfish man with no thought for his fellow human beings and no concern at all for the future of our country.. He has nothing to offer to future generations and has no concern for the health and welfare of families. By the way the drumph and all his cronies were the first to line up for vaccinations before they were even available to the rest of us. Is he also unaware of all the mass graves of the hundreds of vulnerable people who died from covid due to Drumphs lies and incompetence. For those of us who lived thru it and survived his agenda is offensive
Show me your blind and polio ridden children, and I will show you my Autistic, Allergic, disabled , dead children , due to vaccines. I have 3 in my immediate family alone.
Digestive disorders are run amok and so is denial. Hep B shot required at 5 hours after birth under threat of Child Protective Services. Is this the America you pledge allegiance to ? Willingness and Open mindedness will heal this land. The pendulum must swing ,to represent the masses.You have had your turn. It is someone else's turn to fairly represent Americans. Be Nice.. Im on this site because I respect Roberts experience and opinion.
?Be nice? you say? to the best of my knowledge, I have never NOT been "nice" to posters here, so your aggressive attitude to my post is unnecessary. As to your "show me your blind and polio ridden children..." comment, even with its somewhat callous tone, I have to say that I cannot "show you my" children with bodies damaged by measles or polio because after VACCINES were developed for those diseases, the number of children (or adults) with bodies and lives damaged by DISEASE, not vaccinations, became almost nil. I don't have those statistics at hand, but until recently - as the "anti-vaxers" gained microphones and stages - polio was almost totally eradicated. Does it please you that as parents anywhere listen to the kind of nonsense spouted about vaccines gets promulgated around the world that once again polio - and TB - are on the rise?
For any of us who have had family members, forebears, family friends or relatives who were disabled or killed by disease, BEFORE VACCINES, we know the difference. Forebears in my own and other family members' forebears died from: the 1918 pandemic/"Spanish" flu, a fairly large number died from diptheria, and one marvelous man severely disabled from polio, family friends who spent LONG periods of time in TB sanitariums.... and so on and so on. The DISEASES are REAL. The nonsense from the likes of RFK, junior trying to be famous and politically important like his father RFK and uncle JFK and mother, using despicable routes, is NOT based in reality.
Please consider what scientists know about vaccines and have known for decades and, in the case of smallpox, for generations. If you have never seen or known anyone from before the 1950s, 1960s, who had polio or TB, then your lack of respect for the irrefutable value of vaccinations might be understandable. As it is, anti-vaxers are simply ignorant and dangerous and backward. There were mistakes made in early research for the polio vaccine - although I am no expert in any of this - and it was terrible, but the polio vaccine research responded with correction - and it changed America in dramatic ways.
See, the thing about vaccinations and PUBLIC health is that it isn't just about YOUR children or mine; that's where the "public" comes in, because the diseases vaccinated against are transmittable. It's like the cook in your favorite restaurant who doesn't wash his hands after using the toilet isn't just affecting his own health; he is affecting everyone's health, but it's his choice to leave the toilet with soiled hands; that's his "freedom" to reject demands that he wash his hands. Where is YOUR "freedom" to have the trust that he cares about PUBLIC health as much as those trusting souls sitting down to eat at his restaurant do?! Those who refused to get the Covid shot(s) or refused to wear a mask were not just making decisions about THEIR OWN health, but they were deciding for everyone else - and people became very ill, many died, many STILL are suffering, because of the infantile demand of the "freedom lovers" to be exempt from any caring about the PUBLIC good!
And I am skeptical about your claims, by the way, regarding your family members and vaccines, but that is your business, not mine.
As your comment, "You have had your turn. It is someone else's turn to fairly represent Americans," I have no idea who you imagine you are talking to, but the fact is, that in America (or so we continue to hope), it is ELECTIONS that decide who "fairly represents" Americans. Unfortunately, there is a vocal, however ignorant, faction in this country who are actively working to drag us back into the Dark Ages, a feudal system, disease, chaos and dysfunction, rulers and peons, amid their combative disavowal of sense, science, progress and history.
Bravo, tell the truth and shame the ignorant. Neal Young and Joni Mitchell will tell them what it is like to learn to walk again, after getting polio as a child, that is why Neal took his music off spotify, to protest them platforming an antivaxing liar, who interviewed propagandists like there were legit.
Hello Annie, I was pretty bold in my statements unlike me really. I will ask ,do you personally know any one who has Polio or TB right now ? I was saying in reality, I know and have experienced, death and infantile seasures and a case won and compensation. Because some people are more sensitive to the vaccines and there was a fund for side effects. Because they are real. I don't know who your preferred candidate is. I lead by example and I have been respectful of most of the presidents that have served through my life time. Though I was pretty vocal about Bush the war and the multiple vaccines given the Iraq war service men. Being from Tidewater I saw lots of effect on the service members and their families. By the way I have not had a television since 1976. I am a free thinker, until now. My phone is the closest to TV Ive had since 1976. I do not have a college degree. I ran an organic Grocery store for 32 years. I could not afford insurance so we did not go to doctors. My daughter 47 has never had insurance. Im proud of who we are. We help our neighbors we don't hurt others with words or occupation. Do little harm. I believe in the freedom to choose, to vote and to live long as naturally possible , to prosper with out causing others harm. I don't want you to lose your right to choose a vaccine. I hope I may continue to have the freedom to make my choices based on my experiences. I have Great Hope RFK will be on the ballot in every state. So those of us who take responsibility for our own health, food and income may continue to exist. Be Well Annie it is your choice.
You are ignorant and just plain WRONG. VACCINES DO NOT CAUSE AUTISM! I AM 76, Autistic, born long before the MMR vaccines existed. We are born autistic, with a neurodivergent brain. STOP LYING.
You are correct Lynn, I don't know that all Autism is caused by vaccines. I do know there was a drastic change in my nephew after his DPT shot. He was hospitalized many times in his first 4 years of life. They say he is a miracle. I say he is very special because of his experience. He was fed through a tube for the first 4 years of his life. He suffered infantile seizures for years, we couldn't touch him because he was so sensitive to touch, and we had to brush his skin to help desensitize him. I met plenty of other vaccine damaged children in our Organic food store. Mothers looking for foods their children could eat, because they had severe allergies to most foods. I can't prove to you what Im telling you. I can only tell you my experience. Im grateful for them. I was able to provide food for many people they couldn't find elsewhere. I was an organic grower and the first organic food store in Tidewater VA. What is your story Lynn ?
Really? We have something in common. I live close to the Chesapeake Bay, in Ocean View. I've been at Tidewater for most of my adult life..Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Norfolk.
I'm very sorry about what happened to your nephew. I hope he is healthy and strong now.
I am not sure about what causes autism, but I know it's genetic and runs in families. I have grandchildren on the spectrum. As for me, I am part of the "Lost Generation" Baby Boomers who fell through the cracks before there was much known about Autism, and no school programs. We grew up with no clue..just that we were different. Many of us older ones just learned about it a few years ago.. in our 50's, 60's, 70's, and older. I found out from my sister. Bit of a shock to find out so late in life, in my mid-70s but it explains some of the things that happened to me in my life and some of my quirks. 🙃
What RFK-JR is doing (in fact, his entire existence) constitutes assassinating his beloved father Robert F. Kennedy a second time. The iconic Kennedy family, which has endured so many tragedies, does not need a creature like RFK-JR, and luckily they seem to all be arrayed against him. Reminds me of how Donald Dump's niece Mary Trump courageously continues to oppose the Dumbnald publicly. JTC
Thank you, Robert. ❤️ Trump will happily burn down the planet just to evade prison. His efforts are going to get more and more extreme. We must stop him or civilisation is doomed. Not an exaggeration.
I clicked like, because I appreciate your sharing this information, Professor Reich, BUT I do not like what is happening. I am so sorry for the Kennedy clan, how embarrassing for them. All of them are "good" people, in the sense of what they see as their civic duty. Yes, Jack and Teddy were womanizers, but that is a personality flaw, not an intellectual flaw. RFK jr, in a male version of a bimbo. No brains, no street smarts, just a name.
The Kennedy “Clan” needs to speak about Jr’s unfitness for POTUS more loudly. They know it. I’m sure it is painful for them, but given that JFK and RFK both gave their young lives fighting the fascism that we are up against in this election, I think Jr. has forced them into a position to speak loudly about his unfitness for the Oval Office.
Professor Reich, Have you read “One Nation Under God” How Corporate America Invented Christian America by Professor Kevin M. Kruse (Princeton). It is wonderful. Documents how a very non religious America was “saved” by rich capitalist from the horrors of FDR’s New Deal, or they tried to. Worth the read for all your readers. I am 80 so I lived through this insanity, but I was lucky Illinois didn’t agree to make school children be inculcated. Loved your posts… learn something new much. Thank you
Wow…. Truly sad and disheartening that bought influence in our government has been exerting itself for so long…. It’s almost as embedded as the constitution… almost a miracle that the voice of citizens is heard at all!
Trump is an actor, not a leader--this is a message Dems need to send to the nation and the world. After Bannon was kicked out of his inner circle Trump was left clueless, so he followed whatever Fox News broadcasted--with disastrous consequences.
I hope voters wake up, become really informed - with verifiable information- and make good, clear votes for democratic government of the republic to continue. It matters to the country and to the world.
Who are the coruptors behind RFK jr? In what smoky back room was he indoctrinated into fascism? How much did they pay him? We need to uncover these criminal enemies and eliminate them; our war is with them.
When politicians switch their politics it is usually because they think they stand a better chance of election with a different set of beliefs (i.e. they have no personal political beliefs that can't be traded for a vote).
It is always indicative of mercenary politicians whose ambitions are solely for power and status.
Sadly true. And one solution may be to get the $$$ out of politics - limits on donations, transparency of donors over $100, limits on campaigns for each post, proper enforcement of the declarations of interest, annual audits of all those holding public office, assessments of income from lifestyle, continuing for 5 years after the post, etc, etc.
I agree with get the $$$ out of politics but real issue is who's got that $$$ that gets into politics? Not me or you its the 1%. I think the only way to diminish their influence is to not let them accumulate so much to begin with. The best way is through reformation of the US tax code.....big time. Having all that money requires responsibility. Elon ....and others ....have shown us they aren't responsible.....like buying Twitter because like a schoolboy he got pissed at the other kids for being mean to him.
We also need more viable Democratic candidates in all of the States too. How can we convince people to vote for their own good if the only candidate they know anything about is either a MAGAt or RFK jr.
Fay Reid ; If the voters who are considering voting for RFKJr. knew who was "behind ' him, they would not vote for him, or any MAGA! The mainstream media should be prioritizing this message. Of course, we know who own much of the media ; the obscenely rich.
But the problem is they’re only going to take votes from Trump. “Conventional wisdom” has been nothing but wrong since Trump came on the scene, but mainstream media seem unable to understand this and keep using old methods to predict elections that no longer work. This is just another version of that. Conventional wisdom keeps saying he’ll take votes from Biden which to me is the total opposite of reality.
I honestly don't know what happened to this once wonderful man to make him go bonkers like this. And know I don't need any more proof. And that is sad. The whole situation is sad. And dangerous if Trump gets in. I may not be a Bernie fan. But Trump is too dangerous to be let in again!
A small number of super ultra rich families in America and a large number of Corporate Oligarchs are colluding with the Oligarchs of the world to bring down the world’s most successful and powerful Democracy “The United States of America”, period, end of story!
There’s something he wants to get out of the deal and he knows exactly what he’s doing. Yes, he’s being used but he knows it and he’s totally fine with it. Don’t for one second think otherwise. He’s gone over to the dark side and that makes him dangerous.
All politicians are Dangerous he shouldn’t be dissed because he is a Kennedy . The vaccine thing etc you don’t know if he is just stupid or just believes everything Fox broadcasts as being related to reality. No science education in his background.
Political professionals are a craven lot that most state legislators were only to meet for only a few months a year to protect the population from crazy stuff politicians would think up or say …
I’m not dissing him because he’s a Kennedy. He’s not even acting like a Kennedy and his family is warning the American people that he’s not to be trusted. They are backing Joe Biden. My biggest problem with him, among many others, is that he is running for one reason and one reason only. To help Trump get elected and if you think Trump is just an ordinary politician then you’ve missed an awful lot. Our democracy depends on re-electing Joe Biden and if we don’t then God help us and the rest of the world right along with us. To be perfectly clear, RFK, Jr does not expect or even want to win. His campaign is being funded by the same people who are backing Trump. That’s the sole reason he is running. To elect Trump and install him as a dictator. RFK, Jr has likely been promised a position in the Trump regime.
I agree with his family but I hold him less responsible , trumpet 🎺 is a cold calculating piece of S*** who deserves a long stretch without any possibility of pardon. Trumpet gambled that he could get away with Literally Stealing Public Office he hired Lawyers and others some with pure hearts 🥰 and some like Roger Stone , Steve Bannon and gambled he could play the legal system and get away it. It’s the American way look at Monsanto and Round up disgrace.(they are still making it under The Bayer Corp umbrella)
This will end with trumpet 🎺 going to jail or not but he will be disgraced then he will point to all the money he collected from his true believers the soft headed kind the trumpet 🎺 Bible buyers and the Golden sneakers plus what ever his daughter in law can scam out of the Republican Party and then Declare I’m Rich all of those people supported me look at how much money I have …
Richard Nixon the criminal after a few years after his scandal he returned to private life riding a bus from new jersey safdlebrook to NYC to visit his grand kids .
A real criminal that just rode it out while poor kids spent decades of their lives in jail on marijuana law infractions..,
American justice ( injustice )
Meanwhile almost every American that worked with trumpet 🎺 in the WhiteHouse have said trumpet 🎺 is the most dangerous threat to the American Democracy.
We need a Constitutional Convention to rewrite the rules of Government and get rid of the Electorial college…
I don't think RFK, Jr. is specifically working for trump, as in receiving a paycheck to do what's necessary to try to get trump elected. Would he rather see trump get re-elected? Possibly so in that trump may be closer to Jr. in terms of politics. Mostly, the RFK, Jr. bunch are, obviously, pissed off at the DNC as is obvious by the video that Robert posted where they are attempting to jeopardize the outcome in New York. These political punks of today are willing to destroy this country out of jealousy as many Bernie members did in 2016. So, the same thing is happening with the JFK, Jr. people. They are angry and jealous enough to undercut Biden because Kennedy is failing miserably. These younger people in politics today are a different breed than we've ever seen before. It is truly disturbing to me. But that's what has happened. So, to sum it up, the JFK supporters are not working for trump directly, but they might as well be because they are attempting, out of spite, to sink Joe Biden even if it would mean the destruction of the country. JFK, Jr. is a loser and a bizarre conspiracy theorist who cannot be allowed to play a part in the destruction of our country. He can't be allowed to be on the ballot of NY or anywhere else. We can't let people play politics whose only desire is to sink a major candidate in an election. I've seen enough of that in my life.
The US is an Autocratic Corportocracy, if such a word exists. Watch the 5 free sessions of. the con.tv And weep. You have heard pieces of the story in the news over decades. From Reagan through today, presidents have been granting Big Business its heart desires at our expense. Biden talks of restoring FDR guardrails but will he really do it? He waited until the end of his term to keep his 'promise' of relieving student debt after one failed strategy. Citizens United, corporations as individuals.
Many of us are disgusted by the choices. I keep hoping Trumpty will croak.
Watch the CON. Trumpty was just the pimple on top of the cake we baked for 50 years.
RFK is revealed in his possible role. But, he understands corporate capture, which many of you continuously ignore in its devastating effects. And, watch his videos. The oligarch owned newspapers do not control him..
The US is now called the Soviet Union of Corporations. If Biden wins and does not call on his inner FDR, we are sunk. When the Repugnants and the 'bipartisan game that no longer exists' privatize social security, the last pot of money wall streetors drool for, there will be a bloody revolution.
What you need to be aware of is that there are at least two sides to every issue. Our representatives represent people on every side of the issues. The corporations that you seem to hate so are made up of millions of people who are represented just as fairly as the ones whom you want to represent your desires. Why do you think that other people in this country shouldn't be represented? I have my own feelings and distrust of corporations, but I recognize the people who own and work for big business have a right to representation just as I do. Your selfish attitude is disturbing to me even though we likely agree on many things. For instance, blaming Biden for not canceling your student debt on your time table is an extremely selfish attitude. Remember, there is a huge backlash on cancelling student debt. How is that fair to those of us who paid back every dime of debt that we borrowed? I paid back $100,000 in student debt. Sure I hated every minute of it, and I thought college should have been free back in the 60s when I went. Nobody should be saddled with debt for an education. But there are millions of people who oppose giving a segment of the population all that money for college, especially that huge segment of the population who don't want to go to college. Life is difficult and sometimes very unfair. We can't expect to be coddled to and given everything we want. We have to fight for everything because there are always people who oppose and are fighting just as hard for their needs and desires on the other side. I think you should be supremely happy with how Biden has turned out. We've gotten far more than I thought we would. I'm still disappointed that the president hasn't fought to legalize cannabis for us, but maybe in the next term. Things progress far more slowly than we like. I don't think we should be thinking about bloody revolution because everybody will lose in that case. We need to support Joe Biden and every Democrat with everything we have because the alternative is an outcome that we absolutely do not want! Hopefully, we can agree on that.
I ALSO PAID Back over $100,000 for my education and did that gratefully ,as I believed I was working for the values in which I was brought up, indoctrinated and trained. But, they are mostly gone. I am not a fan of pot, though it is likely helpful with some disease states that allopathic meds don't help.
I have every right , as Robert Reich himself has pointed out numerous times,(you must be new to him) to be rightfully disappointed, devastated and disturbed by what my country has become. If someone had told me I was working for an Oligarchal Autocracy, I would have relocated to another country and planned very differently.
You have clearly not watched. theCon.tv to see what the 50 year CON has been in the US.. Too bad, so sad, remain ignorant. Complicity was the shared guilt of the German people with there NAZIS.. maybe you like them. Maybe you are in favor of the complicity of the Corporate folk. I am not.
I understand full well that Biden may be the only choice. I resent the DNC and all the bought and paid for politicians that have not told the truth one day of their life. Of the corporates who think, 'if I don't do it, someone else will'. I resent that folk are made citizens and taught a very inaccurate version of US history. I was taught we were a progressive democracy, working for all people to gain.
Corporate complicity is NAZI thinking./ we are a good part of the way there... good luck.
Why are you still here? If I were as unhappy as you appear to be, I would have been gone long ago. I'm not new to Robert at all. You have a bad habit of making assumptions of what other people think. I'm not one of them, but there are millions of people who are extremely successful and happy in the corporate world. My brother is one of them, but he studied hard, got a degree in Electrical Engineering with a Masters Degree from GA Tech. He lives in Silicon Valley and makes almost $200,000/year. He did everything right as far as his career is concerned. I went to GA Tech, also, 11 years before he did, but I did everything wrong. I'm retired trying to live on Social Security. The corporate world didn't treat me well. I didn't fit in, but I don't blame my problems on anyone else. I fucked up. Yes, there's plenty wrong with that world from my point of view which contributed to my problems fitting in. But there are plenty of people who find their success there. I doubt that it will ever change any time soon. I'm 76 so it won't happen in my lifetime. I try to make the best of what time I have left.
Yes, I still believe in democracy and constitutional govt, but I believe we need to make many corrections so that ordinary people can partake more easily and successfully. My brother feels the same as me.
OH, by the way, Charlie, am I not allowed to be unhappy about a corporate oligarchy instead of a social democracy that I was told I was working for??? I am supposed to move.?!. TAKE your Corporate Oligarchy somewhere else! I want social democracy.. what I worked for all my life and was taught I was working for.
IF I had known 20 years ago, what I have seen in this last decade, I could have made a course correction and gotten out.. But, the coverup of what was happening was successful. The oligarchs own the newspapers. Like many, I was too busy surviving.
As a woman, I have had my bodily autonomy stolen from me by backwards idiots. Did you have your body autonomy stolen from you?
I have watched standards in caregiving dissolve. Cost too much money. I have watched checks and balances, which are supposed to guard against what we now have be dissolved also. Top of the food chain don't like those... Don't like anyone over their privileged shoulders.
I have watched healthcare since the 1970s when a small general hospital could serve their entire community, including mental health and substance abuse become a horror show. Filled with folk providing no hands on care. WE had one paraprofessional on a unit with Nurses and doctors providing healthcare in the 1970s. WE contributed to the outpatient mental health center that served EVERYBODY. WE did not have condos instead of SROs, which were deconstructed so Fancy condos could be built around the cities where services are. I trained in Boston and NYC>.
I don't have a bad habit of making untrue assumptions. White boys could have passed the ERA years ago... but no............... let's keep women under our thumb... Well, I am so glad Gaia is not interested in your thumb....Why are you afraid of a righteous hardworking woman's anger for the destruction of all she was taught and worked for?????
I'm not afraid of any woman's anger. Since I don't know anything about your life, I don't know why you are so angry, or why you haven't been able to correct the specifics that have made your life so difficult. My life has been difficult, too, but I take full responsibility for it. I wish you the best of luck.
I will say the same thing I said about Obama about this time in Obama's first term when everyone was expressing disappointment about what he hadn't accomplished: yes, Biden hasn't come through with everything we wanted and that he promised. BUT, he has to act strategically to get re-elected. The *second* term is the secret sauce. Only then will we see what his most important priorities are. We should be just as focused on assuring a majority Democratic House and Senate if we want to see measurable change.
And, even then, Biden has to tread carefully so as not to burn bridges for future Dem candidates and foment a Republican backlash.
Somehow the minority rule of the US has to be turned on its head if we get a democratic wash next term. I am sick and tired of watching 4 steps forward and 6 back. Backlash, it does not matter if it is women, gays, trans, legal immigration... the tyranny of the Minority, who brought about Slavery, must be overcome asap. Facing multi species extinction daily, climate and migration chaos, there is no room for pussy footing around. That could have occurred in the 1960s, but not now...
I (and so many others) share your frustration with the slow pace of progress. But I also remember that in the 2000 election, people were also tired of what they perceived to be the sluggish status quo of the Democrats; and so they made a bold statement of dissatisfaction by voting for Ralph Nader. The result of that election was a Bush/Cheney presidency and the most corrupt administration (until Trump's) in U.S. history. The groundwork for the current enthusiasm for dismantling government agencies, institutions, laws, and civil service was laid by Bush and Cheney.
So, a pox on the people who choose rigid adherence to all-or-nothing idealism over slow-but-steady pragmatic progress.
When I was younger in the60s&70s I couldn’t fathom why things were not getting done sufficiently quickly and was not happy about it in the slightest! Now I’m a Grand Pa and pissed off that it’s all moving faster than I like ,my grandkids are getting older too fast! But you know what in my short time 68 years on this tiny planet 🌎,a great many of the things I thought were not happening fast enough for me in my youth ,they happened! The point is our perception of time is related to our age and the things important to us at that age ,relax time will deal with things on its own schedule,all we can do is help those important things along and stay vigilant in doing that,I’ve seen great changes since the 60s and horrific things happen that need change since then ,The old adage of a watched pot applies ! Step back and visit your time passed and urgent changes then needed so badly, you will find that a great many of those needed changes have happened,just not as quickly as you wished they might have happened in that passed time . Chill out ,enjoy the good times you have in the time you are given it’s just how time works for us all .🐛🦋☮️⏳🕰️⏰
Yeah, some of the things we wanted did come to pass during our lifetime: safe and legal abortion; civil rights; voting rights, regulations for clean air and water. And now they are systematically being eliminated.
So, no thank you. I, for one, am not going to chill out and expect that a relaxed, que sera sera attitude will get us through. Ain't gonna fiddle while Rome is burnin'.
There’s something in it for him. Something big like a position in Trump’s administration when he wins… or steals the election. No, I don’t think he’s on the payroll but he’s being compensated or will be if Trump somehow wins. I think people are underestimating the evil here and that’s a dangerous thing to do.
There could be a job in it for Jr. I don't think he would want anything less than the Vice Presidency, but that could be in play. Reich indicates that Jr. is flush with money, so it's hard for me to believe he wants a job for the money. I would think he could get a good job in the real world that would pay more than any govt job. Then, think about this. He would have to work for trump. Even Jr. should have sense enough to avoid that. However, in today's world, anything is possible.
RFK Jr. is a fraud.
I have a 92 year old great friend who fought in the Korean War. He told me that he got vaccinated many times, for multiple diseases, before he was deployed to the war. He said that he never got sick while in the military and said that he was so thankful that the military had those vaccines to protect him and his fellow soldiers. When the COVID vaccine came out I asked him if he wanted it? His response was, “where do I sign?”. He mentioned that anyone who doesn’t want the Covid-19 vaccine, “I wish them good luck”. My friend is also up to date with all the booster shots for Covid. And so is my wife, my children and I!
Me too, Keith. I always keep my shots up to date, I didn't get the RSV, because my doctor advised against it. {I've been in 3rd stage kidney failure for more than twenty years and there were some isolated cases where RSV vaccine pushed 3rd to 4th) My adult grandchildren dutifully get all their shots too, just as they all vote - Grandma says so! LOL
@Faye. I'm glad you are holding on to your health. Your voice is a valuable contribution.
https://thenationaltelegraph.com/national/canadian-crown-corporations-coerced-employees-with-fake-vaccine-mandate/
My question is: how did he get this way. He was not al all like this when he was a younger man.
Heroin addict. Flunked the bar -- probably never should have been admitted.
From Wik : In 1982, Kennedy was sworn in as an assistant district attorney for Manhattan.[2] After failing his bar exam, he resigned in July 1983.[26] That September, he was charged with heroin possession in Rapid City, South Dakota.[26] He pleaded guilty to a single felony charge of possession of heroin in February 1984, whereupon he was sentenced to two years' probation and community service.[27][28] After his arrest, he entered a drug treatment center. To satisfy the conditions of his probation, Kennedy worked as a volunteer for the Natural Resources Defense Council and was required to attend regular drug-rehabilitation sessions. His probation ended a year early.[29]
Daniel, thanks for the history. Until recently, RFK, Jr. was not even on my radar of people to follow. I am guessing there was a reason. He was fooling people even back in the '80s and had he been someone else, he'd have been in jail. I do believe in second and third chances, but not when he is a tool of evil as he is now.
RFK is not anti vax. He is a freedom of choice health advocate.
My health is my responsibility.
He is an environmental hero, balanced not extreme, Hudson Riverkeepers, was a 33 year success .
He is the most honest candidate Ive seen. He has spent years defending people who suffered from corporate irresponsibility. I ask you to open your mind and listen to RFK interview his Vice President. Also the interview of Jocko Willink, former navy seal, veteran hero, entrepreneur, You will still have your right to vote for whom ever you like.
Shellie, I understand you have your position, but I have heard RFK, Jr.'s anti-vax comments myself. I get that he was at some point an environmental "hero," although I am not a witness to that. However, he is not a candidate I can support.
Gee, wonder what a person of color or one whose name wasn't Kennedy would have received for punishment in South Dakota in 1984?!
Holy Chappaquiddick, that IS lucky.
The debate over gullibility should include the clear limit of Freedom of Religion:
https://feelinggood.com/therapist-error-6-joining-a-school-of-psychotherapy/
"Question:
I am a psychology graduate student and I need some advice. One of my professors urged all the students in our class to find the school of therapy that ‘fit us.’ How can I select the school of therapy that would provide the best fit for me? And what is considered to be the best school of psychotherapy?” --Harold
Dr. David’s Answer:
Thanks for your question, Harold. These are important issues! Right now there are hundreds of schools of psychotherapy in the United States, and more evolve almost on a weekly basis. We’ve got Adlerian Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy, Psychoanalytic Therapy, Jungian Therapy, Humanistic Therapy, Existential Therapy, Interpersonal and Transpersonal Therapy, Supportive – Emotive Therapy, Rogerian therapy, Behavior Therapy, ACT, CBT, DBT, EMDR, REBT, TFT, Motivational Interviewing, and more.
It can be very appealing to join one of these schools of therapy, and there are some definite advantages. Once you’ve joined a school of therapy, it will provide you with a sense of security and confidence and give you a sense of belonging. You can tell your colleagues and patients that you are an “EMDR therapist” or a “psychodynamic therapist,” or whatever. We all want something to believe in, and we all like and benefit from the support of like-minded colleagues. But here’s my recommendation, Harold—don’t sign up for any of them.
Why would I take this position? After all, many of the schools of therapy have provided helpful perspectives on human nature along with a number of useful treatment techniques. I have personally been involved in the development and popularization of one of the most widely practiced and researched forms of therapy in the world—cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). However, if you’ve attended any of my workshops, you know that I’m not a fan of any school of therapy for many reasons, such as:
The schools of therapy tend to compete like cults, or religions, fostering competitive feelings and unwarranted feelings of superiority. In addition, many have narcissistic founders who demand strong allegiance to their theories and treatment methods, rather than encouraging objective, systematic research.Nearly all schools of therapy promote unproven theories about the causes of psychological problems like depression and anxiety.Most make fairly bold and unjustified claims about their effectiveness. In fact, the effects of practically every school of therapy can be shown to be modest at best, and barely better than treatment with a placebo, if at all.The practitioners of all the schools of therapy are usually convinced that their therapeutic techniques have highly specific treatment effects, whereas their effectiveness in most cases derives from non-specific effects that are common to all schools of therapy, such as the beneficial effects of the therapeutic relationship, or the patient’s belief that the therapy will help.Most schools of therapy tend to treat all disorders with the same techniques, as if they had one cure-all or panacea all for all emotional problems.I’m going to expand on some of these problems, so if you’re interested you can click here to read more. I want you to know that I share these concerns with apprehension. I don’t want to sound arrogant or overly critical of colleagues. My goal is not to insist that my own point of view is the “right” one, but simply to stir up some critical thinking and dialogue. I also want to emphasize the enormous contributions that most schools of therapy have made, and I want to encourage young practitioners to study them and learn from them. But when it comes time to sign on the dotted line, and become a follower, that’s where I draw the line.
I also want to emphasize that I sometimes hold views that turn out to be wrong. So feel free to criticize me, to comment on this article and to share you own point of view. I have no doubt that if we can all check our egos at the door, we can learn a lot from each other. But of course, that’s not always an easy thing to do.
The Schools of Therapy Have a Lot in Common with Cults
This first topic is perhaps the most sensitive, and I was sorely tempted to delete this section. But I’ll take a stab at it and hope for the best.
You might wonder what in the world schools of psychotherapy have in common with cults like Jim Jones and his Peoples Temple in Guyana, Marshall Applewhite and his Heavens’ Gate cult in San Diego, or David Koresh and his Branch Davidians in Waco Texas. If you look up the definitions of a cult online, you’ll see they have a number of common features, including: 1. A grandiose leader who insists that his or her followers believe things that simply aren’t true. 2. A non-scientific treatment or ritual claimed by the followers to have exceptional healing powers. 3. Potentially harmful effects on the followers. 4. A belief that the cult has discovered some type of absolute “truth” and intense feelings of rivalry with competing cults."
to power corrupts, I really liked and agree with Dr. David’s answer. I was a pediatric psych nurse in the 80’s . We had a great multidisciplinary team and we’re able to provide great progress with families. Since Reagan’s deregulations insurance no longer covers this kind of care but the one thing we all knew was that the techniques are mainly there for the provider’s comfort while the beneficial effects of the therapeutic relationship were what benefited the families best no matter the technique, It is also important to have a wide variety of techniques to draw upon because different patients do best with different techniques. Listening to your patient will usually let you know the best way to help them. Good luck in your career. Being kind, empathetic, and having good listening skills will serve you well. As an aside, when my son died, I tried 3 different grief counselors. They all wanted to tell me what I was going through and wanted to pathologize grief. They were just another level of pain. Humans need to be seen for their truth, for their experience and each one is unique. If you honor, value, and cherish that you will be of great service to your patients,
Let's collaborate?
PowerCorrupts
Sure
Ans. Depends. For people on SSI who support Trump or any Republican, behavior analysis.
For religious type cultists, hypnosis. Repeat after me: "I will not be fooled by an orange antichrist."
@Powercorrupts: We have had Freud for over 100 years and people are arguably crazier today than ever before. Talk therapy doesn't work, except in the ways you briefly touched upon. Placebo effect is real. But, as you know, there are certain treatment regimes that have scientifically proven efficacy. For example treatments based on exploiting human brain plasticity - humans can be trained away from problematic or self-destructive behaviors, at least to a degree. I am actually encouraged by progress in brain science, though there is a wide gap between what is known by scientists and what is practiced in the field.
Paying deep attention to my bodywork clients was my greatest gift. Then it was a matter of having diverse tools that resonated with me, with which to address their issues.
Well the fact that he was a heroin addict might be the only interesting thing I've heard about him. I'm sure he has benefited and more or less operated on his family name his whole life, that after all is the Kennedy way.
C'mon! Two were assassinated, and Robert Jr. lost his dad that way. The Kennedy way? Really? Sad that he had that horrible experience! Worse that he lost something important that his father had. Like integrity.
I agree, Laurie. Anyone who understands childhood trauma would know that this man's youth was probably not a walk in the park. He had EIGHT siblings, which might suggest a lack of attention even among many privileges. Earlier I read that his grandfather's enormous estate is being depleted, and while he probably lives better than most of us, it's easy to see the temptation of large donors. He needs to be stopped, but I suspect this would break his father's very large heart.
progwoman ; He, (Jr.), needs to be 'redirected', if possible, he IS a grown man. I think his father's heart was breaking in that picture of them together, because Bobby Kennedy knew how treacherous this world was at the time, He knew then how bad the direction was that it was going in. Imagine how it felt when the music group ; "The Dead Kennedys", were selling their 'music'? free speech is sometimes very bad taste!
Let's also remember that his second wife and mother of 4 of their children was thought to have Borderline Personality Disorder. She committed suicide in 2012. Helping kids deal with a parent's suicide is never a cakewalk for anyone, no matter how much $$ you have or how privileged your background.
His bitterness shows in his face, and takes away an attractiveness. All the family money and faith, yet no healing for the man.
I disagree, Kennedy is calm and not cruel. I don't think you have given him a real chance. You don't have to either. However Im on this page because Im an independent and I vote my conscience. I read all sides. I like Roberts experience and some of his perspectives. Im listening to you. Thank You
I wasn't talking about the 2 assassinated Kennedy's, I was speaking on all the entitled Kennedy's to follow. Remember the one who killed his mistress driving drunk? How bout the rapist who got off cause he was a Kennedy? I'm 51 I have been paying attention. The one who was supposed to be "the next Kennedy" died in a plane crash. Most of the others can fuck off. Yea it's the Kennedy way.
ItcheBrain ; just keep scratching, troll!
Yeah, he " benefiited" all right!
Not true. I would never vote for him but he was very instrumental in cleaning up the Hudson River - a multi organization, multi year project which was very successful. Then he lead a program in Boston that advocated for lower income residents who were having trouble paying heating bills. He seemed to be following his family’s lead. But then the strange turn on the cause of autism and the similar tirades against the Covid vaccine. And then the rest of the racist, anti semitic positions he seems to have no problem uttering in public.
It was another Kennedy- Joseph P. II, that provided heating oil for the poor.
Sorry about that but there are so very many of them.
wouldnt it be nice if the other canidates talked about there addictions?
at least therees one honest guy in the race
Imagine how Republicans would tear into that history if Kennedy were running as a Democrat. His campaign would go the way of previous Democrats like Howard Dean, who was toast after an unfortunate "scream."
Nonsense. RFKj is one of the great people who kicked the drug habit. He attends AA regularly and I'm surprised you dismiss people who suffer from addiction like this. Check out for yourself how RFKj overcame this illness and see if you still think he is a loser. He has won many important environmental battles in court to protect you from a toxic environment and all you can say is he flunked the bar back when he was suffering from addiction. I feel sorry for how mean we've become to each other. Rethink this and you will see differently when you get the facts about RFKj. Stop listening to MSNBC or Fox if this is where you get your information. They are nothing but propaganda machines that support billionaire interests through advertising.
I believe he’s been a highly successful attorney for the last 40 years. You skipped over that. He overcame drug addiction which should be applauded.
Kjr. is a fraud, and he uses fear mongering to attract attention to himself.
Whoa. Did not know that. I opined (above) that he is mentally ill; and certainly past drug use can scramble the brain. (Shout out to Mike Lindell, the Pillow Guy.) The information you shared aligns with my suspicions about his mental and cognitive health.
He had a severe neurogical injury in his youth. Inflammation increases as we age making symptoms more severe. We need mental fitness exams for POTUS candidates. Conspiracy spewing candidates shouldn’t get approved for high security positions.
👏👏👏💯💯👍👍�e
lol https://liborsoural.substack.com/p/innocent-and-first-and-last
I'm not a Swiftie, so wasn't familiar with that (or any other) song of hers. But, boy, some of those lyrics are right on target.
I’m sure money has a lot to do with RFK Jr.’s decision to shame his family’s name and harm his country.
Steve Bannon told him to run (they are friends) as a "Chaos Candidate."
With friends like Bannon, who needs enemies!
We’ve all heard of children who grow up in kind, loving families. There’s some twist in their neurons, that persuades them to conduct their lives opposite in every way to the philosophy and politics of their parents. When a person with this mindset and history, attempts to run for public office, they must be thoroughly vetted physically, and psychologically before being permitted to be placed on any ballot. Money and family influence should not be part of the criteria for successful candidacy.
Then there's Hunter...........
Who is not running for any office of which I'm aware. Are you?
Also, Hunter's family has embraced and supported him, rather than distancing themselves from him. And, unlike RFK Jr., Hunter never sought the limelight.
Hunter pales in comparison to RFK.
It would appear the public don't agree.
Don’t agree with who, you?
He had drug problems. But he became head of the National Resources Defense Council, a prominent environmental group, & he was a leading environmentalist, quite in contrast to what he's best known for today.
I think his transition, however, makes him more of a draw for those who think likewise about vaccines & are drawn to other conspiracy theories, which should make him more of a threat to Trump, since those people tend to make up Trump's constituency, not Biden's.
Not according to this which shows RFKjr in the race tilts the race 1 or 2 pts toward Trump.. Good news is. Jr's approval rating continues to drop,
Also Jr talks a good progressive talk like Marianne Williamson has that is attractive to many as you've seen on this site.
https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2024/4/3/biden-trump-environment-april
That is what I wonder also. Perhaps he is emotionally insecure and easily influenced by others in a power position. Surrounded by a malignant group of users playing his vanities, deploying and abusing his family’s political brand name for their benefit. Children of powerful family dynasties are alway potential easy targets for those wishing to destroy them.
Fine. He had it tough. Poor little rich boy. I have zero sympathy or respect for him. Fuck Bobby Jr!
Fair enough.
Simply an armchair analysis of The Enemy Within 🐈⬛
Monnina - Kinda sounds like another republican candidate who is trying to run again for president. Money and power is all they care about and not governing for the people who elect them. Follow the money that is helping them campaign and you will find exactly who is behind the curtain pulling the strings.
I agree and it is a global political threat. Where do we begin to banish the Big Money Men out of our common earth social governance ?
Monnina: Get rid of the Citizens United decision!
Monnina - I truly wish that I knew the answer. Imagine what good use all of the money spent on campaigns could do if they were spent elsewhere - actually helping the people and the planet. Some of the people who complain about not having money are unfortunately willing to pay citizen trumps legal fees or buying tacky “souvenirs”.
I know. It’s grim. Also, considering the complicit and very effective social and economic and environmental destruction being wreaked by the propaganda machinery of legacy media for global criminal oligarchs, imagine what common good they could create if they were not ‘owned’ by such sociopaths.
I suspect your assessment is very charitable and sadly, probably not the case. Ambition, money, notoriety seem more likely.
Whatever his personal experience there is no doubt that he is a moral coward.
Gandalf, that's the problem. Some folks remember that RFK, Jr. was someone else in the past and think he is the same person; he isn't, or maybe he is but now is letting people know who he really is, and it is not a good person to be leading anything.
Too many of the wrong kind of drugs when he was young
.
I have a friend whose daughter is married to a bona fide Trumper. For years, she kept his extreme views at bay and finally, In the throes of this unhappy marriage, the woman’s succumbed. Her three children have jumped into the mix as well. My poor friend is devastated. Trumpism is truly a dreadful, contagious, disease.
Check out his books. Don't actually read the book If you don't want to. But look in the back at the many many references. He doesn't pull facts out of thin air
What change was the way the media (like this inacurate article) paints him
If by some chance RFK Jr. is that naïve that he can't see the damage he is doing to this country by even entering the 2024 Presidential race, the man isn't smart enough to fill the shoes of a President. Perhaps his socks are more red than blue.
I have several times heard RFK Jr. brag that his favorability rating is higher than Trump and Biden. Of course it is! Most people know nothing about him and are simply associating him with his famous and wonderful father, RFK Sr. When people learn more about his crazy views, I expect to see his favorability rating to drop like a rock!
Tim--More in the line of a lead bowling ball.
Hi Tim have you honestly listened to any of the RFK interviews. Try Jocko Willinik interview of RFK. Willink is a former navy seal, veteran, entrepreneur. check it out. Let me know what you think.
It must be so hard for this Kennedy, growing up in the shadows of his illustrious ancestors, with so much political expectation on him from birth. His life was always going to be a failure - how could anyone make their own successful life when everybody's expectations of him were so impossibly high? No surprise that he escaped into drugs when younger.
This is his last roll of the dice, the last chance to put his name next to the other Kennedy's.
Az--Considering RFK Jr. had a terrible drug habit for over 14 years I can't see how that addiction wouldn't have had an altering affect to his mental abilities. I give the man every chance to lead a full life as long as he doesn't try to run this country.
We already had an experience with a former drug addict turned president: GW Bush. His drug was alcohol. K Jr's is his Self.
Victor--Why take the chance, you just have no way of knowing the extent of damage done by his drug addiction.
I'm not saying vote for him. I just think he has always been in an impossible situation.
Az--I agree, having to live up to that family name and all it has stood for would be daunting.
Right you are, Donald. Notice how similar K jr's conspiracy theory is to Ron Paul's. Both men attack Faucci to deflect blame from Trump 's horrendous failure of leadership during the pandemic. What's more, and this even more important, both men seek to undermine public confidence in the federal government itself, the principal aim of libertarians and revanchist Confederates. This is why Mellon and others support Kennedy Jr.
In case you’re not familiar with Sachs, here are his credentials. https://covid19commission.org/jeffrey-sachs
Thank you for your comments and references. I am quite familiar with Mr Sachs work, and I used to have high respect for him. I still share his loathing of the military-industrial complex, which is leading the world toward catastrophe, but his comments during a recent interview left me puzzled and disappointed. His pro-Putin statements were simply outrageous (and very hard to explain). To me, he has lost all credibility.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve never even been to Russia, let alone having gone there, as Jeffrey Sachs has, multiple times in a professional capacity to advise the Russians on how to adapt to capitalism after the breakdown of the Soviet Union. So I feel Sachs has a lot of credence when he says he was shocked to find that the U.S. had no real desire to help Russia recover but instead found out that our leaders were intent on using economic and military force keeping the Russians down and out of NATO, and that they also had the goal of breaking Russia down into smaller parts such that Russia would never be able to compete with us in any way in our goal of achieving full-spectrum dominance over all the other nations of the world. I especially trust the assessment of Sachs when I read that many, many other experts on the politics and history of Russian say the same thing as Sachs: that the U.S. knew full well that by threatening to further expand NATO, against their previous promise, right to Russia’s border in Ukraine, it was purposely crossing a red line that no Russian leader would tolerate. We wanted the Ukraine war because we thought it would “weaken” Russia. This is one of the first papers I read that explained to me why we would do something so crazy as provoke an avoidable war with Russia: https://michael-hudson.com/2022/02/america-defeats-germany-for-the-third-time-in-a-century/
Similarly, I have never been in a position to interview the scientists responsible for doing and regulating the dangerous gain-of-function research done on viruses as bioweapons that likely created COVID in the laboratory, as Jeffrey Sachs was as the leader of the team charged with doing that by the prestigious medical journal Lancet. However, I am a retired cell and molecular biologists who wells understands what Sachs is saying when he talks about Furin cleavage sites and how research works, so I do feel in a position to judge what Sachs is telling us he found out. This was research that Fauci never should have funded and that he seems to have been involved in covering up. We need to make the world is never again endangered by such destructive research.
RFK, Jr., is a brilliant environmental lawyer who knows all about the history and underside of politics and the corporate capture of government agencies like the CIA and the NIH. Everything he says about Russia and COVID is supported by experts of which Jeffrey Sachs is only one example. The establishment wants to shut Kennedy up, and they do so by relying on the fact that most of us have never been to Russia, don’t understand molecular biology, and we want to believe that our government would never lie to us about either. Sadly, the facts suggest they would.
Thank you for your thoughtful reply. Whether the war in Ukraine was avoidable is a moot question. The US is not blameless, that's for sure, but to take Putin's side is neither smart nor moral. As to the great lab conspiracy propounded by Ron Paul and Kennedy Jr, it is clearly politically motivated, dishonest, and irresponsible. Instead of holding Trump responsible for his lack of leadership during the pandemic, they scapegoat Faucci. It is also a means to undermine trust in the federal government and make people yearn for a "strong" leader (someone like Putin?) Yes, you are right, work with viruses is dangerous, but how do you combat viral outbreaks? How was the spread of Sars-1 stopped? If that precursor of Covid-19 was not created in a lab, then why insist that the latter was? I think that you will agree with me that jumping to conclusions because that suits our preconceptions is unwise and may be dangerous. Could it be that Sachs has also been bought by some libertarian billionaire?
Don’t be too quick to assume that Fauci was faultless in the COVID debacle. Consider the possibility that some of the criticisms of him may be true. Check out this video from the head of the COVID commission, Jeffrey Sachs. https://thehill.com/video/jeffrey-sachs-on-rising-i-was-a-democrat-covid-changed-that/9196421/
Victor--It doesn't really what color a chameleon turns it's still a lizard.
Perhaps the harm he might cause is intentional? All the Putin supporters seem to be that!
Gordon--Of course it is.
Biden and Trump are both evil in their own unique ways. If they weren't, then people wouldn't be running out of the Democrat or Republican party. Bobby Kennedy is fueled by facts and doesn't just say how high when any governmental agency says jump.
Sharon--If Biden is evil in any way, feed me please. RFK Jr. is history. I've been aware of his misgivings ever since he was a teenager, and the drugs didn't improve his situation in any way either.
Kennedy Junior is the pro-disease candidate. His campaign slogan should be, "Make America Diseased Again." MADA + MAGA (who also want to make America diseased again) The Kennedy-Trump pro-disease crowd must be defeated.
K Jr's MAGA: Measels, Addicrion, Greed, Ambition.
Well, your friend is an AMERICAN, Mr. Olson! Bunkerboy and robby are INSURRECTIONIST TRAITORS that don't pay taxes! As far as I'm concerned, if one pays no taxes, they are about as "American" as Kimmy or Pootin. [sic]
In fact, there were only four vaccines regularly given at the time of the Korean War, and three of those -- diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis -- were combined into a single (DTP) injection. Smallpox, of course, was the other -- and that was pretty much a one-time thing for life.
Flu vaccines were still in their infancy, and polio not yet developed.
I'm a vet with Vietnam service, and regular vaccinations were no big thing.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349881372_Effect_of_Coronavirus_Worldwide_through_Misusing_of_Wireless_Sensor_Networks
Thank you for your service to our country
I'm up to date too!!!!!!
RFKj is not against vaccines. He is only interested in testing them for safety since they have proven to harm many people as well as helping others. He will appoint a director of FDA to conduct the proper studies. Stop listening to MSNBC or Fox if this is where you get your information. They are nothing but propaganda machines supporting their billionaires through advertising, such as the ridiculous pharma ads.
He will conduct "the proper studies" the way Trump will pack the DOJ to get rid of rivals. The real studies have already been done and millions have benefited from the MRN vaccines. Shame on you!
Mark my words. You do know someone who is covid jab injured. It's just so sneaky that you don't know who they are. And they may even be someone you know well. With censorship abound, you just have to do your own research.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349881372_Effect_of_Coronavirus_Worldwide_through_Misusing_of_Wireless_Sensor_Networks
Go get your 6th dose of nanotechnology biosensors for surveillance under the skin via the Internet of Bio-Nano Things.
The obedient always see themselves as heroes.
https://www.google.com/search?q=itu+j-fet+Ian+F+akyildiz+&sca_esv=598202578&sxsrf=ACQVn08_jC_IWV_dDvwTh8EChYu7_5mOgg%3A1705172905725&ei=qd-iZabyK9Wi0PEP6-G7sA8&udm=Ge&oq=itu+j-fet+Ian+F+akyildiz+&gs_lp=EhNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwIhlpdHUgai1mZXQgSWFuIEYgYWt5aWxkaXogMgQQIxgnSPH8BlCV1wZY0foGcA14AJABAJgBjwGgAccFqgEDMS41uAEDyAEA-AEBwgIKEAAYRxjWBBiwA8ICBRAhGKABwgIGEAAYHhgNwgIIEAAYBRgeGA3CAgsQABiABBiKBRiGA8ICBxAhGAoYoAHCAggQABiABBiiBMICCBAAGIkFGKIE4gMEGAAgQYgGAZAGCA&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp
look at his record would a fraud of spent so much time to clean up the hudson?
This Trojan Horse is stuffed with MAGAts.
Fascist MAGATs.
To save democracy register more Democrats. https://www.fieldteam6.org/mission
Daniel, I have 1,000 postcard stamps awaiting my GOTV postcards. I wish I was more effective in talking about these issues with others. My sister is a lifelong fiscally conservative (CPA)/socially liberal Republican who hates Trump, but also hates Biden. Plans not to vote. At least she lives in NJ! My other sister is a progressive Democrat like me, as are our husbands. What happened to this sister? I just can't get through to her.
Hope this helps. https://playbook.galvanizeaction.org/
Thank You!
Exactly!! No one on the left is voting for this Trojan horse because people on the left are too smart and see through this ridiculous bait and switch they’re trying to pull. The only people who will vote for RFK are MAGAts who don’t pay attention and don’t know the truth. They’ll see he’s an anti-vax, conspiracy theory weirdo and he aligns completely with them & their movement so they’ll happily vote for him. Biden voters don’t fall for such pathetic grifts so I’m not understanding why anyone believes this will harm Biden more than Trump.
I would like to think they are too smart. But what I learned in 2016 is that idealistic young people will vote in protest without any thought of the real cost of their vote. Many just don’t think critically about the consequences beyond their protest vote. Many of them were protesting Clinton in 2016, and voted third party just to show their displeasure. It made a dent in her campaign, if not costing her the presidency outright. Pragmatism is often the enemy of idealism. Here we are in the middle of a youthful trend toward disapproving of Biden over what’s happening in Palestine. I think we are in even greater danger of the protest vote this year than we were in 2016.
If the Democrats had allowed a Democratic primary election to occur this year, Biden would have already debated Kennedy and one of them would have conceded before the general election. That’s what happened when Robert Reich supported Sanders over Hillary Clinton in 2016. Even the Democrats admitted they cheated Bernie in the primary, yet Bernie stepped aside. I believe that RFK Jr. would have excelled in the primary debates and gone on to beat Trump in the general. Biden will be embarrassed if he has to debate Trump and Kennedy for the general election, and if Biden refuses to debate, we’ll all know why. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/robert-reich-on-whats-next-for-bernie-and-his-supporters-44166/
Many, many people aren't very smart. They don't think of consequences, they can't assemble a 'what might happen if....' scenario in their heads. Not their fault.
We all mix with people of our own level of intelligence, not to mention education, upbringing, social status, etc. In short, we expect others to believe in what we believe in, and tend not to understand when the stubbornly don't! We live in out own bubbles.
But by definition, half of all people have an IQ under 100. For every person with 120 IQ, there's someone living a life coping with 80 IQ. And for every MENSA at 150 IQ there is some poor sod with 50 IQ, who may also have a vote!
I think it is important to recognise this, and how it might affect our expectations about how people, en masse, will act.
Many young people on TikTok encourage voting 3rd party to protest Biden's age, his failure to reduce inflation in practical terms, giving away tax dollars to foreign wars, and taking AIPAC money. He also has promised to sign a bill that would be the demise of TikTok. He hasn't done himself any favors.
This is a very important article, Professor Reich, and one that I hope gets wide attention in other media as well. That video, those words, of Rita Palma is both chilling and infuriating.
Robert F. Kennedy Junior is UNFIT to be President and, considering trump, we do not need another UNFIT candidate!
Americans can (possibly) feel some measure of compassion for a man bearing the name of his widely loved father and the pain of having lost his father and uncle in horrific and shocking assassinations. However, he is a middle-aged man whose own personal history is rife with dysfunction and disorder who somehow embraces - or is performing as if he embraces (perhaps even worse, but is the form of demagoguery) - dangerous and backward ideas. Does anyone ever ask him what qualifies him to promote any ideas about public health, about epidemiology, about vaccines? Will he promise to support for life the children who are being harmed by their parents' following the kind of ignorant nonsense Kennedy Jr. endorses? When they are made blind from measles or totally disabled from polio, will he pay for the lifelong care of the growing number of children his ideas are exposing to danger? These deranged demagogues who show that they will say or do anything to get themselves into the catbird seat of power and wealth are a recurring plague in America (and elsewhere, of course).
Thank you for this article and the video and for keeping us alert to the relentless ways trump and his mob are conniving to get their hands on our government.
Such outrages, harmful dangerous lies by RFK Jr should not be protected speech. It's sickening how tfg and the maga crowd etc all hide behind the First Amendment, the bedrock of our democracy, with the deceitful intent to burn it to the ground.
Yes, it's ironic, isn't it, how the trump mob uses the institutions and principles of this country to their advantage when that advantage will be used to destroy the institutions and principles.
As much as I would like "being in my 70s = middle aged" (I have a vested interest) Bob Kennedy isn't that much younger than the two other old men running.
Thanks - and sorry - obviously I didn't know his actual age and should have checked. I'm always shocked to see "little" Caroline Kennedy with wrinkles and gray hair so clearly I should have been more aware of RFKjr's age. Thanks again for the correction.
As to your noting, "being in my 70s = middle aged", have hope and optimism!
And the "two other old men running" are in some ways older than other old men - or women - their age and in some ways younger than some people much younger than they are. It's not age, it's the person.
Write back when you're past the 70=middle age point and reach 140 = old, eh?
Annie Cross thankyou for your excellent comment,it shares good commonsense points for all of us. Also in this person I see a broken down angry selfish man with no thought for his fellow human beings and no concern at all for the future of our country.. He has nothing to offer to future generations and has no concern for the health and welfare of families. By the way the drumph and all his cronies were the first to line up for vaccinations before they were even available to the rest of us. Is he also unaware of all the mass graves of the hundreds of vulnerable people who died from covid due to Drumphs lies and incompetence. For those of us who lived thru it and survived his agenda is offensive
Show me your blind and polio ridden children, and I will show you my Autistic, Allergic, disabled , dead children , due to vaccines. I have 3 in my immediate family alone.
Digestive disorders are run amok and so is denial. Hep B shot required at 5 hours after birth under threat of Child Protective Services. Is this the America you pledge allegiance to ? Willingness and Open mindedness will heal this land. The pendulum must swing ,to represent the masses.You have had your turn. It is someone else's turn to fairly represent Americans. Be Nice.. Im on this site because I respect Roberts experience and opinion.
?Be nice? you say? to the best of my knowledge, I have never NOT been "nice" to posters here, so your aggressive attitude to my post is unnecessary. As to your "show me your blind and polio ridden children..." comment, even with its somewhat callous tone, I have to say that I cannot "show you my" children with bodies damaged by measles or polio because after VACCINES were developed for those diseases, the number of children (or adults) with bodies and lives damaged by DISEASE, not vaccinations, became almost nil. I don't have those statistics at hand, but until recently - as the "anti-vaxers" gained microphones and stages - polio was almost totally eradicated. Does it please you that as parents anywhere listen to the kind of nonsense spouted about vaccines gets promulgated around the world that once again polio - and TB - are on the rise?
For any of us who have had family members, forebears, family friends or relatives who were disabled or killed by disease, BEFORE VACCINES, we know the difference. Forebears in my own and other family members' forebears died from: the 1918 pandemic/"Spanish" flu, a fairly large number died from diptheria, and one marvelous man severely disabled from polio, family friends who spent LONG periods of time in TB sanitariums.... and so on and so on. The DISEASES are REAL. The nonsense from the likes of RFK, junior trying to be famous and politically important like his father RFK and uncle JFK and mother, using despicable routes, is NOT based in reality.
Please consider what scientists know about vaccines and have known for decades and, in the case of smallpox, for generations. If you have never seen or known anyone from before the 1950s, 1960s, who had polio or TB, then your lack of respect for the irrefutable value of vaccinations might be understandable. As it is, anti-vaxers are simply ignorant and dangerous and backward. There were mistakes made in early research for the polio vaccine - although I am no expert in any of this - and it was terrible, but the polio vaccine research responded with correction - and it changed America in dramatic ways.
See, the thing about vaccinations and PUBLIC health is that it isn't just about YOUR children or mine; that's where the "public" comes in, because the diseases vaccinated against are transmittable. It's like the cook in your favorite restaurant who doesn't wash his hands after using the toilet isn't just affecting his own health; he is affecting everyone's health, but it's his choice to leave the toilet with soiled hands; that's his "freedom" to reject demands that he wash his hands. Where is YOUR "freedom" to have the trust that he cares about PUBLIC health as much as those trusting souls sitting down to eat at his restaurant do?! Those who refused to get the Covid shot(s) or refused to wear a mask were not just making decisions about THEIR OWN health, but they were deciding for everyone else - and people became very ill, many died, many STILL are suffering, because of the infantile demand of the "freedom lovers" to be exempt from any caring about the PUBLIC good!
And I am skeptical about your claims, by the way, regarding your family members and vaccines, but that is your business, not mine.
As your comment, "You have had your turn. It is someone else's turn to fairly represent Americans," I have no idea who you imagine you are talking to, but the fact is, that in America (or so we continue to hope), it is ELECTIONS that decide who "fairly represents" Americans. Unfortunately, there is a vocal, however ignorant, faction in this country who are actively working to drag us back into the Dark Ages, a feudal system, disease, chaos and dysfunction, rulers and peons, amid their combative disavowal of sense, science, progress and history.
Bravo, tell the truth and shame the ignorant. Neal Young and Joni Mitchell will tell them what it is like to learn to walk again, after getting polio as a child, that is why Neal took his music off spotify, to protest them platforming an antivaxing liar, who interviewed propagandists like there were legit.
Natalie, I played a Neil Young song at my wedding. I was disappointed when he did protest freedom of speech. Im glad he still had a right to protest.
Hello Annie, I was pretty bold in my statements unlike me really. I will ask ,do you personally know any one who has Polio or TB right now ? I was saying in reality, I know and have experienced, death and infantile seasures and a case won and compensation. Because some people are more sensitive to the vaccines and there was a fund for side effects. Because they are real. I don't know who your preferred candidate is. I lead by example and I have been respectful of most of the presidents that have served through my life time. Though I was pretty vocal about Bush the war and the multiple vaccines given the Iraq war service men. Being from Tidewater I saw lots of effect on the service members and their families. By the way I have not had a television since 1976. I am a free thinker, until now. My phone is the closest to TV Ive had since 1976. I do not have a college degree. I ran an organic Grocery store for 32 years. I could not afford insurance so we did not go to doctors. My daughter 47 has never had insurance. Im proud of who we are. We help our neighbors we don't hurt others with words or occupation. Do little harm. I believe in the freedom to choose, to vote and to live long as naturally possible , to prosper with out causing others harm. I don't want you to lose your right to choose a vaccine. I hope I may continue to have the freedom to make my choices based on my experiences. I have Great Hope RFK will be on the ballot in every state. So those of us who take responsibility for our own health, food and income may continue to exist. Be Well Annie it is your choice.
You are ignorant and just plain WRONG. VACCINES DO NOT CAUSE AUTISM! I AM 76, Autistic, born long before the MMR vaccines existed. We are born autistic, with a neurodivergent brain. STOP LYING.
You are correct Lynn, I don't know that all Autism is caused by vaccines. I do know there was a drastic change in my nephew after his DPT shot. He was hospitalized many times in his first 4 years of life. They say he is a miracle. I say he is very special because of his experience. He was fed through a tube for the first 4 years of his life. He suffered infantile seizures for years, we couldn't touch him because he was so sensitive to touch, and we had to brush his skin to help desensitize him. I met plenty of other vaccine damaged children in our Organic food store. Mothers looking for foods their children could eat, because they had severe allergies to most foods. I can't prove to you what Im telling you. I can only tell you my experience. Im grateful for them. I was able to provide food for many people they couldn't find elsewhere. I was an organic grower and the first organic food store in Tidewater VA. What is your story Lynn ?
Really? We have something in common. I live close to the Chesapeake Bay, in Ocean View. I've been at Tidewater for most of my adult life..Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Norfolk.
I'm very sorry about what happened to your nephew. I hope he is healthy and strong now.
I am not sure about what causes autism, but I know it's genetic and runs in families. I have grandchildren on the spectrum. As for me, I am part of the "Lost Generation" Baby Boomers who fell through the cracks before there was much known about Autism, and no school programs. We grew up with no clue..just that we were different. Many of us older ones just learned about it a few years ago.. in our 50's, 60's, 70's, and older. I found out from my sister. Bit of a shock to find out so late in life, in my mid-70s but it explains some of the things that happened to me in my life and some of my quirks. 🙃
He is 70-something, not middle aged. Sorry, I see another poster already mentioned this, ignore it, please.
What RFK-JR is doing (in fact, his entire existence) constitutes assassinating his beloved father Robert F. Kennedy a second time. The iconic Kennedy family, which has endured so many tragedies, does not need a creature like RFK-JR, and luckily they seem to all be arrayed against him. Reminds me of how Donald Dump's niece Mary Trump courageously continues to oppose the Dumbnald publicly. JTC
Mary is awesome!
Thank you, Robert. ❤️ Trump will happily burn down the planet just to evade prison. His efforts are going to get more and more extreme. We must stop him or civilisation is doomed. Not an exaggeration.
4 years of Trump administration inaction and backtracking on climate action will be a calamity for life on the planet.
I clicked like, because I appreciate your sharing this information, Professor Reich, BUT I do not like what is happening. I am so sorry for the Kennedy clan, how embarrassing for them. All of them are "good" people, in the sense of what they see as their civic duty. Yes, Jack and Teddy were womanizers, but that is a personality flaw, not an intellectual flaw. RFK jr, in a male version of a bimbo. No brains, no street smarts, just a name.
The Kennedy “Clan” needs to speak about Jr’s unfitness for POTUS more loudly. They know it. I’m sure it is painful for them, but given that JFK and RFK both gave their young lives fighting the fascism that we are up against in this election, I think Jr. has forced them into a position to speak loudly about his unfitness for the Oval Office.
"No brains" cashing in on his name, and he is doing very well.
Professor Reich, Have you read “One Nation Under God” How Corporate America Invented Christian America by Professor Kevin M. Kruse (Princeton). It is wonderful. Documents how a very non religious America was “saved” by rich capitalist from the horrors of FDR’s New Deal, or they tried to. Worth the read for all your readers. I am 80 so I lived through this insanity, but I was lucky Illinois didn’t agree to make school children be inculcated. Loved your posts… learn something new much. Thank you
How about: https://www.senate.gov/about/origins-foundations/electing-appointing-senators/treason-of-the-senate.htm
Wow…. Truly sad and disheartening that bought influence in our government has been exerting itself for so long…. It’s almost as embedded as the constitution… almost a miracle that the voice of citizens is heard at all!
RFK is in the political Game for his own reasons. Is he being exploited BY individuals with their own agendas.
Having his family members assassinated definitely left its make.
But the Kennedy family mystique died with my parents generation. 50 yrs ago
Well meaning fool yes vaccine denier yes, crook not more than anyone else.
Poltics’s is a dirty business….
K Jr. has big money backing him. He is no fool.
Steve Bannon told him to run...as a chaos candidate.
Trump is an actor, not a leader--this is a message Dems need to send to the nation and the world. After Bannon was kicked out of his inner circle Trump was left clueless, so he followed whatever Fox News broadcasted--with disastrous consequences.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22928900-one-nation-under-god
I hope voters wake up, become really informed - with verifiable information- and make good, clear votes for democratic government of the republic to continue. It matters to the country and to the world.
Who are the coruptors behind RFK jr? In what smoky back room was he indoctrinated into fascism? How much did they pay him? We need to uncover these criminal enemies and eliminate them; our war is with them.
When politicians switch their politics it is usually because they think they stand a better chance of election with a different set of beliefs (i.e. they have no personal political beliefs that can't be traded for a vote).
It is always indicative of mercenary politicians whose ambitions are solely for power and status.
Whatever happened to 'public service'?
Likely beaten by $$$
Sadly true. And one solution may be to get the $$$ out of politics - limits on donations, transparency of donors over $100, limits on campaigns for each post, proper enforcement of the declarations of interest, annual audits of all those holding public office, assessments of income from lifestyle, continuing for 5 years after the post, etc, etc.
I agree with get the $$$ out of politics but real issue is who's got that $$$ that gets into politics? Not me or you its the 1%. I think the only way to diminish their influence is to not let them accumulate so much to begin with. The best way is through reformation of the US tax code.....big time. Having all that money requires responsibility. Elon ....and others ....have shown us they aren't responsible.....like buying Twitter because like a schoolboy he got pissed at the other kids for being mean to him.
We also need more viable Democratic candidates in all of the States too. How can we convince people to vote for their own good if the only candidate they know anything about is either a MAGAt or RFK jr.
Fay Reid ; If the voters who are considering voting for RFKJr. knew who was "behind ' him, they would not vote for him, or any MAGA! The mainstream media should be prioritizing this message. Of course, we know who own much of the media ; the obscenely rich.
A recent NYT article characterized K jr. as an "anti-establishment vaccine skeptic"--a perfect disguise for a Trojan Horse.
They will if we all help share the word.
You're a dreamer, I fear.
I just told someone this past week that RFK Jr., was working for Traitor Trump! These MAGATS will do ANYTHING to win; remember J6!!!
Their reaction?
In a recently found video, Robert Kennedy, Jr’s New York Stare director revealed that the campaign’s goal is to give Trump a win.
“If [Biden] doesn’t get 270 [electoral votes] then Congress picks the president… they’ll pick Trump.”
Source/Credit: MeidasTouch
But the problem is they’re only going to take votes from Trump. “Conventional wisdom” has been nothing but wrong since Trump came on the scene, but mainstream media seem unable to understand this and keep using old methods to predict elections that no longer work. This is just another version of that. Conventional wisdom keeps saying he’ll take votes from Biden which to me is the total opposite of reality.
If you read ONE BOOK about Donald Trump I would recommend this one: American Kompromat: How the KGB Cultivated Donald Trump, and Related Tales of Sex, Greed, Power, and Treachery Paperback – January 18, 2022 https://www.amazon.com/American-Kompromat-Cultivated-Related-Treachery/dp/0593182545/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
I honestly don't know what happened to this once wonderful man to make him go bonkers like this. And know I don't need any more proof. And that is sad. The whole situation is sad. And dangerous if Trump gets in. I may not be a Bernie fan. But Trump is too dangerous to be let in again!
A small number of super ultra rich families in America and a large number of Corporate Oligarchs are colluding with the Oligarchs of the world to bring down the world’s most successful and powerful Democracy “The United States of America”, period, end of story!
RFK is in the political Game for his own reasons. Is he being exploited BY individuals with their own agendas.
Having his family members assassinated definitely left its make.
But the Kennedy family mystique died with my parents generation. 50 yrs ago
Well meaning fool yes vaccine denier yes, crook not more than anyone else.
Poltics’s is a dirty business….
There’s something he wants to get out of the deal and he knows exactly what he’s doing. Yes, he’s being used but he knows it and he’s totally fine with it. Don’t for one second think otherwise. He’s gone over to the dark side and that makes him dangerous.
All politicians are Dangerous he shouldn’t be dissed because he is a Kennedy . The vaccine thing etc you don’t know if he is just stupid or just believes everything Fox broadcasts as being related to reality. No science education in his background.
Political professionals are a craven lot that most state legislators were only to meet for only a few months a year to protect the population from crazy stuff politicians would think up or say …
I’m not dissing him because he’s a Kennedy. He’s not even acting like a Kennedy and his family is warning the American people that he’s not to be trusted. They are backing Joe Biden. My biggest problem with him, among many others, is that he is running for one reason and one reason only. To help Trump get elected and if you think Trump is just an ordinary politician then you’ve missed an awful lot. Our democracy depends on re-electing Joe Biden and if we don’t then God help us and the rest of the world right along with us. To be perfectly clear, RFK, Jr does not expect or even want to win. His campaign is being funded by the same people who are backing Trump. That’s the sole reason he is running. To elect Trump and install him as a dictator. RFK, Jr has likely been promised a position in the Trump regime.
I agree with his family but I hold him less responsible , trumpet 🎺 is a cold calculating piece of S*** who deserves a long stretch without any possibility of pardon. Trumpet gambled that he could get away with Literally Stealing Public Office he hired Lawyers and others some with pure hearts 🥰 and some like Roger Stone , Steve Bannon and gambled he could play the legal system and get away it. It’s the American way look at Monsanto and Round up disgrace.(they are still making it under The Bayer Corp umbrella)
This will end with trumpet 🎺 going to jail or not but he will be disgraced then he will point to all the money he collected from his true believers the soft headed kind the trumpet 🎺 Bible buyers and the Golden sneakers plus what ever his daughter in law can scam out of the Republican Party and then Declare I’m Rich all of those people supported me look at how much money I have …
Richard Nixon the criminal after a few years after his scandal he returned to private life riding a bus from new jersey safdlebrook to NYC to visit his grand kids .
A real criminal that just rode it out while poor kids spent decades of their lives in jail on marijuana law infractions..,
American justice ( injustice )
Meanwhile almost every American that worked with trumpet 🎺 in the WhiteHouse have said trumpet 🎺 is the most dangerous threat to the American Democracy.
We need a Constitutional Convention to rewrite the rules of Government and get rid of the Electorial college…
But that’s another battle.,,
I don't think RFK, Jr. is specifically working for trump, as in receiving a paycheck to do what's necessary to try to get trump elected. Would he rather see trump get re-elected? Possibly so in that trump may be closer to Jr. in terms of politics. Mostly, the RFK, Jr. bunch are, obviously, pissed off at the DNC as is obvious by the video that Robert posted where they are attempting to jeopardize the outcome in New York. These political punks of today are willing to destroy this country out of jealousy as many Bernie members did in 2016. So, the same thing is happening with the JFK, Jr. people. They are angry and jealous enough to undercut Biden because Kennedy is failing miserably. These younger people in politics today are a different breed than we've ever seen before. It is truly disturbing to me. But that's what has happened. So, to sum it up, the JFK supporters are not working for trump directly, but they might as well be because they are attempting, out of spite, to sink Joe Biden even if it would mean the destruction of the country. JFK, Jr. is a loser and a bizarre conspiracy theorist who cannot be allowed to play a part in the destruction of our country. He can't be allowed to be on the ballot of NY or anywhere else. We can't let people play politics whose only desire is to sink a major candidate in an election. I've seen enough of that in my life.
The US is an Autocratic Corportocracy, if such a word exists. Watch the 5 free sessions of. the con.tv And weep. You have heard pieces of the story in the news over decades. From Reagan through today, presidents have been granting Big Business its heart desires at our expense. Biden talks of restoring FDR guardrails but will he really do it? He waited until the end of his term to keep his 'promise' of relieving student debt after one failed strategy. Citizens United, corporations as individuals.
Many of us are disgusted by the choices. I keep hoping Trumpty will croak.
Watch the CON. Trumpty was just the pimple on top of the cake we baked for 50 years.
RFK is revealed in his possible role. But, he understands corporate capture, which many of you continuously ignore in its devastating effects. And, watch his videos. The oligarch owned newspapers do not control him..
The US is now called the Soviet Union of Corporations. If Biden wins and does not call on his inner FDR, we are sunk. When the Repugnants and the 'bipartisan game that no longer exists' privatize social security, the last pot of money wall streetors drool for, there will be a bloody revolution.
What you need to be aware of is that there are at least two sides to every issue. Our representatives represent people on every side of the issues. The corporations that you seem to hate so are made up of millions of people who are represented just as fairly as the ones whom you want to represent your desires. Why do you think that other people in this country shouldn't be represented? I have my own feelings and distrust of corporations, but I recognize the people who own and work for big business have a right to representation just as I do. Your selfish attitude is disturbing to me even though we likely agree on many things. For instance, blaming Biden for not canceling your student debt on your time table is an extremely selfish attitude. Remember, there is a huge backlash on cancelling student debt. How is that fair to those of us who paid back every dime of debt that we borrowed? I paid back $100,000 in student debt. Sure I hated every minute of it, and I thought college should have been free back in the 60s when I went. Nobody should be saddled with debt for an education. But there are millions of people who oppose giving a segment of the population all that money for college, especially that huge segment of the population who don't want to go to college. Life is difficult and sometimes very unfair. We can't expect to be coddled to and given everything we want. We have to fight for everything because there are always people who oppose and are fighting just as hard for their needs and desires on the other side. I think you should be supremely happy with how Biden has turned out. We've gotten far more than I thought we would. I'm still disappointed that the president hasn't fought to legalize cannabis for us, but maybe in the next term. Things progress far more slowly than we like. I don't think we should be thinking about bloody revolution because everybody will lose in that case. We need to support Joe Biden and every Democrat with everything we have because the alternative is an outcome that we absolutely do not want! Hopefully, we can agree on that.
I ALSO PAID Back over $100,000 for my education and did that gratefully ,as I believed I was working for the values in which I was brought up, indoctrinated and trained. But, they are mostly gone. I am not a fan of pot, though it is likely helpful with some disease states that allopathic meds don't help.
I have every right , as Robert Reich himself has pointed out numerous times,(you must be new to him) to be rightfully disappointed, devastated and disturbed by what my country has become. If someone had told me I was working for an Oligarchal Autocracy, I would have relocated to another country and planned very differently.
You have clearly not watched. theCon.tv to see what the 50 year CON has been in the US.. Too bad, so sad, remain ignorant. Complicity was the shared guilt of the German people with there NAZIS.. maybe you like them. Maybe you are in favor of the complicity of the Corporate folk. I am not.
I understand full well that Biden may be the only choice. I resent the DNC and all the bought and paid for politicians that have not told the truth one day of their life. Of the corporates who think, 'if I don't do it, someone else will'. I resent that folk are made citizens and taught a very inaccurate version of US history. I was taught we were a progressive democracy, working for all people to gain.
Corporate complicity is NAZI thinking./ we are a good part of the way there... good luck.
Why are you still here? If I were as unhappy as you appear to be, I would have been gone long ago. I'm not new to Robert at all. You have a bad habit of making assumptions of what other people think. I'm not one of them, but there are millions of people who are extremely successful and happy in the corporate world. My brother is one of them, but he studied hard, got a degree in Electrical Engineering with a Masters Degree from GA Tech. He lives in Silicon Valley and makes almost $200,000/year. He did everything right as far as his career is concerned. I went to GA Tech, also, 11 years before he did, but I did everything wrong. I'm retired trying to live on Social Security. The corporate world didn't treat me well. I didn't fit in, but I don't blame my problems on anyone else. I fucked up. Yes, there's plenty wrong with that world from my point of view which contributed to my problems fitting in. But there are plenty of people who find their success there. I doubt that it will ever change any time soon. I'm 76 so it won't happen in my lifetime. I try to make the best of what time I have left.
Charlie, I am sorry for your bad luck. Do you still care about democracy, about constitutional government? I hope that your successful brother does.
Yes, I still believe in democracy and constitutional govt, but I believe we need to make many corrections so that ordinary people can partake more easily and successfully. My brother feels the same as me.
OH, by the way, Charlie, am I not allowed to be unhappy about a corporate oligarchy instead of a social democracy that I was told I was working for??? I am supposed to move.?!. TAKE your Corporate Oligarchy somewhere else! I want social democracy.. what I worked for all my life and was taught I was working for.
Charlie, you did not watch. theCon.tv did you????
IF I had known 20 years ago, what I have seen in this last decade, I could have made a course correction and gotten out.. But, the coverup of what was happening was successful. The oligarchs own the newspapers. Like many, I was too busy surviving.
As a woman, I have had my bodily autonomy stolen from me by backwards idiots. Did you have your body autonomy stolen from you?
I have watched standards in caregiving dissolve. Cost too much money. I have watched checks and balances, which are supposed to guard against what we now have be dissolved also. Top of the food chain don't like those... Don't like anyone over their privileged shoulders.
I have watched healthcare since the 1970s when a small general hospital could serve their entire community, including mental health and substance abuse become a horror show. Filled with folk providing no hands on care. WE had one paraprofessional on a unit with Nurses and doctors providing healthcare in the 1970s. WE contributed to the outpatient mental health center that served EVERYBODY. WE did not have condos instead of SROs, which were deconstructed so Fancy condos could be built around the cities where services are. I trained in Boston and NYC>.
I don't have a bad habit of making untrue assumptions. White boys could have passed the ERA years ago... but no............... let's keep women under our thumb... Well, I am so glad Gaia is not interested in your thumb....Why are you afraid of a righteous hardworking woman's anger for the destruction of all she was taught and worked for?????
I'm not afraid of any woman's anger. Since I don't know anything about your life, I don't know why you are so angry, or why you haven't been able to correct the specifics that have made your life so difficult. My life has been difficult, too, but I take full responsibility for it. I wish you the best of luck.
I will say the same thing I said about Obama about this time in Obama's first term when everyone was expressing disappointment about what he hadn't accomplished: yes, Biden hasn't come through with everything we wanted and that he promised. BUT, he has to act strategically to get re-elected. The *second* term is the secret sauce. Only then will we see what his most important priorities are. We should be just as focused on assuring a majority Democratic House and Senate if we want to see measurable change.
And, even then, Biden has to tread carefully so as not to burn bridges for future Dem candidates and foment a Republican backlash.
Somehow the minority rule of the US has to be turned on its head if we get a democratic wash next term. I am sick and tired of watching 4 steps forward and 6 back. Backlash, it does not matter if it is women, gays, trans, legal immigration... the tyranny of the Minority, who brought about Slavery, must be overcome asap. Facing multi species extinction daily, climate and migration chaos, there is no room for pussy footing around. That could have occurred in the 1960s, but not now...
I (and so many others) share your frustration with the slow pace of progress. But I also remember that in the 2000 election, people were also tired of what they perceived to be the sluggish status quo of the Democrats; and so they made a bold statement of dissatisfaction by voting for Ralph Nader. The result of that election was a Bush/Cheney presidency and the most corrupt administration (until Trump's) in U.S. history. The groundwork for the current enthusiasm for dismantling government agencies, institutions, laws, and civil service was laid by Bush and Cheney.
So, a pox on the people who choose rigid adherence to all-or-nothing idealism over slow-but-steady pragmatic progress.
Corporate autocracy is not slow and steady progress. Maybe you will wake up in time to see what is truly in front of us.
Watch. theCon.tv To see where we are.
When I was younger in the60s&70s I couldn’t fathom why things were not getting done sufficiently quickly and was not happy about it in the slightest! Now I’m a Grand Pa and pissed off that it’s all moving faster than I like ,my grandkids are getting older too fast! But you know what in my short time 68 years on this tiny planet 🌎,a great many of the things I thought were not happening fast enough for me in my youth ,they happened! The point is our perception of time is related to our age and the things important to us at that age ,relax time will deal with things on its own schedule,all we can do is help those important things along and stay vigilant in doing that,I’ve seen great changes since the 60s and horrific things happen that need change since then ,The old adage of a watched pot applies ! Step back and visit your time passed and urgent changes then needed so badly, you will find that a great many of those needed changes have happened,just not as quickly as you wished they might have happened in that passed time . Chill out ,enjoy the good times you have in the time you are given it’s just how time works for us all .🐛🦋☮️⏳🕰️⏰
Yeah, some of the things we wanted did come to pass during our lifetime: safe and legal abortion; civil rights; voting rights, regulations for clean air and water. And now they are systematically being eliminated.
So, no thank you. I, for one, am not going to chill out and expect that a relaxed, que sera sera attitude will get us through. Ain't gonna fiddle while Rome is burnin'.
theCon.tv
There’s something in it for him. Something big like a position in Trump’s administration when he wins… or steals the election. No, I don’t think he’s on the payroll but he’s being compensated or will be if Trump somehow wins. I think people are underestimating the evil here and that’s a dangerous thing to do.
There could be a job in it for Jr. I don't think he would want anything less than the Vice Presidency, but that could be in play. Reich indicates that Jr. is flush with money, so it's hard for me to believe he wants a job for the money. I would think he could get a good job in the real world that would pay more than any govt job. Then, think about this. He would have to work for trump. Even Jr. should have sense enough to avoid that. However, in today's world, anything is possible.
Throwing sand into the machine ... a well known Trumpian trick.
This shameful act of a Kennedy + anti-genocide in Gaza crowd, I fear, will equate to Trump's win. God help us.