Crackpots

NBC News reports: The Supreme Court late on Wednesday rejected an attempt by Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to protect doctors being investigated in Washington state for allegedly spreading misinformation about the Covid-19 virus. The emergency application was denied by Justice Elena Kagan on behalf of the court. “We hope that one day …

Raleigh’s Fox affiliate reports: CNN’s legal team is trying to move the defamation lawsuit filed by North Carolina Lt. Gov. and since-defeated governor candidate Mark Robinson from state to federal court. On Oct. 15 Robinson filed a lawsuit against CNN and North Carolina musician Louis Love Money after two separate news articles made claims about the outgoing lieutenant governor’s use …

Mediaite reports: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. voiced his support for conspiracy theories claiming the government intentionally caused the Covid-19 pandemic in video clips unearthed by The Bulwark. These newly unearthed video clips are far from Kennedy’s first foray into conspiratorial waters. He has blamed antidepressants for mass shootings, pushed conspiratorial nonsense about chemtrails, and claimed that Covid-19 could have been …

First, some background via the Daily Beast: In April 2022, Pensacola-based attorney Autumn Beck Blackledge approached then-Rep. Matt Gaetz with a “very, very important question” from one of her clients, Tiger King star Joe Exotic, who in 2019 was convicted of 17 counts of animal abuse and attempted murder for hire. “If you do decide to run for president, would …

Politico reports: Democratic-aligned health care advocacy groups are putting together a strategy to fight Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to be HHS secretary. During an organizing call on Monday, the details of which have not been reported publicly, more than 200 people from several dozen of those groups, along with other advocacy organizations, discussed strategies to oppose Kennedy’s nomination. That …

The Daily Mail reports: Sarah Palin appears to be venting her frustration over not receiving one of Donald Trump’s coveted cabinet spots after supporting the President-elect throughout his campaign. The former Alaska governor and GOP vice-presidential candidate, an early and vocal supporter of Trump since at least 2011, made a series of cryptic posts to social media with screengrabs of …

“I think that we’re talking about magnitudes of danger beyond erroneously making legal decisions. This is life or death. The HHS affects people from birth to their grave and is intimately connected with every state in the country. “So this could be very dangerous. I think it’s totally disqualifying for anyone who seeks to lead the major health agency in …

The Washington Post reports: Health officials around the world are alarmed over the likely impact of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — a longtime vaccine skeptic who was tapped for the health secretary role this week — on global health. Experts from Samoa have been particularly vocal in sounding the alarm, citing the destructive impact of Kennedy’s rhetoric on the tiny …

Tampa’s NBC affiliate reports: The Winter Haven City Commission voted Tuesday to stop adding fluoride to drinking water after a lengthy public comment period where residents shared health concerns. Commissioners voted 3-2 to remove the fluoride by January 1, or on a date “as soon as reasonably practical thereafter.” Commissioner Brad Dantzler suggested giving some of the estimated $48,000 saved …

From the New York Post editorial board: The overriding rule of medicine is: First, do no harm. We’re certain installing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head Health and Human Services breaks this rule. A radical, prolonged and confused transition ordered by a guy like RFK Jr., who will use his high office to spout his controversial beliefs, leaves a lot …

Politico reports: President-elect Donald Trump is expected to nominate former presidential candidate and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a person with direct knowledge of the selection. The expected pick, which will roil many public health experts, comes after Trump promised to let Kennedy “go wild” with health and …

“The stuff that he eats is really, like, bad. Campaign food is always bad, but the food that goes onto that airplane is like just poison. You have a choice between—you don’t have the choice, you’re either given KFC or Big Macs. “That’s when you’re lucky and then the rest of the stuff I consider kind of inedible. And then …

Mother Jones reports: Anti-vaccine activist and Donald Trump transition team member Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had said he’d fire and replace 600 people from the National Institutes of Health on “day one” of a second Trump term. The NIH is one of the public health agencies Kennedy loathes the most—and despite still lacking any defined role in a new administration, …

Michael Bloomberg writes for Bloomberg News: Trump should remember that Kennedy spread lies about the Covid vaccine, falsely calling it the “deadliest vaccine ever made.” In any position of influence, Kennedy would jeopardize decades of hard-won advances in public health and put American lives needlessly at risk. Thanks to vaccines, afflictions such as polio are now rare. Smallpox has been …

From the medical site STAT News: The health community is spinning with worry about the fate of science and evidence-based medicine if Trump makes good on his promise to let Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “go wild” on the nation’s leading health agencies. We are particularly concerned that RFK highlighted nutraceuticals, a subtype of dietary supplement, and peptide hormones, a common …

Law & Crime reports: So-called “Kraken” attorney Sidney Powell was instructed to provide Dominion Voting Systems with various and substantial documents in a discovery order issued by a federal court on Friday. In the case, the initial lawsuit was filed by the voting machine business against Powell in January 2021 — alleging the Texas-based lawyer defamed the company by claiming …

Mother Jones reports: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has set up a website to solicit suggestions for key Cabinet roles. Anyone can submit a name and vote for their favorite nominees across 12 areas of government, including health, food and agriculture, education, technology, and more. Some of the most popular nominees for include: Dr. Simone Gold for the Department of Health …

The Florida Phoenix reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday endorsed his own controversial State Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo for a top health care position in the next Trump administration. DeSantis went on social media, where he called on his followers to repost a picture of Ladapo if they want to see him serve as secretary of the Department of Health …

Newsmax host Todd Starnes writes: It’s very possible that people like Liz Cheney and the Democrats and the Media are under the control of a demonic spirit. That’s the only plausible explanation for their anti-Trump bloodlust. What we need to be talking about his how Liz Cheney and her side of the political divide tried to put a bullet in …

Courthouse News reports: Doctors skeptical of the efficacy of vaccines — represented by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — asked the Supreme Court for emergency intervention Monday to prevent medical boards from punishing health care workers for spreading vaccine disinformation that threatens to erode public trust in the medical profession. “The court should speak clearly and decisively to state actors, professional …