“Make polio great again” is supposed to be a black-humored joke!~

Not any more: “The lawyer helping Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pick federal health officials for the incoming Trump administration has petitioned the government to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine, which for decades has protected millions of people from a virus that can cause paralysis or death.”

RFK is not a health guru who wants us to eat better and exercise,he’s an anti-vax crackpot. He’s not looking for a debate on vaccines, he’s looking to get rid off them. It’s true that he can’t put many of his ideas into practice: he wants to get rid of 5G cellular service because of his belief in its toxic health effects but I imagine the industry has enough clout to stymie that. Even so, he can do a lot of damage, particularly as Republicans now treat anti-vaxxers as a legitimate special interest group. They aren’t. And spreading the anti-vax creed (which isn’t all on Kennedy) is already having bad health consequences. A

I’m not sure what he can do to kill vaccine use but his influence if he gets a government health post won’t be small — even though he’s wrong. And withholding the vaccines to see what happens (the lawyer’s suggestion) is ultra-unethical, guaranteeing permanent illness or death to children.

The boom in anti-vax power is a depressing example of the way the conservative movement constantly ratchets to the right. TFG declared the pandemic was no big deal; Republican voters decided their messiah couldn’t be wrong so anti-pandemic efforts were bad. And if they were bad, other vaccines and public health efforts must be bad. Republican politicians jumped on board … and here we are.

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Trump’s nominee for heading NIH, wants to dole out research grants based on whether universities conform to conservative dogma. Perhaps he’s butt-hurt reality isn’t on his side — how dare people judge his genius just because he said covid would only kill 40,000 to 50,000 people before herd immunity saved us. That would be petty and bad.

Plus there’s money in prescribing quack medicine. It’s always been an unethical way to make a fast buck. It’s also appealing because, as Michelle Goldberg says, “One thing alternative medicine does is make people feel like their needs are being seen and addressed, even if they’re being addressed in bogus ways. There’s a direct link between people’s disgust with the health care system and the dangerous rise of R.F.K. Jr.” The frustration that made so many people cheer the shooting of a health insurance CEO also makes working outside the system look sensible. Which may explain why alternative health advocates claim corruption is on the established system.

And it also may explain the conviction denying Americans the right to eat raw milk is a conspiracy by Big Dairy. “As it is, increased raw milk consumption has already led to a rise in foodborne illness—including stillbirths, miscarriages and deaths, albeit in very small numbers. The point is, do you want your morning latte to become a game of Russian roulette?”

One writer at the NYT argues that the problem is health experts don’t do nuance: instead of saying “drinking raw milk is risky” or “fluoride is safe,” admit the complexity. That way people will trust you’re not bullshitting and take you seriously on crucial matters such as vaccines. As Paul Campos says at the link, this is “yet another example of how intellectuals will reach for any explanation for the public’s behavior rather than the obvious one, which is that people in general are not real good at the whole thinking thing, and are therefore vulnerable to manipulation.”

Has the writer completely forgotten the arguments of the covid years? People persuaded by “masks are diapers for your face,” “viruses are too small to be stopped by a mask” and “the vaccine puts an internet connection into your brain” are not confounded by nuance. They’re making a conscious choice to reject reality.

I have friends who take a perverse glee in Trump voters paying for empowering RFK’s ignorance because a lot of Republicans will pay the price for it (as many did during covid). I can’t share their enthusiasm, though I can understand it.

The Felon’s second term will be bad for the economy too.. If, as some analysts say, belief the economy was bad delivered Trump back to the White House, well Trump now admits it’s not going to improve. But it will for billionaires and crooks if they get their way, like Musk’s proposal to end the IRS (I will say, by the way, that the writer saying “Musk is focused on improving governmental efficiency” is just parroting Republican lies). So will plans to kill rules requiring automakers report car-crash data. Or to eliminate the FDIC insuring bank deposits one of many economic policies Republicans favor that would put us back to when Herbert Hoover led us into a Depression. Unlikely to happen but it says a lot about what they believe and who’s pulling their strings.