Robert F. Kennedy Jr

Momentous Day: Robert F. Kennedy Centennial And Joe Biden’s 83rd Birthday!

Ronald Leave a comment

Today, November 20, is a momentous day, as it is the Centennial of the birth of Robert K. Kennedy, former Attorney General, US Senator, and Democratic Presidential contender in 1968 before his tragic assassination.

It is also the 83rd Birthday of former President Joe Biden, who saw RFK as his model, being 17 years older, but sharing the same birthday.

Biden had a bust of RFK on his desk in the White House, and it was always evident when he was sitting and being interviewed on camera.

Joe Biden is under constant attack by Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans, but he will be rated much higher in history than Donald Trump could ever hope for.

Biden is a President who is not fully appreciated, but already is in the mid teens in ratings of Presidents, such as the Siena College Research Institute Poll of 2022 and the American Political Science Association Poll of 2024, while Trump is last or near last in both surveys.

This is a day to celebrate for both Robert F. Kennedy and Joe Biden, but also sad that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, the namesake of his father, has so disgraced his family name by his lunatic behavior as Secretary of Health and Human Services for Donald Trump, as well as his disgraceful personal behavior throughout his life, indicating a low standard of ethics and morals!

“Like Father, Like Son” NOT The Case With RFK Jr. And Andrew Cuomo!

Ronald 1 Comment

The old saying–“Like Father, Like Son” is certainly NOT the case when one reflects on two very controversial political figures—Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., presently the Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Donald Trump—and Andrew Cuomo, former New York Governor (2011-2021), and presently running as an Independent for New York City Mayor, after losing the Democratic primary to State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani.

It is very clear that if Robert F. Kennedy, former Attorney General of the United States (1961-1964), New York Senator (1965-1968), and Democratic Presidential contender for the 1968 Presidential election, before being tragically assassinated, were alive today, he would be shocked at what has happened in the life of his son, who has been a denier of science and health, and has a history of drug and alcohol abuse, along with a very loose and disgraceful sexual abuse behavior over many decades. RFK Jr. has demonstrated how unstable he is in his dangerous mental state, willing to undermine public health and promote his own financial assets, while showing no concern for women’s rights and the significance of vaccines in preventing mass disease and death!

It is also very clear that Mario Cuomo, former New York Governor (1983-1995), with a reputation of decency and honesty, who many observers hoped he would run for President in 1992, were alive today, he would be shocked at the arrogant, entitled, and morally corrupt record of his older son. Andrew Cuomo was forced out of the Governorship on allegations of sexual harassment, as well as blunders made during the Covid 19 Pandemic crisis. Andrew Cuomo also has demonstrated willingness to collaborate with Donald Trump against the best interests of New York City and New York State.

Ironically, the late Robert F. Kennedy would reach the age of 100 on November 20, were he alive, sharing that birthday with President Joe Biden, who will be age 83 on that date a month from now. And Biden, in the White House, had a bust of RFK on his desk, always visible, as he considered the father of RFK Jr to be his political hero and idol. But RFK Jr. has repudiated his family’s legacy in his crazed state of mind, and apparently, there are rumors that he is considering a run for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2028, when he would be nearing 75, and already looks in a horrible aging condition!

And the odds of Andrew Cuomo, somehow, pulling victory out of his defeat in the Democratic Mayoral primary, a few weeks from now, seems highly delusional. And if somehow that was to occur, it would NOT be for the best future of New York City!

The War On Science, Health, Education, Public Safety Is Pure Insanity!

Ronald 39 Comments

After four months of the Trump Second Term Presidency, it is alarming the extent of the war on science, health, education, and public safety, clearly pure insanity!

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, has undermined confidence in the ability of the federal government to deal with the realities of science, and with the health needs of 330 million Americans.

The attack on vaccines, and the admitted lack of knowledge of the lunatic, RFK Jr, who admits he should not be paid attention to, and yet is making extreme policy changes, is a danger to all Americans, when and if there is a future health crisis, which likely would be greater than the COVID Pandemic.

Research in the Sciences and Medicine fields is being cut, and many talented scientists and doctors are being forced out of their careers, undermining the future of all Americans.

The war on education, particularly on higher education, is interfering with the search for knowledge, facts, and truth, in a whole host of fields of study. Cultural institutions, most notably but not only, the Library of Congress, are under attack, as well.

American Public Safety is also threatened by cuts in the National Weather Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, among other agencies.

America is in unparalleled crisis, in many ways more than since the Civil War, and no easy alternative at this time!

Trump Cabinet And Team Most Controversial And Incompetent America Has Seen From Any President!

Ronald 60 Comments

After three months in office, Donald Trump has created a Cabinet and other Team members seen as the most controversial and incompetent of any in American history.

The people he selected have proved to be the most arrogant, nasty, meanspirited, and “in your face” of any Presidential Cabinet America has seen.

And the sense is clear that the potential for corruption, malfeasance, and grift is massive, more so than the first Trump term, and more than that of Richard Nixon.

Among those who are seen as fitting the description above include:

Thomas Homan, Border Czar, Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Stephen Miller, Homeland Security Adviser and Deputy Chief of Staff
Russell Vought, Director of Office of Management and Budget
Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense
Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Secretary of Health and Human Services
Pam Bondi, Attorney General
Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security
Howard Lutnick, Secretary of Commerce
Kash Patel, FBI Director
Tulsi Gabbard, Director National Intelligence
Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary

By comparison, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is a “choir boy”, but even he has repudiated all of the views and principles of his political career, “selling his soul” to Donald Trump! 🙁

The concept of Trump and his Cabinet and other advisors following the rule of law, the Constitution, and the perpetuation of American democracy, tragically, does not exist! 🙁

Imagining A Theodore Roosevelt-Donald Trump Meeting!

Ronald 8 Comments

At a tumultuous time like now, in late March 2025, after two months of the second Donald Trump Presidency, it seems appropriate to make a comparison between a past President, Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President, and Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th President.

First, the similarities:

Both TR and Trump were Republican Presidents, although massively different in philosophy and outlook.

Both TR and Trump ushered in massive change, revolutionary in many ways.

Both TR and Trump were attention grabbers on a daily basis, constantly creating news and publicity.

Both TR and Trump were egomanics, having an element of insecurity that required them to insist on “rocking the boat” on a regular basis.

Both TR and Trump could be described as “characters”, highly outspoken more than any other combination of Presidents.

It has been said that TR wanted to be “the bride at every wedding, and the groom on every wedding cake”, and that Trump wanted to be equally admired and noticed constantly.

TR was toasted by Great Britain as a great man during and after his Presidency, and loved every minute of it, while Donald Trump was toasted as a great man during his first Presidency by the Saudi Arabian government, and loved every minute of it!

Both TR and Trump were born to wealth and in New York City, with TR in Manhattan, and Trump in Queens County, and with TR’s vacation home in Nassau County, Long Island, at Oyster Bay, and Trump’s vacation home in Palm Beach County, Florida at Mar a Lago.

As former Presidents running again for reelection in 1912 for TR and 2024 for Trump, both were victims of assassination attempts, with TR more seriously wounded than Trump, but both showing a defiant spirit at the time of their being victims.

Now, the massive differences between TR and Trump!

TR was our youngest President ever at age 42 and ten and a half months of age in September 1901, while Trump was our oldest inagurated President age 78 and 7 months in January 2025, and he will be the oldest President when he leaves office in 2029, surpassing Joe Biden in that statistic if it occurs.

TR believed in a need for a stronger, more engaged national government, challenging the conservative, laissez faire philosophy of the Republican Party, and proudly asserting he was a “progressive”.

Trump has declared “war” on the federal government, wanting to cut down the involvement of the national government in a wide variety of ways, promoting a return to state and local government control as in the Gilded Age of the late 19th century.

TR was the promoter of environmental reform and conservation of natural resources, regarded as the single most significant President in that area of policy.

Trump has made clear his desire to shut down most environmental and conservation efforts, and promote more drilling and more industrial use of natural resources, despite the reality of climate change and global warming. He is attempting to cut back on national parks, national conservation lands and national monuments in a dramatic fashion.

TR believed in the need for federal government regulation for consumers, regarding food and drug protection, while Trump has allowed himself to appoint a Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, who is reckless and unstable, and has created great concerns about the protection of health for the American people.

TR promoted openmindedness on workers’s rights, while Trump has demonstrated that he is unconcerned about the average working man and the significance of labor unions.

TR believed in the concept of corporate regulation and responsibility, while Trump has the belief that corporations should not be regulated, and corporate taxes should be cut, both in his first term, and now in his second term. So TR utilized the anti trust laws, while Trump has not and will not do so.

TR and Trump both were involved in the issue of the Panama Canal, with TR promoting a revolution in the area of Colombia which broke away, became independent with US support, and agreed to the building of the Canal, while Trump is now promoting US takeover the Canal, which was given back by treaty in 1977 under Jimmy Carter, and returning to Panamanian control in the year 2000.

TR was aggressive in his relations with the rest of Latin America, promoting the “Big Stick” policy, with intervention in Cuba and the Dominican Republic, while Trump has created tensions in the entire Western Hemisphere, and including our Canadian neighbors to the North, as well as the nations south of the US.

TR cultivated good relations with Japan, while looking down on China, while Trump is being aggressive in his policies toward China, and ready to use tariffs against all nations, including those in Asia.

TR wanted good relations with Europe, particularly with Great Britain and France; was suspicious of Germany; and critical of Russia and its mistreatment of Jews and other minorities. Trump, on the other hand, seems ready to abandon NATO and our close alliances with Western democracies since World War II, and is cozying up with our traditional antagonist, the Russian Federation..

TR won the Nobel Peace Prize for helping to negotiate the treaty ending the Russo-Japanese War, while Trump is hoping for a Nobel Peace Prize by resolving the Russia-Ukraine War.

It is very clear that TR, were he alive today, would be a major critic of Donald Trump, and would have no issue in confronting him openly and “in his face”.

The question is how would Trump react to such scathing and extreme criticism!

With Confirmation Of Pete Hegseth, Can Any Trump Nominee Be Defeated?

Ronald 24 Comments

With the reality that the US Senate confirmed, by a tie vote broken by Vice President JD Vance, the nomination of Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense, one must wonder will there ever be FOUR Republican Senators who will stand in the way of any Donald Trump nominee?

One could argue that the defense of the nation, the protection of all Americans, is endangered by having a Secretary of Defense, who has zero qualifications for the position, and has a history of alcohol problems and sexual promiscuity, which could make him suspect of being compromised by foreign spies, in a worst possible scenario.

But with the reality that this nomination went through, is there any hope of any of the other objectionable nominees being stopped?

Tulsi Gabbard is a real security risk if she becomes Director of National Intelligence.

Kash Patel is a danger if he is made head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for the next decade, the worst possible nominee since J. Edgar Hoover passed away in 1972.

And Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, a true loose cannon with drug and alcohol problems and delusional behavior and beliefs, is a massive threat to the health and safety of 340 million Americans, with his anti vaccine lunacy and denial of basic science.

So the question arises: Can four Republican Senators be counted upon to reject any or all of these controversial nominees?

One would hope Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins might follow through, but can they be expected to reject all three of these controversial nominees?

Can Mitch McConnell do so as well, considering his concerns about national security and foreign policy, and his having had polio as a child?

But will anyone else, such as Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who is a doctor and has expressed concern about RFK Jr’s crazy views on public health?

What about John Curtis, the new Utah Senator who replaced Mitt Romney, and was thought to be a likely vote to oppose Hegseth, but did not do so?

What about James Lankford of Oklahoma, who had been a co-sponsor of immigration legislation in 2024 that Trump convinced Republicans to refuse to support?

What about Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who wavered on Hegseth and ended up supporting him in the end?

And then, there are rumors that Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania might support one of more of these three controversial nominees, and even, crazily, that Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse might support RFK Jr, who was a college friend decades ago.

Donald Trump’s “Wrecking Ball” On The Federal Government!

Ronald 30 Comments

Donald Trump, in just four days in office, has applied the “wrecking ball” on the federal government.

Thousands of civil servants in many different government agencies have been told not to come to work, and have lost access to their offices and websites.

The Civil Service system set up in 1883 under the Pendleton Act is being eviscerated before our eyes.

The plan is to end government agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) created under President Jimmy Carter; the Department of Education, also created under Carter; and radically changing the State Department, Defense Department, the intelligence agencies, and the Department of Justice, all of whom Trump considers to be the “Deep State”.

Additionally, undocumented immigrants and gay and transgender people are subject to threats and lack of protection of basic human rights.

Plans are in place to undermine public education, and promote a right wing agenda on the curriculum, ignoring the reality of American history, and denying the reality of climate change and global warming.

Access to health and medical information is being limited, and if Robert F. Kennedy Jr is confirmed as Health and Human Services Secretary, or even if replaced by some other extremist, the nation will not be ready to deal with future health crises and potential for pandemics, since there is a denial of the reality of disease threats. And any investigation of racial disparities in disease study, and also of health issues involving gays and lesbians, has been halted, an absolutely horrifying scenario!

And Trump is trying to undermine the Constitution by promoting the end of Birthright Citizenship, which is protected by the 14th Amendment, clearly a racist move to limit migration and citizenship of immigrants from Latin America, Asia and Africa.

His proposal to allow a third term defies the 22nd Amendment, and is clearly a power grab by his supporters in Congress.

And his decision to deny continued security to former members of his earlier administration, including John Bolton, Mike Pompeo, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, is an outrage, putting their lives in danger!

But clearly, he only cares about himself, and does not value human life beyond what it can do for his power grab.

And to top it off, the pardoning of known violent extremists who attacked the US Capitol viciously gives these threats to public order the potential to cause more violence and bloodshed, and likely receive future Presidential pardons, so it is like the Brown Shirts of Adolf Hitler!

We are living in a time of right wing radical extremism, which is a threat to the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, the rule of law, and the concept of American democracy.

And at least short term, there is not much of a reaction or counter plans to deal with this crisis which is on the level of a potential equivalent of the Civil War or the Great Depression or World War II in the past of American history!

Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins And? Will Trump Nominees Be Stopped?

Ronald 12 Comments

Two Republican women Senators, considered the most “moderate” in the party caucus, have come out in committee against the nomination of Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense.

Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine have made clear that they are unhappy with Hegseth’s statements in the past against women in the military, although he has backed off on that idea recently.

Murkowski does not face an election until 2028, and already in the past, had kept her seat as an Independent in one election race. And Susan Collins has hinted she may not run for reelection in 2026, but even if she does, she is in a strong position in a state that is more “Blue”, but her ability to keep her seat has been strong in the past. She has served 28 years and is the longest serving female Republican Senator in American history.

The question is whether there are two more Republicans who will have the guts and courage to join Murkowski and Collins. Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, former Majority and Minority Leader, is a “free spirit” in his last two years in the upper chamber, who disagrees with Donald Trump on foreign and defense policy, so might rebel against Hegseth.

Joni Ernst of Iowa seemed a possible negative vote, but was pressured in her home state to support Hegseth, and therefore looks likely to vote for him despite some qualms.

As stated by this author and blogger in an earlier post on January 12, there are a few other Republican Senators who might, hopefully, join in opposition, particularly the new Utah Senator John Curtis, seen as similar in moderation as was Mitt Romney, plus Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, James Lankford of Oklahoma, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina!

If not voting against Hegseth, there is greater possibility that some of this group will vote against other objectionable nominees, including Tulsi Gabbard, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, and Kash Patel.

Trump Cabinet Hearings: Possibility Of Rejection By Some Republican Senators!

Ronald 47 Comments

With one week until the inauguration of Donald Trump to a second non-consecutive term, the time has arrived for the consideration of the approval or rejection of his Cabinet nominees.

There are so many controversial nominees, and one wonders if there are Republican Senators who are willing to come out against such individuals as:

Pete Hegseth–Secretary of Defense
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.–Secretary of Health and Human Services
Tulsi Gabbard—Director of National Intelligence
Kash Patel—Federal Bureau of Investigation Head

And there are others who are also objectionable on verious grounds, but likely will sail through, but with the above having the likelihood of some being rejected.

Who would be candidates for voting against some or all of these nominees, in order of likelihood:

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski
Utah Senator John Curtis
Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell
Maine Senator Susan Collins
Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy
Iowa Senator Joni Ernst
North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis
Oklahoma Senator James Lankford

Lack Of Principle And Guts Of So Many Republicans Disillusioning!

Ronald 59 Comments

This author and blogger is so disillusioned at the lack of principle and guts of so many Republican Senators, as it seems more likely by the day that there will be little, if any, opposition to any of the most controversial Donald Trump Cabinet nominees.

By all reasonable judgment, the nominations of:

Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense
Kash Patel, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services

should be rejected for a multitude of reasons.

And this does not include another objectionable nominee, Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security.

But at least four Senators would have to be willing to gamble their future and vote against, and that seems now highly unlikely.

Those most considered possible to oppose some, if not all, of these nominees, would include:

Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
Susan Collins of Maine
Mitch McConnell of Kentucky
John Curtis of Utah (newly elected to succeed Mitt Romney)

Some other Republican Senators are also seen as possible holdouts, but not as likely as these four.

And even among these four, the truth is that Susan Collins is unreliable, and Mitch McConnell, despite his plans to retire, and his contempt for Donald Trump, cannot be considered in any way likely to vote against any of these nominees, when push comes to shove.

Murkowski and Curtis seem more likely, but the pressure on them and other Republicans is intense. Joni Ernst of Iowa, who first seemed likely to oppose Pete Hegseth, is now receiving blowback with her reelection race coming up in 2026, and Collins also faces reelection two years from now.

So the odds are that Trump will get all of his controversial Cabinet appointments confirmed, and the nation will face a Presidential cabinet with a number of ill qualified, and in some cases, totally terrifying, and reprehensible individuals who will undermine America and its population for the next four years at a minimum.

So this blogger and author is taking a break, escaping from the morass we are in, and will be back near the end of the year!