Transcript of RFK Jr.'s Speech Yesterday

[JonC]

1) 220,000 over how long of a period of time?

and

2) Out of how many people vaccinated?

1. Within a couple of months.

2. 220,000 doses. 10 deaths. 164 people became severely paralyzed. 70,000 muscle issues.


It was in April 1955. The defective vaccine was produced by Cutter Laboratories in Berkeley.

 

[KenH]

1. Within a couple of months.

2. 220,000 doses. 10 deaths. 164 people became severely paralyzed. 70,000 muscle issues.


It was in April 1955. The defective vaccine was produced by Cutter Laboratories in Berkeley.

So one incident with a manufacturer 69 years ago? And that affects someone's viewpoint about the polio vaccine in 2024? Really????

 

[JonC]

So one incident with a manufacturer 69 years ago? And that affects someone's viewpoint about the polio vaccine in 2024? Really????

Yes. Just like the photographs you posted.

My point is that in many ways this birthed a fear and mistrust of vaccines.

Obviously that has affected people's beliefs. There are books written about this issue and lasting effects on American society.

But obviously science evolves. We have a newer vaccine and no longer have to use iron lungs to treat polio.

So the "really?" applies to your photograph insofar as relevancy.


Vaccines carry the potential for serious injury and death. Even the polio vaccine. This is something people weigh not just with the danger of the disease but also with the potential of contracting the disease.


It is natural that some people will be anti-vaccine. Uncle Ted was....until he wasn't.

 

[KenH]

Yes. Just like the photographs you posted.

My point is that in many ways this birthed a fear and mistrust of vaccines.

Obviously that has affected people's beliefs. There are books written about this issue and lasting effects on American society.

But obviously science evolves. We have a newer vaccine and no longer have to use iron lungs to treat polio.

So the "really?" applies to your photograph insofar as relevancy.


Vaccines carry the potential for serious injury and death. Even the polio vaccine. This is something people weigh not just with the danger of the disease but also with the potential of contracting the disease.


It is natural that some people will be anti-vaccine. Uncle Ted was....until he wasn't.

Glad I don't give much thought to vaccines. At my age I probably don't have much time left on this earth. I will go at the time and in the manner in which God has ordained, just like every other human being and every other living creature on this planet.

 

[percho]

and of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou dost not eat of it, for in the day of thine eating of it -- dying thou dost die.'

And then God said,

Quit whining you'll come up with a vaccine in the latter days.

Maybe we can improve the MRNA, "vaccine," that changes our DNA and live forever.

 

[JonC]

Glad I don't give much thought to vaccines. At my age I probably don't have much time left on this earth. I will go at the time and in the manner in which God has ordained, just like every other human being and every other living creature on this planet.

I don't either. I'm retired Army. They loved to use us as pin cushions. And I always lost my shot record, so I got doubles.

I have a few obscure books on topics I'd not normally read but found very interesting. Several are on the Irish potato famine (the "Great Hunger").

An interesting read is "The Cutter Imcident: How America's First Polio Vacvine Led to the Growing Vaccine Crisis".

Sometimes I find obscure topics, and often dull sounding topics, to be the most intriguing.


My only point was that RFK Jr. holds a minority view that is not as obscure as some may believe. It is a minority position. But it is held by a large number of people and it has its roots in legitimate concerns.

 

[Van]

Oops, I see I designated Jack's PT boat as the household lubricant, rather than PT 109. My memory doesn't work as well as it should.

 

[OnlyaSinner]

Not about vaccines but perhaps relevant:
After a major A-fib episode in 2018 - pulse jumping between 70 and 170+ for 5 hours - I had Eliquis prescribed. The literature listed many adverse side effects, from bruising all the way to death by internal bleeding. The fine print included estimates of the odds for each side effect, and the odds for death were listed as 1 million to one. The odds for death related to continuing A-fib are probably about 100,000 times worse than that. IMO, the strongly anti-vaxx people are hunting mice while ignoring tigers.
Note: Back in 1954 (IIRC) I was a Polio Pioneer, 3 shots of the Salk vaccine. Several years later I had the oral Sabin vaccine, administered on a sugar cube.

 

[Van]

Not about vaccines but perhaps relevant:
After a major A-fib episode in 2018 - pulse jumping between 70 and 170+ for 5 hours - I had Eliquis prescribed. The literature listed many adverse side effects, from bruising all the way to death by internal bleeding. The fine print included estimates of the odds for each side effect, and the odds for death were listed as 1 million to one. The odds for death related to continuing A-fib are probably about 100,000 times worse than that. IMO, the strongly anti-vaxx people are hunting mice while ignoring tigers.
Note: Back in 1954 (IIRC) I was a Polio Pioneer, 3 shots of the Salk vaccine. Several years later I had the oral Sabin vaccine, administered on a sugar cube.

I grew up in the late 1940"s and 1950"s. Kids at my Elementary School, had Polio braces on one or both of their shriveled legs. And I was aware of a medical device called an "Iron Lung" where all you could do was lay on your back and look at a mirror. I lived in dread of Polio.

I received the Polio vaccine, about age 12, and later took the oral version. And I no longer dreaded being put in a wheel chair due to that disease, If I Recall Correctly (IIRC)..

 

[KenH]

I was born in 1955, so my knowledge of the world began after the polio outbreak of the early 1950s. @OnlyaSinner and @Van, I appreciate your sharing of your experiences during that time.

 

[JonC]

I think the question is not what people believe about vaccines but whether true comments are somehow untrue if spoken by somebody who holds a different view of vaccines or picks up road kill to feed falcons.

And that is even a secondary tangent to what was actually said in the speech.


What part of His speech do you find objectionable?

 

[KenH]

What part of His speech do you find objectionable?

I didn't listen to his speech. I have a really hard time listening to his voice for very long because of the condition he has(and I know his condition is not his fault).

 

[Scarlett O.]

I didn't listen to his speech. I have a really hard time listening to his voice for very long because of the condition he has(and I know his condition is not his fault).

Then read the transcript I posted in the OP!! I'm not a Kennedy fan, but he spoke a very necessary truth.

 

[KenH]

Then read the transcript I posted in the OP!! I'm not a Kennedy fan, but he spoke a very necessary truth.

It's too long to read since I am not a supporter of him. How about copying the main points you think are salient and paste them in this thread so they are more quickly read? That would be helpful. I could handle reading a 5-10 minute recap.

 

[Scarlett O.]

It's too long to read since I am not a supporter of him. How about copying the main points you think are salient and paste them in this thread so they are more quickly read? That would be helpful. I could handle reading a 5-10 minute recap.

OK....

"As you know, I left the Democrat party in October because it had departed so dramatically from the core values that I grew up with. It had become the party of war, censorship, corruption, big pharma, big tech, big AG, and big money. "

"When it abandoned democracy by canceling the primary to conceal the cognitive decline of the sitting president, I left the party to run as an independent."

"My uncle and my father both relished debate. They prided themselves on their capacity to go toe to toe with any opponent in a battle of ideas. They would be astonished to learn of a Democratic Party presidential nominee who, like Vice President Harris, has not appeared in a single interview or an unscripted encounter with voters for 35 days. This is profoundly undemocratic. How are people to judge when they don’t know whom they are choosing? And how can this look to the rest of the world?"

"Instead of showing us her substance and character, the DNC and its media organs engineered a surge of popularity for Vice President Harris based on nothing. No policies, no interviews, no debates, only smoke and mirrors and balloons in a highly-produced circus. There, in Chicago, a string of Democratic speakers mentioned Donald Trump 147 times, just on the first day. Who needs a policy when you have Trump to hate? In contrast, at the RNC convention, President Biden was mentioned only twice in four days."

 

[KenH]

Thank you, @Scarlett O.

I reply:

had departed so dramatically from the core values that I grew up with. It had become the party of war, censorship, corruption, big pharma, big tech, big AG, and big money. "

One could just as easily refer to the Republican Party as having departed so dramatically from the core values of being the party of Ronald Reagan and becoming the party of Donald Trump and MAGA National Conservatism.

"When it abandoned democracy by canceling the primary to conceal the cognitive decline of the sitting president,

If they tried to conceal President Biden's aging, then they didn't do a very good job. I(along with LOTS of folks) was well aware of his situation.

They would be astonished to learn of a Democratic Party presidential nominee who, like Vice President Harris, has not appeared in a single interview or an unscripted encounter with voters for 35 days.

It's only been 5 weeks and Vice President Harris had to jumpstart a presidential campaign, select a running mate, and prepare for a national convention. She has done yeoman's work in accomplishing all of that in such a short period of time and doing so successfully. Now VP Harris has time to catch her breath and do interviews and such, especially after the debate on September 10(provided Trump does not back out of the debate).

engineered a surge of popularity for Vice President Harris based on nothing.

As I mentioned before, VP Harris has been rather busy for the past 5 weeks. She had a huge surge of popularity as the Democratic Party managed to convince their old man presidential candidate to withdraw for the good of the country in the effort to defeat Donald Trump and the National Conservatives(Nikki Haley famously said that the major party that retired their 80-year-old candidate first will win this election). I had my doubts about VP Harris stepping in after Biden withdrew, but she has grown a lot since her presidential campaign in the previous cycle flamed out. I am really impressed by how much more assertive she is now and certainly can make the case against Trump that Biden could not make due to his age-related issues.

 

[Scarlett O.]

It's only been 5 weeks and Vice President Harris had to jumpstart a presidential campaign, select a running mate, and prepare for a national convention. She has done yeoman's work in accomplishing all of that in such a short period of time and doing so successfully. Now VP Harris has time to catch her breath and do interviews and such, especially after the debate on September 10(provided Trump does not back out of the debate).

Harris has been in the White House, being the "last person in the room", and supposedly much much more for almost 4 years.

She SHOULD know more than all of us combined. I find her refusal to speak and answer questions very telling.

 

[KenH]

Harris has been in the White House, being the "last person in the room", and supposedly much much more for almost 4 years.

She SHOULD know more than all of us combined. I find her refusal to speak and answer questions very telling.

A Vice President can give all the advice he or she wants, but the Vice President has only one power according to the U.S. Constitution - to preside over the U.S. Senate. Otherwise, the Vice President is to wait in the wings in case something should happen to the President of the United States. As John Nance Garner, who served two terms as FDR's vice president, famously said(and this is the cleaned up version), the vice presidency is "not worth a bucket of warm [spit]."

 

[JonC]

A Vice President can give all the advice he or she wants, but the Vice President has only one power according to the U.S. Constitution - to preside over the U.S. Senate. Otherwise, the Vice President is to wait in the wings in case something should happen to the President of the United States. As John Nance Garner, who served two terms as FDR's vice president, famously said(and this is the cleaned up version), the vice presidency is "not worth a bucket of warm [spit]."

The issue is she insisted, as a candidate, that she and Biden are on the same page and that Biden utilized her "insight". And this is on par with her time in politics as a whole.

Now she is giving her "plan" as something the Democrats assure will not happen (government fixing prices on food, limiting the rent an owner can charge, increasing minimum wage (this was a GOP strategy too....so this may pass), taxing unrealized gains....etc.

So her "plan" is to tell Americans whatever will get their vote without explaining why it would not actually work.


But you are right that neither party is it's former self. Trump took our national debt - before covid - to a near record level and after covid to a record level. Biden took it from there and kept on going.

 

[KenH]

Trump took our national debt - before covid - to a near record level and after covid to a record level. Biden took it from there and kept on going.

If people have not liked this relatively minor inflation problem the United States has had after the pandemic ended, compared to the Great Inflation of the late 1970s-early 1980s, just imagine what the inflation problem will be if another $35 trillion is added to the national debt over the next 10 years and the Federal Reserve has to monetize an additional $35 trillion into the U.S. money supply to accommodate the federal government's profligate spending.