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S12E09: Public Health

Lantern7

By Lantern7
in Last Week Tonight

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Lantern7

Lantern7

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is a fucking menace.

Yeah, we already knew that, but John felt compelled to spend almost forty minutes reminding us in greater detail. I don’t think I’ve heard a LWT audience make so many distressed and outraged noises before tonight. Random firings, department shutdowns, assholes in key positions . . . and there was the rambling account about what autistic people can and cannot do. It’s just a lot to take. And I think he’s the one guy in the administration whose voice is worse than Trump’s. He sounds like rocks going through an extended cycle in the washing machine.

Also, newscasters talk about National Siblings Day. How many episodes this season have started with John “going straight into” the topic, talk about it for at least a half-hour, then end on “And Now, This” before going to credits? And it looks like John fears returning to the void. I can’t say I blame him.

Nice restraint to do stuff on “MAHA” without playing “Take On Me.”

  • Like 10
Annber03

Annber03

"Well, maybe you deserved it." Holy shit, if ever someone deserved to be punched in the face, it is that asshole right there. Though RFK, Jr. with his "thoughts" on autistic people sure gave that guy a run for his money in the "punch their lights out" department. Fuck you, indeed. 

This was depressing. And horrifying. And infuriating. Honestly, screw impeachment at this point. I am sick and tired of having to wait in the hopes that  MAYBE these peolple will be impeached or voted out of office - we can't wait that long. We literally can't. Not when people's lives and health are on the line like this. To say nothing of how Trump and his cronies are actively trying to make it so that these people will remain in office no matter what. At this point I say somebody needs to just go in and forcibly escort every last one of these jackasses out of office, from Trump on down to RFK, Jr. and beyond. If I behaved like this at my job, I sure as hell wouldn't get a chance to stick around and continue to cause damage, I'd be gone in two seconds flat. And they sure have no issue with just randomly firing federal agents without going through the proper channels to do so. So I say turnabout's fair play. I do not want to sit here and play nice anymore, this is a drastic situation and it should require drastic intervention. 

On a happier topic, the potential Pope with the pizza name delighted me :p. That's fantastic. 

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Spartan Girl

Spartan Girl

5 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Honestly, screw impeachment at this point. I am sick and tired of having to wait in the hopes that  MAYBE these peolple will be impeached or voted out of office - we can't wait that long. We literally can't. Not when people's lives and health are on the line like this.

It wasn’t as though we all weren’t warned about what he would do BEFORE the election. So thanks a whole fucking lot, people who voted for Trump/third-party/stayed at home!

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rwlevin

rwlevin

RFK Jr. scares me. As a mother and as a pediatrician, he scares me. There's already a push online not to get children diagnosed for autism right now because of the registry brainworm Jr wants to start. Just great that i finished my son's evaluation last week. 

It's true though. Why bother removing food dyes from cereal when we're doing nothing about forever chemicals microplastics or lead in water? 

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peeayebee

peeayebee

(edited)

This nightmare is unbelievable. Of course one problem is that before the election, people just did not believe all the repeated warnings about Trump. It's still hard for me to grasp how this all is happening.

As far as impeaching RFK Jr, I wonder how better things would be. I could be wrong, but I imagine he installed or nominated like-minded people. If RJK is gone, would they just carry on his agenda? I would also think that Trump supports what RFK is doing, so he would direct whoever took over HHS to continue with the anti-vaccine, slash-and-burn policies.

Every single thing he says is crazy and stupid. We all know that vitamin A is no cure for measles, but why does he think that?

All the stuff he said about autistic people was so offensive. Like John said, even if someone is so severely autistic that they need constant care, it doesn't matter. They're a person. That in itself has value. Too much in society, value is based on what you can give, but there's inherent value, inherent worth.

Also offensive is saying autism is a disease.

RFK has dysphonia, which is no fault of his own, but boy it's hard to listen to him. I remember many years ago listening to Diane Reihm on NPR when she revealed she was diagnosed with dysphonia. But I didn't mind listening to her with the raspy voice. RFK? I suppose everything about him turns my stomach.

Edited by peeayebee
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Annber03

Annber03

10 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

It wasn’t as though we all weren’t warned about what he would do BEFORE the election. So thanks a whole fucking lot, people who voted for Trump/third-party/stayed at home!

God, yeah, I thought about that, too. The Trump supporters keeping on is sadly not surprising, but the people who decided to be all precious with thier votes and stay home because Kamala just wasn't a "perfect" enough candidate for them REALLY piss me off. Hope you're kicking yourselves, guys. If not, I'd be happy to do it for ya. 

4 hours ago, peeayebee said:

As far as impeaching RFK Jr, I wonder how better things would be. I could be wrong, but I imagine he installed or nominated like-minded people. If RJK is gone, would they just carry on his agenda? I would also think that Trump supports what RFK is doing, so he would direct whoever took over HHS to continue with the anti-vaccine, slash-and-burn policies.

Yep. Which is precisely why I say we just screw impeachment and clean house from the top down. We can't trust this administtration to replace anyone they get rid of, or who steps down. They all need to go, and they all need to go NOW. 

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DoctorAtomic

DoctorAtomic

I'm not surprised that RFK didn't know what was being cut. No one does. 

He's the perfect example of a smart, stupid person that hears something that sounds right and just clings to it. It's not like the ideas are bad on paper. Yes, we eat terribly. There's lots of factors into that. Sure, study that. But then that goes all the way into fluoride in the water. Maybe lead instead first?

Didn't anyone follow up on what autistic people could and couldn't do? Or, HALF of China is diabetic? No one said, 'hold on, where do you get this?' 

 

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Annber03

Annber03

33 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Didn't anyone follow up on what autistic people could and couldn't do? Or, HALF of China is diabetic? No one said, 'hold on, where do you get this?' 

Of course not. That would require the media to actually do its job and hold these people's feet to the fire. 

I was particularly struck by his claim that nobody was ever diabetic in China however many years ago he said it was. As if diabetes is some kind of new phenomenon, or as if our understanding of diabetes and its symptoms and causes hasn't improved over the years - in large part due to all the hard work that these health organizations and departments that are curently being gutted have done. 

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iMonrey

iMonrey

21 hours ago, Annber03 said:

This was depressing. And horrifying. And infuriating.

Yes. It's gotten to the point where I find it really hard to watch this show because I just feel so devastated and helpless and watching this just feels like I'm deliberately hitting myself over the head with a hammer.

21 hours ago, Annber03 said:

If I behaved like this at my job, I sure as hell wouldn't get a chance to stick around and continue to cause damage, I'd be gone in two seconds flat.

Well, not if you were deliberately hired to cause that damage, because that's exactly what all these people were nominated for by Trump. They're all fringe, right-wing zealots, crooks and crackpots who want to tear the government down because they believe it's inherently evil and spending money on things they don't like. 

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kittykat

kittykat

(edited)

It's the lies, the blatant lies that just gets me so riled up.  And no one who supports them questions it.  They just eat it all up.  When RFK jr started in on that whole diatribe on autistics and what they can't do I was screaming fuck you long before John did.

And yeah the main segments being the only thing is getting depressing.  We need our LWT whimsy.  We need John shaped pattieserie or some more animal erotica.

Edited by kittykat
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Shrek

Shrek

15 hours ago, peeayebee said:

Exactly. The MSM is just letting the lies flow without challenge. Makes me bang me head.

Are they though?

This was probably one of those one on one interviews Trump & his cronies like to do with Faux news or AON or any one of half a dozen faux news copycats/podcast things that are really just repug speeches dressed up as an actual real interview in the old sense of the word. It's the same now in White House press briefings, all the repug 3 listener podcasts are at the front & your ABCs/NBCs etc. have been pushed to the back of the room if they're not actually kicked out so that they don't get to ask questions/push back. 

I watched the press briefing on Monday morning & the first question was from someone who just repeated everything & said how wonderful it was for 5 minutes without ever actually asking a question of any sort & this is exactly where we are.

The next step is to start arresting journalists who do actually push back/question things & throwing them in jail, surprised they went for a judge first, but it does make sense in a way. 

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DoctorAtomic

DoctorAtomic

1 hour ago, Shrek said:

This was probably one of those one on one interviews Trump & his cronies like to do with Faux news or AON or any one of half a dozen faux news copycats/podcast things that are really just repug speeches dressed up as an actual real interview in the old sense of the word.

A quick search showed it was an actual press conference. The AP did a fact check article on it. So it's being covered but not really getting out there. 

I guess they could refuse questions. 

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Shrek

Shrek

12 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

A quick search showed it was an actual press conference. The AP did a fact check article on it. So it's being covered but not really getting out there. 

I guess they could refuse questions. 

Like I said, the fact it was a press conference doesn't mean nobody wants to push back, they're probably not being allowed to ask the actual questions that matter or, as we see a lot of lately, the actual tough questions are just being ignored. 

Why would they just refuse questions when they can look like they're being open & honest while just answering "their" questioners while ignoring everyone else?  

I think the other point about it is that if the msm covered every lie & made-up fact as with this there would be no time for any actual programs, like LWT. There just doesn't seem to be a way of keeping up with everything they lie about or just plain make up. 

Or are you suggesting that the press conferences are all above board & everyone gets their turn to fact check & ask questions during the actual press conferences?

 

milkyaqua

milkyaqua

I'm hoping that we don't have any type of major health crisis scare but I'm not betting money on it.  I've already heard talk about monkey pox.  And let's not even get into our whole food industry and the bird flu.

Sure in an ideal world we'd all eat healthily and exercise regularly and get enough sleep and have minimum stress in our lives but that's not the world we live in (even before the nonsense/nightmare that's going on right now).  The fact that a former heroin addict/brain worm infected/nicotine pill popping nutjob is overseeing the teardown of the systems needed to keep us supposedly healthy is mind boggling to me.  It's like an every person for himself because we sure as heck aren't going to get any help from our government.

Even agreeing that changes need to be made to the way the feds handle things, the slash and burn technique is not the way.  All the folks in charge now are pretty much just in this to make as much money as they can by privatizing everything.  The new NASA head has his head up Musk's butt and there will be more cuts there.  A lot of people who have historical knowledge and know their jobs and are competent are all being let go or demonized.  Will mid-terms make any difference since this president has signed more executive orders in his first 100 days than Biden did in his entire four years and is trying to find a way to stay past his two terms?

For all the people who are stunned, stunned, that this is happening, it was all said during the campaign so the fact that even those who supported him are surprised by all this is astounding to me, especially the ones who voted for him and have found themselves fired or cut off from services because you know, they didn't think he was serious about it all.

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heatherchandler

heatherchandler

I’m sickened that people are laughing at John’s mouse jokes.  Ninety percent of basic research—most of which involves animals—fails to lead to treatments for humans. 95% of pharmaceutical drugs that test safe and effective in animals are unsuccessful in human clinical trials.
 

Makes you think- how many drugs were scrapped because they didn’t work on a cat when they could have worked on a human?

I’m glad the testing is slowing/ending, at least for now.  Maybe people will wake up to the fact that animal testing is barbaric and more importantly- doesn’t work.

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DoctorAtomic

DoctorAtomic

Two important factors, 1 - Trump listens to the last person he talks to, so if everyone starts pooh-poohing Party Pete (see that?!), he's going to 'I didn't really know him that well'. Or RFK. Second, I haven't heard a single word from the chief of staff. She hasn't even been on PBS. She's a skilled, veteran, traditional political operative. If she says someone needs to go, they're gone. 

Or, she up and quits and just tells tales. 

I think Pete and RFK would be the first. I don't think Pete lasts the year. Someone like Rubio, I wouldn't have voted for, but I would concede he knows how to keep his head above water. I still think he's out by 2 years just because once he actually gets a handle on the job he's going to realize that no one cares. 

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peeayebee

peeayebee

Yes, interesting about the Chief of Staff. A while back was some meeting where you could see her unhappy or disturbed about what was being said. I can't remember the details. Perhaps she has some conscience and intelligence and so is keeping out of the public eye because she has trouble lying. (No idea if I'm way off the mark. I should google her.)

Trump would dump someone if he believes they're hurting his approval ratings, not if they're doing something wrong. I believe one reason he chose Hegseth is because he's TV-handsome. It's all about appearances to T. And loyalty, of course. RFK Jr? He's a Kennedy. That's probably about it.

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peeayebee

peeayebee

15 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

How did the flight attendants not tell him to put shoes on?

He's famous, rich, a Kennedy. I'm not surprised he wasn't told to put his shoes on.

Quote

Incompetence aside, I don't think Pete is a bad looking guy. Easily, Trump was enamoured of him because of television.

I agree about Pete. A horrible person can be good-looking. I hate to admit it, but I remember back in the 70s thinking Trump was handsome. *dry heave*

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Affogato

Affogato

On 4/29/2025 at 4:47 PM, heatherchandler said:

I’m sickened that people are laughing at John’s mouse jokes.  Ninety percent of basic research—most of which involves animals—fails to lead to treatments for humans. 95% of pharmaceutical drugs that test safe and effective in animals are unsuccessful in human clinical trials.
 

Makes you think- how many drugs were scrapped because they didn’t work on a cat when they could have worked on a human?

I’m glad the testing is slowing/ending, at least for now.  Maybe people will wake up to the fact that animal testing is barbaric and more importantly- doesn’t work.

There are alternatives that have been developed. This allows them to use fewer animals. If a drig doesn’t work on a pig but might work on humans, how many humans would you risk testing it?  Anyone you know? It is hard, sure. Testing cosmetics, you don’t need cosmetics. But other things, animal testing is vital. 

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heatherchandler

heatherchandler

4 hours ago, Affogato said:

There are alternatives that have been developed. This allows them to use fewer animals. If a drig doesn’t work on a pig but might work on humans, how many humans would you risk testing it?  Anyone you know? It is hard, sure. Testing cosmetics, you don’t need cosmetics. But other things, animal testing is vital. 

Nope, it’s absolutely not vital.  You just said, if it doesn’t work on a pig.. so you understand a drug that could be life changing DOES NOT work on a pig, it’s tossed.  We won’t know what could have been.

Also, when testing on let’s say dogs with MS.. well dogs don’t get MS, they get something similar.  So we are testing a cure for a disease that the animal doesn’t even have.  When it doesn’t cure it, or lessen symptoms, then it’s tossed.  
 

I know people with MS that would love to try a new drug, or people with cancer who would be happy to try anything.  Especially when trying it on an animal doesn’t guarantee a thing.

Think about all of the people who tested the covid vaccine without it going to animal trials.  People were glad to do it.

Not to mention, there are other methods, computer models.  

I wish people would get informed.  This is a huge problem, the scientists are not following the science and there is one reason- money.  Not surprising.  The other reason is because it’s “always been that way.”  It’s time to end this.  

Not even to bring up the fact that animals are not ours to capture, torture and kill.  

 

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Rlb8031

Rlb8031

On 4/29/2025 at 1:35 PM, milkyaqua said:

For all the people who are stunned, stunned, that this is happening, it was all said during the campaign so the fact that even those who supported him are surprised by all this is astounding to me, especially the ones who voted for him and have found themselves fired or cut off from services because you know, they didn't think he was serious about it all.

It's not that they didn't think he was serious about it, it's that they believed he was going to go after "them" and not "us". A lot of folks are realizing that they are actually "them". The remainder continue to believe it can't be true and are continuing to wait for someone to come to their senses.

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