By Jon Bauer / Herald Opinion Editor
You would have thought that three hours of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s raspy, wavering and strained voice would have driven out the brain worm not just from his gray matter but from that of every Republican present. (We have no proof of brain worms being a problem endemic to Republicans, but what else you got?)
Here’s what else we got:
Who can forget Thomas Jefferson’s stirring words to “Make America Great Again”? “A new U.S. history exhibit near the White House, dubbed The Founders Museum as part of the nation’s 250th birthday celebration, features portraits of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence and 40 short videos generated by artificial intelligence software and produced by PragerU, a media organization that is known for producing educational content that favors conservative viewpoints. The AI videos are raising concerns for their less-than-historical content, including a wide-eyed and smiling John Adams who intones, “Facts do not care about your feelings,” something that Adams isn’t known to have said but PragerU presenter and political commentator Ben Shapiro has said.
Who needs the Smithsonian museums when you can watch an AI video of Benjamin Franklin solemnly reminding his fellow founding QAnon patriots: “Where we go one, we go all!”?
Is there an mRNA vaccine for cognitive dissonance? Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of Health and Human Services, was questioned before the Senate Health committee Thursday and found himself caught between his criticism of covid vaccines, which he has called “a crime against humanity,” and President Trump’s stewardship of Operation Warp Speed, which developed safe, effective covid vaccines in record time when the pandemic hit. Asked by Democrats if — as suggested by an official for one of the pharmaceutical companies that developed the vaccine — Trump should be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for leading the the vaccine effort, Kennedy stuck to his criticism of the covid vaccines, while insisting that the president deserved the Nobel for that same “crime against humanity.”
With each statement in opposition of the other, Kennedy proved it was possible to hold two contradictory statements in the mind at the same time if one’s nose is brown enough.
Happiest Place on Earth, meet The Most Infectious Place on Earth: Florida’s surgeon general announced that the state would be ending all vaccine mandates for schoolchildren, becoming the first state to reject a practice that public health advocates have credited with limiting the spread of measles and other infectious diseases. “Who am I to tell you what your child should put in their body?” said Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who oversees the state’s health department but is a vocal critic of vaccines. “Your body is a gift from God.”
And Florida parents, that gift from God can now be your personal child sacrifice on the altar of MAHA.
Just give me that end times religion: More than 85 U.S. and international scientists have condemned a U.S. Department of Energy report that is being used by the Trump administration to justify repeal of limits on greenhouse gas emissions and other climate efforts, including withdrawing a 2009 scientific finding that climate change poses a danger to human health and welfare. Among its failings, the scientists noted the DOE report cited at least one nonexistent study, misquoted a University of Washington professor’s findings and claimed dumping more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere would benefit plants, ignoring climate change’s hotter temperatures, droughts and other adverse impacts to agriculture. Energy Secretary Chris Wright defended the DOE report. “People had been much less willing than I had hoped to engage in a thoughtful dialogue on climate change,” Wright told The New York Times in response to the criticism. “It’s a scientific, economic issue and people treat it too often as a religious issue.” Earlier this year Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin vowed to “drive a dagger through the heart of the climate change religion.”
Wright and Zeldin then donned their vestments as high priests of The Church of Climate Denial, and began the day’s reading of scripture from The Gospel According to ExxonMobil: “We are the crude oil and the coal lump, the flame and the exhaust, the methane and the CO2. Thou shalt have no other energy sources than Big Oil. Thy rod and thy piston comfort me; thou anointest my head with 10W-40. No one gets to the destination but by internal combustion. And we shall dwell in the greenhouse of climate disaster forever and ever. Amen.”
Big Beautiful Bill? Never heard of it: Trump administration official urged Republican lawmakers to rebrand what had been called the One Big Beautiful Bill, the legislation that was adopted just weeks ago and signed by President Trump to keep taxes low for the wealthiest Americans while gutting Medicaid and food assistance for low-income Americans. With one poll showing more than 64 percent of Americans view the legislation unfavorably, the officials encouraged GOP lawmakers to instead call it the “Working Families Tax Cut Bill” or the “Working Families Tax Plan.”
Other names under consideration: the “Hey, That Idiot is Burning an American Flag; Stop Him Act,” the “Cracker Barrel Logo Protection Act,” “Squirrel!” and the “Trickle Down My Leg and Tell Me It’s Raining Act.”
Blame the woke-mind computer virus: Elon Musk, dissatisfied with some of the responses generated by his AI-powered chatbot Grok, has tweaked the generative AI software more to his liking. He originally promised that Grok would be “politically neutral” and “maximally truth-seeking,” until it was asked about the “biggest threat to Western civilization” and responded with “misinformation and disinformation.” Too woke for Musk, he promised, “Will fix in the morning.” The next day, the same question brought the answer: “demographic collapse from sub-replacement fertility rates,” more in line with the thinking of someone with — at least — 11 kids.
Musk can make all the tweaks he wants to Grok, but perhaps he should remember the words of AI John Adams: “Facts and chatbots don’t care about your feelings.”
Email Jon Bauer at jon.bauer@heraldnet.com. Follow him on Bluesky @jontbauer.bsky.social.
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