The advisory committee on vaccinations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were hand-picked by notorious vaccine-denier Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He just happens to be Trump’s pick for U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. He received the blessings of and confirmation by the U.S. Senate to serve in that capacity.
There are things I would like to say to and about the Senators who voted to approve Kennedy for that Cabinet position, but I will temper my remarks here. To give a person who for decades has promoted conspiracy theories about vaccines to Secretary of Health and Human Services was a travesty.
When the U.S. Senate approved the likes of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services, Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense, and Kristi Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security… we get what they voted for: dangerous incompetence.
When people held their noses and voted for the likes of Donald J. Trump for U.S. President, we got what they voted for: dangerous incompetence and a colossal hatred for anyone who isn’t a rich, white male.
What we have now is a growing avalanche of physicians and other medical professions telling us not to trust anything that comes out of the CDC, the Federal Drug Administration, or Health and Human Services. Let that sink in!
On December 5, Trump said he supported the recommendations of the CDC vaccine advisory committee (many of whom are known vaccine deniers) in their recommendation that we abandon the 1991 CDC recommendation that all newborn babies in the U.S. receive the hepatitis B vaccine.
Apparently, Trump knows just as much about immunology as the quacks and Republicans on the advisory committee. Having a medical or any level of a health degree was not a prerequisite to be on the committee. Let’s just let any person off the street who supports Trump form new vaccinations policies and schedules for all Americans. What could possibly go wrong?
The hepatitis B vaccine decision flies in the face of medical data. In 1990, approximately 20,000 infants in the U.S. got hepatitis B. In 2020, twenty infants in the U.S. got hepatitis B. The vaccine not only prevents the liver damage caused by hepatitis B. It also prevents the liver cancer that can result from that liver damage.
It remains to be seen how this ill-advised new CDC policy will play out over the coming years. Will pharmaceutical companies limit production of the hepatitis B vaccine? Will parents who want their newborns to be protected from this highly-contagious disease be able to get the vaccine for their children? No one knows the answers to those questions.
A memo that Trump signed on Friday praised the new CDC recommendation and went on to endorse the new policy that instead of leading the world in health science, the CDC will now follow the lead of “peer, developed countries.”
I guess it’s fortunate that Trump’s children and grandchildren were all vaccinated as newborns before this 34-year-old mandate got scrapped last week. His future grandchildren and great-grandchildren might not be so fortunate.
When Trump promised to “drain the swamp,” we didn’t know he thought the CDC was part of the swamp.
We are left to wonder if the CDC will survive three more years of attacks by Trump and Kennedy.
Meanwhile, in Washington, DC last week…
In a move that is so blatantly racist and narcissistic, the Trump Administration removed Martin Luther King Day and Juneteenth as days that all our national parks could be visited for free and replaced them with… you are not going to believe this… Trump’s Birthday!
This is not a joke. This is the truth. You can’t make this stuff up!
Janet
Janet's Writing Blog 
While I know little about the former FL senator except his family migrated from Cuba, it’s rather sad when Rubio seems like the least unqualified member of TACO’s cabinet. May not agree with all he is doing, but he does not seem criminally unqualified unlike the 3 idiots you mentioned.
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Dear Janet,
First of all, my apologies for my long absence. I’m still completely immersed in writing my book. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been following the news, but I simply couldn’t deal with Trump on top of everything else. Even from a distance it was too much.
And now I read this, and clearly nothing has improved. What a staggering mix of stupidity and self-glorification. Martin Luther King — one of my great heroes — brushed aside to make room for Trump’s birthday… you’d think it was satire.
And then the denial of the value of vaccines, surrounding himself with people who undermine every form of science. Quacks getting more space than doctors. No, things are definitely not getting better. On the contrary. So sad…
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The best we can hope for is that physicians ignore recommendations from the CDC that deny the science behind the medical practice.
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Your piece is powerful, bold, and unflinching. It reflects a deep concern for public health, institutional integrity, and the real-world consequences of political choices. You write with clarity, conviction, and moral urgency—grounding your arguments in history, data, and a genuine care for people’s well-being.
What stands out most is the courage to name what feels dangerous, to question decisions that carry major public-health implications, and to shine light on the human cost behind policy shifts. It’s an impassioned, articulate call to stay awake, informed, and engaged.
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Thank you very much for your comment. You have chosen your words carefully, and I appreciate the time you took to read my blog and leave such a well-thought-out comment.
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We can hope. How sad for young doctors who will not have the CDC recommendations and data to rely on as they begin their careers. How sad for humanity.
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I agree, Pat. It is scary to realize that! I used to make fun of Bush II, going so far as making a list of “Bushisms” — the oddball things he said. Compared to TACO, Bush II sounded like a genius! He wasn’t the most qualified President to come down the pike, but at least he wasn’t evil.
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Thank you for the re-blog, Francis!
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Great to hear from you, Matroos. I have missed our conversations in the blogosphere. I understand how writing a book must crowd out other activities. Sadly, getting my books out this year, keeping up with politics, and blogging multiple times every week have almost completely eliminated my time and ability to read books! What is happening to the CDC will have worldwide ramifications, and Trump and his minions and supporters do not care. The undoing of the medical research and data-gathering will be impossible to fully regain when our current nightmare is over. He once criticized the State Department’s Institute of Peace, but last week he renamed it the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace. Things are only getting worse here, while you weren’t able to pay close attention. I haven’t been able to blog as much as I had been over the last month due to my sister’s surgery and recovery. I never aspired to be a nurse, so I’m out of my depth taking care of her. We’ll eventually get through this — she is doing well — but putting ice on a wound 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off, 20 minutes on, etc. is amazingly disruptive to my normal routine. I wouldn’t have it any other way, though. My sister is also my best friend, and she took excellent care of me after I broke my leg in 2020. Back to politics… It is still something (or several somethings!) each and every day. Trump is now on a tour trying to convince Americans that the economy is great and all prices have come down since he took office. We are not to believe our lying bank accounts or our receipts when we buy groceries. He is so far removed from reality! Once of his growing habits is calling female journalists ugly, degrading names. If a female reporter asks him a question he doesn’t want to answer, he just calls them names like “stupid,” “low-IQ,” or “piggy” in front of God and everybody. He must be terribly insecure in his manhood to lash out at professional women journalists like that. It is said that he never measured up in his father’s eyes, and I think that is the root (or one of the roots) of his obvious insecurities at the age of 79. Now, the entire world is going to suffer because of his insecurities and his fears. That’s my two-cents’ worth, but I’m not a psychologist. I send you my best wishes as you continue to work on your book. I’ve had people to tell me that they can read a book in less than a week, so why have I been working on my novel for more than a decade. There’s no way to explain that to someone who is so clueless that they would say such a thing. It is hard work, and life has a way of throwing interruptions at you every single day… so I wish you well and many productive days ahead. I’ll be happy to hear from you any time you get a chance to drop me a line.
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You’re very welcome — it was a pleasure to read your work. Your writing deserves thoughtful attention, and I’m glad I could reflect that in my comment. Thank you for taking the time to respond so kindly. I look forward to reading more of your posts and seeing where your ideas lead next
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Thank you for your detailed message. First of all, I hope for the very best regarding your sister’s health. It is a blessing to have someone so close to you for whom you can care, and who has also taken such good care of you.
It is unbelievable how that deranged mind keeps going and destroying everything in its path. Yesterday I experienced it myself. I sent a request to an archive in Chicago asking for information, reports, and newspaper articles about my great-uncle, who died as a young immigrant in Chicago. He was only 22. I am also writing about him, and I want to show the connection between the fate of immigrants then and now.
But anyway — the reply I received said that almost everyone in the department has been laid off. Only one person is still working there, and it is impossible for him to look up my request quickly. Perhaps later, if he finds the time. A pity, but as you can see, we are feeling the consequences here as well. We feel the consequences of Trump’s actions regardless. He is destabilizing the world, and in the meantime the threat from Russia has become real for us.
Everyone here received a leaflet with instructions on what to do if we can no longer leave our homes: what to do without electricity, without water, without internet. People are now stocking up on drinking water, dry food, candles, and a wind-up radio. They say they don’t want to frighten us, but that we must be prepared. It’s something, isn’t it.
We carry on — and stay in touch.
Warm regards from The Netherlands
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I just read that there have been 25,000 cases of whooping cough this year, including infant deaths. Whooping cough!! Why in God’s name would a parent risk their infant or small child choking to death. Even if they survive, they suffer while the disease takes its course. I don’t know how anyone could be so irresponsible and stupid. Ugh. I’ll stop ranting now.
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Thank you so much!
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I’m afraid whopping cough and measles are the tip of the iceberg. Did this generation of parents escape all the usual childhood diseases we had in the 1950s and early 1960s, so they see no need for vaccinations? Our parents’ generation would be appalled at the rampant stupidity sweeping our country now.
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You are welcome.
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It is unbelievable that America is continuing down this road to destruction. At least we don’t have to fear China or Russia any more…. our biggest enemy controls all three branches of the federal government. The speech he made last night in Pennsylvania was hideous — at least the short clips of it that I caught on TV today. The crowd just ate it up, which is more frightening to me than Trump himself. I would like to think the people in the audience were paid to laugh and cheer him on, but I fear they genuinely think he is the best President the U.S. has ever had. It was sickening! He called President Biden a name I cannot write here. I just can’t. He called other of his “enemies” names. He went after The New York Times again today on social media and called them “an enemy of the people.” He says anyone who criticizes him he anti-American. I’m afraid one of his next actions will be to issue an Executive Order to that affect. Congress has stopped making laws. They just let Trump make laws via Executive Orders. I don’t recognize any of this as the America I knew my first 71 years. I’m glad I’m as old as I am. Perhaps I won’ live to see how bad things get.
The information you shared about the leaflet everyone in The Netherlands received chilled me to the bone. How are you not supposed to be frightened? Who would have thought 75 years ago, or 50 or 25 years ago that a Russian dictator would once again be threatened to take over all of Europe and that the United States President would be hanging NATO out to dry? Trump does not speak for the American people. I can’t imagine that even his more diehard supporters agree with everything he says and does. The contradictions and lies just keep piling up and nobody can stop him.
I’m sorry you have run into a barrier in getting the information you need about your great-uncle in Chicago. If you think it is in any way possible for me to find the information you seek, I’ll be more than happy to try. I would probably get the same response you received since the archive is apparently operating with a skeleton staff. Seriously, I would be happy to try to get any information possible that would help you.
You’re correct… we must carry on, for we have no choice. And we definitely need to stay in touch. The time you take to read my blog and leave such informative and honest comments means more to me than you can imagine. I send you warm regards from a very cold and windy North Carolina.
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Thank you for your detailed and thoughtful response. I understand your concerns and I sympathize with you. I will wait a little longer, as I have also contacted another organization. We will certainly stay in touch. Keep warm and comfortable indoors. Kind regards.
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That sounds good, Matroos. I hope you can stay warm and safe this winter, too.
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