If you were to write a film one year ago based on the current events in the US, I don't think people would accept the premise either. I feel I was pretty pessimistic compared to most and I have been shocked at how quickly things have changed.
Simpsons did it (at least the Trump as president part). Like a lot of great humor, it had that biting edge because it was seemingly implausible with just enough of a hint of plausibility. That couldn't really happen, or could it? Oh %$#%.
Overton window meets verisimilitude and the increase of credulity with decreases in education and critical thinking skills in the face of massive new media assaults facilitating information overload and reduced costs of manufacturing of consent.
I would guess that it's the normalcy bias engine erroring out in many people's minds.
We are living through the greatest "Emperor Wears no Clothes" moment in my somewhat long lifetime. It's really interesting to see how poorly we are dealing with this as a society.
Is there some Slavic word to describe a hilarious public tragedy? Seems like there would be. I suppose it's time for English to invent one now.
And they have no intention of doing so they are actively on the side of the flaggers but you’ll be called a conspiracy theorist if you suggest that despite months and months of evidence.
There is no "MAGA brigade;" people just disagree that these kinds of stories belong on Hacker News. Do you have difficulty imagining people can have other points of view from your own?
If I understand HN guidelines, a story about the utter misapplication of medical technology would be very interesting the reader, who is also possibly affected by this misapplication.
> these kinds of stories
Could you please define what you mean by that exactly, in this case?
Given the proliferation of chronic disease under these prior surgeon generals they really have no standing to challenge RFK Jr. They failed doing their jobs. Before I get shadow banned, I am a MD in practice since 1997.
Does it matter? Who is listening? Who is reading? Definitely not the Trump administration and the GoP. They simply don't care about these appeals and truths.
This declaration by multiple USSG is clear, factual and accurate — qualities that have recently become more of a memory than a reality from US Gov officials.
This statement unabashedly calls out actual and historical ongoing harm by a top US Gov official. I can't recall it's like, from any time in my longish life.
HHS requires steady, ethical leadership grounded in science.
By contrast, [RF] Kennedy has spent decades advancing dangerous
and discredited claims about vaccines — most notoriously,
the thoroughly discredited theory that childhood vaccines
cause autism.
He has promoted misinformation about the HPV vaccine,
which protects against cervical cancer, and he has
repeatedly misrepresented the risks of mRNA technology
and coronavirus vaccines, despite their lifesaving impact
during the pandemic.
This year, as the United States faced its worst measles
outbreak in more than 30 years, Kennedy de-emphasized
vaccination and directed agency resources toward unproven
vitamin therapies. The result: months-long outbreak, three
preventable deaths and the first measles-related child death
in the U.S. in over two decades.
Secretary Kennedy is entitled to his views. But he is not
entitled to put people’s health at risk. He has rejected
science, misled the public and compromised the health of
Americans.
The nation deserves a health and human services secretary
who is committed to scientific integrity and can restore
morale and trust in our public health agencies.
By Jerome Adams, Richard Carmona, Joycelyn Elders, Vivek Murthy, Antonia Novello and David Satcher
As former U.S. surgeons general appointed by every Republican and Democratic president since George H.W. Bush, we have collectively spent decades in service as the Nation’s Doctor. We took two sacred oaths in our lifetimes: first, as physicians who swore to care for our patients and, second, as public servants who committed to protecting the health of all Americans.
Today, in keeping with those oaths, we are compelled to speak with one voice to say that the actions of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are endangering the health of the nation. Never before have we issued a joint public warning like this. But the profound, immediate and unprecedented threat that Kennedy’s policies and positions pose to the nation’s health cannot be ignored.
...
Rather than combating the rapid spread of health misinformation with facts and clarity, Kennedy is amplifying it. The consequences aren’t abstract. They are measured in lives lost, disease outbreaks and an erosion of public trust that will take years to rebuild.
It is essential to note that good science and public health require not only evidence but also people — the scientists, public health professionals and civil servants whose expertise protects millions of Americans. Yet under Kennedy’s leadership, the HHS workforce has been badly damaged. He has silenced and sidelined hundreds of scientists, public health officials and medical professionals, creating an atmosphere of fear and distrust. Many of the nation’s top public health professionals — people we have worked with during crises — have resigned or retired early. They describe a culture of intimidation, where scientific findings are censored, evidence is disregarded and career officials are pressured to rubber stamp conclusions that are not backed by science.
This isn’t about converting the already brain-wormed, it’s about letting those who don’t want brain worms know that a brain worm is currently deciding how brain worms are researched and regulated.
If your definition of the “in-group” is “people who might be open to heeding the warnings of 1/3rd of all living US Surgeons-General on topics of their health” then yeah, I can see why that might not clarify anything for you.
It isn't just influencing people's individual actions, he has also lead to things that used to be covered by insurance now not being covered, so even if you want it you can't afford it. That's likely to happen a lot more as the madness continues
