Can lawsuits pause and then STOP the RFKJr’s attack on vaccines, particularly what you speak about in today’s post? The whole mess of insurance coverage,yea or nay… so absolutely frightening. Yes, everyone will be more sick, and all of this will cost lives just like what has happened in Texas, which for certain has to be because of these staff reductions,/and burn even, of the weather services. Ugh! Democracy forward, democracy, docket, public citizen, and all the others working so hard on all these lawsuits… Talk about overload, but we’ve got to do it! Impeachments sound good too. Waiting for elections just feels too far away and lives will be damaged and even lost. Thank you for the excellent post.
Who would bring a charge of perjury when a nominated candidate lies before a Committee? Does such a candidate swear an oath to truth before they testify? If so, does the Committee bring the charge, or would they refer it to DOJ? In either case, in today’s political world, neither option would have legs. Would it be worth it for the minority Dems to propose such charges, if only for some good political theater?
Yes candidates do usually swear an oath before testifying in their own confirmation hearings. Unfortunately, lying in the course of that testimony would be considered perjury, and that would be referred to the department of justice which is the only arm of government that can bring prosecution. In other words, Pam Bondi would be in charge…so…
I think it's an excellent idea! The issue is exactly what Democrat should be talking about. Which is one of the reasons I wrote this article – I'm always trying to nudge. We know from pulling that healthcare is with a one consistent area where Democrats are reliably trusted more than Republicans. And we know how salient it can be when people feel that something they have is being taken away. And that's clearly what's happening here as people lose access to vaccines for their children. The challenge here is being in the minority, we have no control of Committee schedules or hearing agendas. And that leaves us in the position of trying to put together our own media events which in the past have sometimes been so lame that they've kind of backfired. It's really hard to make this effective when you don't control any gravel. Where I do think it could be super effective is as a town hall topic. Thoughts?
I feared that it might be quite difficult for the Ds to capture a hearing process to do this. But, I would up the ante about town halls. I think a national tour of health care “hearings”—presentations a bit more structured than town halls—might do the trick. Properly structured, we could have people sitting in to represent the Rs with scripts that are only confined to words that they have actually said. The key goal: presenting the stark difference in approach, values, and potential outcomes between Magaland and Demoland—all in the hope that some participants may have an “ah ha” moment…
100%. The other thing that might work is a version of what the Democrats did in 2004 to mobilize opposition to George W. Bush's Social Security privatization plan. We brought in bus loads of seniors and put them in front of cameras on the steps of the Capitol. Real peopletelling their own stories. Much better than a bunch of politicians. The issue there of course is that the Medicaid cuts don't start to take affect until after the midterms so you'd have to work with that a little bit but that's not the biggest obstacle
I will accept that RFK Jr. approach is as bad as the old system. Sadly the old vaccination system was very flawed. However I think the capture of our public health policy by corporate pharmaceutical interests set us up for this fall. The botched testing process for Covid vaccines has created health impacts we are only beginning to uncover. mRna vaccines are beginning to look like an uncontrolled wrecking ball in our cardiovascular and neurological systems. I don’t see a solution on the horizon, but public financing of medical research completely separated from industry would be a good start.
ugh do you know how many children will die? its all on Kennedy and trump
Whatever it is ends up being is horrific and should be referred to as “murder”
Can lawsuits pause and then STOP the RFKJr’s attack on vaccines, particularly what you speak about in today’s post? The whole mess of insurance coverage,yea or nay… so absolutely frightening. Yes, everyone will be more sick, and all of this will cost lives just like what has happened in Texas, which for certain has to be because of these staff reductions,/and burn even, of the weather services. Ugh! Democracy forward, democracy, docket, public citizen, and all the others working so hard on all these lawsuits… Talk about overload, but we’ve got to do it! Impeachments sound good too. Waiting for elections just feels too far away and lives will be damaged and even lost. Thank you for the excellent post.
Who would bring a charge of perjury when a nominated candidate lies before a Committee? Does such a candidate swear an oath to truth before they testify? If so, does the Committee bring the charge, or would they refer it to DOJ? In either case, in today’s political world, neither option would have legs. Would it be worth it for the minority Dems to propose such charges, if only for some good political theater?
Yes candidates do usually swear an oath before testifying in their own confirmation hearings. Unfortunately, lying in the course of that testimony would be considered perjury, and that would be referred to the department of justice which is the only arm of government that can bring prosecution. In other words, Pam Bondi would be in charge…so…
What are your thoughts about my last question, Matt? Is there a possibility to force some visibility into the process?
I think it's an excellent idea! The issue is exactly what Democrat should be talking about. Which is one of the reasons I wrote this article – I'm always trying to nudge. We know from pulling that healthcare is with a one consistent area where Democrats are reliably trusted more than Republicans. And we know how salient it can be when people feel that something they have is being taken away. And that's clearly what's happening here as people lose access to vaccines for their children. The challenge here is being in the minority, we have no control of Committee schedules or hearing agendas. And that leaves us in the position of trying to put together our own media events which in the past have sometimes been so lame that they've kind of backfired. It's really hard to make this effective when you don't control any gravel. Where I do think it could be super effective is as a town hall topic. Thoughts?
I feared that it might be quite difficult for the Ds to capture a hearing process to do this. But, I would up the ante about town halls. I think a national tour of health care “hearings”—presentations a bit more structured than town halls—might do the trick. Properly structured, we could have people sitting in to represent the Rs with scripts that are only confined to words that they have actually said. The key goal: presenting the stark difference in approach, values, and potential outcomes between Magaland and Demoland—all in the hope that some participants may have an “ah ha” moment…
100%. The other thing that might work is a version of what the Democrats did in 2004 to mobilize opposition to George W. Bush's Social Security privatization plan. We brought in bus loads of seniors and put them in front of cameras on the steps of the Capitol. Real peopletelling their own stories. Much better than a bunch of politicians. The issue there of course is that the Medicaid cuts don't start to take affect until after the midterms so you'd have to work with that a little bit but that's not the biggest obstacle
I will accept that RFK Jr. approach is as bad as the old system. Sadly the old vaccination system was very flawed. However I think the capture of our public health policy by corporate pharmaceutical interests set us up for this fall. The botched testing process for Covid vaccines has created health impacts we are only beginning to uncover. mRna vaccines are beginning to look like an uncontrolled wrecking ball in our cardiovascular and neurological systems. I don’t see a solution on the horizon, but public financing of medical research completely separated from industry would be a good start.