9 Comments
User's avatar
HappyCapy's avatar

I had not heard RFK's screed about autistic people having no worth and it's absolutely chilling. Aside from the obvious facts it's both factually wrong (autistic people can and do all those things) and unspeakable cruel, it also points to hiw sinister the administration is. It doesn't look at people as creatures of inherent value, but as economic tools. This is reinforced when he points to the fact that covid disproportionately kills the elderly as a point in it's favor compared to other conditions.

Expand full comment
Prince(ss)O'Wales's avatar

I hate to like, even concede any ground to these people but even if you were to say that autistic folk don't contribute, that's just fundamentally wrong. I know plenty of autistic folk who hold normal jobs ranging from your minimum wage low skill work to stuff that requires advanced degrees. Like what is he even talking about?

Expand full comment
DR Darke's avatar

I read that and I couldn't believe it—even for Bob&Weave Kennedy, that's...heartless, bullying, and awful. He's been an idiot on things like vaccines for a while—initially you could sort-of excuse it as part of an attack on American Healthcare's "Drug and Treatment Profits Uber Alles" approach to medication and healthcare, but when he started spewing pseudoscience like part of the antivaxxer crowd he lost me completely.

I have to wonder if that isn't part of Trump's "Dark Side of The Force" powers, to turn everybody who has anything to do with him into the kind of scum he is....

Expand full comment
Researchette's avatar

"The Shame of the Kennedy Family" HAS to believe that autism is the worst of all possible worlds, for the individual, the family and the population at large, because he is an anti-vaxxer who believes (or would like as many people as possible to believe) that vaccines cause autism. You can bet that vaccinations will be revealed in this "study" as cause or one of the causes of autism and, therefore, must be severely limited or possibly banned, cause apparently the U.S. is run by a death-cult, among other disturbing groups.

Expand full comment
Laura L.'s avatar

Happy birthday!

Autistic people have been around long before the term existed. Not long after my late-in-life diagnosis, my mom told me she thought my dad was probably autistic as well. I'm pretty sure my paternal grandmother might have been, in addition. I would expect RFK Jr to have more compassion towards those with developmental disabilities given what happened to his aunt Rosemary (btw, the biography on Rosemary Kennedy is worth reading), but he's probably as pro-lobotomy as his grandpa Joe was.

Expand full comment
FancyShark's avatar

Happy! Birthday!

Expand full comment
Matt Heffernan's avatar

Happy Birthday, Nathan!

Expand full comment
MICHAEL KUPPERMAN's avatar

Happy birthday! Mine is on Saturday!

Expand full comment
Jennifer Rempel's avatar

Lovely article, Nathan. Happy Birthday!

Expand full comment