I hope the title of this newsletter got your attention. There is a massive scandal in American healthcare unfolding in plain sight, with little public outcry. We need to begin using words of one syllable to combat the antivax double-speak that is meant to confuse anxious parents.
Vaccine skeptic Robert Kennedy, Secretary of Health & Human Services, fired the entire membership of the CDC vaccine panel (called ACIP) in June 2025 and installed hand-picked anti-vaccine advocates who are sowing baseless doubt about the safety and efficacy of vaccines. They are doing so by attacking the vaccine schedule for infants and children, a schedule that has been monumentally successful in eradicating and suppressing childhood diseases.
Underlying the push to “delay” scheduled vaccines is the disproven theory that the frequency of childhood vaccines causes autism. That claim has been repeatedly refuted by high-quality studies. See JAMA Pediatrics (“[C]hildren with autism spectrum disorder were less likely to be fully vaccinated for vaccines recommended between ages 4 and 6 years.”); Danish National Study (2025) (“Analyzing data from over 1 million children, the study found no increased risk of autism, asthma, or autoimmune diseases in vaccinated children.”)
But Kennedy and his antivaxxers have never let scientific proof stand in their way. Yesterday, Kennedy’s hand-picked CDC anti-vaccine panel recommended delaying the administration of the hepatitis B vaccine for infants.
The journal STAT News is one of the leading health science news journals in the world. Here is STAT’s reporting on the decision to delay the vaccination for hepatitis B: RFK Jr.’s ACIP panel recommends delay in newborn hepatitis B vaccination:
The birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine was adopted to try to prevent as many babies as possible from contracting the virus. An estimated 90% of babies infected in infancy become chronically infected, which can lead to liver disease and premature death from liver cancer or cirrhosis.
When the universal birth dose recommendation was adopted in 1991, infections in infants plummeted, going from hundreds a year to fewer than two dozen.
A modeling study posted online late last month estimates that delaying the start of hepatitis B vaccination by two months could lead to more than 1,400 babies becoming chronically infected with hepatitis B in the first year of the change, which could result in 304 cases of liver cancer and 482 hepatitis B-related deaths among those children as they age.
The meeting of the CDC’s antivaxxer panel was a travesty. Katelyn Jetelina (Substack) described the meeting as follows:
The two-day meeting of ACIP . . . was something else. Disgraceful. Unprepared. Dysfunctional. Incompetent. Terrifying. Embarrassing. Opaque.
Our children deserve better. Period.
[We] counted more than 60 falsehoods, distortions, and outright lies being megaphoned from one of the nation’s highest committees. The potential damage from that alone is staggering.
During the meeting, decades of favorable risk/benefit priorities were replaced by pseudoscience, baseless skepticism, and by non-experts.
Unbelievably, our government’s most trusted scientific agency, the CDC, has been captured in a hostile takeover by quacks and conspiracy theorists who are hell-bent on harming Americans, especially children. The attacks on democracy and the scientific method are horrific. Killing our children is unforgivable. That will be Robert Kennedy’s legacy. Let’s remind everyone of that fact, starting now.
Supreme Court grants review of Trump’s “birthright citizenship” executive order.
On the first day of his second term, Trump signed a blatantly unconstitutional executive order that purported to limit the plain words of the 14th Amendment, which says that “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
Trump’s executive order purported to end birthright citizenship for children born in the US to certain classes of “undocumented” parents. Every lower court to consider the matter has ruled that Trump’s executive order is unconstitutional.
Why, then, did the US Supreme Court grant review of the birthright citizenship case? Asking that question raises deeply troubling implications. As Ian Millhiser wrote in his piece Vox, The Supreme Court takes a case on Trump’s attack on birthright citizenship,
There are few questions in US law that are more settled than the question of whether babies born in the United States are citizens of this country. In the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, the nation ratified the Fourteenth Amendment. Its first line is, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
“All persons” means all persons. That includes people with undocumented mothers or whose parents otherwise have an immigration status that Donald Trump does not like.
Trump claims that the plain language of the 14th Amendment is modified by an invisible phrase that does not appear in the text of the amendment. As explained by Millhiser,
Trump’s legal team claims that the Fourteenth Amendment only “extends to children who are ‘completely subject’ to the ‘political jurisdiction’ of the United States, meaning that they owe ‘direct and immediate allegiance’ to the Nation and may claim its protection.”
Of course, those words appear nowhere in the 14th Amendment. Trump’s interpretation would require the justices to engage in an exercise of creative writing worthy of an undergraduate course in Fiction Writing 101. As Millhiser says,
If the justices have any integrity at all, or any loyalty to the rule of law, they will reject this frivolous argument.
Federal judge orders release of grand jury records relating to Epstein investigation
After the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the DOJ renewed a previously unsuccessful motion to secure the release of grand jury records in Florida. On Friday, a federal judge granted that request. See NBC News, Judge orders Jeffrey Epstein-related grand jury records in Florida to be released publicly.
In its motion, the government said the following about what would happen next:
[T] he Justice Department “will work with the relevant United States Attorney’s Offices to make appropriate redactions of victim-related and other personal identifying information.”
The release of the grand jury materials is a positive step forward, even if it does not result in immediate disclosure. At some point in the future, maybe under a Democratic administration, the grand jury records will be released. It is just a matter of time.
More troubling details about the killing of survivors of the “double tap” boat strike
The facts surrounding the killing of survivors of the boat strike off Venezuela in September continue to look worse for Admiral Bradley and Pete Hegseth (and everyone in the chain of command).
First, the boat was not headed for the United States, which was the alleged reason for its destruction. See CNN, Exclusive: Boat at center of double-tap strike controversy was meeting vessel headed to Suriname, admiral told lawmakers. In other words, the premise of the attack was a lie.
Second, new details from the video show that the survivors struggled for nearly an hour to lift themselves out of the water onto a piece of wreckage and were waving, possibly signaling surrender or a rescue request. See NYTimes, Boat Strike Video Shown to Lawmakers.
Per the Times,
The video that key lawmakers viewed on Thursday showed the first strike on Sept. 2, a fiery explosion that destroyed most of a boat in the Caribbean Sea. A black plume filled the air.
When the smoke finally cleared about 30 minutes later, the front portion of the boat was overturned but still afloat, according to lawmakers and congressional staff who viewed the video or were briefed on it. Two survivors, shirtless, clung to the hull, tried unsuccessfully to flip it back over, then climbed on it and slipped off into the water, over and over.
Then Adm. Frank M. Bradley, commander of the operation, gave an order for a follow-up strike. Three flashes of light filled the video screen. And the men were gone.
Admiral Bradley’s explanation for killing the two survivors is farcical:
In the briefings, military officials are said to have told lawmakers they assumed the hull might be afloat because it still contained packs of cocaine. They thought that the survivors might eventually have managed to float back to Venezuela, allowing them to try again to deliver that cocaine, or that another boat could come retrieve it. They assumed the survivors could be communicating.
Speculation that the survivors might “float back to Venezuela” on the wreckage of a capsized hull does not constitute grounds for unleashing two Hellfire missiles on men seeking rescue or surrender.
The facts keep getting worse. Admiral Bradley should resign before he brings even more dishonor on the Navy, SEAL Team 6, and the United States of America.
Opportunity for Reader Engagement
Join me for a Movement Voter Project zoom event on December 9 at 4 pm PT, 7 pm ET.
Please join me on Tuesday, December 9 at 4 pm PT / 7 pm ET for a special Movement Vote Project (MVP) fundraiser. I’ll be speaking about one of my favorite reminders that—“We are not potted plants”—and why strengthening and supporting grassroots organizing is essential both to stopping the harmful actions of this regime now and to winning the 2026 midterms up and down the ballot.
I’ll be joined by Jillian Johnson, MVP’s Southern Regional Field Director, who will highlight some of the groundbreaking work that MVP-supported local groups are leading—work that helped secure key victories in 2025. We’ll discuss MVP’s strategy for winning the midterms and the impact these organizations are having on the ground right now to push back against the rise of authoritarianism.
You can register for the event here.
Concluding Thoughts
I will host my regular Saturday livestream at 9 am Pacific / Noon Eastern. Instructions for joining the livestream can be found here.
Each of the stories in today’s edition shows the Trump administration (which includes the Supreme Court) doubling down on the extremist MAGA agenda. The problem for Trump and MAGA is that they have lost the support of the persuadable center of the electorate, as well as a large part of the cohort of new voters Trump mobilized in 2024. They are playing to a dwindling base with the same hateful messages that are turning voters against Trump and MAGA. That is not a winning strategy, and Trump has no ability to change course.
We must do what we can to inform others of Trump’s policies that make their lives less safe, free, and just. Many Americans are overwhelmed by life’s challenges and do not have the time or emotional bandwidth to engage with consistently negative and alarming news. They may be working two jobs, caring for young children or aging parents, or struggling with health issues. We must reach them, listen to them, and motivate them to vote.
There are many ways to reach those voters. But showing up and standing out at roadsides, overpasses, and town squares is an immediate, tangible demonstration that someone cares about issues that affect their lives. Everyone is looking for social cues about how to act during this challenging time. Showing up and speaking out models courage and hope for those who may feel helpless or despondent.
The Civil Rights movement relied heavily on peaceful demonstrations. The sight of marchers on the roadside, outside state capitols, and in front of businesses inspired and encouraged others during dark times. Many dedicated souls are repeating that successful strategy every day, even during the short, cold days of winter. See the photos below. America owes them a debt of gratitude for their unwavering dedication.
Talk to you tomorrow!
Pro-democracy protest photos
Silver Spring, MD.
29 degrees, first snow of the year; getting dark while we are waving on Georgia Ave above the beltway
Boston, MA
Today a number of us participated in a standout at the entrance to Hanscom Airfield, from which airfield more than 1000 ICE detainees have been deported. Members of BVOCAL, Boston Voices of Community and Labor, sang Christmas carols, with revised lyrics appropriate for the occasion.
[RBH note: I used Photoshop to remove distracting telephone wires and poles]
Minneapolis, MN
Here are some pictures from a press conference/protest in a Target parking lot yesterday. We were highlighting Target’s support of the Trump regime, but the main focus was resisting the deployment of ICE in Minneapolis and calling upon the mayor, city council and police department to respond appropriately. BTW, it was 10 degrees outside with 31 mph winds.
Daily Dose of Perspective
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