The Kennedys v The Deep State

[Sandy Larsen]

13 hours ago, James DiEugenio said:

I think this is also relevant to this forum.

And the MSM sure does not want this out there by any presidential candidate.  

 

 

At the very end of the interview, Mahr says that the one thing he can count on with RFK Jr. is that he won't won't move to the center just to get votes in the general election.

I don't think Mahr knows RFK Jr. position on many things. Listening to other interviews, I got the impression that he takes many right-wing positions. For example, that the free market will solve environmental issues (like climate change?). That a single payer healthcare system is impossible to achieve. (Though at least he doesn't want to end Obamacare.) I mean, why do we see RFK Jr. hanging out with people like Roger Stone?

RFK Jr. seems a little flaky to me. Like he doesn't really know where he stands on a number of issues.

 

[Sandy Larsen]

30 minutes ago, Sandy Larsen said:

RFK Jr. seems a little flaky to me. Like he doesn't really know where he stands on a number of issues.

 

That's the impression I got when I watched an interview of RFK Jr.

I have just gone through a long written list of RFK Jr.'s policies and found that I agree with nearly all of them. My disagreements with him are almost all related to COVID-19. For example, he wouldn't have allowed a temporary ban on church gatherings.

People who believe that anti-COVID-19 measures were unnecessary because mostly old, sick people died don't take into account what would have happened if the government hadn't taken measures to prevent the spread of it. What would have happened -- and became close to happening in many places -- is that the number of hospital beds (including staff and supplies for them) and respirators would have been in short supply. And people would have died just because of that.

 

[Benjamin Cole]

3 hours ago, Sandy Larsen said:

 

That's the impression I got when I watched an interview of RFK Jr.

I have just gone through a long written list of RFK Jr.'s policies and found that I agree with nearly all of them. My disagreements with him are almost all related to COVID-19. For example, he wouldn't have allowed a temporary ban on church gatherings.

People who believe that anti-COVID-19 measures were unnecessary because mostly old, sick people died don't take into account what would have happened if the government hadn't taken measures to prevent the spread of it. What would have happened -- and became close to happening in many places -- is that the number of hospital beds (including staff and supplies for them) and respirators would have been in short supply. And people would have died just because of that.

 

I am no expert on C-19, and it is not the only issue. 

In this short clip, RFK Jr explains his position of C19 and the southern border (which is chaos, from everyone who has been there). 

I gotta say, RFK Jr. is head-and-shoulders above Trump and Biden in mental acuity and thoughtfulness, and intellect.

That does not make him right on every issue and there is no "right" on many issues, only IMHOs. 

But one thing sure seems solid: Only RFK Jr will open up the JFK Records, and at least try to curtail the security state (in days of yore, that the now-defunct left-wing called the "fascist security state.").

Now, the Donk-media is calling RFK Jr. a "white supremacist."

 

 

 

[Matt Allison]

12 minutes ago, Benjamin Cole said:

But one thing sure seems solid: Only RFK Jr will open up the JFK Records

I want everything opened as much as you do, Ben, but you need to realize that for those of us that live in the heartland amongst MAGA freaks, there are other issues we are concerned with.

That is where my anger came from when I saw the Moms For Liberty event; I have to actually deal with those types.

To his credit, RFK Jr. wisely removed himself from that nastiness:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/robert-f-kennedy-jr-drops-out-of-controversial-moms-for-liberty-summit-in-philadelphia/ar-AA1d7g6c?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=0a023f8244354c54803f5ba810248942&ei=26

NewsNation has a townhall with RFK Jr. tonight with Elizabeth Vargas hosting; this should be a solid venue for non-partisanship and real conversation.

The other day I mentioned that I believe at this point RFK Jr. is siphoning votes from Trump and DeSantis, and polling appears to agree with that:

 

[Benjamin Cole]

9 minutes ago, Matt Allison said:

I want everything opened as much as you do, Ben, but you need to realize that for those of us that live in the heartland amongst MAGA freaks, there are other issues we are concerned with.

That is where my anger came from when I saw the Moms For Liberty event; I have to actually deal with those types.

To his credit, RFK Jr. wisely removed himself from that nastiness:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/robert-f-kennedy-jr-drops-out-of-controversial-moms-for-liberty-summit-in-philadelphia/ar-AA1d7g6c?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=0a023f8244354c54803f5ba810248942&ei=26

NewsNation has a townhall with RFK Jr. tonight with Elizabeth Vargas hosting; this should be a solid venue for non-partisanship and real conversation.

The other day I mentioned that I believe at this point RFK Jr. is siphoning votes from Trump and DeSantis, and polling appears to agree with that:

 

Matt-

Thanks for your post. 

It is too bad there is so much division in the US that you dislike neighbors as "MAGA freaks" and likely they dislike neighbors as "Biden Braindeads" or something to that effect. 

I contend the US populace is cynically pitched against one another. 

I hope the EF-JFKA remains open and civil to members of all political stripes.

I harbor sour feelings to the Donk establishment and Biden (and also to the 'Phant establishment) but not to fellow citizens who vote D or R. I wish they would vote for a non-party candidate, but that is another topic. 

I welcome your comments and look forward to understanding your points of view. 

 

 

[Paul Brancato]

4 hours ago, Sandy Larsen said:

 

That's the impression I got when I watched an interview of RFK Jr.

I have just gone through a long written list of RFK Jr.'s policies and found that I agree with nearly all of them. My disagreements with him are almost all related to COVID-19. For example, he wouldn't have allowed a temporary ban on church gatherings.

People who believe that anti-COVID-19 measures were unnecessary because mostly old, sick people died don't take into account what would have happened if the government hadn't taken measures to prevent the spread of it. What would have happened -- and became close to happening in many places -- is that the number of hospital beds (including staff and supplies for them) and respirators would have been in short supply. And people would have died just because of that.

 

.that’s cool Sandy, even though the list is a few years old. I’m not clear on how this was put together? Did RFK Jr answer a long form questionnaire? Or is this some kind of interpolation?

[Paul Brancato]

7 hours ago, W. Niederhut said:

C'mon, Paul.  Your comment here is out of tune.

You and I (and Matt Allison) are progressive, social Democrats, aren't we?

Why are some progressive Democrats-- like Bernie Sanders, the Kennedy family, Russ Baker, and I-- not jumping on the RFK, Jr. bandwagon?

What Koolaid did Bernie Sanders, Russ Baker, Matt Allison, and I drink, in your opinion?  

As I think about RFK, Jr., the issue that initially jaundiced my opinion of him was his anti-vax disinformation.

BUT, I will agree to take a closer look at his positions on progressive issues that matter to me.

Perhaps I'm not giving him a fair shake.

I admire RFK, Jr.'s environmentalism and advocacy for the poor.

I also admire RFK, Jr.'s criticism of the U.S. military industrial complex.

 

First - it wasn’t easy for me to say or you to listen to I’m sure. I am really frustrated these days because it’s obvious on my FB page that my friends are buying into the media blitz to the extent that they are not even willing to consider that there is an agenda, not willing to judge a man on his actual merits. 
Buden’s support of the Iraq war, and of Clarence Thomas, are to me far less forgivable than any quibble I may have with RFK Jr’s actual words. The Kennedy family - let’s see how that shakes out. Meanwhile I was tryi)g to think how a journalist can say anything about that without carefully fact checking it. That’s a big family. Do they have a spokesperson and poll themselves before taking positions? I prefer some depth to that conversation. Do they think he’d be a bad president? And who exactly is ‘they’? You can see that right? If family members disagreed with the few dominant ones that probably drove this story (we don’t even know that much!) would they go public? What is the family dynamic? Those are important questions no one is asking. So let’s see how that goes. 
Russ Baker - long story, but bottom line is I don’t consider him a progressive. Bernie Sanders? Good question. I won’t demean this conversation by attempting to answer it. But as always I make up my own mind. Main answer to all of this is - 18 months before a general presidential election and I don’t recall ever seeing anything like this, so my BS antenna are wayyy up. 
Whoever said in a recent post that RFK Jr is hurting Joe Biden is parroting something in the media that is so completely illogical, and I’ve busted it several times already. But my friends keep saying that too, so the propaganda is very effective. But is it true? 

 

[W. Niederhut]

3 minutes ago, Paul Brancato said:

First - it wasn’t easy for me to say or you to listen to I’m sure. I am really frustrated these days because it’s obvious on my FB page that my friends are buying into the media blitz to the extent that they are not even willing to consider that there is an agenda, not willing to judge a man on his actual merits. 
Buden’s support of the Iraq war, and of Clarence Thomas, are to me far less forgivable than any quibble I may have with RFK Jr’s actual words. The Kennedy family - let’s see how that shakes out. Meanwhile I was tryi)g to think how a journalist can say anything about that without carefully fact checking it. That’s a big family. Do they have a spokesperson and poll themselves before taking positions? I prefer some depth to that conversation. Do they think he’d be a bad president? And who exactly is ‘they’? You can see that right? If family members disagreed with the few dominant ones that probably drove this story (we don’t even know that much!) would they go public? What is the family dynamic? Those are important questions no one is asking. So let’s see how that goes. 
Russ Baker - long story, but bottom line is I don’t consider him a progressive. Bernie Sanders? Good question. I won’t demean this conversation by attempting to answer it. But as always I make up my own mind. Main answer to all of this is - 18 months before a general presidential election and I don’t recall ever seeing anything like this, so my BS antenna are wayyy up. 
Whoever said in a recent post that RFK Jr is hurting Joe Biden is parroting something in the media that is so completely illogical, and I’ve busted it several times already. But my friends keep saying that too, so the propaganda is very effective. But is it true? 

 

Paul,

    I've been studying the Mockingbird propaganda phenomena for years now, and I have never disagreed with the evidence that Mockingbird has been smearing RFK, Jr.

    My criticism of RFK, Jr. has been based on the progressive liberal, non-Mockingbird analyses, like those of Russ Baker and Naomi Klein.

    That said, I'm going to take a closer look at RFK, Jr.'s positions.

     I agree with Sandy that, other than the anti-vax stuff, I probably agree with RFK, Jr. on most issues.

[Kirk Gallaway]

Yeah that is interesting Sandy. I liked his positions more here than what I heard in the Breaking Points interview. I agree with you I like a lot of positions here more if you eliminate some of his his vaccine stands,  but it looks like this was made around  2020 as in the Breaking Points interview he's definitely  more conservative.

'Earlier in the paper he says "The U.S, should not use it's troops to defend Ukraine from a Russian invasion" but later says "The U.S, should provide military assistance to defend Ukraine from Russia " which is exactly what we're doing now, so he's completely waffled on that. I wonder why the abrupt turnaround?

He also first said that  the death penalty should be used for only the worst offenses and then in another question he  later says he opposes the death penalty. But I assume he opposes the death penalty.

He actually says he approves a universal income. I'm surprised I had never heard this before. If he hasn't changed that view, he'll probably take some heat for it.

2 things I really liked that he seemed to evade talking about in that interview, is that he's for public funding of elections. Of course he could have nipped a lot of speculation in the bud in the Breaking Points interview if he said that but he didn't . He also says that the government should restrict Pharmaceutical prices and that could have cleared a lot of where he was at in that interview and I know Krystal Ball was trying to pull positions like that out of RFK Jr., to no avail.

So it's hard to know where  the current RFK Jr. is, exactly.

In his position paper, he wants to ban all forms of lobbyists, which sounds great but how do we get around the sort of free speech issue that all people are supposed to have access to their political leaders? Still I like it.

One consistency was his opposition to nuclear power both in the interview and in his campaign positions.

A few things I didn't like is he wants to institute a voter test, which has been used tyrannically in the past so I'd have to hear the details about that.

He approves of the Electoral College ...what???

He also wants more military aid to Israel,Which figures.

The problem with such position papers  is that outside of the vaccine issue, if  Biden would take the same questionnaire, I would think they would be more than 90% identical.  A President alone doesn't have the power to do anything about a lot of that. And with so many things to do, it's a question of how much effort are they really willing to put into each individual position or, just practically,  how much time is there available? They have to be cognizant of spreading themselves to thin.

 

[Sandy Larsen]

3 hours ago, Paul Brancato said:

.that’s cool Sandy, even though the list is a few years old. I’m not clear on how this was put together? Did RFK Jr answer a long form questionnaire? Or is this some kind of interpolation?

 

It appears that the website draws its data from a number of sources, much of it probably mined robotically. Plus their members supply information.

 

[Sandy Larsen]

3 hours ago, W. Niederhut said:

That said, I'm going to take a closer look at RFK, Jr.'s positions.

 

William,

I hope you get your information from recent speeches and interviews. And report back. I think that the website I linked to is interesting, but I'm not so sure about its reliability on new candidates. There's a link to click in order to view sources, and one of  the sources is "party platform." That gave me a clue as to how the site builds data. IMO a new candidates information comes straight from the party platform. Then the robots go to work and mine information using various algorithms and data sources. Then members of the site state their opinion of what the candidate's policies are. The information become more and more accurate as the number of sources increases. Theoretically speaking, that is.

 

[Ron Bulman]

Sorry I got lost in college math so many years ago.  What is the difference in an algorithm and a logarithm? 

[Sandy Larsen]

57 minutes ago, Ron Bulman said:

What is the difference in an algorithm and a logarithm?

 

The difference is the arrangement of the first four letters.  BA-DA-CHING! 

 

Thanks for pointing out the similarity in spelling, Ron. I never noticed that before.

I don't know if you really want an answer, or if you were just setting up my joke. But I'll explain since I am an expert at both math and computers.

An algorithm is a finite set of instructions for solving problems that may be finite or infinite (in theory). The name originated in computer science because computers and computer programs are both largely made up of algorithms. But the word can be used for any set of instructions, in particular those that are recursive/repeat. For example, there is a recursive algorithm one can follow to solve a Rubik's cube. Remember when they used to have Rubik's cube solving competitions back around 1980?

Here's a flow diagram for a simple algorithm:

 

In contrast, a logarithm is a function. Remember exponentials from junior high math, for example 10 to the power of x? The exponentiation of 1 is 10; of 2 is 100; of 3 is 1000, etc. Well, a logarithm undoes what the exponentiation does. The log of 10 is 1; of 100 is 2; of 1000 is 3, etc. So it is said that a logarithm is the inverse of exponentiation. And vice versa.

 

[Kirk Gallaway]

That's interesting,

Sandy, either those guys at "i side with" are completely full of sh-t, or RFK Jr. is a much cooler candidate on domestic issues than he portrayed himself in the Breaking Points interview , but has been  completely conflicted about  the War in Ukraine which would be a profound disappointment to those  who think he could have negotiated a settlement in the war purely by the fact that he has Kennedy blood running through his veins.

I found a little about them here with doesn't tell us much.

 

https://www.isidewith.com/about/

 

[Paul Rigby]

12 hours ago, Sandy Larsen said:

 

That's the impression I got when I watched an interview of RFK Jr.

I have just gone through a long written list of RFK Jr.'s policies and found that I agree with nearly all of them. My disagreements with him are almost all related to COVID-19. For example, he wouldn't have allowed a temporary ban on church gatherings.

People who believe that anti-COVID-19 measures were unnecessary because mostly old, sick people died don't take into account what would have happened if the government hadn't taken measures to prevent the spread of it. What would have happened -- and became close to happening in many places -- is that the number of hospital beds (including staff and supplies for them) and respirators would have been in short supply. And people would have died just because of that.