Robert Hubbell is the author of one of the newsletters that appear in my inbox each weekday; some months ago, my sister recommended that I add him to my daily read and I can echo her endorsement.
Hubbell recently considered the anti-Semitism displayed by one of RFK, Jr.’s many conspiracy theories–this one, that the Chinese had “bio-engineered” COVID to disproportionately target Caucasians and Black people., while immunizing Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people.
As Hubbell wrote
Over the weekend, we learned that Kennedy’s conspiratorial thinking regarding the origins of Covid and the (alleged) evils of vaccines led him to the place where many conspiracy theories seem to inevitably land—blaming “the Jews” for the world’s problems. Most conspiracy theories begin by blaming the ubiquitous and anonymous “they”, which inexorably morphs over time to “liberal elites,” then “Bill Gates and George Soros,” and then “the Jews.”
I sure wish we Jews were as powerful as these conspiracy-addled lunatics clearly think we are. (Really, if I had a space laser, don’t you think I’d have used it against some of these nutcases by now??)
In Hubbell’s subsequent discussion of Junior’s “bioweapon” theories, he meticulously examined the ignorance it required.
He claims that the Chinese and American governments are developing “ethnic bioweapons.” The notion that governments are building bioweapons that will selectively attack people based on their “ethnicity” is a delusion based on monumental ignorance about DNA, biology, race, ethnicity, science, politics, and reality. It is the stuff of 1950s comic books, adolescent imagination, and Nazi eugenics—which is how sheer stupidity morphs into absolute evil in the reality free cauldron of conspiracy theories.
Hubbell examined RFK,Jr.’s “copious documentation” (so that we don’t have to), and found that–to the extent any legitimate documentation exists regarding “ethnic bioweapons”– “it relates to the fear that some government might exploit the gene editing technology CRSPR/Cas9 to develop ethnic bioweapons in the future.”
Rather obviously, a concern about what might occur sometime in the future is not “evidence” that U.S. and China are developing bioweapons targeted at various genetic groups.
What struck me about this particular eruption of anti-Semitism–and Hubbell’s ability to demonstrate the ignorance that prompted it–was an insight it prompted about the nature of conspiracy theories in general: people who don’t understand the world they inhabit, and who are unable to tolerate the ambiguities resulting from that lack of understanding, are desperate for answers and explanations they can comprehend.
Conspiracy theories provide those answers. (So do some religions.)
Are LGBTQ people more visible than they used to be? There must be more of them, and that means that some groups–librarians and Drag Queens among them– are “grooming” children and turning them gay.
Are the FBI and Department of Justice closing in on Donald Trump’s myriad crimes? That’s convincing evidence that those federal agencies have been “weaponized” against Republicans.
Did your 87-year-old grandfather die a month after getting a COVID vaccine? Was your sister-in-law’s next-door neighbor’s brother’s child diagnosed as autistic after getting her measles vaccine? Aha! Evidence that vaccines are dangerous.
Are you a man who’s unable to get a date? (Okay, unable to get laid?) It isn’t because you’re unattractive or unpleasant (or nuts). As your fellow Incels will tell you, it’s evidence that “women’s lib” groups have poisoned relations between the sexes.
Is your life not unfolding in ways you had hoped? Are your children behaving in ways that you disapprove? It’s evidence that some shadowy group–probably the Jews–is running the world in ways that disadvantage good White Christians like you…
I’m sure readers of this blog can add to the list….
There is a reason for the growing political and social gap between educated and uneducated Americans. And by “educated” I don’t mean people with degrees; I mean people who read books and newspapers, open themselves to the lessons of history, and respect science and technical expertise. Educated people are humans who recognize–and have learned to live with– the inevitable ambiguities of modern life. They are people who understand that the world is a complicated place, that we humans are still learning about causes and effects, and there are many questions we can’t answer.
They are people who can tell the difference between evidence and fantasy, and are comfortable saying “I don’t know.”
Other people–those who are frantic for simple answers and desperate for someone or some group to blame for their distress– cope by adopting fantasies that justify their fear and hatred of the “other.”
Today’s America evidently has a lot of them. Until their fevers subside, they can and do make life for the rest of us very uncomfortable–and for some of us “others,” very unsafe.
For those who insist a third party is the answer to the political crisis today; it appears to be rolled up into one candidate wannabe who is neither and both in the personage of RFK, Jr. He appears to have inherited the very worst of the Kennedy and Skakel gene pools and provides a one-man gap whose personal AI has all of the answers…even before the questions are asked. Consider those on this blog who appear to support RFK, Jr., who bears no resemblance to the original. He appears to be the answer to “…those who are frantic for simple answers and desperate for someone or some group to blame for their distress– cope by adopting fantasies that justify their fear and hatred of the “other.”
So, what can we do about this other than vote and encourage others to vote?
Being anti-semitic was used against Jeremy Corbyn as well. It worked on him, and Labour lost the Prime Minister’s seat. British voters also voted for Brexit.
Since then, the folks engineering the lies have walked back the lies, but it’s a little too late to correct the damage.
The machinations of manipulation and propaganda work both ways…why is it used over the truth?
By the way, what does Hubbell think about VP Harris’s comments about “population control” during a presentation on Artificial Intelligence during the NATO conference? 😉 How does the USA plan to target population control to make the planet more inhabitable?
Also, why do we have top-secret labs on military bases? What projects do you suppose they are working on? LOL
Conspiracies and propaganda work on a gullible population made ripe by oligarchs’ oppression.
I can’t help but share…
https://youtu.be/zI3yU5Z2adI
We like to think about how far we ‘ve come. We no longer put women on trial for witchcraft, for example.
But, the people demonizing others (LGBTQ people, Jews, immigrants, women(!), etc) are often proceeding under the exact same delusion. They think “those” people are dangerous, bizarre, abnormal, have some undefined but scary and innate “power”, and are impossible to understand. It’s a worldview rooted in ignorance and fear, of course.
Ultimately, a significant portion of us are still trying desperately to put witches on trial to burn them. They just don’t call them witches anymore.
Feeding the ignorant more disinformation is sport for the elite all too often. Kennedy has forever sullied the family name. He has disgraced his father irrespective of what anyone thought of Bobby.
Furthermore, by stoking the fears of the uneducated, Kennedy fed right into the maw of the aggrieved idiots who slaver at everything Trump says and will once again march on the Capitol when he loses the next election… hopefully from behind bars.
We are in a terrible mess and so much of it has been caused by the dumbing down of our school curriculums, the process begun in earnest by St. Ronald Reagan and his puppeteers.
Disgusting. Heart-breaking.
We live in a world where a large segment of our society refuses to accept responsibility for any of their own actions. No wonder they flock to Drumpf. He is the responsibility-shirker-in-chief.
One of the key legs of democracy is education – education focused on thinking. Much of what passes for education today avoids teaching critical thinking. But education needs in the 21st Century are even greater: visual literacy, media literacy, data literacy (and no doubt, very soon, AI literacy).
On top of all that, there is a growing downgrading of liberal arts education – teaching people to feel…
Hmmm – no teaching how to think, no teaching how to feel – is it any wonder how STUPID arrived? And the young parents who could help, on their phones or other amusements.
Sully the Kennedy name? If one can walk away from wrecking a car and leaving a young woman to drown….
It is staggering to me what people will swallow in order to get a whack-job (RFK jr) or out-right criminal (DJT) into office. I know these guys offer varying things to varying groups (the rich get richer and then there is a veritable banquet to those who want us to go back to the “good old days” of sexism, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, etc.). But more and more each day, the bar gets lower, and lower, and lower for the Repubs and the lost souls that think that RFKjr is a good choice over Biden, and not an un-viable candidate and pretty reprehensible person.
And Todd, I know it is your free-speech right to post whatever you think on here, but with your constant plugging of an obvious anti-semite, xenophobe, and anti-vaxxer candidate, and now with the youtube video you have shared today…I’m tapped out. It’s just insulting and I will skip by your comments from now. Good luck shackling yourself to jr.
We are headed towards relative chaos in human civilization which we all have and are contributing to by our profligate consumption of energy Our role in that was from pouring our carbon waste from it into the atmosphere. The only means to mitigate that impending doom is to, as rapidly as possible, change both our supply and consumption of energy. We don’t want to because it’s hard. We avoid responsibility by blaming every grouping of others for everything in order to believe we are innocent bystanders. Consequently we are not doing enough to survive the problem other than hoping for death as an escape.
I heard RFK Jr speak the other day and there is something wrong there. His speech is shaky and he sounds like his voice has been damaged. I can only wonder what is going on in his brain. His family is horrified by his conspiracy theories because they have announced those concerns to the public. That family may have a history in politics but that guy has been recruited by Steve Bannon and some black sites giving him money. Shakes head.
I skip Todd’s comments because he’s only interested in posting his opinions with no regards to the audience that reads the Professor. He’s here to stir the pot just like 45 because he is sickened with the same delusions as TFG. I have a lot of confidence that the public is watching the indictments pile up and will vote against a criminal just like 2020.
Amen Mary Kohen. Todd is a screw ball. Don’t waste your time reading his bs.
Let’s get personal. I married after my first year in law school and our best friends were my fellow student Art (and his wife Rose), Jewish folks. I didn’t feel overpowered and Soros didn’t send me any money. Such tripe! I also had a few dates with Carolyn, a Jewish girl from Chicago, when I was pursuing an undergraduate degree in economics. She was a fellow student in Accounting (where she was a whiz and I was not), and I don’t think Soros sent her any money, either. My older brother married a lady from Tel Aviv, and she regaled us with stories from Israel and how her father and mother escaped southern Russia from the Stalin purge, so I had some exposure in history to the stories of that second hand escape. She was fluent in Hebrew, Russian and English and a nurse practicioner, the mother of a now-retired MD, my nephew.
And this Soros stuff? Whataboutism > Let’s talk about the real world of Harlan Crow, Leo, Koch, Justice Thomas, Julie Jenkins, and other zillionaire gentiles who are financing and/or influencing insurrection, the carried interest atrocity, Supreme Court decisions etc. No? Why not? Too close to home? Pick on Hungary, a safe distance away and a ready target (and a cover) for fascist propaganda now being spewed by the leading Republican candidates for president? GRRRR!
RFK Jr. appears to be the Democrat’s DeSantis. Bat shit crazy and zero chance of being elected. Probably cancel each other out in the election.
I recently read a book “Bitten” that covers the US experimentation with altering ticks to carry various harmful diseases and dropping them in remote areas. These experiments went on in 50’s through early 70’s until Potus put a stop to them. The book lists all the scientific criteria to determine what bioweapons are and it seems Covid fits the bill! We’re on vacation and I can’t be more specific on the author & credentials(scientific) not pseudo-science.
As far as RFK who was interviewed on NPR recently admitted to being a heroin addict for 14 years. I’m glad he’s overcome that disease but don’t think he could sustain the immense pressure of POTUS and that disqualifies him.
Making others scapegoats to all the tension in social, civil life is harmful, non-progressive and helps no one. If people could look at what their projections are (misplaced blame) scientifically and find better adapting skills, it would make for healthier people and a better world.
Ian,
In case you missed it, SOME of the Kennedys did good and even great things. Poppa Joe was a fascist denier, Ted was at the wrong place at the wrong time. There is NO evidence that he was culpable at Chappaquidick. Bobby was the smartest of the lot. He was irascible and didn’t suffer fools at all. Jack was the President who was probably killed by a cabal of corporate thugs after saving the world from nuclear holocaust.
Yeah, Ian. That family. Once again, your selective memory sullies YOUR reputation even more.
Let’s get personal. I married after my first year in law school and our best friends were my fellow student Art (and his wife Rose), Jewish folks. I didn’t feel overpowered and Soros didn’t send me any money. Such tripe! I also had a few dates with Carolyn, a Jewish girl from Chicago, when I was pursuing an undergraduate degree in economics. She was a fellow student in Accounting (where she was a whiz and I was not), and I don’t think Soros sent her any money, either. My older brother married a lady from Tel Aviv, and she regaled us with stories from Israel and how her father and mother escaped southern Russia from the Stalin purge, so I had some exposure in history to the second hand stories of that escape. She was fluent in Hebrew, Russian and English and a nurse practicioner, the mother of a now-retired MD, my nephew.
And this Soros stuff? Whataboutism > Let’s talk about the real world of Harlan Crow, Leo, Koch, Justice Thomas, Julie Jenkins, and other zillionaire gentiles who are financing and/or influencing insurrection, the carried interest atrocity, Supreme Court decisions etc. No? Why not? Too close to home? Pick on Hungary, a safe distance away and a ready target (and a cover) for fascist propaganda now being spewed by the leading Republican candidates for president? GRRRR!
Vern: A bit of unknown history > Bobby came to our little town near Indianapolis in the fall of ’68 and while in the parade chipped a front tooth, and a dentist who lived across the street from us repaired it.
“Evidence” has become, like beauty, a thing about the eye of the beholder. Empirical evidence ought to be
beyond this silliness, but what some people consider evidence is seriously laughable…except that it isn’t.
This is the case of my cousin’s “evidence,” back in the time of the Obama presidency, that the appearance of
a single-get that-ONE snowy owl in Tennessee “proved” that we did not have global warming, but cooling!
He was, and still is a Republican councilman in Pa. Quell surprise!! (Yes, I repeat myself.)
“The Eternal Target:” If Jews gradually disappeared, once the initial glee waned, the anti-semites would “know”
that it was they that were in charge of the UFOs, and, of course, THEY had space lasers!
Ted Kennedy exonerated? Wrong place wrong time? Is that why he was charged and pled guilty to leaving the scene of an accident?
Liberals really do hate women, right Vern?
Hardly anyone reads this forum, and the majority of the readers are followers of the DNC. There could be a few party apparatchiks/sockpuppets.
I’m not worried about my credibility amongst this crowd. Besides,the average age among this forum seems to be 80 years old. Which means the majority will be dead within a handful of years. It’s good to be old,eh?
I don’t believe there were any space lasers used against the U.S.S. Liberty.
I rarely get my news from YouTube! They do have a great library of comedy routines and how to fix whatever is broken in the home.
As to the Kennedy legacy, the power behind the throne was Rose. She was born and raised in a political home. She was the daughter of the Mayor of Boston, known as “Honey Fitz” ( if you read the book ” The Last Hurrah” you might recognize Mayor Skeffington as the slightly less than honorable Mayor John Fitzgerald). If she’d been born a generation or two later, she might have given Nancy Pelosi a run for the money as the most effective woman in politics. She’s no doubt spinning in her grave as RFK, jr. goes about sullying the family name. They’ve been guilty of many sins, but none has ever been bats..t crazy.
Ian; Ethel, Skakel (Bobby’s wife) Kennedy’s nephew used one of his dead mother’s golf clubs to beat his 15 year old next door neighbor girl to death. I do disagree with Ted being “in the wrong place at the wrong time”; he was at fault.
Ian,
Once again you vomit all over yourself. Thanks for letting us old farts seen the entire vat of poison and bullshit that is your “mind.”
Vern,thank you for letting us know how strongly you support wealthy white privilege. And I bet your vanity press published books are nothing more than a series of ad hominems,coming from a frustrated house-husband, afflicted by impotence and incontinence.
I feel your pain.
OK. Let’s get civil folks. Sticks and Stones, etc., etc.
I appreciate all of your viewpoints, even the ones I disagree with, even the ones that I think are misinformed.
Anytime, sonny. Anytime.
Hey, I’ll be 64 in a few months and I’m grateful to be living this long after losing my 42 year old dad in ‘75. I learned respect for my elders. My Mother was a spitfire. She brought me into this world and she would take me out of it with just “the look!”
Don’t mess with old folks. They have 0 F* left.
Vern and Ian–you are both VERY close to the ad hominem attacks that I do not allow. Knock it off, or I’ll ban you both.
Okey Dokey.
One might ask why does Ian bother weighing in on this forum? I see his comments but they seem to be focused on attacking the other participants.
Two points
One – Bobby (I won’t go into Ted, which I think is a matter of people projecting their views into an unclear situation) – MLK was assassinated – there were riots in major cites across the country – not in Indianapolis – Bobby was here campaigning and exerted his influence to keep things calm.
Two – sorry Ian, but the video looked like a hodgepodge of clips strung together for sensationalism. I couldn’t stand more than a minute of it.
Here is something better – a somewhat whacky take on the fraudulent paper that kicked off a huge anti-vac movement in England – it is filled with facts that can be verified, not opinion – how strange.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BIcAZxFfrc
An interesting discussion of conspiracy theories can be found in the Spring 2023 issue of Jacobin magazine.
to AgingLGirl
here’s the story about the voice:
https://gazette.com/news/wex/spasmodic-dysphonia-what-rfk-jr-s-voice-condition-means-for-his-campaign/article_74754cbb-2425-5a1e-8e0f-1dfd8f653122.html
Is it possible this is related to his years of heroin use? Possibly, but impossible to know for certain.