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Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion - RFK Jr. is bringing revolutionary change to American health
Earlier this week, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shook the pillars of the food world. This tremor is likely to morph into an earthquake of continual change for the better, especially regarding the health of children in the U.S. and around the world. In one critically important way, there is no surprise as to why President Trump chose Kennedy for his Cabinet. Both men embody and personify the revolutionary traits of our Founding Fathers, and this is a subject I know fairly well. Three years ago, I authored a book titled, 'The 56: Liberty Lessons from Those Who Risked All to Sign the Declaration of Independence.' I wrote the book because, about a year earlier, I had become alarmed as voices on the left were increasingly smearing our Founding Fathers, calling for their 'cancelation' and even calling for abolishing the Fourth of July. As such, I spent a number of months 'living' in the 1776 timeframe. There were two realities, among many, that I discovered that connect Trump and Kennedy to the mindset of our Founding Fathers. The first was that in 1776, the vast majority of the wealthy either sided with the tyrannical British Crown or stayed on the sidelines so as to not rock the boat and to preserve their privilege and wealth. The second was that there were many highly intelligent and gifted women behind those Founding Fathers. In the book, I refer to them as the 'Manufacturing Mothers.' With regard to the first connection, neither Trump nor Kennedy needed any of this. By 'this' I mean positions in the U.S. government. Both had lives of wealth, privilege and power and could have safely spent the rest of their time on earth living comfortably within those bubbles. But they did not. At some point, both men looked upon the nation they loved and felt it was in steep decline or headed to ruin. Both men likely asked themselves the same two questions our Founding Fathers would have asked themselves: 'If not me, who? If not now, when?' And because they did, both have been subjected to the full wrath of some on the left. Both Kennedy and Trump have had their reputations smeared while dealing with multiple death threats. Trump was shot by a would-be assassin in July last year. Kennedy has had his home broken into, with his wife Cheryl present, and had a heavily armed man intercepted at one of his events. Be it 1776 or today, there will always be those who don't want the status quo upended by revolutionary minds. Regarding the second connection, Trump and Kennedy have continually surrounded themselves with highly intelligent and accomplished women. For his second administration, Trump has brought in Tulsi Gabbard as the director of the Office of National Intelligence, Pam Bondi as his attorney general, Kristi Noem as his secretary of Homeland Security, Brooke Rollins as his secretary of Agriculture, Lori Chavez-DeRemer as his secretary of Labor, Linda McMahon as his secretary of Education, Kelly Loeffler as head of the Small Business Administration and Susie Wiles as his chief of staff. As for Kennedy, he has long partnered with and promoted highly accomplished women in the private sector and is surrounded by them now as part of his leadership team at Health and Human Services. And do you know who knows and appreciates that reality better than most? American moms. Two months ago I wrote here about how RFK Jr.'s 'army of moms' has landed on the political shores of our nation, had burned their boats and are fighting their way forward on behalf of their children and themselves. They are doing so in large part because Kennedy's revolutionary voice and spirit galvanized them into action. This past Tuesday, Kennedy announced that the government will phase out all artificial dyes from the food supply by the end of next year. The ban will affect products such as breakfast cereals, candy and snacks. Kennedy said at the press conference, 'For too long, some food producers have been feeding Americans petroleum-based chemicals without their knowledge or consent. These poisonous compounds offer no nutritional benefit and pose real, measurable dangers to our children's health and development.' In January, also in large part to Kennedy's revolutionary mindset and tactics, the FDA banned the dye known as Red 3 from the nation's food supply as it acknowledged that the dye, also known as 'erythrosine,' caused cancer in lab rats. Just over 60 years ago, Kennedy's father — Robert F. Kennedy — courageously and heroically revolutionized the office of attorney general. And, by doing so, he literally put his life on the line for his nation. Today, his son is revolutionizing all that affects the physical and mental wellbeing of the American people. And by doing so, he is going to positively affect the lifespan, weight and mental acuity of potentially millions of Americans. Amazingly, there are some on the left who seem to be quite disturbed or even outraged by that. Why? Douglas MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
26-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
RFK Jr. is bringing revolutionary change to American health
Earlier this week, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shook the pillars of the food world. This tremor is likely to morph into an earthquake of continual change for the better, especially regarding the health of children in the U.S. and around the world. In one critically important way, there is no surprise as to why President Trump chose Kennedy for his Cabinet. Both men embody and personify the revolutionary traits of our Founding Fathers, and this is a subject I know fairly well. Three years ago, I authored a book titled, 'The 56: Liberty Lessons from Those Who Risked All to Sign the Declaration of Independence.' I wrote the book because, about a year earlier, I had become alarmed as voices on the left were increasingly smearing our Founding Fathers, calling for their 'cancelation' and even calling for abolishing the Fourth of July. As such, I spent a number of months 'living' in the 1776 timeframe. There were two realities, among many, that I discovered that connect Trump and Kennedy to the mindset of our Founding Fathers. The first was that in 1776, the vast majority of the wealthy either sided with the tyrannical British Crown or stayed on the sidelines so as to not rock the boat and to preserve their privilege and wealth. The second was that there were many highly intelligent and gifted women behind those Founding Fathers. In the book, I refer to them as the 'Manufacturing Mothers.' With regard to the first connection, neither Trump nor Kennedy needed any of this. By 'this' I mean positions in the U.S. government. Both had lives of wealth, privilege and power and could have safely spent the rest of their time on earth living comfortably within those bubbles. But they did not. At some point, both men looked upon the nation they loved and felt it was in steep decline or headed to ruin. Both men likely asked themselves the same two questions our Founding Fathers would have asked themselves: 'If not me, who? If not now, when?' And because they did, both have been subjected to the full wrath of some on the left. Both Kennedy and Trump have had their reputations smeared while dealing with multiple death threats. Trump was shot by a would-be assassin in July last year. Kennedy has had his home broken into, with his wife Cheryl present, and had a heavily armed man intercepted at one of his events. Be it 1776 or today, there will always be those who don't want the status quo upended by revolutionary minds. Regarding the second connection, Trump and Kennedy have continually surrounded themselves with highly intelligent and accomplished women. For his second administration, Trump has brought in Tulsi Gabbard as the director of the Office of National Intelligence, Pam Bondi as his attorney general, Kristi Noem as his secretary of Homeland Security, Brooke Rollins as his secretary of Agriculture, Lori Chavez-DeRemer as his secretary of Labor, Linda McMahon as his secretary of Education, Kelly Loeffler as head of the Small Business Administration and Susie Wiles as his chief of staff. As for Kennedy, he has long partnered with and promoted highly accomplished women in the private sector and is surrounded by them now as part of his leadership team at Health and Human Services. And do you know who knows and appreciates that reality better than most? American moms. Two months ago I wrote here about how RFK Jr.'s 'army of moms' has landed on the political shores of our nation, had burned their boats and are fighting their way forward on behalf of their children and themselves. They are doing so in large part because Kennedy's revolutionary voice and spirit galvanized them into action. This past Tuesday, Kennedy announced that the government will phase out all artificial dyes from the food supply by the end of next year. The ban will affect products such as breakfast cereals, candy and snacks. Kennedy said at the press conference, 'For too long, some food producers have been feeding Americans petroleum-based chemicals without their knowledge or consent. These poisonous compounds offer no nutritional benefit and pose real, measurable dangers to our children's health and development.' In January, also in large part to Kennedy's revolutionary mindset and tactics, the FDA banned the dye known as Red 3 from the nation's food supply as it acknowledged that the dye, also known as 'erythrosine,' caused cancer in lab rats. Just over 60 years ago, Kennedy's father — Robert F. Kennedy — courageously and heroically revolutionized the office of attorney general. And, by doing so, he literally put his life on the line for his nation. Today, his son is revolutionizing all that affects the physical and mental wellbeing of the American people. And by doing so, he is going to positively affect the lifespan, weight and mental acuity of potentially millions of Americans. Amazingly, there are some on the left who seem to be quite disturbed or even outraged by that. Why?
New York Times
29-03-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
8 Pieces of Free Advice for Trump's National Security Team
This may be presumptuous, but it strikes me that the new administration's national security team could use some advice. I have worked with senior leaders through many administrations from both parties. I've seen firsthand how highly capable and skilled professionals have conducted themselves in these positions. So, Vice President JD Vance; Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth; Tulsi Gabbard, the director of the Office of National Intelligence; and Michael Waltz, the national security adviser: In the wake of Signalgate, here are some recommendations. 1. Trust Your People. The military and civilian professionals assigned to you are very competent and possess deep knowledge about your organizations and national security. They want to help you succeed. My staff would have kept me from violating the rules you appear to have ignored or blundered through. If your staff knew you were sharing details of pending military operations on Signal, a commercially available app, and didn't stop you, that's a big problem. I'm assuming they weren't involved. Mr. Waltz, senior officials don't build their own chat groups. That should be done by support staff — if at all. I've worked with many of our senior military leaders. Many had extensive combat experience, including in missions not unlike those on March 15 targeting the Houthis. If they had known Signal was being used, or the nature of the communications being shared there, I cannot imagine that they would not have intervened. This is what happens when you disregard expertise. 2. Maintain the dignity and professionalism of your office. All of you are under constant scrutiny. You are being judged by the American people, by those who report to you and by the world at large. Anything you do may be reported on by the media and recorded for posterity. This isn't about you — it's about the office you hold. You do a disservice to yourselves and to the nation when you conduct yourselves unprofessionally. Emojis are not professional. Using Signal for sensitive matters is not professional. Using childish insults to characterize a reporter is not professional. Airstrikes that kill people are serious business and should be treated as such. The authority to deploy the armed forces of the United States is an awesome and humbling responsibility. Demonstrate by your conduct and by how you communicate that you fully appreciate that fact. 3. Trust and use the systems. All members of the national security team have extensive, sophisticated and secure communications systems standing by to support them 24/7, wherever they may be. In the case of the secretary of defense, there is both the National Military Command Center and the organization in the Pentagon known as 'cables,' where professionals stand by to set up one-on-one or group calls globally. Those systems can support any contingency up to and including a nuclear conflict. There is no good reason to ignore them. 4. Own obvious mistakes. Denying that you did anything wrong just won't fly. You may deceive some of the public or your supporters into thinking you did nothing wrong, or that this was no big deal, but I can assure you that the people you lead all know better. Everyone in uniform, every member of the intelligence community and everyone in our diplomatic services — the people you lead — know that what you did was seriously wrong. They also know that if any of them had committed a similar offense they would have been fired or severely disciplined. When Airman Jack Teixeira revealed highly sensitive classified information to his online buddies, he was trying to impress them. He wasn't a spy, just stupid and immature. He is facing years in prison for civil offenses plus a military court-martial. A phrase I heard occasionally in the Air Force was, 'We're not a one-mistake Air Force.' That meant we can make mistakes and then, instead of getting fired, be given the opportunity to learn and move on. My response to that was, 'It depends on the mistake.' In this case, by sheer good fortune (and the journalist's discretion), there was no apparent direct consequence to U.S. troops from your security breach. It was perhaps a rookie mistake made only two months into your various jobs, with no experience at these senior levels. That would make it more understandable. But if you want any chance of leading effectively, you need to own that you screwed up royally and won't repeat the mistake. 5. Don't exclude senior military personnel. All the National Security Council meetings I've attended or known about at this level also included relevant senior military leaders, such as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs or the vice chairman and the relevant combatant commanders. I know that Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., who was fired as chairman by President Trump, would have ensured that any such conversation was done through approved channels and at the right level of security. And I'm sure that Adm. Christopher Grady, the acting chairman, would have done the same. Why were they excluded? 6. Understand you are always a target for spies. The group of people on this Signal chat are probably, except for the president, the most targeted group of people for espionage on the planet. Our adversaries will use every means available to spy on you, including and especially trying to penetrate any commercial devices or applications you may be using. Never forget that for a second. 7. Don't embarrass the president or the country again. If there is one deadly sin for political appointees, it is to embarrass the president. In every case I can remember, political appointees who break that rule have not stayed in office long. The current president may be less sensitive about this than those I have served under, but I expect some of you are pretty close to even his limit. I suggest that you take a more cautious approach. 8. Look at yourselves in the mirror. You all hold positions of vast and awesome responsibility. Are your experiences and capabilities up to the jobs you hold? If not, you have a duty to the American people and to the president to acknowledge this and step aside. You might give that option some serious thought.
