As Trump's Polarizing Express chugs toward the holidays, it's time to peruse how another character handled a hostile takeover:
But unlike Kent Brockman—the Simpsons' newscaster—I'm not quite ready to welcome ALL our new insect overlords. I don't reject these appointees solely because Trump appointed them—his appointees are inept only 99% of the time. I'm taking a more measured approach, and although RFK Jr. is low-hanging fruit what with his mentally checkered background and his harebrained conclusions, we need to stand up against him immediately and forcefully, even though, like the broken analog clock, he's right twice a day.
He's right about our food consumption—amount and quality. I do appreciate the irony of Michele Obama's attempt to make school lunches more nourishing and Republicans subsequently running around with their hair on fire over the "nanny state," but the danger of RFK transcends irony—it's about blinders: he's handing them out, and his advocates and acolytes are wearing them.
(He's also right about the medical establishment's reliance on sick people, though it too is more complex than it seems. More on that another time.)
No one will deny that many Americans eat too much, too often, and too inefficiently. But let's also admit that many Americans hardly eat at all...they can't afford to. So while it's all well and good for someone whose net worth lies somewhere north of $15 million to advocate for a healthier diet of fruits and vegetables, he's working within a party that is doing everything within its power to impoverish the poor further and suck dry the middle class in the process. People who are struggling to put food on the table will soon be forced to live with less, and it won't be "Biden's inflation," this time, my MAGA friends, it will be a reduction in foods that RFK will allow to remain on the acceptable list...after which some companies will produce less, require fewer workers, and buy less manufacturing material. In the end, supermarkets will charge more.
Blinders—they get you every time.
Not even I believe that RFK will ever wield the power to proscribe Oreos from the shelves—and he'd better not mess with Cheez-Its—but then again, what was so radical about Michele Obama's ensuring that the food kids get in school meets certain nutritional requirements and the hope that these good habits will carry through? School lunch programs have improved—why not make them available for free at every school that adheres to some reasonable health guidelines? That's not a bad way for a concerned RFK to make a difference.
In an unrelated related matter, if Trump makes good on his mass deportation plans, the very people who work in the fields where RFK's beneficial fruits and vegetables grow won't be picking them anymore. And for all the pseudo-patriots cheering the return of American jobs to Americans, the wages will be higher, as will the price of available produce. (And we all know that Americans, even with a wage increase, will not be flocking to the fields and orchards. Hello, tomatoes from Mexico; welcome, strawberries from Ecuador.)
Even if the price of produce were to remain the same, not everyone can afford fresh fruits and vegetables. People on limited budgets often forgo what they know to be healthful foods simply to keep their families fed. Maybe some dry cereal is less nutritious than an acai bowl, but for parents struggling to keep their heads above water, rushing their children off to school, and then hurrying off to their jobs, those cornflakes might serve a valuable purpose. I doubt if these families will appreciate the "suggestions" of some multi-millionaire dilettante with no medical training who has "read a lot of articles" telling them what to eat, when, and how. That fresh fruit medley might truly be delicious—let him buy a round for everyone who wants one.
America is a wealthy country, like Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and more, but our poverty rate is the worst—about 13%. The Trump tax plan and his associated pet projects will not only increase the national debt but exacerbate the everyday problem that some 40 million Americans encounter in feeding a family—not what we will eat today, but if we will.
Millions of people see Kennedy as some messiah who will once and for all fix the drug- and medical problems America faces—and we do have them. But those blinders are going to cost. And the view from the high horse makes everyone else appear small. Sometimes peripheral vision can forestall a lot of mistakes. Maybe a bowl of cereal once in a while is democratizing.
Comments