[ At a time when disinformation and narrow-mindedness are at an
all-time high, the last thing we need is a purported “reform”
candidate who contributes to the mess. The danger of Donald Trump or
the GOPs hold on Congress is just too great.]
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MORE INDICATIONS RFK JR’S ANTI VACCINE CLAIMS HAVE LITTLE BASIS  
[[link removed]]


 

Russ Baker
June 3, 2023
Going Deep with Russ Baker
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_ At a time when disinformation and narrow-mindedness are at an
all-time high, the last thing we need is a purported “reform”
candidate who contributes to the mess. The danger of Donald Trump or
the GOP's hold on Congress is just too great. _

In a new escalation of his anti-science rhetoric concerning the
pandemic, Fox News host Tucker Carlson plugged his streaming show by
featuring an interview with longtime anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on his , primetime cable program, November 2021.
(Fox News photo)

 

Although COVID-19 numbers are down in the US, they are soaring in
China
[[link removed]] —
and we know well enough from history that as goes China, so may go the
rest of the world. Therefore, it’s not a good time to just thank our
lucky stars and move on. And that means we still need to achieve
consensus on the threat and what to do about it.

Most people believe that the medical and scientific establishment did
the best they could with an unanticipated emergency, that they made
mistakes but learned along the way.

And most people remember how it was. Not so long ago, hospitals were
bursting at the seams with patients deathly ill with COVID-19. As soon
as one died, another was brought in. Freezer trucks were parked
outside the hospitals, containing piles of bodies with nowhere to go
for burial. Victims of other emergencies — car accidents, heart
attacks, strokes — were being sent away in ambulances driven by
desperate EMT workers who didn’t know where to go next. The public
was crying out for a vaccine. 

But not everyone seems to remember why a COVID-19 vaccine became
necessary. There’s a small but loud minority who seem to have
forgotten.They’re the base for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s
presidential campaign, which drew 20 percent of Democratic voters in a
recent CNN poll. He almost certainly can’t win, but he can be a
potent factor, and maybe a distraction at an inflection point in what
is shaping up as an epic battle for the future of America and the
world. 

As noted in previous columns, I find Kennedy a bit slippery in terms
of what he says about COVID-19 and vaccines. That seems a glaring
deficiency given that Kennedy is ostensibly running to mitigate a lack
of forthrightness and honesty among politicians.  

Related: Building Herd Immunity to Truth: More on RFK Jr.’s
Anti-Vax Crusade
[[link removed]]

I’ve also noticed, based on comments from his supporters, that their
skepticism about the trustworthiness of the US medical establishment
often extends to the US establishment_ in general_ — which they
accuse of nefarious meddling in almost everything, including the
endless tragedy in Ukraine. 

They are infatuated by the notion that Kennedy will “unwind the
empire” — as if at this particular point in history, when US power
is receding, that is nevertheless more urgent than solving climate
change and ensuring that humanity survives. 

They lecture me, they chastise me, they say I have lost my way, or
perhaps am a traitor and covert operative for big pharma, and some
explicitly grouse that I was never the critical-eyed investigative
reporter and resolute truth-seeker they thought I was.

Related: RFK Jr. Fans Defend Him, and Rebuke Me for Challenging His
Views
[[link removed]]

So for my own sanity I’ve had to hit the mute button quite a bit
lately. To be totally frank, the more I look into their assertions the
more I conclude these folks don’t actually know what they’re
talking about. 

I also am increasingly identifying a sort of core gene, an almost
reptilian-brain instinct from being in the trenches so long against an
admittedly flawed US system and “empire” — a perspective so
calcified and lacking in open-mindedness that all situational
discernment and fair-mindedness is out the window. 

Related Coming to Grips With the Anti-Vaxxer, pro-RFK Jr. Worldview 
[[link removed]]

It’s the Left version of a disease sweeping the country. Mindset
drives everything. As a result, like Fox and Newsmax viewers, these
Bobby Kennedy Jr. acolytes trust a small set of “sources” that
they actually know little about.  

As noted, I’ve explored many of Kennedy’s claims 
[[link removed]]on
various subjects, and found them to be shoddy or downright
incorrect. But his supporters — much like Trump’s — will
forgive almost anything, due to some “larger principle.”  I’ve
actually seen some writing off gross mischaracterizations as, “Well,
nobody’s perfect.”

Related: How Robert F. Kennedy Jr., His Presidential Candidacy and
Vaccine Views, Help Trump 
[[link removed]]

Still, they continue to send links, and videos, and articles,
dismissing the millions of scientific and healthcare professionals
with whom they disagree.  But I keep remembering the old saying: 
“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”  And they
don’t present such evidence —  not even solid ordinary evidence,
let alone extraordinary. Before I put a pin in this topic, I will
briefly discuss one final request, which comes from a friend of long
standing. 

He sent me a story
[[link removed]] from
Kennedy’s website, Children’s Health Defense.org (CHD), about five
people who say they have been greatly harmed by the COVID-19 vaccine.
They are suing President Biden and top US health officials for
allegedly colluding with social media companies to censor their
comments about it.

Of course, I already knew that vaccines can have side effects. Almost
any biologically active substance has or can have side effects,
including the most common foods that the vast majority of us eat with
no problem, but that can unsettle or even kill others.  

Still, since my friend asked me to seriously reconsider my position
and take a closer look. I did. 

***

Four of the five people cited in Kennedy’s publication are suffering
from severe, life-changing symptoms that they say developed soon after
they were vaccinated, and so — at least on first glance — the
vaccines appear to be responsible. (The fifth was a teenage boy who
died.)

Before being vaccinated, four of these victims appear to have been
very active, healthy, and even athletic (one is a former triathlete).
The one exception was Nikki Holland, a physical therapist in a rural
town in Tennessee who, after receiving her COVID-19 vaccine,
developed severe breathing and neurological problems (and many other
prolonged, life-changing consequences). She had important pre-existing
conditions that we’ll look at. 

Holland was interviewed 
[[link removed]]in
a videotape by Stephanie Locricchio
[[link removed]] –
advocacy and outreach manager for CHD. _ _

Holland told Locricchio that she was never warned of any significant
dangers. She said she was informed, in writing, that she might expect
skin irritation, arm soreness, and other superficial reactions. But
soon after — she admits (at 4:50 on the tape) she was also warned of
developing anaphylaxis (a potentially life-threatening condition). 

Before her COVID-19 vaccination, she said she had to fill out a
checklist of pre-existing conditions, and bad reactions to previous
vaccines. She checked off asthma and, more alarming, anaphylaxis,
following a shot of penicillin. 

Because of these issues, she was told to get approval from the medical
director or from her primary physician before getting a shot. Her
response: “When that happened, I thought OK, and I just discarded it
[the checklist]. (07:30 on tape) I never really went to my primary
care.”  Her interviewer never asked why she made that decision. 

Later the “medical director” cleared the way for all “high
risk” individuals to receive the shot. And she said most of her
health care providers told her to get the vaccine.

Holland said she was told that her reaction is very rare — but she
and Locricchio both asserted that what happened to her is actually a
widespread occurrence. And on CHD, the interview was headlined with
words that promote this idea:

If We All Come Out … Eventually They Can’t Ignore the Numbers
Nikki Holland, Injured by Moderna Vaccine

And Holland is further quoted: “Nurses would say ‘We see this
happen all the time. We see people come in like this’ [Referring to
a patient with severe breathing difficulties].” (12:45 on tape). 

Locricchio’s scientific credentials are not what one would expect
for someone assigned by Kennedy to lead such an inquiry. She is a
former telemarketer, a graduate of the Institute of Integrative
Nutrition, board certified by the American Association of Drugless
Practitioners, and describes herself as a “mompreneur and mentor”
who  “works closely with individuals who are looking to create
income from home.”  She was also a speaker at a rally attended by
the Proud Boys
[[link removed]] and
others in support of a nurse who lost her job for not enforcing the
mask mandate. To see how she defends her views on anti masking, please
go here
[[link removed]] and here
[[link removed]].

***

Another plaintiff in the lawsuit is the father of a 16-year-old boy in
Texas who died of myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) soon
after his second COVID-19 shot. The boy was presumably healthy before,
and very athletic. His autopsy showed that his heart was enlarged to
twice the normal size. What happened? Few relevant details are
available. (I did not examine the cases of the remaining three
plaintiffs.)

The boy’s father was told his son’s reaction was rare, and many
studies back this up. But if you read Bobby Kennedy’s book – _The
Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on
Democracy and Public Health —_ you will get the opposite
impression.

Bobby Kennedy’s Claims on Myocarditis

From his book,_ _page 210:

These astonishing numbers mean myocarditis is far from a “rare”
side effect, as Dr. Fauci and Pfizer like to claim. Nor is it
harmless. A recent study suggests that myocarditis is associated with
a 50 percent mortality within five years. (Ref #89)

As I noted in a previous article
[[link removed]],
Kennedy makes two true statements that, when combined, give an
entirely false impression. Observe the above paragraph. He makes it
look like the “recent study” is about the vaccination’s side
effect — when, in fact, it’s about myocarditis caused only by a
virus, and _not_ by any vaccine.  Reference #89 is entitled Viral
Myocarditis, [[link removed]] and
that’s all it’s about, as you can see for yourself.

NOTE:  IF YOU WANT TO SEE MORE OF KENNEDY’S ACROBATICS, KEEP
READING. BUT IF YOU’D RATHER JUST READ FACTUAL INFORMATION ON
MYOCARDITIS, SKIP DOWN TO “MYOCARDITIS IN THE ABSENCE OF
VACCINE.” 

And now, back to Kennedy’s book. From page 209:

Pfizer’s clinical data predicted potentially fatal myocarditis in
one in every 318 teens. Post-marketing data confirm astronomically
high rates of myocarditis injuries…. 

According to an article in _Current Trends in Cardiology_, “Within
eight weeks of the public offering of COVID-19 products to the
12–15-year-old age group, we found 19 times the expected number of
myocarditis cases in the vaccination volunteers over background
myocarditis rates for this age group.” (Reference # 88) (p.209)

So I checked reference #88, clicked on the link to find the source,
and this is what I found:

WITHDRAWN: A Report on Myocarditis Adverse Events in the U.S. Vaccine
Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) in Association with COVID-19
Injectable Biological Products

One of the authors was Peter A. McCullough, MD, a Fox News favorite,
who has made so many false claims about vaccines, COVID-19, and
ivermectin that his previous employer — Baylor University Medical
Center — sued McCullough to prevent him from falsely claiming any
current association with them. (He had entered into a confidential
separation agreement with them.)

Related:  Vaccine Skeptics to March on Washington — With a
Dangerous & Confusing Message
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Kennedy went on to say,

But even these alarming numbers may underreport myocarditis injuries.
Israeli data and US data presented to CDC’s advisory committee on
June 23, 2021, similarly found the rate of reported cases of
myocarditis in vaccinated teenage boys aged 12–17 is at least
twenty-five times greater than expected, and is fifty times greater
than the reported rate in vaccinated males over 65. [No reference]

The above may or may not be technically correct, but it seems designed
to reinforce the idea that vaccine-induced myocarditis is widespread.
I had to find the report on my own, but could not find the statistics
he gives — though I did find information that leaves quite a
different impression from the one Kennedy seems to be trying to
create. From that CDC meeting: 
[[link removed]] 

The first reports of cases of myocarditis following vaccination with
mRNA vaccines came from Israel. From December 2020-May of 2021 in
Israel, 148 cases of myocarditis occurred around the time of
vaccination. Most of these reports, although not all, were in younger
men 16-19 years of age…. While most of these cases were
hospitalized, 95% were characterized as mild cases… (CDC page
5) _ _

As you can see from the above specimens, Kennedy would have you
believe that the number of  myocarditis cases is “astronomically
high.” I decided to take a look at the medical literature to see
what “establishment” medicine has to say about it.

The following may not be for everybody, although it is not very
technical, nor is it especially deep. It shows how elusive the truth
can be — and why it’s just crazy as well as dangerous to employ
polemics regarding these issues. 

Myocarditis in the _Absence_ of Vaccine  

In the year 2000, decades before medical personnel began dispensing
COVID-19 shots, the _New England Journal of
Medicine_ summarized postmortem studies
[[link removed]] from
various countries suggesting that, although myocarditis is usually
asymptomatic, it can have severe consequences for some younger people.
In adults younger than 40 years of age, 20 percent of those with
myocarditis suffered sudden, unexpected death. (The study subjects
include young adults, athletes, Air Force recruits, and elite Swedish
orienteers.) 

Since this pattern of myocarditis long predates COVID-19 vaccines,
that strongly suggests that, in a vaccinated person, the vaccine
was _not_ necessarily the cause of a heart problem. 

Indeed, rather than the vaccine, it is important to look at _COVID-19
itself — which can cause myocarditis_ as well as other significant
heart problems. Go here
[[link removed]], here
[[link removed]], and here
[[link removed]] to see a few reports on
this complication.

No Causal Relationship Proven -– But Strongly Suggested

Nonetheless, various studies do provide circumstantial evidence of
vaccine-induced reactions. Let’s look at those now. 

The _Journal of the American Medical Association (_JAMA) published
a retrospective study [[link removed]] in
October, 2021, of myocarditis cases within the US Military Health
System that had occurred between January 1 and April 30, 2021. 

Would this large study answer the question as to how often vaccines
cause the disease?  

Out of 2.8 million doses administered, just 23 patients, all male,
reacted adversely, and all had recovered at the time of the report.
However, rather than participating in some kind of cover-up, which is
what Kennedy and his followers allege both generally and specifically,
the authors of the report went out of their way to make it clear that
there could have been more cases, possibly many more, that were never
reported. Not everyone who experiences symptoms goes to a doctor.

That is what scientists do. They ask questions. They play devil’s
advocate with themselves. Above all, they report inconvenient facts
that challenge their conclusions. It is the opposite of the
determination exhibited by Kennedy and his legions to be right. 

Studies from the Israeli Ministry of Health

In Israel, the authorities conducted extensive research and found that
myocarditis following a COVID-19 shot was extremely rare
[[link removed]]: Around the time
of the first dose, there were 27 cases of myocarditis, out of a total
of 5,401,150 vaccinated, 11 of whom had pre-existing conditions. 
Around the time of the second dose (within 30 days) — 121 cases out
of a total of 5,049,424, 60 of whom had pre-existing conditions. Their
conclusion: “So far, this phenomenon was mostly reported among
younger men aged 16-19, usually after the second dose. Most cases have
been in the hospital for up to 4 days, and 95 percent are considered
to be mild cases.”

But another Israeli study
[[link removed]] differed: The
authors found the risk to be higher. However, this study is apparently
controversial and was accompanied by an editor’s note: “Readers
are alerted that the conclusions of this article are subject to
criticisms that are being considered by the Editors. A further
editorial response will follow once all parties have been given an
opportunity to respond in full.” (I could find nothing more about
it.) 

Because of the disparity between the two studies, it is reasonable to
conclude more research is needed, but one conclusion seems justified:
The number of cases is relatively low.

This is important because the overall conclusion dramatically counters
Kennedy’s statement that the number of myocarditis cases is
“astronomically high.” 

At a time when disinformation and narrow-mindedness are at an all-time
high, the last thing we need is a purported “reform” candidate who
contributes to the mess. Let’s focus on finding responsible
leadership — willing to do the unglamorous hard work of thoughtfully
taking in a broad range of information and making rational choices
that benefit us all. 

NOTE: THIS WEEK RFK JR. EXCITEDLY TWEETED THAT FOX NEWS HAD MADE A
DOCUMENTARY ABOUT HIM, AND ELON MUSK HAS OFFERED HIM A ONE-ON-ONE
DISCUSSION ON TWITTER. THE REPUBLICANS CANNOT WAIT TO INFLICT HIM ON
BIDEN. THOSE WHO CARE NEITHER ABOUT THE ACCURACY OF HIS COVID-19
CLAIMS NOR ABOUT THE CONSEQUENCES OF HIS CANDIDACY AS A LOBBED GRENADE
IN A MOMENT OF GREAT PERIL MUST BEAR SOME PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR
WHERE THIS ALL COULD GO. AS SOMEONE JUST WROTE TO ME ON TWITTER, “I
WONDER WHEN CRITICAL THINKING DIED IN THIS COUNTRY.”

_[RUSS BAKER [[link removed]] is an awardwinning
investigative journalist. He has written for the New Yorker, Vanity
Fair, the New York Times, the Nation, the Los Angeles Times, the
Washington Post, the Village Voice, and Esquire, and has served as a
contributing editor to the Columbia Journalism Review._

_In 2005, Baker founded a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization
dedicated to producing ground-breaking, transformative, independent
investigative journalism: WhoWhatWhy.com [[link removed]].
He spends most of his time running that site (including editing and
writing for it), does public speaking, and is working on a new book.]_

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