TRUMP PICKS BOBBY KENNEDY, JR. FOR SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

ABOVE: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and current U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at an “Arizona for Trump” rally at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona… on August 23, 2024. Photograph: Gage Skidmore, Surprise, AZ   President-elect Donald Trump has picked Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the United States Department of Health and Human Services, according to the following media statement released by Trump yesterday on X: “I am thrilled to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health. The Safety and Health of all Americans is the most important role of any Administration, and HHS will play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming Health Crisis in this Country. Mr. Kennedy will restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again!” According to the Associated Press, “HHS oversees major health agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, among others.” Robert Kennedy responded on X with the following: “Thank you @realDonaldTrump for your leadership and courage. I’m committed to advancing your vision to Make America Healthy Again. We have a generational opportunity to bring together the greatest minds in science, medicine, industry, and government to put an end to the chronic disease epidemic. I look forward to working with the more than 80,000 employees at HHS to free the agencies from the smothering cloud of corporate capture so they can pursue their mission to make Americans once again the healthiest people on Earth. Together we will clean up corruption, stop the revolving door between industry and government, and return our health agencies to their rich tradition of gold-standard, evidence-based science. I will provide Americans with transparency and access to all the data so they can make informed choices for themselves and their families. My commitment to the American people is to be an honest public servant. Let’s go!”   HN NOTES REGARDING THIS RECENT DEVELOPMENT: Since the day he was born, nearly 71 years ago, Robert “Bobby” Kennedy has been known to reside in the Hyannis Port area for at least part of the year. According to online sources, he was born in Washington, D.C., on January 17, 1954. He is the third of eleven children of Senator and U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel, according to Wikipedia. (On October 14, 2024, HN covered his mom’s funeral mass at Our Lady of Victory…)  He is also the nephew of President John F. Kennedy and Senator Ted Kennedy. In recent years, HN has seen Bobby working out at a local gym in the downtown Hyannis area. And, aside from keeping physically fit, he has been a very busy man in recent years, campaigning for president as an independent candidate up until joining forces with current President-elect Donald Trump this past summer. Whether Bobby will have much time to return to Hyannis Port this summer, the place where he was raised as a wee lad, running around with his siblings and cousins… as children used to run around during those much healthier times – whether he’ll now have the time to come home as the new U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, is anyone’s guess. But I’m sure he fondly remembers – as we all do – those wonder years on the Cape in the 1960’s and 1970’s, before video games and cellphones, when we were all thin, brown as berries, strong, healthy, happy, free, energetic, salty and perpetually full of sand from our pristine, nearby beaches. It was God’s world then, and we were God’s children… and the food we ate, as I recall, was fit for a child of God… and our water sources weren’t as contaminated with PFAS laden fire retardant (as far as we knew). I’m sure he’ll remember those days very well. And it would be nice to see him back home for a visit… and perhaps a closer inspection on how we are now actually treating our once healthy, priceless bodies of water, inland and offshore, in 2024.  (Like many, I don’t think he’ll be happy about what is happening offshore right now…) Bobby’s rallying cry is “Make America Healthy Again!” And do I remember much healthier times here on the Cape, as a wee lad myself? I’m seriously laughing out loud because it’s like night and day in terms of health! In short, we were much healthier and stronger by far! So, is it even possible to “Make America Healthy Again” for our children and future generations? Will we ever have chemical free vegetables that actually taste like nutrient-rich vegetables again? Will obesity become as rare as it was in the 1960’s and 1970’s again? Will we ever see the day again when our young ones can attend school without having to be hopped up or sedated on a handful of daily prescribed pills? I don’t know – I really don’t know!  – if it is possible to ever make America’s children healthy again. But maybe it’s worth a shot.   (And what do I know, really? I’m just a locally raised photographer – a politically independent thinker from Hytown – with a lot of mileage and a bunch of old, obsolescent cameras to show for it… and a head still full of old dreams… who probably would have voted as a Democrat in the days of Bobby, Sr. and “Jack…” … if given the chance. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned about being around the Kennedys over the years, including seeing them at mass, is that they love kids! Which is probably why there’s so many of ’em running around the old neighborhood… over by the old jetty where we roamed and climbed without helmets or safety nets… salty, fierce, and brown as berries! But what do I know?  Indeed…) * sigh * P.S. – Today’s Hytown Vignette is a brought to you by Vince Guaraldi… [CLICK IT/CRANK IT! HEADPHONES ABSOLUTELY OBLIGATORY!]