We all should be concerned by the firing of the newly appointed director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Dr. Susan Monarez, over her refusal to endorse HHS Secretary RFK Jr.’s delusional vaccine conspiracy theories and pseudoscience.
Her ouster resulted in at least three other dedicated public health officials’ resignations. They all sorrowfully left over their inability to protect public health under the current politicized conditions imposed on this once worldwide-esteemed institution.
President Trump nominated RFK Jr., a man with no medical training. He ran a world-class public health system into the ground. The brunt of this will be borne by all Americans for generations.
Our impotent Senate confirmed him. In short order, all members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice were fired and replaced with vaccine skeptics, all of them “yes men.”
I fear that diseases once on the brink of extinction will again become commonplace, resulting in many deaths and disabilities. Is anyone ready to relive the COVID-19 crisis?
RFK Jr. has imposed restrictions on who may receive the COVID vaccine without a doctor’s consultation. This may result in extra expenses to the public for a doctor’s visit and for the shot. This is an extra burden that will cause many to forego protection against a still-dangerous virus.
Are flu vaccines next?
Our public health experts work tirelessly behind the scenes to keep us safe from current and newly evolving disease threats. These patriotic heroes deserve our respect and gratitude. Please write to your senators so that they may end to this madness.
Shari Somerstein, Plantation
Acts of submission
Since Trump’s inauguration, we’ve seen constant acts of submission by Republican members of Congress. We saw it at confirmation hearings where, based on their anger and their choice of words, you would have thought they would have voted against the candidate.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana, speaks during a Senate Finance Committee hearing in the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Sept. 25, 2017.
Take Sen. Bill Cassidy’s questioning of RFK Jr. A doctor himself, Cassidy seemed unconvinced that Kennedy would make a decent HHS secretary.
But after hearing Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nonsense and lies, the Louisiana senator still rubber-stamped him (the vote was 52- 48).
We are now all paying for his cowardice.
The “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed nearly unanimously by Republicans who knew full well how destructive it would be to their constituents. Submission is not bravery.
It has perhaps been surprising to see many citizen warriors in various governmental agencies sacrifice their jobs, incomes and careers to say what Congress wouldn’t: We Will Not Obey.
Their bravery should be honored. To put truth, morals and ethics before your own personal needs is contrary to what we see in the Republican Party. They sold their souls to keep their positions.
Republicans, take note. The citizen warriors will vote you out in the 2026 midterms and restore this nation’s greatness.
Helene Askinazi, Lake Worth Beach
An incredible waste
Alligator Alcatraz will hopefully be dismantled as quickly as it was jerry-built.
What an incredible waste of taxpayer money, ($245 million in contracts), not to mention irreparable harm to the fragile Everglades ecosystem.
Another example of wasteful spending by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who threw this detention center together in weeks with no oversight whatsoever.
Sherry Swerdlow, Coral Springs
Madman at the helm
Trump’s Gestapo ICE tried to secretly disappear children from Guatemala in the middle of the night on Labor Day weekend.
Their lawyers found out when their hearing dates disappeared from computers, so they rushed to court and managed to get a 14-day stay. This is Dictator Donnie Disappearing Children, on Labor Day Weekend — hoping no one would notice.
This is not politics. It’s war in the courts. We must unite and fight to save our democracy. A madman is at the helm of the ship of state.
Barrie W. Mizerski, Boynton Beach
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