This is how eugenicists talk

This is also how Nazis talk.

In a press conference Wednesday morning that surely delighted his allies in the anti-vaccine movement, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responded to a report about apparent rising autism rates with a vow to look at “environmental factors” as a possible cause. While Kennedy didn’t explicitly discuss vaccines, his remarks made it clear, again, that he’ll likely use the power and money of the federal government to prop up the long-debunked claim that vaccines cause autism. He also repeatedly made crude and stigmatizing references to people with profound autism (which he calls “severe” autism, an outdated term) painting a picture of such people as a burden on society and to their families.

“These are kids who will never pay taxes,” Kennedy declared. “They’ll never hold a job. They’ll never play baseball. They’ll never write a poem. They’ll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted. We have to recognize we are doing this to our children.”

“The epidemic,” Kennedy said at another point, “is real.” Autism, he added, “destroys families and more importantly it destroys our greatest resource, our children.” Many children, he claimed, were “fully functional” and “regressed.”

Vaccines do not cause autism. I repeat, vaccines do not cause autism — this bogus claim has been tested repeatedly and in depth. This is a red herring, one that RFK jr will pursue at great cost to our country and to the health of our children. He does not actually care about children, his priority is defending his delusions.

The world has gone down this road before. This talk is a prelude to first institutionalizing autistic children, then sterilizing them, and then quietly, and no doubt painlessly at first, exterminating them. They’re useless, a drain on society, so why not get rid of them?

Furthermore, look at this chilling gem from the CDC report: white kids aren’t afflicted as much as black and hispanic kids. We already know this administration is racist as fuck, so here’s more fodder for the white nationalists.

RFK Jr. called today’s press conference to discuss new findings published this week in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which found an increase in apparent autism rates, from 1 in 36 children to 1 in 31. The report, based on 2022 data, found that the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder was higher in 8-year-old children than in previous years, and higher in Black, Hispanic and Asian Pacific Islander children than in white children.

I’ve mentioned before that my grandson is autistic. He has learning and language disabilities, but he’s going to a special school and his language is getting much better.

He loves playing with his father’s phone — he has figured out how to call me, so every once in a while I’ll get a surprise FaceTime call, and he’ll say “Hi, grandpa,” and then be at loss for words for a while, and he’ll close by saying “I love you, grandpa,” and go back to playing. He likes playing music on the phone, and has somehow figured out how to send his playlist in a text message to me. He seems to be on an Elton John kick right now, and he’s a fan of the Bee Gees.

He’s a human being, and his family loves him. How dare this incompetent, over-privileged fantasist dehumanize him?