Note – This is not an endorsement of Robert F. Kenndy Jr.’s presidential campaign. It is, however, a disparagement of PolitiFact.
“In a campaign constructed by lies, that might be the biggest one.”
This is the “kicker line” of PolitiFact’s “Lie of the Year” article https://www.politifact.com/article/2023/dec/21/robert-f-kennedy-jrs-campaign-of-conspiracy-theori/ .
The “Lie of the Year?” RFK Jr.’s very existence, it seems.
“…one thing is clear,” begins the article. “Kennedy’s political following is built on a movement that seeks to legitimize conspiracy theories.”
Let’s take a quick look at concepts – some RFK Jr. related, some not – that have been labeled conspiracy theories but turned out to be, well, not:
· COVID did not come from a lab leak…um, it probably did.
· The lab was not funded by the U.S. government…it definitely was
· The vaccines stop the spread of the virus…nope, they don’t and they weren’t even tested for that
· COVID shots are completely safe…they have an adverse reaction rate of 1 in 800, most other actual vaccines are in the 1 in a million range
· Childhood vaccines do not cause autism…actually, they don’t so that remains in tinfoil town
· The government does not want to watch you in your car…see “kill switch”
And concepts that are touted to deny conspiracy theories? Let’s see:
· The deep state does not exist…beyond wrong
· January 6 was an attempt to overthrow the government…not even close
· The government does not censor free speech…check out the Twitter Files
· The CDC sets impeccable standards for public health…no, no, and changes its mind no.
In other words, the term “conspiracy theory” once held a certain appropriate place to dismiss true loopiness – moon landing, hollow earth, Oprah’s land grabbing lasers, etc. Now if an official source or expert bothers to brand something a conspiracy theory, there is almost certainly at least a whiff of truth to it.
To quote “Yes, Minister:” Never believe anything until it has been officially denied.
In fact, that sense of any public trust at all is one of the most crucial casualties of the pandemic response. The powers that be have Chicken Littled/Boy who cried wolf the entire nation; in the end, that can only damage society.
Of course, the public needs to face its complicity, its decision to take the easy road over the past few years. Remember, as Homer Simpson said, It takes two to lie: one to lie and one to listen:
All of the above is meant as table setting for the absurdity of PolitiFact’s bought and paid for – if they did it for free I would be very disappointed in them – takedown of RFK. Jr.
Each and every slight is a re-iteration of Biden (and to a lesser extent Trump) talking point – the fear in the story is palpable.
The piece starts with a re-counting of RFK Jr.’s misspent youth – very standard Kennedy fare that would almost surely not be mentioned if he were a “good” Kennedy.
It then moves into his rather hardcore environmentalist (seriously, he was/is of a hue so green it should give anyone pause) phase of life which it, somehow for a mainstream media outlet, manages, amazingly for them, to make sound dirty and stupid.
Then we get to childhood vaccines and autism. To be clear, the study that found this link was fraudulent – it simply doesn’t exist and RFK Jr. is/was wrong.
But PolitiFact engages in its classic labeling move: he is anti-vax and he was wrong about autism so he must be wrong about the COVID shots because all vaccines are the same and all are tested and safe and have long track records of success and…
In other words, he couldn’t fix the last car so when he says the new car with three square wheels won’t work he must be wrong.
That kind of dismissiveness is one of the reasons why public health and the media that has spouted its lines of late has taken such a hit. As shown in Marin county, California – once a hotbed of upper-class woke white woman vaccine fear – a person can legitimately be worried about one thing without being worried about everything -
PolitiFact then notes that RFK had been tossed off of social media sites for the dreaded disinformation, so that makes him bad…? At least PolitiFact acknowledged the role they and NewsGuard played in silencing him…for money - https://thecheckmate.substack.com/p/its-real-clear-newsguard-is-evil .
Then the article moves on to how RFK Jr. glommed onto the COVID controversy, thereby making him and his Children’s Health Defense foundation a bunch of money. It’s funny – Pfizer profits aren’t mentioned in the piece.
PolitiFact takes issue with Kennedy having the temerity to continue to offer his point of view, saying “Kennedy’s movement exemplifies the resonance of conspiratorial views. Misinformers with organized efforts are rewarded with money and loyalty. But that doesn’t make the claims true (tell that to Joe Biden.)”
Note the word “misinformers.”
There are unquestionably troubling aspects of Kennedy’s campaign and message and the article correctly points out a number of them. But there is a reason why his favorable/unfavorable ratio is – unlike Biden’s and Trump’s – on the positive side. He is seen by the public as willing to speak up, stand out, and take down the powers that be.
For Biden voters, that’s anathema. For Trump voters, that’s copying…with a huge caveat. Polls show Kennedy pulling a bit more of Trump’s vote than Biden’s – that’s because if there is hesitancy in Trumpworld about his re-election is it almost solely based on his pandemic response and how he got rolled by the bureaucrats around him.
And the fact that neither Trump nor Biden has said a single word about COVID – it’s like an election taking place in 1946 and no one mentioning the war and that breeds very well deserved suspicion.
The article posits that one of the standard claims of conspiracy loons is that they complain no one takes them seriously, that they can’t get their “message out” because they are being censored.
Well, Kennedy is and has been and PolitiFact notes very dismissively that he can really only get airtime with “alternative” (eww, what is that smell?) media. But that is attention so any claim of censorship or de-platforming or ignoring has any credence:
"You’re like, ‘But you're talking right now. I’m listening to you. I hear your words. You’re not being censored,’" said Whitney Phillips, an assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon who researches how news media covers conspiracy theories and their proponents. "But a person can believe they’re being censored because they’ve internalized that they’re going to be," or they know making the claim will land with their audience.
Like, totally…so there.