It’s looking more and more likely that the fascist GOP is about to scrap the 60-vote filibuster for the SAVE Act and require a talking filibuster instead. Unbelievable.
Millions, if not tens of
millions, of voters will be disenfranchised. Mostly women and persons of color. This will be the greatest assault on our democracy in modern U.S. political history.
We need an action plan to secure 3 GOP no votes. A code-red event.
Articles today in NYT and WaPo and the Pod Save America guys — who typically don’t go hyperbolic on these matters — are sounding the alarm. They think Colllins will cave.
I read yesterday that Mitch McConnell is holding up the SAVE Act in committee, that it won't get to the floor. Did the articles you read mention that? I don't see why he would change his mind.
Perhaps 10 percent or so of RFK Jr’s agenda is good. The problem is that his constructive proposals are the least llikely to be implemented. There is no way in hell the industry, or the rest of the Trump Regime, is going to allow RFK Jr to e.g. ban the use of additional harmful pesticides or ban harmful food additives.
Quite the contrary; with regards to pesticides, I believe Trump just signed an executive order ensuring continued production of glyphosate!
That could well be, but it flies in the face of the professed goals of MAHA. Anything that causes anger and dissension in that camp is positive for our side – and that hypocrisy surely will.
Take a good look at what is going on in Iowa! Highest rate of new cancer diagnosis, pollution of rivers and streams at dangerous levels! Very hard to process water for drinking due to high levels of nitrates!!! What is acceptable? I lost two Iowa family members to cancer in the last four months!
Good day, fellow Patriots! I have traveled from my current home on the east end of Nebraska back to the small town I was born in on the west end of the state to perform a “Celebration of Singer Songwriters” concert for the local arts council, and I will be conducting a workshop tomorrow morning on songwriting with fourth and fifth graders that’s gonna be really fun, where we create a song together.
I only share this because it occurred to me a moment ago that as dark as these times are, there are still so many bright moments available to us.
Seize them, milk them, and create as many more of them as you can. Authoritarians cannot thrive in a society filled with joy and community.
This will be our superpower… And like USAID and PEPFAR, it is soft power… But soft power, such as the steady current of a river and the periodic gusts of the wind, can create miracles like digging out the Grand Canyon.
This was another great conversation! I really appreciate your contention that the so-called MAHA moms, like Dr. Norton's, are acting out of love for their kids. I think it's important to keep that in mind and to reach out to folks that hold these beliefs in a spirit of respect. If we belittle them and call them lunatics, we will lose them to MAGA and will push them in to making even more dangerous health decisions for themselves and their families.
I know a LOT of people who define themselves as MAHA moms. Most of them, given my own political beliefs, otherwise are left leaning (but not all -- I have MAHA/MAGA friends and family members). My kids attended a Waldorf preschool, and most of the people there had some of these beliefs, myself included. I believe, like most in the MAHA movement (and I suspect, most people in America) that there is too much money in the agri-business, that microplastics are harming our health and environment, that we should eat more whole food and less ultra-processed food, that we should decrease the amount of additives in our food, that the mind/body connection is essential, and that organic farming processes should be encouraged. Aromatherapy, crystals, supplements? Eh, not for me, but I don't see the harm in many of these things. I vehemently disagree with the MAHA stance on vaccines and raw milk, on home births (my mom would be dead as her uterus ruptured when my youngest brother was being born), and on the attacks on science. But I have witnessed many of my friends get sucked into this world and I want to help pull them out of it. That can't happen if we demonize them and insult their intelligence, or their deep love for their children.
Thank you all three for a truly informative and inspiring conversation. Dr. Norton: Thank you for your courage and for your final words recognizing the fact that many parents make poor decisions but do so out of love for their children. We need to fight disinformation and find more effective ways of communicating the truth.
The attacks on vaccines and other health programs, especially the destruction of USAID will lead to millions of premature deaths worldwide. But the relentless attacks on climate and environmental science will have repercussions FOREVER, as the changes are essentially irreversible as sea levels creep upward, species go extinct, forests burn, etc. And hundreds of millions of people will become climate refugees, further taxing our fragile socio-political systems. If you are not a climate “alarmist,” you are not paying attention. Off to my Sunday protest again…….
I have a strong faith in the power of nature to heal itself. I believe wholeheartedly that we can bring the climate back towards balance, once we begin doing the right things: Eliminating the political and economic power of, and global reliance on, the fossil fuel industry would be the single biggest step we can make in our lifetimes.
Nature has wonder, and magic in it... Science hasn't learned to measure that, or calculate how it impacts the models. That's our saving grace, but no reason to give an inch in the fight.
The changes won't happen overnight, but I believe it can be faster than the scientific models indicate. However if we continue to sh*t the nest as we have over the last century +, it will only deteriorate further. Eventually the only way out for the planet will be to make it inhospitable to the human race.
Thank you for sharing that conversation with Dr. Norton and Colette Dellawalla. It solidified in my mind what I suspected, that the destruction of our science and health based institutions is rooted in racism. I spent years working with pediatric and neonatal patients as a licensed allied health care professional. While working with families on educating them about their children's pulmonary issues I now realize it's been a problem of accessibility and that I was only interacting with them at the least desirable stage, which was hospitalization. Most of my patients were POC, Hispanics and poor whites and immigrants. All had the same problem, lack of access to doctors, medications, money and health care. What a shameful legacy to the wealthiest country on earth that our healthcare infrastructure is being destroyed by bunch of grifting charlatans and crackpots. I signed the Bethesda Declaration and have donated to Stand Up for Science. I will make another donation. We shouldn't go back to the middle ages when it comes to preventable diseases.
This discussion with Colette and Dr Norton is amazing- thank you Simon for hosting this and all of you for your efforts! I left a comment elsewhere asking Simon to call out March 7 next Wednesday, before I heard this. I also support SUFS. I am a working scientist and have felt like no one was calling out a lot of what is happening, especially at NIH, since last summer. It’s truly heartbreaking but I’m so encouraged hearing Dr Norton talk about efforts. And I totally agree with Colette and Jenna that it wasn’t perfect before so we now have an opportunity to rebuild better. I’ll be at my local rally March 7, thank you!
There was so much to learn and envision for future policy across the four recent interviews! For sure, focusing on health rather than health insurance for-profit industry is the whole point, and a winner.
More food for thought for those of us trying to understand how our current situation fits in history and what to call it: "What exactly is a concentration camp?"
Dr Norton, one of my favorite Paul Offit quotes is something like “the trauma of our childhoods become our passions in our adulthoods.” Your mom’s misinformation on vaccines and having not vaccinated you and your siblings had a profound impact on who you became. Just like my having had h flu meningitis (pre vaccine) and growing up with an aunt in a wheelchair since age 7 from polio shaped me into the pediatrician I am today. We are molded by our hard-earned experiences
It’s looking more and more likely that the fascist GOP is about to scrap the 60-vote filibuster for the SAVE Act and require a talking filibuster instead. Unbelievable.
Millions, if not tens of
millions, of voters will be disenfranchised. Mostly women and persons of color. This will be the greatest assault on our democracy in modern U.S. political history.
We need an action plan to secure 3 GOP no votes. A code-red event.
Of course I did not mean that, and seems odd to
Interpret it as such. Edited it nonetheless.
Thanks. Comment removed.
On what evidence do you base this assertion?
Articles today in NYT and WaPo and the Pod Save America guys — who typically don’t go hyperbolic on these matters — are sounding the alarm. They think Colllins will cave.
She has already said she will vote Yes.
I read yesterday that Mitch McConnell is holding up the SAVE Act in committee, that it won't get to the floor. Did the articles you read mention that? I don't see why he would change his mind.
I think Simon stated that Mitch McConnell would not let this vote go to the floor.
It really is shocking how much harm a brainworm, and its greatly-debilitated host, can cause to America!
Perhaps 10 percent or so of RFK Jr’s agenda is good. The problem is that his constructive proposals are the least llikely to be implemented. There is no way in hell the industry, or the rest of the Trump Regime, is going to allow RFK Jr to e.g. ban the use of additional harmful pesticides or ban harmful food additives.
Quite the contrary; with regards to pesticides, I believe Trump just signed an executive order ensuring continued production of glyphosate!
Yes, and he rolled back prohibitions on mercury and other toxins for coal-burning power plants.
Unless I am mistaken, I read that RFK Jr backed Trump on not blocking the use of glyphosate.
That could well be, but it flies in the face of the professed goals of MAHA. Anything that causes anger and dissension in that camp is positive for our side – and that hypocrisy surely will.
💯. It shows what a phony RFK Jr. is but no surprise there. Apropos of nothing, why does he workout in jeans?
We should make it public that DJT himself partakes of vaccines though he publicly says that he is against them.
Take a good look at what is going on in Iowa! Highest rate of new cancer diagnosis, pollution of rivers and streams at dangerous levels! Very hard to process water for drinking due to high levels of nitrates!!! What is acceptable? I lost two Iowa family members to cancer in the last four months!
Good day, fellow Patriots! I have traveled from my current home on the east end of Nebraska back to the small town I was born in on the west end of the state to perform a “Celebration of Singer Songwriters” concert for the local arts council, and I will be conducting a workshop tomorrow morning on songwriting with fourth and fifth graders that’s gonna be really fun, where we create a song together.
I only share this because it occurred to me a moment ago that as dark as these times are, there are still so many bright moments available to us.
Seize them, milk them, and create as many more of them as you can. Authoritarians cannot thrive in a society filled with joy and community.
This will be our superpower… And like USAID and PEPFAR, it is soft power… But soft power, such as the steady current of a river and the periodic gusts of the wind, can create miracles like digging out the Grand Canyon.
Happy Sunday my friends, much love to all of you.
❤️🇺🇸
This was another great conversation! I really appreciate your contention that the so-called MAHA moms, like Dr. Norton's, are acting out of love for their kids. I think it's important to keep that in mind and to reach out to folks that hold these beliefs in a spirit of respect. If we belittle them and call them lunatics, we will lose them to MAGA and will push them in to making even more dangerous health decisions for themselves and their families.
I know a LOT of people who define themselves as MAHA moms. Most of them, given my own political beliefs, otherwise are left leaning (but not all -- I have MAHA/MAGA friends and family members). My kids attended a Waldorf preschool, and most of the people there had some of these beliefs, myself included. I believe, like most in the MAHA movement (and I suspect, most people in America) that there is too much money in the agri-business, that microplastics are harming our health and environment, that we should eat more whole food and less ultra-processed food, that we should decrease the amount of additives in our food, that the mind/body connection is essential, and that organic farming processes should be encouraged. Aromatherapy, crystals, supplements? Eh, not for me, but I don't see the harm in many of these things. I vehemently disagree with the MAHA stance on vaccines and raw milk, on home births (my mom would be dead as her uterus ruptured when my youngest brother was being born), and on the attacks on science. But I have witnessed many of my friends get sucked into this world and I want to help pull them out of it. That can't happen if we demonize them and insult their intelligence, or their deep love for their children.
Thank you all three for a truly informative and inspiring conversation. Dr. Norton: Thank you for your courage and for your final words recognizing the fact that many parents make poor decisions but do so out of love for their children. We need to fight disinformation and find more effective ways of communicating the truth.
The attacks on vaccines and other health programs, especially the destruction of USAID will lead to millions of premature deaths worldwide. But the relentless attacks on climate and environmental science will have repercussions FOREVER, as the changes are essentially irreversible as sea levels creep upward, species go extinct, forests burn, etc. And hundreds of millions of people will become climate refugees, further taxing our fragile socio-political systems. If you are not a climate “alarmist,” you are not paying attention. Off to my Sunday protest again…….
FOREVER is a long time, Stu.
I have a strong faith in the power of nature to heal itself. I believe wholeheartedly that we can bring the climate back towards balance, once we begin doing the right things: Eliminating the political and economic power of, and global reliance on, the fossil fuel industry would be the single biggest step we can make in our lifetimes.
Nature has wonder, and magic in it... Science hasn't learned to measure that, or calculate how it impacts the models. That's our saving grace, but no reason to give an inch in the fight.
The changes won't happen overnight, but I believe it can be faster than the scientific models indicate. However if we continue to sh*t the nest as we have over the last century +, it will only deteriorate further. Eventually the only way out for the planet will be to make it inhospitable to the human race.
Thank you for sharing that conversation with Dr. Norton and Colette Dellawalla. It solidified in my mind what I suspected, that the destruction of our science and health based institutions is rooted in racism. I spent years working with pediatric and neonatal patients as a licensed allied health care professional. While working with families on educating them about their children's pulmonary issues I now realize it's been a problem of accessibility and that I was only interacting with them at the least desirable stage, which was hospitalization. Most of my patients were POC, Hispanics and poor whites and immigrants. All had the same problem, lack of access to doctors, medications, money and health care. What a shameful legacy to the wealthiest country on earth that our healthcare infrastructure is being destroyed by bunch of grifting charlatans and crackpots. I signed the Bethesda Declaration and have donated to Stand Up for Science. I will make another donation. We shouldn't go back to the middle ages when it comes to preventable diseases.
Thanks, Simon. Powerful stuff! RFK Jr. as we remember him ... "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wins historic $290 million case against giant Monsanto and Roundup weed-killer" ... https://www.irishcentral.com/news/robert-f-kennedy-case-monsanto-roundup-weed-killer
Hell Yes to Science ! Hell No to maga's medieval mysticism !
--Scientist seeking smarter public policy ! (my protest sign with female symbol for the first t in Scientist)
This discussion with Colette and Dr Norton is amazing- thank you Simon for hosting this and all of you for your efforts! I left a comment elsewhere asking Simon to call out March 7 next Wednesday, before I heard this. I also support SUFS. I am a working scientist and have felt like no one was calling out a lot of what is happening, especially at NIH, since last summer. It’s truly heartbreaking but I’m so encouraged hearing Dr Norton talk about efforts. And I totally agree with Colette and Jenna that it wasn’t perfect before so we now have an opportunity to rebuild better. I’ll be at my local rally March 7, thank you!
Yes to science!! Q: why wouldn’t MAHA moms follow Michelle Obama who did so much for childhood nutrition?
There was so much to learn and envision for future policy across the four recent interviews! For sure, focusing on health rather than health insurance for-profit industry is the whole point, and a winner.
More food for thought for those of us trying to understand how our current situation fits in history and what to call it: "What exactly is a concentration camp?"
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/21/opinion/concentration-camp-andrea-pitzer.html
Dr Norton, one of my favorite Paul Offit quotes is something like “the trauma of our childhoods become our passions in our adulthoods.” Your mom’s misinformation on vaccines and having not vaccinated you and your siblings had a profound impact on who you became. Just like my having had h flu meningitis (pre vaccine) and growing up with an aunt in a wheelchair since age 7 from polio shaped me into the pediatrician I am today. We are molded by our hard-earned experiences