Shame and Scandal in the Family…

The second Trump administration is yet to be inaugurated, but strange stories are already emerging with alarming frequency.

In the the last couple of days the world has learned about two strange developments.

The first one concerns Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s appointee for Secretary of Health and Human Services. A lawyer helping him to pick Federal Health officials has petitioned the government to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine.

Let me get this straight. I come from a generation that was decimated (well, decimated may be a strong word, so let us say grievously impacted) by the worldwide polio epidemic in the 40’s and 50’s. An epidemic that was only halted by the two polio vaccines. The first by Jonas Salk, the second by Albert Sabin.

Thanks to them, polio was eliminated from the United States in 1979 and in much of the rest of the world in 1991. No more children (and even adults) in iron lungs, wheel chairs or braces. As far as I know, the only countries still affected by polio are Afghanistan and Pakistan.

But the strange Mr. Kennedy hates vaccines and believes, with no facts to back him up, that the polio vaccines “may cause autism”.

This is the “shame” part of my post. Now for the “scandal”.

Eric Trump, Donald Trump’s son, is in the United Arab Emirates right now, pushing the new business sector the family has invested in: cryptocurrency.

The news is notable because it contrasts drastically with the promise the family made when Donald Trump first entered the White House almost eight years ago: to keep business and government operations separate.

It was an empty promise. From hotels to perfumes, watches, ties, suits, sneakers, digital trading cards, everything is a monetizing opportunity to Trump. Even the Bible, though it is hard to find anyone less saintly in his actions and words than the “papa” in the family.

Now Donald Trump is investing in crypto and finds it only natural to push crypto. His son Eric said in Abu Dhabi: “You’re going to have the most pro-crypto president in the history of America”.

They are even considering appointing a crypto-friendly lawyer as the new Chairman of the Security and Exchange Commission to regulate the industry that the family now is profiting from.

Shame and Scandal in the Family…