The Flak in the Sky
During World War II, bomber crews flying over Germany were experts in anti-aircraft ordnance. I’ve read accounts where pilots and crew were able to predict their location by the amount and variety of flak they were receiving.
Accounts such as these gave rise to popular idioms we use today. In this case, if flak lit up the sky, you knew you were over the target. Nobody wasted shells on empty skies; the closer you were to hitting a high-value target, the heavier the fire.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s secretary of health and human services, is facing such intense anti-aircraft flak that he could walk from New York City to Washington, D.C. without his feet touching the ground. Regardless of the party, senators from both parties shredded him; the media turned his strained voice into a punchline, and worst of all for anybody, his own family publicly demanded he resign, immediately, all in unison.
Whenever we see such coordinated verbal assaults, we know Kennedy is circling something explosive, something Washington elites are desperate to keep buried.
A Hearing That Was Never About Questions
The Senate Finance Committee meeting, on paper, was supposed to cover topics that were nothing more than an ordinary meeting.
The reality, however, was (paraphrasing Hillary Clinton) a mass suspension of belief. Kennedy was grilled by senators who definitely felt as though they might be having their career-defining moment in front of the camera.
Kennedy was grilled hard for firing CDC Director Susan Monarez, tearing down the vaccine advisory board, canceling $500 million in mRNA contracts, and restricting shots for children and pregnant women.
Questions dripped with contempt.
Louisiana Republican Bill Cassidy, a doctor, accused Kennedy of denying people vaccines.
Democrats treated him like some outlaw scientist, living in his own castle, prone to lightning strikes, and being the center of suspicion by local police over grave robberies.
But listen closely: the …wait; no need to listen closely because of all the shouting in voices full of unmitigated hatred. Just turn the volume down instead, and turn the captions on. Makes it easier.
Let’s start that again.
But read the captions closely: The questions weren’t really about medicine; they were about power. Secretary Kennedy has been working to dismantle a system that thrives on crisis, contracts, and revolving door profits. His punishment wasn’t the result of his hard work, which put errors into the spotlight. Instead, he was punished for the simple act of touching the money tree.
That action alone explains the flak.
Hellbound and Down 