Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Read the original Robert F. Kennedy Jr. newsletter.
Welcome to OPE!, the newsletter by writer and music journalist Brady Gerber (me). This essay, originally published in my weekly newsletter, is free for all subscribers. Paying subscribers also gain access to an exclusive content. All typos are intentional.
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Hey now, welcome to OPE!, the newsletter by writer and music journalist Brady Gerber (me). Once a week, I talk about one specific “thing.” I also have a podcast where I’m reading James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake one sentence at a time, and a blog analyzing each week’s Billboard Hot 100 updates. Follow me on X, Bluesky, or Threads for song recommendations; I find all three silly. Follow me on Instagram for memes. All typos are intentional.
Well, hello there. How are you?
What a twat.
My sources and colleagues in the know had hinted for weeks that Kennedy and Trump would make this connection between Tylenol and autism official, so I wasn’t surprised by all this week’s hoopla. This conspiracy is also not totally new.
If anything, this week further validated what my colleagues and I have been trying to say forever.
It doesn’t feel great to be right.
I wrote a lot about RFK Jr. in an old newsletter that was just for paid subscribers, published around the time he was nominated for the HHS position he currently holds.
Here are some relevant quotes from that newsletter, slightly edited for clarity:
I’m sharing a special link that I wanted everyone to have access to: ASAN’s official statement on RFKJ’s nomination to head the HHS.
For my recent subscribers, some context:
I’m a writer on the autism spectrum, though I rarely write about it in this newsletter or for any of my freelance publications.
I have my own reasons for not writing about it much in public. I made an exception a few years ago when for New York Magazine, I wrote about being a culture critic on the spectrum and watching pop culture’s promising yet slow evolution of more nuanced depictions of autism, specifically for adults, and the thorny push-and-pull between the quiet power of popular works of art that helps us gain empathy (aka the ideal kind of representation that adds much to everyone and doesn’t take away anything from anybody) versus the dangers and lingering effects of misguided, or just lazy or mean-spirited, depictions of historically not-well-treated folks (aka fuck Rain Man, even though I understand why it was made and why it felt groundbreaking at the time).
I won’t rehash all those points here; here’s my feature link if you’d like to read all my thoughts on these topics.
I’m bringing all this up because Trump recently announced his nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the Health and Human Services. It’s freaking me out in a way I was not expecting. And I felt stuck. I didn’t know how to write about it. Until now, I think.
In general, I don’t talk about politics too much in this music-focused newsletter. I think most of you can guess where I land on Trump. Essentially, I’m not anti-conservative, but I can’t stand MAGA. There’s also a difference between “I’m apolitical” vs “I pick and choose the hills I die on.” I subscribe to the latter.
Autism and disabilities are some of those hills. And I bring up ASAN (the Autistic Self Advocacy Network) because their official statement from last week summed up everything I wanted to say about RFKJ’s potential impact and the complicated, mostly thorny baggage that comes from a man whom I would describe as a villain of folks in my world, a comparison that makes more sense after reading the ASAN link.
It’s a doom and gloom feeling I’ve had for many years, which has really crystallized in the past few weeks. It’s something I still struggle to talk about with other people, especially my friends and family who might mean well yet don’t seem as interested in my corner of the autism world that doesn’t directly affect them.
It’s the same problem of indifference that gets in the way of most progress: If it’s not my problem, it’s not a problem.
Ever since the outcome of this most recent election, I was getting nervous, because I felt stuck not knowing how to talk, or even write about, this election and how much I’ve been freaking out over a very hyper-specific reason, and in a way I think would feel most effective and processed. Now, I’m thankful to ASAN for creating a handy link that is easy to share.
(ASAN usually does good work; I highly recommend their newsletter if you’re curious to learn about the biggest news and updates related to this world.)
It feels like a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders. And now the best thing I can do right now is to pass along the right message that doesn’t need more words from me.
I do plan on writing more about autism in the future. For now, if you care at all about what I’m about, and I’m assuming you at least are curious about my thoughts—though I also like the idea of someone hate-subscribing to OPE!—I highly encourage you to check out the statement and keep these thoughts in mind as we see if this nomination goes through.
I have no illusion that sharing these words will stop the nomination, and I have no interest in changing your mind if you’re not open to reconsidering any preconceived notions. However, I do ask for your time and attention; I take your time and attention seriously, so I hope you return the favor.
Again, here’s the link: https://autisticadvocacy.org/2024/11/asan-opposes-robert-f-kennedy-jr-s-nomination-to-head-hhs/
I stand by pretty much every word.
This week, I also published a rare LinkedIn post, adding some new thoughts that follow:
The spectrum can be a weird, lonely place.
As it’s been the case for so long, myself and a lot of my ASD friends and colleagues still silently struggle to articulate what makes all this misinformation so dangerous to folks who are indifferent (”If it’s not my problem, it must not be ~a~ problem”), folks who actively benefit from said misinformation (e.g., RFK Jr. earning literal millions of dollars as the founder and former chairman of Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit known for their anti-vaccine campaigns), or folks who are so afraid of people who act and process the world differently that they consider neurodiversity a death sentence, or something to “fix.”
It’s hard to know that the people you’d most like to reach and connect with in the name of peace and understanding are the ones quickest to shut you out.
I’m still struggling with that last sentence. It’s also why I don’t talk about this stuff often online or even in public, among other reasons. The very people I’d like to talk to about their fears of autism and where they come from probably aren’t going to change their minds by reading one of my tweets or newsletters. At this point, the infrastructure works too well. Too many politicians, content creators, and influencers, especially on TikTok, are making actual money from the discourse that comes from all this noise.
It’s the smoke theory of propaganda, playing out in real time. Someone creates smoke (bad agents who present misinformation) until people become scared of that smoke—and what it could imply—and someone starts a fire (followers of said bad agents act upon the misinformation that causes the desired response). In the end, a bunch of people get burned, and the bad agents can claim no responsibility; they can say that their smoke didn’t cause any literal fire.
It’s the oldest trick in the book.
That doesn’t make it any less annoying.
Still, it does help to talk about it in some way, thus this newsletter. And I appreciate anyone who’s reached out. You’re the best.
So once again, if you’re interested, I recommend people check out ASAN and their latest statement.
This week’s link worth clicking:
I’m wrapping up Hollow Knight: Silking, a wonderful game with incredible music that I probably won’t finish due to its increasing difficulty, and getting ready for next week’s remake of my favorite game of all time: Final Fantasy Tactics. For me, this is the gold standard for strategy gaming. Check it out if you have any remote interest in Final Fantasy or RPGs. I think IGN’s review of the remake does a good job breaking everything down. (I’m aware that IGN reviews are easy to make fun of; they still get it right more times than not, especially if you’re just looking for a clear “Should I buy this?” recommendation.)
And that’s it. See you next time.
With love and all the other good things,
-b
Original OPE! logo by Claire Kuang. Words and cartoons by yours truly. My views don’t reflect my clients or the publications and brands I work with. All typos are intentional.