Supposed well being nut Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of the well being and human companies, celebrated Mom’s Day by taking his household to swim in polluted waters.
Kennedy shared pictures of the tour to Rock Creek simply outdoors of Washington, D.C. Together with photographs of himself—shirtless and sporting denims, as he’s wont to do—submerging himself within the creek, the Make America Wholesome Once more cheerleader wrote, “Mom’s Day hike in Dumbarton Oaks Park with Amaryllis, Bobby, Kick, and Jackson, and a swim with my grandchildren, Bobcat and Cassius in Rock Creek.”
Nonetheless, swimming in Rock Creek has been banned since 1971 attributable to air pollution from runoff and quite a few sewer outfalls. Whereas there are ongoing efforts to scrub up the waterways, it isn’t at present protected.
On its Rock Create web site, the Nationwide Park Service informs guests to “keep dry, keep protected,” explaining that the ban is because of “excessive ranges of micro organism and different infectious pathogens that make swimming, wading, and different contact with the water a hazard to human (and pet) well being.” On the identical time, “[s]crambling out and in of the creek may erode stream banks, which might negatively impression habitat for the park’s aquatic wildlife,” based on the NPS.
It’s laborious for a lot of to think about, not to mention keep in mind, that Kennedy was as soon as celebrated for his environmental efforts in cleansing up the Hudson River. His authorized work with the Riverkeeper group and the Waterkeeper Alliance within the Eighties and Nineties earned him broad recognition as a champion of environmental safety.
Regardless of these environmentalist beginnings, Kennedy has since leaned closely into anti-science conspiracy theories. His unscientific criticisms of vaccine security have undermined public well being initiatives, and as head of the HHS, he continues to promote doubtful well being and medical recommendation.
In a 2021 e-book titled “The Actual Anthony Fauci,” Kennedy capitalized on COVID-19 conspiracies by attacking Dr. Anthony Fauci—the top of the Nationwide Institute of Allergy and Infectious Ailments—whereas selling a bizarrely misinformed criticism of germ idea.
This previous Mom’s Day, Kennedy’s perception that germs are overrated was on full show as the top of our nation’s public well being equipment promoted swimming in shit.
