I received a solicitation from RFK Jr., yesterday. Here are some excerpts from the letter:
“Do you trust big oil companies and trophy hunters with the fate of the polar bear?”
“There have been documented reports of polar bears drowning and starving…and of snowy dens collapsing on newborn cubs and thir mothers from unseasonable rains”
“As our newest member, you’ll b supporting a hard-hitting campaign to mobilize the solid majority of the American people who belive that the polar bear deserves our strongest protection…and fighting back against Big Oil…who would sacrifice this majestic creature to their bottom line.”
Whew! All this from a guy who owns substantial shares in EXXON and CHEVRON .
This is also the clown who thinks that childhood vaccines cause autism (despite no scientific proof).
He also has a substantial “carbon footprint”-and probably consumes 10-20 times the energy that the average citizen does.
I’d like to contribute-think they would accept a nickel?
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Off to Great Debates.
IMHO > GD
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Joe Kennedy bought three oil drilling companies in the 1950s and 1960s - they are still in business and family members get royalty payments from them annually.
Robert F. Kennedy Sr. has been criticized by some environmentalists for accepting his royalty.
I doubt he’s accepted any royalties from them recently, though.
Correction noted. Thanks much.
He’s against vaccines?
Wow- apparently, vaccines are the ONLY drug this guy has ever had qualms about putting in his body.
Since so many people have changed their minds about vaccines recently, I’m wondering if there is anything more recent on Robert Kennedy, Jr.'s thinking since his appearance on Morning Joe. The You Tube comments address specifically the mercury content of the vaccines.
Of course, it’s a lot harder to update your past. He will forever be the Kennedy grandchild who was the heroine addict when he was a teenager. He had problems again in 1984 when he was charged with possession of heroin. As part of a plea agreement, he was sentenced to 800 hours of community service.
It was during his community service that he became involved with the Hudson River Foundation which became part of the Hudson Riverkeepers. This was his introduction to the environmental movement.
Now he has been named one of Time magazine’s “Heroes for the Planet” for his success helping Riverkeeper lead the fight to restore the Hudson River. The group’s achievement lead to the creation of more than 130 Waterkeeper organizations around the world.
Besides kicking his drug habit, he graduated from Harvard and received his J.D. from a law school in Virginia. He also holds a Masters in Environmental Law. Among his other jobs, he is the Senior Attorney for the National Resources Denfense Council. They may have been the ones inviting the OP to membership. It’s a worthy and successful cause.
I don’t know all of the many ways his grandfather made money or how he arranged for his children and grandchildren to inherit financially. Nor do I know how each of the Kennedys divert the non-green funds that tend to work their way into almost any investments in a capitalistic society. But I think that this man has paid his dues to the Earth – carbon footprint and all. There is much, much more than I am posting here.
BTW, in some of the posts before mine, Jr. and Sr. and used interchangeably. He uses “Jr.”
So we have this rich, ex-junkie lecturing us about things that he knows NOTHING about. How does drilling for oil (onshore) do anything to affect the polar bears? The latest surveys show the polar bear population increasing-maybe oil drilling is good for them?
As for curtailing oil exploration in Alaska, I’m sure that RFK doesn’t give a damn that we have to pay more for gasoline or heating oil-in any case, grandpa’s trust funds keep paying out.
This fraud also has contributed to the deaths and permanent disability of the children whose parents did not have them vaccinated (because they were scared by his unscientific analysis of how thimersol cause autism)-so what if little Johhnie goes blind because he comes down with rubella?
As I say, I might contribute to the NRDC-$0.02 sounds about right.
Ralph, you seem to be purposely missing the point. Since he’s much more than an ex-junkie (people on this site are ex-junkies and very valuable members of our community) and has gotten several advanced degrees that are directly relevant to the topics at hand. In short, it appears that you are lecturing us on things you know NOTHING about.
I don’t know what he knows about polar bears, but I got to chat with him for a bit this summer about mountaintop removal coal mining (one of his big issues at the moment), and there’s no doubt that he knew his stuff.
He was wrong about thimerosal and autism, but when it comes to straight-up environmental issues I’ve always been impressed with the depth of his knowledge.
Oh really? The claim that the polar bears are decreasing in numbers is false; also, RFKhas a masters degree in environmental law. How does that qualify him with regard to vaccinations, autism, global warming, and the effect of oil exploration upon the environment?
More to the point, if he feels so strongly about this, why doesn’t he sell his shares in the oil firms he lambastes? I would accept him more readily if he wasn’t such a hypocrite. As we all know, the “evil” oil companies are out to destroy us, we need to fight them! Of cours, he needs oil for his fleet of SUVs and private planes (the rules don’t apply to him).
Hey, I bought a lot of Wonder Woman comics when I was a kid, too. Didn’t hurt anybody. In my circle, we called it “chasing the magic lasso.”
RFKJr has zero credibility with me after I saw him on TV the first time, as I mention in [post=8242955]this SDMB post[/post]. I am pretty liberal, but I believe in truth. I see nothing in the OP to change my mind about RFKJr’s credibility. Part of “knowing what you’re talking about” is knowing when you are outside your area of expertise. When you’re outside your area, qualify what you’re saying or STFU. Don’t lie, and don’t repeat lies.