Submit Your Questions to Real Time With Bill Maher Tonight Featuring Robert F. Kennedy Jr
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is appearing on Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO tonight. "Bill and his roundtable guests – Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Christopher Caldwell, Ana Marie Cox, Liz Mair and Eddie Huang – will answer viewer questions after Friday's show."
I'm sure Mr. Kennedy will be talking about the ad featuring the documentary Trace Amounts USA Today - see below.
Submit your questions. Selected questions will be answered on the Real Time YouTube channel immediately following the premiere. Please be aware that concise (50 words or less) single-topic questions have the best chance of being selected, so the shorter and more specific you can be, the better.
Tune into or DVR Real Time with Bill Maher tonight at 10:00pm EDT on HBO.
Follow Bill Maher on Twitter @BillMaher and follow the official Twitter of the Real Time Staff @RealTimers.
I wonder if the vaccination hysteria over Measles will produce an increase in Autism, ADHD, ect...? The Disney scare may bloat our already inflating numbers. Will that be hidden ? Or just the same old refrain of "Vaccines are safe. Must be bad genes, air, water, food... live near highway, old parents, overweight parents, ect..." I'm impressed with RFK Jr., but it is a half measure. Half is better than none, though. At least he's brave.
Posted by: Theresa 66 | April 26, 2015 at 07:04 PM
Despite Kennedy's repeated statements on TV, radio and in print that he's pro-vaccine and vaccinated his kids, Salon shows their journalistic colors -- yellow streaks -- by referring to him as a "noted anti-vaxxer" after his USA Today ad and appearance with Bill Maher.
Could Salon announce any louder how owned they are?
Posted by: nhokkanen | April 25, 2015 at 06:24 PM
Linda1,
Thank you for the link.
Re:
"Ending exemptions is premature until we have a functioning regulatory agency and a transparent process."--RFK Jr.
Rand Paul -- "... so I'm not anti-vaccine at all, but particularly MOST of them ought to be voluntary."
Chris Christie -- "...parents need to have SOME MEASURE of choice in this as well..."
Anybody else feel like maybe some sort of dictum has come down on our national (and some state, possibly hope-to-be national) politicians something to the effect "mandates are are the agenda, and you better figure out what form of mandate your "team" can get behind, otherwise you're out..."
"Press, get a 'debate' going..."
Like possibly one "side" might be, well if we get thimerosal out, mostly out (it's mostly "out" anyway right?) and not complicate things with more headache triggering talk of other vaccine components then we can say we're comfortable with telling parents, we know best...
Another might be, make it harder to opt out and legislate mandates during declared "emergencies" (I think we already have that, but many probably missed it, that so we might want to legislate in a similar way again or at least talk about it so more get comfortable with the idea), ...trying to reasonable conserve the experimental levels of vaccine uptake we've had so far...
And if more catch on to the "CDC whistleblower" story, well, we just had a nice outbreak of the disease covered by the particular vaccine in question and if it looks like most swallow the blame-the-antivaxxers line, they'll probably not be too miffed that we tried not to needlessly concern them with concerning data on that one MMR paper...but it will be good to get some mandates in the works ASAP...
Then, we can get the same adults who demanded the "anti-vaxxers" get vaccinated to protect their children to take another MMR dose (flu shot, DTaP and all) to protect them also--don't want to be hypocritical, it's too late to start asking questions now, just sing and shake it off...go about your business, anything that happens after is purely coincidental...
Posted by: Jeannette Bishop | April 25, 2015 at 05:56 PM
Laura and Cia,
EXACTLY.
And it should be law that anyone giving a vaccine, and it should only be MDs in my opinion (no standing orders all over the community to be followed by anyone in the absence of the ordering physician) and it should be law that MDs HAVE to FULLY INFORM as with any legal contract that people enter into, they should be legally bound to present the FACTS about the drug and the disease that they are being vaccinated for, to each potential recipient, with significant civil and criminal penalties for failure to do so, whether there is evidence of harm of not.
Posted by: Linda1 | April 25, 2015 at 04:25 PM
Laura and Linda,
I totally agree. It has always REALLY annoyed me when I see recommendations that the decision be left to the parents and the doctor. No. I don't think so. The physician is ONLY hired help. Nothing more than that. Who's going to take orders from their hired help? Not only that, but it should be the law that the parents BOTH have to give their free, uncoerced, and well-informed consent to any vaccine. And if they were fully informed, no one would do it.
Anne,
They can reduce the mercury, but with present technology, not eliminate it entirely. And they can't take out aluminum, and if they did, any adjuvant they replaced it with would also be dangerous. The role of the adjuvant is to make the serum go further, and to irritate the immune system for as many years as possible, to make it keep cranking out the desperately-desired antibodies. If the irritation (inflammation, encephalitis, autoimmune reaction) ever stops, then vaccine protection stops too. Vaccines are the devil's bargain.
Posted by: cia parker | April 25, 2015 at 02:52 PM
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. - Real Time with Bill Maher
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24IZ4uwiflk
Posted by: Linda1 | April 25, 2015 at 02:23 PM
Ditto what Linda1 said..."MANDATORY VACCINATION WILL NEVER EVER BE ACCEPTABLE"...under any circumstances.
For all times, in all places, any and all medical treatments and medical procedures must be VOLUNTARY...with prior, VOLUNTARY, and informed consent. Period.
And for children, those decisions lie SOLELY with the parents. I find it very wrong, and take great offense, when I read that "parents and doctors" should make medical decisions for children, including vaccination decisions. Not so. If a parent wants to consult a doctor, or many, that is their choice. It is also their choice not to do so.
We must protect our personal liberties. And, tragically, we must protect them from the very people we have elected to protect them, and whose salaries we pay. What a terrible irony.
Posted by: Laura Hayes | April 25, 2015 at 02:20 PM
Vaccines need to be more clearly labeled as to what is in them, too. And they all need to have thimerosal or any other poisons out completely.
Posted by: Anne | April 25, 2015 at 02:01 PM
Regina--"What I don't understand is some kids can take certain vaccinations and others almost die from it or have other severe repercussions." Genetics is a short, simple answer. The same reason some can smoke cigarettes and live longer and others die sooner. Genetics. Massive amounts of mercury injected into generations of children and some appear unscathed and others broken, disabled, damaged.....genetics. We are all snowflakes but vaccinations treat us as if we are all the same.
One-size-does-not-fit-all...genetics. Also see this:http://sharylattkisson.com/what-the-news-isnt-saying-about-vaccine-autism-studies/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SharylAttkisson+%28Sharyl+Attkisson%29
Posted by: michael | April 25, 2015 at 01:22 PM
I don't have HBO, sadly, so I couldn't watch the interview, but I just found this article about it. Bill Maher rocks!
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/04/24/bill-maher-anti-vaxxer-the-real-time-host-sides-with-robert-f-kennedy-jr-during-bizarre-interview.html
I especially loved this blurb:
“Why can’t we have a kind of grand bargain on this? It just seems like we’re calling each other kooks and liars,” said Maher. “It seems like common sense that vaccines, even thimerosal, probably don’t hurt most people—if they did, we’d all be dead, because they’re in a lot of vaccines that we all took—but some do. Obviously some minority gets hurt by this stuff. I don’t understand why this is controversial? Why we have this emotional debate about something that—there is science there. It astounds me that liberals, who are always suspicious of corporations… and defending minorities, somehow when it comes to this minority that’s hurt, it’s like, ‘You know what? Shut the fuck up and let me take every vaccine that Merck wants to shove down my throat.’”
That's some hot stuff!!!
Posted by: New Bill Maher Fan | April 25, 2015 at 08:57 AM
When my newborn baby was given her first dose of DPT she was laying there for days, running a very high fever and not eating anything at all. Her unresponsiveness got me scared and I had to take her to the emergency thinking she was slowly dying. They told me it was the pertussis part of the DPT. And doctors told me she couldn't take that vaccination anymore. From then on she only took DT. What I don't understand is some kids can take certain vaccinations and others almost die from it or have other severe repercussions. This is so scary to me a new bill to have all kids vaccinated for them to attend public school. I don't understand the logic of it!
My daughter has no immunity against whooping cough, but she's alive. I'd rather take that chance!!
Parents who want their kids vaccinated do it by all means. If you believe so much in vaccines you have nothing to worry about. Your kids will be protected!!!!
Posted by: Regina Stegall | April 25, 2015 at 01:24 AM
has anyone explored the premise that vaccines are essentially a human form of genetic modification? We know that DNA/RNA or fragments thereof from fetal cells (human) and various animals are allowed contaminants. This is not spoken of on either side until recently when a suggestion was made that the fetal cell lines may have a role in autism. Has anyone looked at this issue generationally? What has been done to our parents and how is that impacting our or our children's genetic makeup?
Thanks
Posted by: Tina | April 24, 2015 at 10:55 PM
Thank you Bill Maher and RFK Jr.
Posted by: 4Bobby | April 24, 2015 at 10:26 PM
Bill Maher is intellegent and is not bought. He has expressed his own doubts about vaccines. You may not agree witn him on some or any of his views, but I've never seen him cave in to pressure. He is always respectful to his guests even when he strongly disagrees with them.
Posted by: Maureen | April 24, 2015 at 08:20 PM
Christopher Caldwell is there to parrot Slate's Phil Plait. Slate you recall did the 180 on FRK Jr' 'Deadly Immunity' article.. where Rolling Stone stood by him. Ana Marie Cox wrote for Daily Beast "Stop Paying Attention to Anti-Vaxxers Already!".. right. Liz Mair and Eddie Huang (wrote) "Fresh Off the Boat" dunno....
But one thing for sure, 'there will be blood'.
Posted by: Art of Autism | April 24, 2015 at 05:56 PM
I'm sure the pressure is on Bill Maher/HBO to cancel. Will hope they don't cave, and actually let RFK Jr. speak tonight.
I'm so sick of media censorship, and will be very thankful if this really does take place (though the cynic in me will believe it when I see it).
RFK Jr. knows the issue so well, I'm sure he will do a great job. Huge thanks to him for speaking out!
Posted by: AnneJ | April 24, 2015 at 05:20 PM
There will be a turning point in the vaccine injury battle. RFK Jr uncensored, uninterrupted talkin' Trace Amounts and vaccines is a huge win for vaccine injured families.
No question Maher, God love him, will be pilloried. Let me predict the initial invective: "anti extremist vaccine nut job."
I will only believe that this will really happen if I see it with my own eyes.
Posted by: Ottoschnaut | April 24, 2015 at 02:42 PM
Who are these other people also on the panel? I'm worried they will be trying to say he's a quack, which, as we know....... Is their only way of dealing with the truth. Anyways, I'm STOKED!!!! Let's DO this RFK! We're behind you, we believe in you, we love you and we pray for you!!! Thank you for putting yourself out there for our babies!!!!!
Posted by: Brooke | April 24, 2015 at 02:35 PM
"Ending exemptions is premature until we have a functioning regulatory agency and a transparent process."
With all due respect to Mr. Kennedy and his sponsors, no matter how transparent or functioning the regulatory agencies will ever be, mandatory vaccination will never ever be acceptable.
Posted by: Linda1 | April 24, 2015 at 01:38 PM