Winners & Losers: Mendacity & Bravery

A look at who gets heard in Trump's America.

Labor Day has come and gone. Here in the Northeast, the shadows are stretching out and the kids are back at school. And, of course, I’m dreading another cold and flu season.

Welcome back to Winners & Losers, your weekly yardstick for measuring the courage of the people fighting for our Democracy, and the stupidity of those fighting to tear it down.

We have a repeat this week. Not just a repeat, but a consecutive repeat. This isn’t a mistake. RFK, Jr. is like the Tom Brady of Losers. I probably won’t pick him as next week’s loser, but if I did, nobody would bat an eyelash. In fact, this column could just be called “Winners & RFK Jr.,” and I’d have material to work with for a lifetime. Of course, because of Kennedy, lifetime doesn’t mean what it used to.

Too soon?

Anyway. You might wonder, with so many Losers out there this week — Hegseth and Trump flying jets over the Epstein survivor’s presser; Dr. Joseph Ladapo, the State Surgeon General of Florida, who ended all vaccine mandates in the state; I could go on — why did I go back to the RFK, Jr. well for another bucketful of his brackish, slimy, loser-water?

Great question! I’m glad you asked.

Kennedy’s Loser-ness this week is less about what he’s doing with the nation’s health, and more about what he stands for. He and our Winners are an absolute study in contrasts.

In all seriousness, this contrast is a matter of life-or-death.