CDC Shooting 2.0 – It’s Coming from Inside the House

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Centers For Disease Control and Prevention

I feel like I’m watching a bad sequel to a scary movie from 20 years ago.

Back in 2004, Dick Cheney and the Bush White House were desperate to get the Department of Justice to sign off on an extension to an NSA warrantless wiretapping program. Complicating matters was the fact that AG Ashcroft was in the ICU at George Washington University Hospital and had designated Deputy AG Jim Comey to be the acting AG while he was incapacitated.

And make no mistake: Ashcroft *was* incapacitated. In broad strokes, no one just hangs out in an ICU – you’re there because you are in bad shape and need constant observation and often constant medications/treatments. Most conversations that happen in an ICU are between the staff and the family, and less so with the patient, because the patient is less-than-competent because of their condition, their medications, or both.

Comey was known by the WH to be opposed to extending this program, so the WH tried an end round to induce Ashcroft to sign the relevant documents without Comey’s knowledge. Before Alberto Gonzales (WH Counsel) and Andy Card (WH Chief of Staff) could get to the hospital, word reached Comey of what was up. Bart Gellman described it like this in his book Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency as excerpted in the WaPo:

In early evening, the phone rang at the makeshift FBI command center at George Washington University Medical Center, where Ashcroft remained in intensive care. According to two officials who saw the FBI logs, the president was on the line. Bush told the ailing Cabinet chief to expect a visit from Gonzales and White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr…..

Alerted by Ashcroft’s chief of staff, Comey, Goldsmith and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III raced toward the hospital, abandoning double-parked vehicles and running up a stairwell as fast as their legs could pump.

Comey reached Ashcroft’s bedside first. Goldsmith and his colleague Patrick F. Philbin were close behind. Now came Card and Gonzales, holding an envelope. If Comey would not sign the papers, maybe Ashcroft would….

Unexpectedly, Ashcroft roused himself. Previous accounts have said he backed his deputy. He did far more than that. Ashcroft told the president’s men he never should have certified the program in the first place.

When everyone left the hospital, Comey, Mueller, and other DOJ folks began writing letters of resignation. Again, from Gellman:

All hell was breaking loose at Justice. Lawyers streamed back from the suburbs, converging on the fourth-floor conference room. Most of them were not cleared to hear the details, but a decision began to coalesce: If Comey quit, none of them were staying.

At the FBI, they called Mueller “Bobby Three Sticks,” playfully tweaking the Roman numerals in his fancy Philadelphia name. Late that evening, word began to spread. It wasn’t only Comey. Bobby Three Sticks was getting ready to turn in his badge.

Justice had filled its top ranks with political loyalists. They hoped to see Bush reelected. Had anyone explained to the president what was at stake?

Whelan pulled out his BlackBerry. He fired off a message to White House staff secretary Brett Kavanaugh, a friend whose position gave him direct access to Bush.

“I knew zilch about what the matter was, but I did know that lots of senior DOJ folks were on the verge of resigning,” Whelan said in an e-mail, declining to discuss the subject further. “I thought it important to make sure that the president was aware of that situation so that he could factor it in as he saw fit.”

Kavanaugh had no more idea than Whelan, but he passed word to Card.

The timing was opportune. Just about then, around 11 p.m., Comey responded to an angry summons from the president’s chief of staff. Whatever Card was planning to say, he had calmed down suddenly.

When faced with mass resignations from high-ranking DOJ officials who stubbornly refused to adjust their principles with respect to the law to fit the preferred WH policy, the WH backed down. Marcy has a big timeline (of course!) of all the stuff around the warrantless wiretapping program memos if you want to dig into the weeds of yester-year.

But I’ll be damned if what’s coming out of the CDC right now doesn’t sound *exactly* like what happened 20 years ago.

Susan Monarez, the CDC director, refuses to change her mind, not on a matter of policy but on a principle of adherence to science. After some back and forth, including various lawyers, it appears the WH has terminated her and named RFK’s deputy as the acting CDC Director. Meanwhile, a raft of Monarez’s very senior deputies submitted their resignations in order to stand with her. Hundreds of other CDC staffers are rallying outside to support their bosses.

This horror movie is magnitudes worse than the Hospital Confrontation of the Bush era, because if RFK Jr. and Trump prevail in this, CDC policies will change in ways that will cost people’s lives. Medical science will take a back seat to political expediency and pseudo-scientific quackery. What once was the organization that set the worldwide standard for a national Public Health agency is fast becoming not a joke but an actual danger to public health. The end result will be deaths – unnecessary yet inevitable deaths – and these CDC officials who resigned want no part of it.

RFK Jr. is no Dick Cheney, and Trump is no George W. Bush. Cheney and Bush recognized when they were outflanked, and so backed up and tried to find another way to do what they wanted to do. RFK Jr. and Trump, on the other hand, are the guys who charge loudly into the doctor’s office and won’t leave until they get an antibiotic to deal with a viral infection. Antibiotics do *not* work on a virus, no matter how loudly you shout, how many quacks you cite, or what your job title is.

A gunman shot up the CDC headquarters a few weeks ago from outside the gates and guards. But like any good horror movie, Trump and RFK Jr. are shooting it up from inside the house.

God help us all.

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69 replies
  1. P J Evans says:

    The blockquote has its text repeated.

    And yeah, the maladminstration’s medical (and other) policies are going to kill a lot of people, including (probably particularly) their own voters.

  2. Larry McVay says:

    Gelman is a liar. Bush was NOT on the phone to the FBI command post inside Geo. Washington Hospital. Either he is lying or his source was extremely unreliable or was inflating the story by invoking Bush. Pathetic.

    • BRUCE F COLE says:

      Hmmm. The Gellman book was, in large part, about the de facto Presidency of Dick Cheney, so “invoking Bush” in that context would actually detract from that aspect of the book’s premise since it shows Dubya at least trying to be in charge at that point.

      Your reaction is interesting. Paula Poundstone was on a talk show yesterday and she made a couple jokes about how Trump has made Bush and Nixon look relatively anodyne lately. The whole interview is pretty good:
      https://www.mainepublic.org/show/maine-calling/2025-08-28/paula-poundstone

      “Formerly Worst POTUS in History” is still a decent Bush II diss, though. Does that offend you as well?

      • Larry McVay says:

        Does that offend me? Not at all. I could care less what someone’s opinion of Bush, Trump, Cheney, etc. is. What I do care about is accurate reporting.

        Bush was not the one that called the FBI Command Post. Gelman is lying.

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        • Rayne says:

          If you care about accurate reporting, you know accurate reporting is fact based, supported by evidence or documentation.

          Once again, provide evidence or supporting documentation for your claim.

        • BRUCE F COLE says:

          You are very confident, to the point that your comments sound like you’ve got inside information. If so, let us know who made that call and how you know it wasn’t Bush; we’re a curious group here. If it’s just another report you’ve read, post the URL! It’s pretty easy to do — hell, even I can do that.

          What detracts from your assertion is your calling of Gellman a liar twice, while in the first instance you note that he might have received bad info (again, from your perspective). That indicates a level of animus toward him personally that negates the quality of your assertion.

          Is he a high-rise neighbor of yours who plays loud music constantly? Did he give you bad investment advice? Or was one of your friends or loved ones badly portrayed in one of his books or columns?

          Or do you have specific inside knowledge of that event that will get you in trouble if you spill the beans, so all you can do is fume and defame him without evidence? “Inquiring minds” would love to know!

  3. P-villain says:

    I am hoping that this outrage will break through the noise for the many Trump supporters who are not anti-vax conspiracy nuts. We shall see.

    • BRUCE F COLE says:

      My former local Dem state Senator, with whom I used to be friends, ran into me in the grocery store before the election and said he was going to stump for “Bobby Kennedy” (as if Jr is in any way comparable to hid dad). Anti-vax was his touch-point. I have no idea whether he’s come to his senses, or even if he actually voted for Trump, but I really don’t give a shit. If I see him again (which I no doubt will), I’ll make a drippingly sarcastic point of thanking him for his help in destroying our democracy.

  4. punaise says:

    In that vein (no pun intended) – already cited perhaps?:

    DrDemetre on X:

    “My resignation letter from CDC. Dear Dr. Houry, I am writing to formally resign from my position as Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), effective August 28, 2025, close of business.”

    • punaise says:

      “This decision has not come easily, as I deeply value the work that the CDC does in safeguarding public health and am proud of my contributions to that critical mission. However, after much contemplation and reflection on recent developments and perspectives brought to light by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., I find that the views he and his staff have shared challenge my ability to continue in my current role at the agency and in the service of the health of the American people. Enough is enough.

      While I hold immense respect for the institution and my colleagues, I believe that it is imperative to align my professional responsibilities to my system of ethics and my understanding of the science of infectious disease, immunology, and my promise to serve the American people. This step is necessary to ensure that I can contribute effectively in a capacity that allows me to remain true to my principles.”

    • Peterr says:

      From the NYT:

      The latest blow arrived on Wednesday as three of the agency’s highest-profile officials resigned. The officials all dealt with vaccines in some way.

      “These colleagues are the X-Men of public health — courageous, thoughtful, and dedicated to using the best research and policies to answer lifesaving questions,” said Dr. Jonathan Mermin, who served as director of the C.D.C.’s center for H.I.V. and sexually transmitted infections. He has been on administrative leave since April.

  5. allan_in_upstate says:

    RFK Jr., without evidence, targets psychiatric meds in wake of Minneapolis mass shooting

    U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Thursday that he’s looking into psychiatric medication as a potential cause for American gun violence and mass shootings. The comments were a repetition of an unfounded assertion that Kennedy has made before, this time in the wake of a Minneapolis mass shooting that killed two children.

    Kennedy’s comments came at the end of a Thursday press conference in Austin, where the health secretary sat alongside Gov. Greg Abbott to talk about rural health care. A reporter asked Kennedy if he considers gun violence to be a public health crisis.

    “I certainly consider mass shootings a health crisis,” Kennedy responded. “And we are doing for the first time real studies to find out what the ideology of that is. And we’re looking for the first time at psychiatric drugs.” …

    What a nightmare.

    https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/rfk-jr-without-evidence-targets-psychiatric-meds-in-wake-of-minneapolis-mass-shooting/

    • Peterr says:

      Kudos to the Seattle Times for the use of the phrase “a repetition of an unfounded assertion ” in that piece.

    • PedroVermont says:

      Rather than impugning psych meds which are vital for countless people to be functional, this administration should be strengthening gun laws, and keeping guns out of the hands of people who should never have access to them.

      • Troutwaxer says:

        “It’s incredibly obvious, isn’t it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids, without the knowledge of the individual, certainly without any choice. That’s the way your hard-core Commie works.”

      • xyxyxyxy says:

        There is no way to know when someone is going to become one who should never have access to guns.
        It could be on the road, in the home, at school. There’s always something that is going to trigger an individual and who knows when or where.

      • Ginevra diBenci says:

        Don’t hold your breath waiting for that, PedroVT. For reference, see Jeannine Pirro’s petulant (to put it mildly) response when a reporter asked her about the “gun” aspect of “gun crime.”

    • Attygmgm says:

      “’I certainly consider mass shootings a health crisis,’ Kennedy responded.”

      Another ideological Rubicon crossed, if Republicans accept the premise that a mass shooting is a heath crisis. Kennedy’s substantive response is of course moronic, but his embrace of the premise that a mass shooting is a health crisis at some point is going to require more than thoughts and prayers from the political right. Will there be pushback on the premise?

    • BRUCE F COLE says:

      “…to find out what the ideology of (our mental health crisis) is.”

      Did y’all get that?

  6. bgThenNow says:

    No guardrails, wheels coming off. This administration is really just fine with it. Another day, another unqualified and terrible appointment.

    The wholesale destruction of everything we have ever been able to rely on nationally is exhausting and terrifying.

    Apt analysis, Peterr.

  7. maybemayi says:

    off topic

    i was going to put something scathing.
    i can’t do it.

    take a 2min 20s break for a bit of hope

    abc.net.au/news/2025-08-29/far-north-queensland-oyster-restoration-project-launched/105671188

    it’s about two thirds of the way down.

    • Rayne says:

      Ooh, interesting. Dr. Phil is rolling up an old business to avoid creditors? One might wonder what else is fraudulent about the doctor. Thanks for sharing that link, I hadn’t seen it.

      • Ginevra diBenci says:

        Interesting indeed. I have always wondered what there is about Dr. Phil that is *not* fraudulent.

  9. Matt Foley says:

    Thousands a day dying of covid: MAGA says “High survival rate! Liberty over safety!”

    Decreasing violent crime in D.C.: MAGA says “We’re in danger! Safety over liberty!”

  10. Bugboy321 says:

    “Antibiotics do *not* work on a virus, no matter how loudly you shout, how many quacks you cite, or what your job title is.”

    Welcome to the “direct to customer advertising” regime Big Pharma enjoys, which Congress allowed back in the henhouse many moons ago. FWIW, antibiotics are frequently prescribed, and properly so, for secondary infections in flu patients. So it isn’t entirely a mystery why people think they work on virus infections.

  11. Terry Salad says:

    The Hill reports that RFK Jr. said ” Tuesday he’s on track to identify “interventions” that are “certainly causing autism” and possible ways of addressing them by September.”

    That will certainly include SSRI’s and other psychiatric drugs. I’m guessing probably most childhood vaccines too. The scientists responsible for identifying these interventions will be a who’s who of quacks and charlatans. Nevertheless, it will affect policy.

    • Peterr says:

      There are also a slew of state laws and policies that basically say “If the CDC recommends X, we add it to our list of recommended/required stuff” for school vaccines and other medical concerns.

      Likewise, insurance companies treat CDC recommendations as gold, and dare not refuse treatment that the CDC has blessed. If those blessings disappear, expect to see a bunch of insurance companies rejecting payment for such procedures/vaccines/etc.

      • Matt Foley says:

        Flood insurance companies look at the real data (e.g., rising sea level) and ignore global warming deniers. I would hope health insurance companies similarly ignore the antivax wackjobs.

        • Peterr says:

          Looking at the data, health insurance companies have a long and distinguished record of seizing on *anything* that will allow them to decline to cover something. That’s how they make money.

          Now if they take a good look, they will realize that refusing to cover vaccines may help their short term quarterly numbers, but in the long term the costs of treatment for otherwise preventable diseases will soon wipe out those short term gains.

          But if the CEO’s and CFO’s compensation is based on how they hit their short term quarterly targets, you can guess pretty well what choices the companies will make.

      • Mart7890 says:

        Would Dr’s who do not follow CDC guidelines and recommend a vaccine outside of their rules be in potential trouble?

        • Peterr says:

          Probably not.

          But if they get a whacko patient who believes RFK Jr. who decides to sue to the doctor for disregarding “official” CDC recommendations, they will have to spend time and money to get the idiot off their back.

    • P J Evans says:

      None of which are responsible for autism. They still don’t know why it happens, but it was identified in the 19th century, before all that stuff.

  12. dimmsdale says:

    If I may, I’d like to mention a substack run by “Your Local Epidemiologist,” one of the health care professionals who a) was shot at when the CDC was assaulted and b) one of the folks who walked off the job yesterday, and wrote a feature about it, published today. I’ve been following her for un-politicized, scientifically based perspective on all the health information RFK is juicing with his own twisted ego, and her piece today is really bracing and positive. Link: https:// yourlocal epidemiologist .substack.com/p /courage-at-cdc, and delete the four spaces I inserted before you try to use the link.

    It starts out: “The word of the year should be courage. It’s filling the air. The kind of courage that’s not shouting in anger, but grounded in clarity, precision, and purpose. It’s the courage to speak when lines are crossed, even by the most powerful people. It’s the kind of courage that is deeply risky…” And gets even better from there.

  13. MsJennyMD says:

    The Retribution Regime has the Abuse, Cruelty & Hate (ACH) disease. The cure, inoculated with the EC vaccine known as the Empathy & Compassion drug. It’s free. All one has to do is consciously choose to change, removing oneself from the toxicity of Agent Orange.

  14. phil obley says:

    The outrages of the bush II regime seem quaint now. The CDC firings and resignations will not, in retrospect, be the the most outrageous thing the regime has committed

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  15. xyxyxyxy says:

    OT Since you mention “ICU – you’re there because you are in bad shape and need constant observation and often constant medications/treatments.”, in the economic world, “Canada in ‘recession territory’ as Trump’s tariffs deal blow to GDP: economists”
    Canada’s gross domestic product – the value of all goods produced in Canada – took a hit in recent months, Statistics Canada revealed on Friday. Economists say the data is worse than expected, and largely a result of the trade war with the U.S.
    …so while we’re not technically in a recession yet, Antunes said we’re now in “recession territory.”
    https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/economics/2025/08/29/canada-in-recession-territory-as-trumps-tariffs-deal-blow-to-canadas-gdp-economists/

  16. Mooserites says:

    How completely absurd and vicious the “Make America Healthy Again” slogan is!
    So there was a time when America was healthy, and we can bring it back. Okay, what year was that? Before the polio, measles and other vaccines? Before antibiotics? Before an organized scientific approach to medicine, which is pretty recent?
    It’s total bullshit, probably derived from an impression gained from movies.

        • xyxyxyxy says:

          Billionaire Blackrock CEO Larry Fink Says We Spend ‘Tremendous Energy’ Extending Life, But Little On How To Pay For Those Extra 20 Years
          “No one should have to work longer than they want to,” Fink wrote. “But I do think it’s a bit crazy that our anchor idea for the right retirement age — 65 years old — originates from the time of the Ottoman Empire.”
          https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/billionaire-blackrock-ceo-larry-fink-140400641.html

        • Rayne says:

          Larry Fink can kiss my ass. Oligarchs sitting in chi-chi air conditioned suites working hours they choose know abso-fucking-lutely nothing about real labor and what it does to the human body.

          Maybe if oligarchs paid their fair share of taxes and didn’t steal from workers by paying less than a living wage, workers who do physical labor could afford to pay for the next 20 years of rest.

    • RipNoLonger says:

      Before the Europeans brought their diseases to the new world?

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    • PedroVermont says:

      Of course it’s not true. Republican messaging is unconcerned with veracity, but rather is crafted to reliably persuade. Sloganeering of Democrats is usually truthful, if not catchy.

    • Ginevra diBenci says:

      The slogan might as well be “Weed out the losers.” RFKJ and his fellow nut jobs aren’t even disguising the eugenicist goal of this enterprise anymore. When you declare that “No healthy child should die of measles,” you are saying that kids who *do* die of measles weren’t healthy, and among this crowd “healthy” means “deserving of life.”

      We all know that in this country “health” correlates strongly with whiteness and wealth. When the “unhealthy” die from diseases once thought “cured,” it will be in the view of RFKJ and his cult their own fault for being inferior to start with.

      Accessible vaccines used to help level the playing field. Now…you’re on your own.

  17. gmokegmoke says:

    The mass resignations at CDC and the mass letter of criticism at FEMA seem to me to use similar tactics. I’m thinking there will be others sooner rather than later and the breaking point is coming over the horizon on the same schedule. Get ready.

  18. Commander Ogg says:

    As a science groupie (I’m not smart enough to be an actual scientist) Dr. Neil D. Tyson is one of my personal hero’s. The Neil Degrass Tyson edict has yet to be proven false:
    The good thing about Science is it’s true whether you believe it or not.
    (https://www.gocomics.com/nonsequitur/2022/03/06)

    SEC Kennedy and his appointees have changed the CDC from a Department of Science and Medicine to a temple for his religion, The fellowship of Holy Wellness with Kennedy as the High Priest. Blasphemers such as Dr. Monarez with her evil science based medicine will not be tolerated and must be excommunicated. And if his God requires the sacrifice of millions when the next pandemic occurs (and it will happen) they can take comfort in the fact that they died to Make America Healthy Again.

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