☕️ WOKESCOLDS ☙ Tuesday, May 13, 2025 ☙ C&C NEWS 🦠

HHS Sec. triggers media by walking in a creek; Pope Leo scolds press; Trump wins IRS data fight; FDA hints vax reform; and Trump’s drug-price order lands—less flashy, more explosive.

Good morning, C&C, it’s Tuesday! Your terrific Tuesday roundup includes: HHS Secretary makes news by walking in a creek while reporters experienced triggered, germaphobic seizures; new Pope shows signs of life and conservative bona fides as media takes the scolding it dished out to RFK; Trump scores another immigration win as judge green-lights IRS data sharing to help capture crooked illegals; FDA chief signals a welcome change to the childhood vaccine schedule; and President Trump’s drug-price shattering executive order drops, both less and more than what was promised.

🌍 WORLD NEWS AND COMMENTARY 🌍

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Yesterday, the New York Times ran an unintentionally hilarious and hyperbolic hit piece headlined, “RFK Jr. Swims in Washington Creek That Flows With Sewage and Bacteria.” At first, when they said “creek” I thought it was a pointed metaphor for Washington DC. But they actually meant a proper creek:

Germaphobic Times reporters went into full Hazmat-mode on Sunday, after Kennedy posted a few innocent pictures of himself stepping through Rock Creek with his grandkids tree-climbing nearby. Instead of running a wholesome headline like, “HHS Secretary Pauses Bureaucracy to Celebrate Mother’s Day,” the Times dove headfirst into municipal water reports. Apparently, Rock Creek has a swimming advisory due to elevated E. coli levels.

Fair enough. But here’s the kicker: the government put it there. DC’s Water Authority dumps over 40 million gallons of raw sewage into Rock Creek every year. If you did that, they’d build a new Supermax prison named in your dishonor. But when the local bureaucrats do it, it’s just Tuesday.

Alas, his creek’s contamination wasn’t the story. That’s not what this was about. It was really about three things— all of which spoke volumes more about the Times than about Kennedy.

First, come on. This isn’t news. It’s a performative public scolding over a Mother’s Day Instagram post. Yesterday’s top story was essentially “Man Gets Dirty With Kids Outdoors.”

Second, it showed just how deeply the pandemic scrambled the brains of progressive newsroom staff. The mere thought of stepping into a creek with non-sterile water — no Purell, no masks! — flung them into a frothing moral panic. What if there’s Covid in the water! they probably shrieked behind their plexiglass face shields.

Third, and most revealing, was the tone: naggy, moralizing, anxious. It wasn’t journalism. It had all the emotional energy of a clucking school nurse combined with a helicopter mom. “Robert, don’t you know there’s bacteria in there?” It wasn’t any masculine critique. It wasn’t even political. It was dark maternalism.

It made me wonder. Back in the 80’s during my rebellious year in journalism school, it was celebrated insider knowledge that j-school’s gender composition was 84% female. Great dating odds, but perhaps also a red flag. So I checked— and admit I was wrong. The creek-germs piece was written by a man (allegedly):

So maybe the problem isn’t that there are too many lady reporters, or too few men.

Maybe the problem is that the weak men at the Times are indistinguishable from its OCD’d women — and not in a good way. At this point, you could swap out half the bylines for housewives from a 1980s Lysol commercial and nobody would notice the difference.

Kennedy, barefoot in a sewage creek, looks like a gladiator compared to the media’s fearful, bleach-your-groceries worldview. Our new Health Secretary is literally wading through Washington’s crap — a metaphor made manifest. And that, more than anything, is why they can’t stand him.

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The Times did not escape a scolding of its own. Yesterday, the Times choked out an uncomfortable story below the headline, “Pope Leo XIV Calls for News Media to Shun Divisive Language.” It was another mild-mannered moment, but one that gave conservative Catholics something they haven’t felt in a long time: hope.

New Pope Leo has been quickly, quietly, and reverently unstitching some of his progressive predecessor’s more liberal embroidery. And in his first major address—to journalists, no less—he gently called out the media for its role in fomenting division.

If there was one Francis-era policy that stung the faithful the most, it was the 2021 decree all but banning the Traditional Latin Mass. The ancient rite sounds like arcane gibberish to outsiders, but for many conservative Catholics, it’s a sacred treasure— an unbroken link to centuries of historical worship.

But Francis buried the Latin Mass beneath layers of bureaucracy, all but outlaweding it— signaling a pointed rejection of Catholic traditionalism. Headlines like this 2023 example from the New Yorker captured the moment:

Pope Leo hasn’t formally reversed his predecessor’s restrictions, but he’s dropping liturgical breadcrumbs. In his first public Mass, he slipped in some Latin —a pleasing linguistic aroma like incense wafting back into the sanctuary— and donned traditional papal vestments that Francis had dismissed as too showy.

Even more telling: reports surfaced this week that Leo has privately celebrated Latin Mass under a special personal exemption allowed by Francis. That news wasn’t as welcome as a policy change —not yet— but to traditionalists, it was as clear a miracle as a weeping statue.

So conservative Catholics are cautiously becoming more optimistic.

In yesterday’s address to over 1,000 journalists, Leo first hit the usual applause lines about the free press, jailed reporters, and a “just and lasting peace” in Ukraine. But then he pivoted —softly but unmistakably— toward a full-throated defense of free speech.

Leo spoke of the people’s need to be well-informed— not indoctrinated. He praised the “precious gift of free speech and of the press.” And he gently urged the media to “disarm communication of all prejudice and resentment, fanaticism and even hatred.”

Read that again. Prejudice sounds a lot like bias. Hatred had “Trump Derangement Syndrome” written all over it. And his emphasis on listening over “loud, forceful communication” wasn’t just a pastoral note— it was a rebuke of modern media’s apoplectic performance art.

Notably, he never mentioned social media “misinformation” or “disinformation.” Not a single time.

Which brings us to what may be the most significant sign: the press is already misquoting him. His very first words as Pope were, “The Peace of Christ be with you all.” But the BBC —bless their agenda— clipped it to: “Peace be with you all.” Subtle, but telling. They edited Christ right out of the opening line of a papacy.

In other words, they are trying to make Pope Leo into the secularized, politicized Pope they were hoping for, rather than showing the world who he really might be. It smacks of fear.

And, having been misquoted right out of the Vatican’s gate, it’s no wonder Pope Leo had a few choice words for journalists.

It’s still too early to call him a conservative pope. But let’s just say, if this is the direction he’s headed, the incense might finally be blowing in the right direction.

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Trump scored another win in the courts yesterday. CNN ran the story under the headline, “Federal judge won’t block Trump’s plan to use IRS data to track down undocumented migrants.” Illegal Alien Activists argued that letting the IRS share migrants’ home addresses with DHS violated their privacy. But the judge found that Trump’s policy was legal.

Privacy! The privacy of your vaccination record isn’t sacrosanct, not when it comes to entering a concert or going on a cruise, but this —this outrage!— is practically shredding the Constitution, at least when it comes to non-citizens who can’t even say “constitution.” But I digress.

The crux, or nub, was an existing law allowing the IRS to share taxpayer information for criminal prosecutions— but not for civil disputes. The litigious activists argued that since deportation is a civil proceeding, the IRS is legally barred from sharing illegal alien data with DHS. But Trump’s lawyers shot back that DHS has only requested data on criminally charged aliens.

The activists told the judge they don’t believe the Trump Administration. They think that, as soon as the judge isn’t looking, the policy will soon expand to include illegal aliens not accused of any crimes (apart from illegal border jumping, of course, a nuance that did not appear to be argued by either side).

But the judge said the activists’ theories were not enough. They needed evidence that the Trump Administration was breaking the law. In fact, the IRS is required to turn over information related to criminal prosecutions.

“At its core, this case presents a narrow legal issue: Does the Memorandum of Understanding between the IRS and DHS violate the Internal Revenue Code? It does not,” Judge Dabney Friedrich concluded in her ruling yesterday. “The plain language of the tax code mandates disclosure under the specific circumstances and preconditions outlined in the IRS-ICE agreement.”

This case has been percolating along for over a month under a temporary injunction— the blink of an eye on the judicial clock, but which probably seems like ages to non-lawyers. It is frustrating to read reports that courts have blocked more than half of Trump’s policies, but the President enjoys an advantage the rest of us don’t: Supreme Court inter-branch deference.

Specifically, unlike regular citizens, the President enjoys the benefit of the Supreme Court’s full attention. While other cases usually stop at the appellate level, because the Supreme Court can only handle a couple hundred cases a year, a president always enjoys Supreme Court review. So sooner or later, all of Trump’s bogged-down cases will be reviewed by the Supremes. The wheels of justice turn slowly, but they spin faster for the leader of the Executive Branch.

Patience, young Jedi.

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Yesterday Charlie Kirk interviewed the new FDA Commissioner, Marty Makary, about whether the covid shots will stay on the childhood vaccination schedule. Makary offered a few heavily ironic words starting with “follow the science.”

CLIP: FDA Dr. Marty Makary teases removal of the covid jab from kids’ recommended vaccine schedule (1:45).

“I'd love to see the evidence,” Dr. Makary said, “to show that giving young, healthy children another COVID shot would help them, but that evidence does not exist, and so we're not going to rubberstamp things at the FDA.” He leaned harder into the science. “There's no data,” Makary said, “there's no good randomized control data that the current version, the latest formulation, of the COVID shot, is necessary for young, healthy children.”

He went further, suggesting a forthcoming and welcome policy change. “Other leading countries in Europe have recommended against it for young, healthy children,” he explained, adding “that is something that's being discussed right now and I think you're going to see an announcement in the coming weeks.”

Granted, it should have been removed long ago. It should never have been added to the schedule in the first place. But parents (and most doctors) have taken up the slack and have been doing what the government should have done. According to the latest CDC report, only 13% of kids are “up to date” on their covid shots. My state, Florida, already advises against covid shots for kids, defying the CDC’s so-called guidance and its absurd shot schedule.

Lots and lots of progress. Their stupid covid shot will end up unraveling the entire jab industry.

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After all the hand-wringing about pharma stock prices this weekend, the corporate media was eerily quiet about the actual order. Yesterday, Reuters ran a short blurb headlined, “Trump signs executive order to demand pharma industry cuts prices.”

The order was titled, “Delivering Most-Favored-Nation Prescription Drug Pricing to American Patients.” It stopped short of actually ordering the government to stop buying overpriced drugs, instead encouraging drugmakers to voluntarily, and directed the agencies to begin communicating “most favored nation” price targets to pharma manufacturers.

“Most favored nation” (MFN) pricing means that Americans should pay the lowest price that any country pays for drugs. In other words, under an MFN pricing model, Americans would pay no more for a drug than the lowest price that drug is sold for in any other developed country (like Germany, France, or Canada). If a pharmaceutical company sells a cancer drug in France for $80 a dose and charges $400 in the U.S., this policy demands the $80 price for Americans, too.

The most creative part of the order was Section 4, which directed HHS to explore a “direct to consumer” model for domestic drug sales. Instead of going through a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), insurance company, or even local CVS pharmacies, patients would log into a government-approved portal or a manufacturer website and order their medication directly— like buying sneakers directly from Nike instead of at the mall.

It was a shot across pharma’s midships. For years, pharmaceutical lobbyists have insisted they’re not the villains— it’s all the middlemen, they claim. Insurers, pharmacy benefit managers, and retail chains are the ones jacking up U.S. prices. Fine, said Trump. Let’s test that theory. Sell direct.

Trump’s executive order dared them to put their drugs where their big fat mouths are: if drugmakers really can offer the lowest global prices when there’s no insurance bureaucracy in the way, then do it— right to the consumer. It actually drops the hammer on both sides of the supply chain. Pharma can now prove it’s not the price-gouger, while middlemen are put on notice: cooperate with MFN pricing, or get completely cut out of the deal.

If that doesn’t work, then the sledgehammer could fall. “The HHS Secretary shall propose a rulemaking plan to impose most-favored-nation pricing,” the order said. It also directed HHS and the FDA to start fast-tracking waivers allowing Americans to buy drugs from overseas suppliers. In other words, it told Big Pharma: Either sell at MFN prices voluntarily, or we’ll let Americans buy your drugs directly from other countries at those prices anyway.

In a major escalation from his drug price-lowering policies from Trump 1.0, the order also directed the DOJ to pursue antitrust prosecution against anyone —drugmakers, PBMs, or even foreign governments—who interfere with MFN pricing or direct-to-consumer programs.

Trump 1.0’s much less ambitious drug policies were promptly buried in an avalanche of litigation until President Autopen unwound them. But yesterday’s order seemed much more carefully designed to evade judicial micromanagement.

As I recall, the corporate media spent weeks swooning over Joe Biden’s insulin price cap, which only applied narrowly to Medicare recipients and rode the coattails of a congressional bill. Meanwhile, Trump’s executive order could shatter the entire global drug pricing scam and give Americans direct access to Rock of Gibraltar-low prices. Oh well. Yawn. It was media radio silence.

The Times, the Journal, the Post—not one featured the executive order on their homepage. Imagine how many industry quotes they could’ve collected. Or how many heart-rending anecdotes about Illinois nursing home patients who spend half their Social Security on pills.

Obviously, when President Trump does something that actually affects Main Street, it doesn’t count as news. So quick! Cue the story about Kennedy wading in the creek!

Have a terrific Tuesday! Then wade back in for another salty roundup of essential news and commentary — same place, same time tomorrow morning.

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