Marsh Family sings 'Measles and Polio Down in the Schoolyard' for RFK Jr.

My pharmacy called me the day before yesterday to schedule my vaccinations for flu and COVID-19, which reminded me that the Marsh Family uploaded "Measles and Polio Down in the Schoolyard" - Marsh Family parody of Paul Simon "Me and Julio" on RFK last month.

This may not be one of Paul Simon’s most successful songs, but it was a fun vibe to work up at the start of a new school year – getting instruments out for the first time since a summer holiday. The original was the second single from the album “Paul Simon” (released 1972) and the inscrutable story in the lyrics is set in the Queens neighbourhood where he grew up. By coincidence, it was apparently performed with Stephen Colbert in 2015 on The Late Show – the programme that this week tore into Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s record and showed some of his fiery testimony in the Senate, an episode which also made it into European news coverage (story here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c....

Needless to say, the world is watching with alarm the compromising of America’s public health systems, including the dismantling of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) – which has now lost its chief medical officer, director of immunisation, and director of emerging diseases (among many others) - while misinformation spreads, rates of vaccine uptake plummet, new outbreaks of measles kill again, and some states gallop headlong towards removing mandates that had the overwhelming backing of the scientific and medical communities.

The Marsh Family isn't the only parody account singing songs about RFK Jr. Patrick Fitzgerald, who is a mutual follower of mine on Bluesky, uploaded It's Not Unusual To Get Measles Anymore (RFK Jr. song parody) in March.

Vaccine denier RFK Jr. is now the head of Health and Human Services, and it is going about as well as you would expect, with measles cases (and even deaths) breaking out across the country.

Song parody of "It's Not Unusual" written by Les Reed and Gordon Mills, first recorded by a then-unknown Tom Jones. The music here is from The Knickerbockers cover: • It's Not Unusual

=== Lyrics ===

It’s not unusual to get measles anymore
They’re not unusual, these diseases anymore
And when I learn about the vaccines that you forswore
It’s not unusual to be notified
Your kid has died

It’s not unusual to elect a Kennedy
But when a brain worm’s there it affects his sanity
If you should ever need help disposing of a bear
It’s not unusual
To drop it in the park
Just wait ‘til after dark
Your alibi is bulletproof
And if you have a whale
This trick will never fail:
Take it and strap it to your roof

It’s not unusual to be sick a day or two
Until you find out you have contracted the bird flu
And if you’re wondering just exactly what to do
The CDC will recommend you take Ivermectin pills
Whoa-whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh

I'm recycling my remarks from John Oliver examines RFK Jr. & HHS for my reaction.

I'm repeating what I wrote earlier this month: "If I have to concentrate on criticizing any of Trump's Cabinet Secretaries, it will be RFK Jr. I'm a scientist and he's the biggest threat to science of anyone actually confirmed by the Senate..." I don't find his statement that "Our purpose is not to reduce any level of scientific research that is important" reassuring. I don't trust his judgment of what's scientifically important, especially in the context of cutting funding to diabetes research at the University of Michigan. That's doubly personal!

Oliver and his writers also demonstrated how cuts at and by HHS pose short- and long-term threats to health. Bird flu and measles, both of which Oliver addresses later in the video, come to mind on top of the example of lead paint. It's not just in drinking water!

Vox showed its viewers how RFK Jr. could mess things up. Oliver shows how he already is. As Oliver quoted the experts, "This is a disaster. People will die because of the mistakes we're making right now." I'm calling for his impeachment and removal, because I'm sure he won't resign and doubt Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump will fire him because of what he's doing to science and public health...Hoover Cleveland will only do the right thing for the wrong reasons. Even so, that will take until 2027 because the House won't have a Democratic majority until then. Sigh.

The representative whose district is literally across the street from my house is getting an early start on this endeavor. Watch WKBD: REP STEVENS DRAFTING IMPEACHMENT CASE AGAINST RFK JR.


Stevens, who is running for Gary Peters' Senate seat, has since introduced her articles of impeachment. I wish her luck, both in impeaching RFK Jr. and in her Senate primary contest, where she faces a tough field including Mallory McMorrow and Abdul El-Sayed, both of whom are running to her left. She'll need it.

That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned for the winners of the 2025 Environmental Media Association (EMA) Awards as the Sunday entertainment feature to celebrate Wester.