By Mack Callahan | This Is Topeka
I tried to play it cool when my daughter brought home her new boyfriend. I really did. I didn’t polish a shotgun, didn’t ask him about his GPA, and didn’t even bring up how much I hate those dangling cross earrings boys wear now.
But five minutes into the conversation, I knew this kid wasn’t it. He seemed polite enough — all “yes sir” and “no sir” — but there was a certain vacancy behind his smile that made me wonder if anyone was home.
I kept my mouth shut. I’m learning restraint. But deep down, I wanted to ask him something really personal.
Like: “Do you take Tylenol often?” or “Are you circumcised?”
Because apparently, that’s how we diagnose autism now.
No, really — our current President Donald J. Trump and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said it themselves. Straight-faced. Like it was part of an actual scientific briefing.
Let that sink in: the President and his top health official — one who’s supposed to understand science — just suggested that a painkiller and foreskins might be behind autism.
I’ve heard some dumb things in my life. I lived through people eating Tide Pods. I’ve watched someone try to gas up a Tesla. But this? This is a new frontier in stupid.
I can’t even get my insurance to cover a dental cleaning, and these two geniuses are out here launching “Operation Circumcision Awareness.”
Meanwhile, autism isn’t some political talking point — it’s a complex neurological condition that families across America navigate every single day. But why focus on funding, support, or medical access when you can toss around junk science to fire up the base, right?
This country used to put people on the moon. Now we’re electing folks who think the secret to public health is cutting down on Tylenol.
So yeah, maybe I shouldn’t judge the kid too fast. He might just be the best we’ve got left.
At least he hasn’t said anything that dumb — yet.
