Happy Tuesday and welcome to today’s edition of Common Sense with Ally Sammarco. Today’s breakdown includes updates on the newborn vaccine schedule, the Epstein files, who’s running Venezuela, and the anniversary of the January 6th attacks.
Let’s break down it down.
RFK Jr. and CDC Change the Newborn Vaccine Schedule….The CDC has quietly changed the childhood vaccine schedule, removing the universal recommendation for several routine vaccines, including flu, COVID, RSV, hepatitis, and meningococcal shots. Instead of being recommended for all children at set ages, many vaccines are now labeled only for “high-risk” kids or left to “shared clinical decision-making,” meaning parents are expected to decide with their provider. The shift follows a directive from President Trump and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to align U.S. policy with other countries, but it was rolled out without public debate or input from major pediatric and public health groups.
Common Sense Takeaway: Doctors all across the political spectrum are saying this move undermines trust, weakens disease prevention, and makes it harder for parents to know what’s medically recommended, especially in a healthcare system as confusing and broken as ours. Even Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican physician who chairs the Senate Health Committee, said the change could “make America sicker.” No, duh. Unfortunately, not only is sorting through these new recommendations tough for new parents, but they also have to weed through the media that is reporting on them.
Right-wing sources are reporting on these changes like they’re a good thing:
While left-leaning sources, like the Associated Press, are sounding the alarm:
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The Epstein Files Are Still Not Public….The Justice Department says it is still wading through more than 2 million documents—potentially over 5 million pages—related to Jeffrey Epstein that could fall under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, months after Congress’s deadline for release passed in December. DOJ has now assigned roughly 400 attorneys and over 100 FBI analysts to review, redact, and de-duplicate the material, citing the need to protect victim privacy, but it has offered no timeline for when the work will be finished or when more records will be made public. So far, only about 12,000 documents have been posted, while victims’ advocates are simultaneously asking for additional redactions—leaving the public with big promises of transparency, slow progress, and no clear end date.
Common Sense Takeaway: If the government passes a “transparency” law but then misses its own deadline, offers no timeline, and releases barely a fraction of the records, that’s not transparency. Protecting victim privacy is essential, but it should not be used as a blanket excuse for indefinite delay, institutional foot-dragging, or selective release. And no, we are not moving on from this anytime soon.
Nobody Seems to Know Who Runs Venezuela….Confusion is growing over who is actually running Venezuela after U.S. forces captured Nicolás Maduro over the weekend, with President Trump openly claiming the U.S. is now “in charge” of the country while his own top officials publicly walk that back. Trump has talked about controlling Venezuela’s future, extracting its oil, and even putting boots on the ground, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz insist the U.S. is not occupying Venezuela and is merely using economic and diplomatic leverage after a “law enforcement operation.” Meanwhile, Maduro has been flown to New York to face federal charges, Venezuela’s vice president has been sworn in as interim president, and no one—including the Trump administration—seems able or willing to clearly explain who governs the country now, under what authority, or for how long.
Common Sense takeaway: It’s laughable that Trump is referring to himself as the de facto leader of Venezuela. If the U.S. is powerful enough to remove a foreign leader but not competent enough to clearly explain what replaces him, that’s not exactly a viable strategy for democracy. You cannot claim you’re “in charge,” deny that you’re occupying a country, and promise to reshape its economy, all while claiming none of this is an “act of war.”
It’s the 5-year Anniversary of the January 6th Attacks….Five years after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, President Trump is using his return to office to aggressively rewrite what happened—mass-pardoning rioters, firing prosecutors and FBI agents who investigated the attack, floating compensation for defendants, and elevating people who once defended or downplayed the violence into positions of power. While Trump and his allies now portray Jan. 6 as a peaceful protest wronged by a “weaponized” justice system, former prosecutors, law enforcement, and even some former defendants say the reality hasn’t changed: the Capitol was violently breached, officers were injured, and the election was not stolen.
Common Sense takeaway: Five years later, the facts of Jan. 6 haven’t changed—the Capitol was attacked, officers were hurt, and the election was legitimate. Facts don’t bend to convenience, and no amount of pardons, firings, or narrative spin can erase what actually happened that day.
That’s it for today. Thanks for reading Common Sense with Ally Sammarco. Check back tomorrow for more!
All your comments on today’s column are spot-on. A good read!
Every time I think about America, this land that I love, being in the hands of an insurrectionist, pedophile, crook, con man, liar, and every other expletive, I become enraged. Not being able do anything about it besides march, write letters and give money feels impotent. There should be some way this country can turn around from the mess it is in. WHAT?