Sixty years ago, Stanley Kubrick co-wrote, produced and directed a black comedy, "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb," one of the best satires ever made and one of the greatest films of all times.

In one scene, Gen. Jack Ripper, played masterfully by Sterling Hayden, tells British RAF exchange officer Lionel Mandrake, one of three roles played by Peter Sellers, that he believes the Soviet Union has been fluoridating American water supplies to pollute our "precious bodily fluids."

After Ripper set off an unstoppable nuclear attack against the Soviet Union, he sits down with Mandrake and asks if he has "ever heard of the fluoridation of water?" He goes on, "Fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous communist plot we have ever had to face."

At that point, Mandrake nervously laughs, realizing Ripper is completely out of his mind.

It is a funny yet poignant scene. One that is essentially being replayed today in real life. President-elect Donald Trump has signaled that he will nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The department encompasses numerous agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the Food and Drug Administration; the National Institutes of Health; Medicaid; and Medicare.

According to Axios, Kennedy has called for an end to the practice of putting fluoride in water, calling it "an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders and thyroid disease." Like Gen. Ripper, Kennedy believes that fluoride is poisoning "our precious bodily fluids."

Kennedy goes even further than Gen. Ripper. He is an outspoken vaccine skeptic, claiming that no vaccine is entirely safe and effective and linking vaccines to autism — a claim disproven by scientific research. Kennedy is critical of the FDA. He suggests that the FDA is wrong in its regulation of alternative treatments like psychedelics, stem cells and supplements.

Kennedy claimed that COVID-19 vaccines caused more harm than good — a claim not borne out by science. He also promotes the consumption of raw, unpasteurized milk.

Some of what Kennedy suggests is outside the control of the federal government. According to NBC News, Kennedy's "statement about fluoride demonstrates a common misunderstanding about public health authorities." In the U.S., public health powers are vested in the states, not the federal government.

Kennedy's concerns, however specious, relate to health and medical interests. Much of what he suggests as proof of his concerns are anecdotal or grounded in unsubstantiated conspiracy theories.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is no Robert F. Kennedy. When the senior Kennedy ran for president in 1968, he focused his campaign on real and relevant concerns — peace, poverty and hunger. He visited the deep South and Appalachia and talked with the hungry and unemployed.

During a speech at the University of Kansas only months before his assassination, Kennedy said, "I run for the presidency because I have seen proud men in the hills of Appalachia, who wish only to work in dignity, but they cannot, for the mines are closed and their jobs are gone and no one — neither industry, nor labor, nor government — has cared enough to help."

Kennedy, speaking to an arena of more than 20,000 people, mostly students, went on, "I have seen the people of the black ghetto, listening to ever greater promises of equality and of justice, as they sit in the same decaying schools and huddled in the same filthy rooms — without heat — warding off the cold and warding off the rats."

Folks, this country has more important things to worry about than fluoride in the water. Unfortunately, following the likes of the fictitious Gen. Ripper and the all too real RFK Jr. can lead to some very dire consequences.

Matthew T. Mangino is of counsel with Luxenberg, Garbett, Kelly & George P.C. His book "The Executioner's Toll, 2010" was released by McFarland Publishing. You can reach him at www.mattmangino.com and follow him on X @MatthewTMangino.

Photo credit: Matt Hardy at Unsplash