He didn't have to, and in the case of 40 out of 50 states, he actually didn't.  But, he also didn't have to endorse Donald J. Trump, and yet he did.  As I waited for his press conference, I wondered: What could drive a lion of Democratic party royalty to side with Trump?  The answer turned out to be a trio of existential crises.  As RFK Jr. explained, he and Trump are aligned on three critical issues, and they are of such existential importance that he was willing to set aside their differences to work together.

Beyond being a refreshing break from the mind-numbing drumbeat of Trump's opposition, RFK Jr.'s remarks were a stark reminder of why two-thirds of Americans believe the country is moving down the wrong track. He first took aim at the military-industrial complex's perpetual provoking of foreign wars and followed up with the alarming assault on free speech.  These were, however, just the warmup acts for his primary grievance: the moral and legal corruption of the food and pharmaceutical industries, assisted by their captured agencies, e.g., the FDA and USDA.

RFK Jr. cited horrifying statistics and catastrophic trends, highlighting the surge in chronic diseases, cancer, neurodevelopmental disorders, metabolic syndrome, and Alzheimer's disease.  He then laid the blame squarely at the feet of Big Sugar, Big Ag, Big Pharma, and the cabal of government sycophants who do the bidding of their corporate sugar daddies (pun intended).  Sprinkled among the sickening stats, he made multiple references to mitochondrial dysfunction, a term many may not fully understand.  If we are going to forcibly reconstruct several industries, along with their regulatory agencies, over this medical crisis, we'd do well to understand what it is we're battling.  So, what exactly is mitochondrial dysfunction, and why is it being blamed for such a wide range of health issues?

What Are Mitochondria?

As school children learn, mitochondria are the "power plants" of the cell.  This rudimentary description of mitochondria is a good start, but it is incomplete.  When healthy, these powerhouses also regulate many cellular functions, including growth and death.  When they are stressed or dysfunctional, the consequences span cardiovascular disease, autism, schizophrenia, dementia, cancer, and much more.