RFK

[budman3]

Hey guys, long time no post, but I was reading this article and wanted to share it. I know how some people on here like to talk and a lot of the time its pretty enlightening stuff. But my upbringing was pretty politically oriented in the sense that stubborn Irish Catholics love to fight with eachother over anything after a few rounds, and in Massachusetts its usually politics. But Bobby Kennedy wasn't even a Massachusetts liberal, he was pretty much the first and the last of an age of reform in the sense that he was supposed to start a revolution, or atleast be the first of a new line of leaders as visionary as he was. He was before my time, but I think we all want a leader that we feel as passionate about or actually believe in like people did with RFK. Not just a lesser of two evils, if there even is one. RFK: what we lost By Philip W. Johnston | November 20, 2005 ROBERT F. KENNEDY was born 80 years ago today. If life were fair, he would be at Hickory Hill celebrating with Ethel, surrounded by a brood of children, grandchildren, siblings, nieces, nephews, and friends. But, as his brother Jack once pointed out, life is unfair, and so 37 years after his passing, we are left to wonder what his and our lives would have been like had he not walked through that kitchen at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on the night of the 1968 California primary. Article Tools * PRINTER FRIENDLYPrinter friendly * E-MAILE-mail to a friend * RSS FEEDSOp-ed RSS feed * RSS FEEDSAvailable RSS feeds * MOST E-MAILEDMost e-mailed * REPRINTS/PERMISSIONSReprints/permissions More: * Globe Editorials / Op-Ed | * Globe front page | * Boston.com * Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | * Breaking News Alerts Today it is difficult to impart to young people how electrifying a presence Robert Kennedy was during the period between his brother's assassination in 1963 and his own death a mere five years later. In this era of programmed, consultant-controlled candidates, RFK would stand out even more than he did in the '60s. Having devoted his adulthood to helping advance his brother's career, he was on his own after 1963. Jack Newfield wrote that it seemed that most of the men around President Kennedy had their own lives cut short after the assassination. They never recovered from that tragedy. In some ways the lone exception was Robert Kennedy, who grew in astonishing ways. His brother's death made him empathic with others who suffered: The tough, single-minded political operative became a public figure who used his celebrity to help us to see the dispossessed and powerless in our country. Kennedy saw his role after 1963 as carrying on the work of his brother. Because JFK's death hurt him so much, he began to read the Greek philosophers to gain insight into the very nature of personal torment. His journey out of the abyss of grief transformed him in fundamental ways. He identified with those who were oppressed. In those years, one could see the pain and grief etched on his face. Martin Luther King Jr. said that suffering is redemptive; Robert Kennedy proved him right. Once elected to the Senate in 1964, Kennedy began his travels around the country to expose the suffering of blacks, Latinos, Native Americans, and poor children. Supported by an extraordinary staff, including Jeff Greenfield, Peter Edelman, and Adam Walinsky, he was determined that the United States confront the racial, economic, and social abuses that had been the nation's dirty little secret. Kennedy found allies in people who went on to make a real difference like Marian Wright, Robert Coles, Cesar Chavez, Allard Lowenstein, and most notably, his brother, Ted. In throwing his political weight behind the powerless and the oppressed -- and later in his opposition to the war in Vietnam -- Robert Kennedy took huge political risks. He possessed a rare moral vision for what America might become if it would only confront the demons of racism and poverty. His support for the civil rights and peace movements stood conventional political wisdom on its head. The safe, smart thing for him to have done would have been to support Lyndon Johnson and patiently await his turn for the White House. It is a measure of his political courage that he chose a far more dangerous course. When Robert Kennedy died, I was 24 years old. My generation was cheated by the deaths of President Kennedy and Dr. King. But I remember thinking after each was murdered, ''Well, at least we still have Bobby." The deaths of the Kennedys and King robbed us of the most inspiring leaders we will ever have in this country; after they died, nothing was the same. Looking back over the decades since the death of Robert Kennedy, I realize that for many years we simply assumed that another comparable leader would appear to battle for the causes he cared about. Every four years, we've been bitterly frustrated by the failure of our candidates for the White House to live up to RFK's standards. Now that I am much older, I realize what I should have known in 1968 -- that Robert Kennedy was irreplaceable. These days, when I have had enough of listening to so-called political leaders who cut corners and waffle on fundamental issues like poverty and war, I close my eyes and I see the youthful and passionate RFK. I see him as he was in the '60s, going to South Africa to take on apartheid, to Delano to support grape workers, to Appalachia to show us its desperate poor, speaking out against the war in Vietnam. I hear him speaking boldly, without fear, urging us to become involved, to make a difference. I open my eyes and I feel unspeakably sad about what we lost. Edited November 21, 2005 by budman3

[Lance Truthhammer]

Great article Budman, thanks for posting it. He was a great statesman, and his death affected all of us, even people like me who weren't even alive then, in ways nobody can imagine. -E.S. Mail

[Sixty8panther]

Hmmmm... I hate politics, but I'll chime in on one thing: I'm starting to realize that not every conspiracy theorist is a lunatic. <_<

[razoredge]

Well, we can only speculate the end long term results of those three assassinations. Even the effect of Vietnam is something I know I could have done without, I was young but it was nuts, everything was nuts, I think we lost quite a bit of patriotism from the whole thing. I've heard some people say we needed the wake up call or the stress from those times but I just dont know. We can only speculate. :(

[Lance Truthhammer]

Here is a speech by Barack Obama about Robert Kennedy, and I don't think it could have been said more eloquently.

Obama Speech

-E.S. Mail Edited November 21, 2005 by Lance Truthhammer

[budman3]

Its just sad to think, where's todays Bobby Kennedy? There is still so much wrong with the world today and it isnt a matter of people like MLK and the Kennedies leaving a lasting impact, its just the complete lack of patriotism today, and its a lot to do with our loosing 3 of our times biggest political influences so quickly and so senselessly. We need someone to really stand up for todays issues and to actually care to take the lead today and it just pisses me off that there is no hope in sight. Maybe Barak Obama? Maybe a female president? Or are we to far into the reign of our stuffy and uninspired presidents that we have known since?

[Brandon Lutz]

I've often thought about running for public office around here and see where it goes. Then I realize I'd never win cause Im not corrupt enough and I'd be too honest. Thats something that is foreign to Louisiana politics lol. Our problem today is we have politicians in charge and not true represenatives of the people.