I vividly remember the first moment when I heard that JFK was shot in Dallas. I was ten years old and I knew everything there was to know about JFK. I simply loved JFK. I had lost a friend. A mentor. I had never met the man, but would have given anything to meet him. He exemplified youth, vigor, energy, new ideas. I later learned by reading and studying and majoring in political science that it wasn’t all that cut and dried. But for the emotional side of it, that was what he stood for with me. Intellectually, yes it was something different. but both sides are important.
And then in 1968 that youth, vigor, energy, new ideas popped up again with RFK taking on LBJ. I was so excited that the JFK spirit would be born again. I went to bed on that night in June of 1968 knowing that RFK had won the California primary and would more than likely be the nominee of the Democratic party. Early 1968 was an exciting year. Eugene McCarthy was running against LBJ and defeated him in New Hampshire on an anti-war platform, this time the Vietnam War. Many things happened between the New Hampshire primary of 1968 and the fateful night that RFK was shot, but ultimately it appeared RFK would be the Democratic nominee.
And the consensus was no damn Republican could beat him.
But a bullet from the gun of one Sirhan Sirhan did what no Republican could have done that year: they took down the candidacy of RFK and broke not only my spirit but the spirit of the American people.
And the other day Hillary Clinton tried to break my spirit with her words: suggesting that . . .
The unspeakable.
I have been blogging about Barack Obama since his candidacy began in January of 2007. I have known Barack Obama since 2000 when he ran for U.S. Congress to unseat an “entrenched Democratic incumbent,” Congressman Bobby Rush. Obama lost to Rush, but Obama won over my heart and brought back to me that spirit I had lost that spirit twice in the 1960′s.
In spite of Obama’s defeat, my wife and I promised Obama we would support him in his next race (which turned out to be the 2004 race for United States Senate) We did support him and campaigned tirelessly for him and don’t mind saying we had the time of our life spreading the word in Illinois about Barack Obama. And yes, he won the Senate Democratic primary race and the rest is history. It was obvious from that moment he won this primary that he was special.
But Hillary Clinton made a terrible mistake in her comments. And now Hillary Clinton to me now represents truly “blind ambition.” She will do anything or say anything to become President of the United States. I frankly hope that never happens. I truly hope she is remorseful about her remarks not because of the political implications, but because it was an inhuman thing to say. I don’t know. Only she knows the answer. But her comments showed me “poor judgment” and her comments show an “uneven temperament.”
The blog postings that I wrote that I tagged “Unraveling of the Clinton campaign” were a prediction on my part that her campaign would “unravel” sooner rather than later.
After this last episode, consider the Clinton campaign “unraveled.” And to paraphrase an old saying, yes, Vice-President is out of the question. Reading on Walden Bookstore.
Filed under: Barack Obama, Democrats, Election 2008, Hillary Clinton, Politics | Tagged: RFK, Unraveling of the Clinton campaign
People are making more of the comment she made, if you ask me Obama needs a little downsizing anyway He’s just another politician that says anything needed to jive with his surroundings,to get votes.
Yes, RFK and the Dems were running against the war that your beloved JFK got us involved in. We all like to look back on those days with rose-colored glasses, but some of were politcally astute enough see Camelot and the tragically aborted Camelot II had it’s share of gaffes and goofs.
I was in a politically active family myself in that time frame. The first speech I ever attend included discussion of the financial fallacies associated with Social Security on May 10, 1963. It was given by someone of the GE Speaking Tour by the name of Ronald Reagan.
I still remember the chants of ‘The truce is the only hope.’ during the Vietnam protests; that worked out really well, especially for the Cambodians. But we weren’t there for the killing fields, so it was all OK.
The 60s and 70s taught the Baby Boomers the concepts of entitlement, societal responsibility vs. individual responsibility, and instant gratification that are the source of most of America’s current ills.
If that type of discredited naivity and ‘society is to blame’ is what Obama would bring back, I’ll pass.
As I wrote, “I later learned by reading and studying and majoring in political science that it wasn’t all that cut and dried.” I later found that JFK and RFK were not saints. But change only comes when the voters and the legislators are inspired. Reagan inspired the conservative base and I say good for the conservatives. Obama, as JFK and RFK, inspire the liberal base. My point is there is an emotional side to politics and people like JFK, RFK, Reagan, Obama strike that chord, for better or for worse. I personally think that the Reagan policies were destructive and sent us into a reverse tailspin, but I in no way diminish how he made people feel. My own father, a lifelong Democrat, turned against Carter and supported Reagan both times. And that was typical because he reached something inside them.
Hillary: Why I Continue To Run
This past Friday, during a meeting with a newspaper editorial board, I was asked about whether I was going to continue in the presidential race.
I made clear that I was – and that I thought the urgency to end the 2008 primary process was unprecedented. I pointed out, as I have before, that both my husband’s primary campaign, and Sen. Robert Kennedy’s, had continued into June.
Almost immediately, some took my comments entirely out of context and interpreted them to mean something completely different – and completely unthinkable.
I want to set the record straight: I was making the simple point that given our history, the length of this year’s primary contest is nothing unusual. Both the executive editor of the newspaper where I made the remarks, and Sen. Kennedy’s son, Bobby Kennedy Jr., put out statements confirming that this was the clear meaning of my remarks. Bobby stated, “I understand how highly charged the atmosphere is, but I think it is a mistake for people to take offense.”
I realize that any reference to that traumatic moment for our nation can be deeply painful – particularly for members of the Kennedy family, who have been in my heart and prayers over this past week. And I expressed regret right away for any pain I caused.
But I was deeply dismayed and disturbed that my comment would be construed in a way that flies in the face of everything I stand for – and everything I am fighting for in this election.
http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/05/25/why-we-continue-hillary-and-me/#more-2698
Having burned her bridges behind her with the AA community in New York, Hillary Clinton blames Barack Obama over her RFK remark. Coming only weeks after Teddy Kennedy’s endorsement of Mr. Obama, and days after Mr. Kennedy’s disturbing medical diagnosis, Hillary says the unfortunate utterance was taken out of context. Hillary was quick to made hay on Mr. Obama’s “bitter” comment. Now hoisted on her own petard, it looks as though she can dish it out better than she can take it. Besides, wouldn’t yet another Kennedy (JFK Jr.) have been a shoe-in for her senate seat? Before the Clinton’s made manifest their political fugue, with an end-run around the 22-Amendment, both of them knew there was a fatal flaw. The mere mention of a Hillary Clinton nomination should send paroxysms of moral indignation up and down the nation’s collective spine: http://theseedsof9-11.com