The Kennedy family saw more than its fair share of tragedy and the shade of tragedy haunts them still. This time from within their own house. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is the tool of the right wing, obtaining financial backing from far-right backers in Georgia and elsewhere and enthusiastic support from Steve Bannon. Their purpose is obvious—help him siphon off votes from President Biden. No one reasonably believes he is anything other than a possible spoiler for Democrats by trading on the Kennedy name. If RFK, Jr. himself believes that he is anything else other than this, then the tragedy has more layers to it than I have dared to suspect.
His views are far closer to the right wing MAGA crowd than to anyone in the
Democratic party. Perhaps his running mate could be Jason Chansley, the QAnon
crazy who wore war paint and horns to the Capital on January 6.
He is an anti-vaxxer who believes in an array of other unsupportable conspiracy
theories which seem to be his platform. He seeks to criminally prosecute Dr. Fauci
for perpetrating a false virus on us. Tell that to the families of hundreds of
thousands of victims who died. He believes that children contract autism from
COVID vaccinations. There is no evidence whatsoever for that. In fact, there is very
little that he says that is factually accurate.
He was banned from Instagram for perpetuating misinformation. His false claims
in articles and video have been removed from Facebook, Instagram and You Tube.
Even the First Amendment cannot protect the rubbish that comes out of his
mouth. Pulitzer Prize winner, Eugene Robinson, wrote in the Washington Post
that if his name were Robert F. Smith, Jr., he would just be another nutjob.
The only credibility RFK Jr. has is his name. Many in his family find him disgusting.
His advocacy of ridiculous conspiracy theories is only surpassed by his delusion
that he is remotely qualified to be the President of the United States.
As revered as JFK and RFK were in American history, this man is not the great man
that they were. In this instance, the gene pool failed. Don’t vote for a name is always a good motto. If the Kennedy name was once magic, the magic has diminished. Cousin Caroline found that out in 2009, when she briefly ran for Hillary Clinton’s senate seat and withdrew after only two months. Now, this particular Kennedy, son of the illustrious and much beloved Bobby, is now tarnishing what’s left.
You could probably power the eastern seaboard with the energy from his dead relatives spinning in their graves.
My comment was unfinished when I accidentally hit the wrong button on my tablet – fat finger syndrome struck again. Here it is in its finished form:
I was a teenager during the Kennedy administration; while John was an inspiring speaker, a closer look shows his administration accomplished little, even for its premature end. Appointing his brother as AG was more a family business appointment than best man for the job situation; IIRC, the DOJ opened no significant or newsworthy cases during RFK’s tenure. If not for his assassination, JFK would probably be remembered as a middle-of-the-pack president, and after RFK’s last-minuute move to NY to run for Senator, the word “carpetbagger” would still be the first thought people here would have at mention of his name – EXCEPT for his assassination during his presidential run.
The Kennedy family seemed to feel they were entitled to national political power. When youngest brother Ted Kennedy was asked during his run for president why he was running, he hemmed and hawed out an answer interpreted by many to be that he was expected to.
My conversion to moderate Democrat from moderate Republican took place during the second term of “Senator Pothole” Alphonse D’Amato, but it didn’t erase my memory. The concept of “Camelot” was based on fallacious thinking, and should have rightly been buried with Ted. JFK Junior’s untimely death could have been the coup de gras. Yet, now we have RFK Junior, who acts like he’s gone around the bend, and there are some who think he’s presidential material.
Could we also have an infestation of LWNJs? It boggles the mind.
(Moderator’s Note: I wondered, as both comments were almost identical but seemed to have not been finished. Since you appear to have written through to the end with your thoughts this time I’m deleting the earlier ones. If you object let me know.)
If you’re going to go for “fancy,” learn to spell the words you want to use.
It’s “coup de grace” (more properly “coup de grâce”) which literally means “blow of mercy/grace” (referring to a strike intended to kill someone or something immediately, so as to end any suffering). What you wrote, “coup de gras,” means “blow of fat.” (The word “grâce” is pronounced like “grahs” or like “grass” if pronounced with the “a” in “father.” The word “gras” uses that latter “a” sound and the “s” is silent–as one hears in the holiday name “Mardi Gras.”)
As to your “infestation of LWNJs” note, that doesn’t sound like terminology that a “moderate Republican” would use, but rather a far-right, extremist Republican whose sole intention is to turn a discussion into a “both-sider” argument (“Don’t worry about RWNJs until you’ve cleaned up your own LWNJs, first” type of argument when there’s no real evidence that any “LWNJs” have slowly inserted themselves as deeply into the progressive side as the RWNJs have definitely done). We, on the left, are pretty ardent when it comes to calling out “our” anti-vaxxers while you folks, on the right, seem willing to embrace with as much fervor as you can.
Well, we could have had Nixon or Barry Goldwater. I was alive then, too. He sent troops down to Mississippi when Ole Miss was being integrated. That was the start of the end of Jim Crow. Also, what is it your so called LWNJ’s want that makes them ‘Nut Jobs’? If you think they want to sh*t on our country and the Constitution you are thinking of the fascists that control the R’s. If you are thinking of the ones that want health care for all that would be the D’s. I know it is hard to keep all this straight, but you should really try.
OK, I stand corrected on “coup de grace”. My reference to LWNJs is specifically targeted at those like RFK Jr. If anything, I want to head off any possible dilution of the effort to defeat the slide toward fascism confronting us. Am I wrong about RFK and those of those of his ilk? Are the “No Labels” and anti-common sense movements not to be considered threats to the cause? Think about the damage done by the candidacies of Ralph Nader and Jill Stein. We KNOW that a Hilary Clinton administration would have been a world away from what we suffered through under Drumpf, but the far left, from Green Party voters, to progressives, Bernie Sanders supporters and “never Hilary” Democrats who either sat out the election altogether or left the presidential candidate line blank on their ballots denied us that satisfaction, and left us in the condition we’re in.
Don’t get me wrong; as a youngster I grew up under the corrupt shadow of Tammany Hall, and that affected my choices once eligible to vote. Regardless of registration, I voted my conscience, resulting in a lot of split ticket or anti-party votes along the way. After D’Amato’s closed-door Senate session and his phony pontificating during Whitewater hearings, acting like his excrement was odorless, I finally decided to make it official, and re-registered accordingly.
My point, evidently not well made, is that RFK Jr. and his ilk, along with the “No Labels” crowd, could put us behind the same eight-ball as in 2017. Thankfully, there are people in high places paying attention. News stories about Rep. Hakeem Jeffries taking action in New York to retake Congressional seats lost in the 2022 debacle are indeed GOOD NEWS (I wrote earlier here on PZ how my ISP bombarded my tablet at the time with George Santos advertising even though my address is just outside the 3rd CD he “represents”, while neIther his Democratic opponent [nor any candidate for my 4th CD] took any comparable ad time, a SERIOUS strategic error, and the LI congressional delegation went from 50-50 to all red as a result).
Years ago, columnist Earl Caldwell posted a column after Michael Jackson’s death that angered me until I realized he was dead-on accurate. Did my LWNJ characterization upset you? Keep in mind that the Democratic Party has historically had a hard time getting all of its factions to work (and vote) together towards the common goal – WINNING. THAT’S THE GOAL! BEAT BACK THE FASCISTS! Those who spite the mainstream by setting up an alternative slate of candidates or sitting out the election are playing into the fascists’ hands, and conceivably handing them the keys to the country!
RFK stood up to JEdgar ( We could use Ernest one again) who refused to prosecute the mob because he was bought off. He preferred going after non-existent Commies who were mostly pro-union artists,and actors.
JFK.also created the Peace Corps and was responsible for the space program and pushing for STEM programs in public schools which produced an entire generation of scientists(TR Trek helped a lot too). The research that got us onto space is directly responsible for ceramics that can withstand the heat of takeoff and the cold of space. The need for miniaturization led to the phones we use that are as data full.as the old co.buyers that took.up.several.rooms.They also gave us pacemakers. And there is also teflon.
I guess if you’re a Republican,those things he don’t matter.
I can’t sit quietly for the trashing of JFK. After his death, the letters between Jack and Khrushchev were revealed. Before Jack died, he and Khrushchev executed a limit on nuclear tests. That was the beginning. The two world leaders would have ended the Cold War, as each felt pressured by their militaries. Neither leader wanted to be responsible for nuclear devastation.
His speech at American University foretold his intentions in a second term. He and Khrushchev ended the Cuban Missile Crisis which could have caused WW III.
LBJ advanced the Civil Rights Act that was an important part of JFK’s second term agenda.
JFK justifiably fired Allen Dulles as CIA Director. Not enough room for a long history lesson.