This shows the contrast between RFK and Vance, but more pointedly, between RFK and his son. The contrast is shocking. RFK Jr has compassion, but for the wrong people, and definitely not the downtrodden.
Thank you for this - first for showing Vance’s smarmy little self for what he is, but also for summarizing RFK’s changing actions (and hopefully ideas) around civil rights. I always joke that our history teachers never got past WWII but it’s pretty true - by May we hit the Holocaust (state mandated) and June was finals, so I learned about the 1950s and 60s and 70s Civil Rights movements only by living in Chicago, hearing friends and family talk, and visiting museums. There was no Kennedy but JFK so far as my textbooks went. For some reason I missed any discussion of RFK at all, besides conspiracy theories and hero-worship.
I really appreciate your recognition that historical figures could be imperfect and changeable and cowardly and yet end up, on balance, to have done more good than bad. Recognizing the need for correcting the aggrandizement of heroes is something we’ve been doing well for about twenty years now, but we also need to be able to believe that people can change and grow and work towards the right, even though they are flawed.
Better imperfect heroes that do mostly good for imperfect reasons than perfect villains who never make a mistake.
When JFK was murdered, I was a white suburban teenager in deep pain. Then came the murders of RFK and MLK and it shattered my illusions of this country.
I was very cynical until Barak Obama was elected and I dared to hope again.
Alas, the party of Lincoln is now the party of hatred. I pray that Kamala Harris is elected. She may not be perfect, but I believe she is a decent, compassionate human being. Dare I hope again?
[RFK insisted that most Americans wanted to do “the decent and the right thing.” ]
I've lost faith in that sentiment.
Forty percent of Americans want to do the wrong and despicable thing.
Forty percent of Americans want to do the decent and right thing.
And the remaining twenty percent don't give a flying fuck about anything and will stay home and watch Real Housewives or Survivor unless you capture them with entertainment or vibes.
Such an excellent, well-researched piece. Stephen, thank you especially for the history lesson re: Nixon, JFK and the Civil Rights Act. The Kennedy family of the 60s, taking a cue perhaps from FDR, embodied “noblesse oblige,” and the notion that the privileged are morally obliged to help the less fortunate (you know, sort of like what Jesus would do) was considered normal, not “communist.”
I not only remember where I was and what I was doing when the assassinations of JFK, MLK, and RFK occurred; I can never forget. It’s part of the Boomers’ collective coming-of-age story. At the time, I was much more interested in the Beatles than politics. But all of it is embedded in my generation’s DNA, and always will be.
He quoted Aeschylus that night: "Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God."
That quote is on the RFK memorial. It still makes me tear up.
I loved Jack Lemmon as Shelley Levene--the look on his face when Alec Baldwin told him to put the coffee down ("Coffee's for closers!") was priceless. Of course if you love Lemmon's whole "annoying guy" schtick, nothing is better than his pairings with Walter Matthau's "I'm sick of everyone's shit" schtick. "Odd Couple" is of course a classic, but also recommend 1966's "The Fortune Cookie" directed by a pre-Graduate Mike Nichols.
There is so much I learned in this article, and it's blown my mind. And we can see someone changing their political views for the better. That is the kind of evolution we love to see!
Wow that is some drunk history from RFK's son Lowly Worm. Wowww!
The stochastic terrorist now running for VP on the Republican side doesn't have the integrity to even come close to a tenth of RFK.
LBJ's character arc too. He went from cynical on civil rights (had to please Dick Russell!) to effective champion for the cause. Of course, like RFK, his evolution matched (or led?) his party's. There's a lesson in this!
With the GOP today becoming more a swamp bigot party than ever, you can see the evolution of those who stay (Nancy Mace, Lindsay Graham, WTF South Carolina???) and those who bail for the Democrats.
Yep--and contrast with one of his old Senate Democratic peers, Strom Thurmond, who could have adjusted with his party, and instead decided to bolt to the GOP as it became a party more accommodating to racists.
That's why I have hope for our recent GOP "refugees." We don't have to put them in charge or let them dictate Dem policy, obviously. But if they stick around, they might find we have more in common than they thought.
Hopefully this will be a major "realignment" like 1932 or 1968, and the balance will tip away from the culture wars - the ones the GOP has been using as their distraction since Nixon.
Yep--I do believe a lot of them can change, even if that wasn't their original intention--you begin to read more and hear more that you'd initially rejected, gain a more broad understanding of the issues, and your other opinions evolve. You'll notice a lot of these NeverTrumpers--people who were quite conservative on most issues pre-Trump--are becoming moderate and even liberals on a lot of those issues, and it's no coincidence.
I’ve discovered that welcoming former Republicans (there is no GOP anymore; it’s the MAGA party) as Kamala supporters is much more productive than demonizing them as uneducated and evil and piously blaming them for the mess we’re in today. Go figure!
I find it INSANE when some liberals react to conservatives joining our side with "what took you so long?" or "well you're to blame for how it got that way" or the like. Who the hell would want to join a side that welcomes you that way? Better to make it clear we have room for those who want to join us, if they can find common cause on one issue big enough to abandon their old allies, maybe they can find common cause on others.
Reagan was once an FDR-loving Democrat, Hillary was once a Goldwater (!) supporting Republican. Liz Warren was a Reaganite until the late '90s. People evolve, we should encourage it when they go in the direction we want.
Stephen, I love it when you use movie or book characters that I’m acquainted with to illustrate a real-life scenario. Glengarry Glen Ross is one of my favorite movies. I can just see Jack Lemmon/JD stuttering and stammering around in confusion over what to say and do in his precarious, impossible situation. And I think Kamala is way more Ricky Roma than Vance could ever even imagine.
So too, does his own son apparently. Very sad to see.
This shows the contrast between RFK and Vance, but more pointedly, between RFK and his son. The contrast is shocking. RFK Jr has compassion, but for the wrong people, and definitely not the downtrodden.
Thank you for this - first for showing Vance’s smarmy little self for what he is, but also for summarizing RFK’s changing actions (and hopefully ideas) around civil rights. I always joke that our history teachers never got past WWII but it’s pretty true - by May we hit the Holocaust (state mandated) and June was finals, so I learned about the 1950s and 60s and 70s Civil Rights movements only by living in Chicago, hearing friends and family talk, and visiting museums. There was no Kennedy but JFK so far as my textbooks went. For some reason I missed any discussion of RFK at all, besides conspiracy theories and hero-worship.
I really appreciate your recognition that historical figures could be imperfect and changeable and cowardly and yet end up, on balance, to have done more good than bad. Recognizing the need for correcting the aggrandizement of heroes is something we’ve been doing well for about twenty years now, but we also need to be able to believe that people can change and grow and work towards the right, even though they are flawed.
Better imperfect heroes that do mostly good for imperfect reasons than perfect villains who never make a mistake.
RFK Sr and JFK Sr sometimes did the right thing, which is better than never doing the right thing.
"Vance isn’t the Ricky Roma of MAGA politics. He’s a desperate, flailing Shelley Levene."
Covfefe is for closers only.
When JFK was murdered, I was a white suburban teenager in deep pain. Then came the murders of RFK and MLK and it shattered my illusions of this country.
I was very cynical until Barak Obama was elected and I dared to hope again.
Alas, the party of Lincoln is now the party of hatred. I pray that Kamala Harris is elected. She may not be perfect, but I believe she is a decent, compassionate human being. Dare I hope again?
Thank you for this insightful analysis.
Thanks so much!
"He’s a damaged soul who can only make calculated grabs for power, with no regard for the dignity or even safety of others." Well said.
[RFK insisted that most Americans wanted to do “the decent and the right thing.” ]
I've lost faith in that sentiment.
Forty percent of Americans want to do the wrong and despicable thing.
Forty percent of Americans want to do the decent and right thing.
And the remaining twenty percent don't give a flying fuck about anything and will stay home and watch Real Housewives or Survivor unless you capture them with entertainment or vibes.
Wonderful history lesson. I wish Vance knew it.
Beautiful. Thank you.
Such an excellent, well-researched piece. Stephen, thank you especially for the history lesson re: Nixon, JFK and the Civil Rights Act. The Kennedy family of the 60s, taking a cue perhaps from FDR, embodied “noblesse oblige,” and the notion that the privileged are morally obliged to help the less fortunate (you know, sort of like what Jesus would do) was considered normal, not “communist.”
I not only remember where I was and what I was doing when the assassinations of JFK, MLK, and RFK occurred; I can never forget. It’s part of the Boomers’ collective coming-of-age story. At the time, I was much more interested in the Beatles than politics. But all of it is embedded in my generation’s DNA, and always will be.
Thanks!
He quoted Aeschylus that night: "Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God."
That quote is on the RFK memorial. It still makes me tear up.
I’ve always wondered about that quote. Didn’t the ancient Greeks worship a galaxy of goddesses and gods, not the monotheistic Big Sky Daddy?
They usually said "the gods," but this might have been a paraphrase in translation.
I loved Jack Lemmon as Shelley Levene--the look on his face when Alec Baldwin told him to put the coffee down ("Coffee's for closers!") was priceless. Of course if you love Lemmon's whole "annoying guy" schtick, nothing is better than his pairings with Walter Matthau's "I'm sick of everyone's shit" schtick. "Odd Couple" is of course a classic, but also recommend 1966's "The Fortune Cookie" directed by a pre-Graduate Mike Nichols.
There is so much I learned in this article, and it's blown my mind. And we can see someone changing their political views for the better. That is the kind of evolution we love to see!
Wow that is some drunk history from RFK's son Lowly Worm. Wowww!
The stochastic terrorist now running for VP on the Republican side doesn't have the integrity to even come close to a tenth of RFK.
LBJ's character arc too. He went from cynical on civil rights (had to please Dick Russell!) to effective champion for the cause. Of course, like RFK, his evolution matched (or led?) his party's. There's a lesson in this!
With the GOP today becoming more a swamp bigot party than ever, you can see the evolution of those who stay (Nancy Mace, Lindsay Graham, WTF South Carolina???) and those who bail for the Democrats.
Also reminds me of the change former Klansman Robert Byrd had. He put in the work and earned forgiveness.
Yep--and contrast with one of his old Senate Democratic peers, Strom Thurmond, who could have adjusted with his party, and instead decided to bolt to the GOP as it became a party more accommodating to racists.
That's why I have hope for our recent GOP "refugees." We don't have to put them in charge or let them dictate Dem policy, obviously. But if they stick around, they might find we have more in common than they thought.
Hopefully this will be a major "realignment" like 1932 or 1968, and the balance will tip away from the culture wars - the ones the GOP has been using as their distraction since Nixon.
Yep--I do believe a lot of them can change, even if that wasn't their original intention--you begin to read more and hear more that you'd initially rejected, gain a more broad understanding of the issues, and your other opinions evolve. You'll notice a lot of these NeverTrumpers--people who were quite conservative on most issues pre-Trump--are becoming moderate and even liberals on a lot of those issues, and it's no coincidence.
They've been told for 44 years that liberals are just short of actual demons. This may be a chance for our actual policiws to get through to people.
I’ve discovered that welcoming former Republicans (there is no GOP anymore; it’s the MAGA party) as Kamala supporters is much more productive than demonizing them as uneducated and evil and piously blaming them for the mess we’re in today. Go figure!
Like I always say: don't punish people for doing the right thing!
I find it INSANE when some liberals react to conservatives joining our side with "what took you so long?" or "well you're to blame for how it got that way" or the like. Who the hell would want to join a side that welcomes you that way? Better to make it clear we have room for those who want to join us, if they can find common cause on one issue big enough to abandon their old allies, maybe they can find common cause on others.
Reagan was once an FDR-loving Democrat, Hillary was once a Goldwater (!) supporting Republican. Liz Warren was a Reaganite until the late '90s. People evolve, we should encourage it when they go in the direction we want.
Stephen, I love it when you use movie or book characters that I’m acquainted with to illustrate a real-life scenario. Glengarry Glen Ross is one of my favorite movies. I can just see Jack Lemmon/JD stuttering and stammering around in confusion over what to say and do in his precarious, impossible situation. And I think Kamala is way more Ricky Roma than Vance could ever even imagine.
Thanks! GGR is one of my faves as well. I often listen to the Audible recording of a performance with Joe Mantegna as Roma