Fifty years ago today, just after midnight in a California hotel kitchen, Bobby Kennedy was shot to death. A piece of me died that day too. He was an idol of mine, a political hero. To me he represented the best that politics and government can offer to its people, particularly to its poor and disenfranchised. I know he was not perfect. I know he was known as ruthless. I know he once ordered a wiretap on Martin Luther King Jr.
But let me stay away from politics and move toward the personal. He was the third of four sons of Joseph and Rose Kennedy. He was the runt of the litter of the three older sons. Ted came along much later. Great things were expected of Joe Jr and John. Less was expected of Bobby. I think this not quite fitting in, these lower expectations, and the fact that he was closer to his mother than his father, all made him the man he became.
He was empowered by what he saw of the human condition. His trips to white poor Appalachia and the black poor Mississippi Delta made him realize the great disparity of wealth in our nation. He stressed to his children the responsibility they have to this country because they were born of the privilege that the vast majority did not have. He made helping the poor and middle class a passion. A passion that existed in him until his death in 1968. He did all of this in spite of having lost his two older brothers, one to a bullet less than five years before his own death. He could have stayed out of the limelight, stayed safe….but, that passion!
I wonder why some people, like Bobby, can see a wrong and use everything they have to correct that wrong. What a much better world this could be if we all did more of that. I see the wrongs, there are so many today. My passion only extends to posting on Facebook and attending the occasional protest. I guess I am telling myself that I need to try harder and be someone Bobby Kennedy would look up to. Now there is a goal!
If you have time today, and are interested in learning more about Bobby Kennedy, get out your Kindle! “Bobby Kennedy” by Chris Matthews is a great read.
Enjoy your day….passionately!
A Semi-retired Kind of Life 