It was bad enough when the son of one of America’s legendary politicians decided, inexplicably, that he would challenge the incumbent President of his late father’s party. As if throwing dirt on his uncles and dad’s legacy were not enough, he wantonly offended blacks, Jews, the Chinese, Ukraine, and science for good measure. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., presumably overloaded with growth hormones, should exercise more muscle above his shoulders. Mr. Kennedy, the son of Robert Sr. and nephew to John Fitzgerald and the reputed lion of the Senate, Edward Moore “Teddy” Kennedy, initially gained double-digit poll numbers off of name recognition. It seemed both nostalgic and romantic to think of another Kennedy in politics. Camelot, martyrs, and philandering made the Kennedy(s) vulnerable and beloved.
As a child of the sixties and seventies, I remember seeing my great-granny in the kitchen drop her tears almost as quickly as her frying pan hearing the news of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. When his brother, Robert, was shot and killed, she wailed and remembered the empathy in his voice when he announced the death of Dr. Martin Luther King in 1968. The Kennedy boys came from money and surrounded themselves with beautiful women—aside from their wives, which endeared fans and repelled critics. The allure was that they were young, good-looking, bringing hope to the underserved, underprivileged, and forgotten. Oddly they had one thing in common with Donald Trump; their weaknesses were perceived as strengths.
They were beloved by black America and young white America. Fast forward past the death of “Ted” Kennedy—the last Kennedy to have a legitimate shot at the presidency, we are watching one of the sons destroy fond memories of folks my age. It was not always this way. Robert Jr. was a motivating voice for climate change, racial advancement, and science. He has now become a curmudgeon handled by Steve Bannon and Roger Stone, tossing aside science for conspiracy. He is not just dipping his toe in the waters of racial and religious division but wading in with flippers and snorkel.
I mentioned earlier that the ancestral Kennedy men had one thing in common with Donald Trump, but Robert Jr. has picked up the worse of the Trump foibles, a detachment from truth and reality, frighteningly like Mr. Trump. A week ago, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified before Congress and denied his words even after being confronted by irrefutable video. When Florida Democratic representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz read a transcript—verbatim to him, he flared up and denied the obvious truth.
His unhinged reaction when confronted by the truth is becoming a legend. When he denied discouraging parents from vaccinating their children, he was again shown to be a liar. I use the word “liar” cautiously because some believe he may suffer from mental instability. He recently even rebuffed an attempt by, of all people Sean Hannity, to pull him back from the ledge of praising Vladimir Putin and blaming America for his invasion of Ukraine.
“So, to appease Putin, who I think is evil, they’ve already given up Crimea,”Sean Hannity said during a town hall meeting. “It was annexed. So, what? They have to give up the Donbas area?”
“Ukraine, because of our pushing the Ukraine(sic) into the war on two occasions in–” was Kennedy’s retort.
"We pushed them into it, or did [Vladimir] Putin invade?”asked Hannity recoiling.
Robert Kennedy Jr. has pierced the famed entrenchment of his family and un-circled the wagons with more than one family member disavowing his words and him along with it. When his sister Rory was asked about her brother, she responded, “My feelings about my brother Bobby’s recent statement regarding Covid and ethnic targeting are very much aligned with my brother Joe, sister Kerry, and nephew Joe III – all of whom I admire for speaking out against him. There is a great deal of hate in the world and remarks like Bobby’s only serve to fuel that hate…” The Republicans ignored the Paul Gosar (R-AZ) family when warned about his racism and unhinged mental state; hopefully, Democrats will not make the same mistake.
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