6/06/2008

Robert F. Kennedy


It's been 40 years since we lost the best and brightest of the Kennedy family. Though I would certainly have disagreed with Robert on many issues I honor this man and think of him as a good person of strong conviction. He was a champion of civil rights in a real and practical way. He was the most powerful Attorney General to date and this made him many enemies. In the end it was his quest to end corruption and crime and his support for Israel that killed him. I raise my glass and remember a man of passion and conviction. Rest in peace Robert.

28 comments:

Yehudi said...

He was a great man...so who's the guy on the right?

Anonymous said...

good tribute.
:)

Z said...

Papa F, I met Paul Shrade a couple of times, a great guy, who was also hit by Sirhan Sirhan that night. Paul was the head of the United Autoworkers at the time. I don't like his politics, but I liked him.
A great joy was both of us being invited to a mutual friend's Fifties Birthday party at which we both got seated at a table with a big kind of campaign button facsimile as a centerpiece which said "I LIKE IKE" on it. Cracked me UP. I figured it was torture for a lib like Paul.

Anyway, all that to say how much he loved Bobby, said very much what you've said about him here, and how he's never quite recovered from the emotional loss, though he recovered fairly well physically.

Nice tribute, Pops.

Papa Frank said...

Thanks Z! That's a great story as well. You have just had some of the neatest experiences.

Anonymous said...

...but like many idea's of idealists like the Kennedy's... you can take the ideas too far, and such has been the case with the "sacredization" of the African-American experience to the point of electing an overt ideological populist/Marxist into the White House.

Anonymous said...

It's time to let a little air out of the bubble.

Anonymous said...

After all... our REPUBLICAN system may have been designed so the America could withstand the presence of one's WORST ENEMY in the White House, but the populist democrats have been chipping away at those foundations for centuries now. The place is daily becoming FILLED with them, with fewer and fewer coutervailing TRADITIONAL ANCHORING/RECENTERING restraints (elected vs appointed Senators and States rights)

Anonymous said...

Even the US Supreme Court now looks to "world opinion" and plays with judicial activism.

Z said...

BOY, fj.......your comments are so well stated, particularly about
'sacredization' and letting air o ut of the bubble. Just the title of his book "the AUDACITY of Hope"....is so demeaning to America...as if one had to be audacious to believe we could believe the 'fantastic and elevating' things HE (and Wright) does.

SOMETHING HAS to happen to expose Obama for what he really is...but some of us are just TOO busy hoping for CHANGE to even pay attention if it does, I fear.

And ya..the SCOTUS has judges I'm now realizing have only stuck around and not retired because they have the audacity to hope that most Americans buy into those things Obama, and they, believe in. WHERE IS SOROS in all of this?

Anonymous said...

Why thanks, z. I guess it pays to keep banging on the keys... cause eventually you learn where the different notes lie. ;-)

Anonymous said...

He was a decnt guy papa.

What in the hell happened to that brain dead loser of a kid he spawned?

Morgan

Z said...

You know, POps, for being 'nobody' myself, I have had the fun of knowing some people who know interesting people..and I've enjoyed it a lot. It's fun to bring it to the blog world, too.
Sometimes, I've complained to Elbro that people might take my stories as name dropping, but I LOVE stories others tell me, so I'm glad you seem to be enjoying my tales.

Nanc? The puppet master? YOU AIN'T KIDDIN'.

FJ...writing more and more does hone the writing and thinking skills..not that YOU could get more honed, but...
I read a great line at Karen's blog "the only thing Bush has got from reaching across the aisle is some missing fingers".
pretty good, huh? I loved that.

I just posted a line I like on my blog under my profile....."a penny saved is a government oversight!" (no, it's not mine, darn it!)

But, I will tell you something I DID make up...it's a little insensitive so I've hesitated telling anyone, but what the heck, it made me laugh (I amuse myself!). I was thinking the other day after hearing about the second crane accident in NYC which killed more people....this is for conspiracy theorists: "Looks like the government's still trying to kill New Yorkers..this time, it's crane by crane!"

you like it?! ! be honest!

WomanHonorThyself said...

funny about Hillarys timing with her remarks then isnt it...ty for sharing ~!

Papa Frank said...

Z -- It's funny that these conspiracy theorists view George Bush as such a dummy and yet think he somehow personally masterminded the attacks on the World Trade Center and blew up the levies in New Orleans. Talk about having it both ways!

Z said...

Exactly, Pops....and this is all lost on the Left, huh? !! you just can't make this stuff UP!

I was watching the Hillary speech today and I swear i kept thinking these people ALL can't be THAT STUPID? ? I'm thinking "they REALLY trust her? They think she's SINCERE?" I mean, you honestly start thinking they're kidding, don't you?!!!

The Merry Widow said...

Z-Remember hitler? he mesmerized the masses with the most blatantly pandering spew...AND THEY BELIEVED HIM!
The thing is, once you accept a lie or delusion, you are vulnerable to worse and worse.
hillary and obama's followers are proof.
Good morning, G*D bless and Maranatha!

tmw

Anonymous said...

...and when you said crane by crane I began to wish, "If ONLY they weren't soooo selective!" ;-)

Anonymous said...

erratum:

>;-)

Anonymous said...

Jason:do you really think it was Robert's support for Israel that helped bring about his demise?

Papa Frank said...

Hope this helps Eitan--

"The assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, a United States Senator and brother of assassinated President John F. Kennedy, took place shortly after midnight on June 5, 1968. He was killed following celebrations of his successful campaign in the Californian primary elections while seeking the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. The perpetrator was a twenty-four year old Palestinian immigrant named Sirhan Sirhan, who remains incarcerated for this crime as of 2008."

"Sirhan Sirhan was strongly anti-Zionist.[34][35] A diary found during a search of Sirhan's home stated, "My determination to eliminate RFK is becoming more and more of an unshakable obsession. RFK must die. RFK must be killed. Robert F. Kennedy must be assassinated. .... Robert F. Kennedy must be assassinated before 5 June 1968." It has been suggested that the date of the assassination is significant, because it was the first anniversary of the first day of the Six Day War between Israel and its Arab neighbors.[36][37] When Sirhan was booked by police, they found in his pocket a newspaper article that discussed Kennedy's support for Israel.[38] At his trial, Sirhan testified that he began to hate Kennedy after learning of Kennedy's support for Israel.[39]
During his trial, Sirhan's lawyers attempted to use a defense of diminished responsibility,[34] while their client tried to confess to the crime and change his plea to guilty on several occasions.[40] Sirhan testified that he had killed Kennedy "with 20 years of malice aforethought," although he has maintained since being convicted that he has no memory of the crime. The judge did not accept this confession and it was later withdrawn.[40][41]
Sirhan was convicted on April 17, 1969 and six days later was sentenced to death.[42] The sentence was commuted to life in prison in 1972 after the California Supreme Court, in its decision in California v. Anderson, invalidated all pending death sentences imposed in California prior to 1972. In 2006, he was denied parole for the thirteenth time and is currently confined at the California State Prison in Corcoran.[43]"

Papa Frank said...

Of course many conspiracy theories abound but this is the official tale.

Brooke said...

Good tribute, PF!

Deborah said...

Jason,

I would love to pass along the above excerpt to friends regarding Robert Kennedy’s support of Israel and his Palestinian assassin. Can you please tell me what the source is so I can pass it along with excerpt?

Thanks much, sir!

Deborah

Papa Frank said...

Here it is Deborah --

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy_assassination

EDGE said...

Hey man,

You changed your name on me...you sly boots. ;O)

Anonymous said...

Jason: thanks a lot for clearing thangs up! Feel free to check out my blog!

Anonymous said...

Hum. I detest all the Kennedys today, and I'm not really a fan of John or Robert, but no sense bad mouthing the dead. I guess they had their good points.

Papa Frank said...

I'm with ya Hermit but there are characteristics of Robert that I can admire.