From:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-a-palermo/bobby-a-moving-tribute_b_35557.html
I just returned from seeing the new movie Bobby about RFK. It was a very rich, textured movie, and one that left me with an incredibly empty feeling. I wasn't around back then, but from what I can tell as an amateur student of history and political junkie is that, at least at the end of his life, RFK managed to inspire people; to make them feel like the day-to-day issues they faced were finally being confronted by the political Establishment; and to let them know that politics could be an arena where citizens - regular citizens - could be part of something larger than themselves.
He did this by using the celebrity power that came with his family name to shine a bright light on the taboos the Establishment back then and now would rather sweep under the rug: war and economic inequality.
What brings me down about the movie is not only that RFK was killed, but that there are so few leaders today who aspire to his model. Yes, there have been flashes. Bill Clinton's populist campaign in 1992 was a flash, even if Clinton's behavior in office and historical revisionism in Washington has now converted it into the supposed triumph of microwaved Fortune Magazine talking points. John McCain's race in 2000, too, had Kennedy-ish themes to it, not necessarily because of any of his issue positions, but because it had a genuine anti-Establishment feel. That McCain's subsequently dove right back into the muck that is the Beltway's destructive faux "centrism" does not negate what his momentary flash evoked in many.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I am not happy with the conclusion that the movie "Bobby" concludes about the fact that Sirhan Sirhan acted alone for the purpose Bobby Kennedy was too pro-Israel for that Palestinian. Well if that is the case, why does he not remember anything about the shooting? How about after Bobby Kennedy was shot and Richard Nixon came into office practically French Kissing Israel's ex-North Carolina school teacher and Isreali terrorist murderer Golda Maier? Why didn't any Palestinians protest or attempt to kill Richard Nixon? Have you seen either the original movie or the remake of the "The Manchurian Candidate"? I seen a special narrated by Leonard Nemoy of "In Search Of" and he was explaining these hidden gov't programs of brainwashing. The US military experimented with these technics in the 50's and there is a inside belief that Sirhan Sirhan was a brainwashed patsy like Lee Harvey Oswald and James Earl Ray who shot and killed Martin Luther King. Even the King family does not buy the gov'ts story of this. All believed to be a part of a secret inner gov't conspiracy. Remember, when Nixon came into power he was like no other President up to that point in American history (except for the inept Harry Truman) to be so close to Israel and so non-caring to the conditions of the Palestinian people. Now George W. Bush beats them all as to the most Pro-Israel American President ever.
When Bobby was shot I was, like, what does Palestine have to do with it? But that stuff goes way way back. Conspiracy theories abound about assassinations, all of them, if you check back, all the way to Caesar and before. He's in his grave going on 39 years is all I know. And Nixon promised a troop reduction and some resolution that he never quite got around to. These topics of exploration are the stuff of books which fill shelf after shelf. How about when they drag-out that quote in Genesis about the curse on those who curse Israel? I believe that one about as much as I can come to believe that it all started with Adam and Eve. That kinda puts the wreck to science. Which did bring us the combustible engine which is now the source of our caring about what happens in the Middle East to begin with. Which brings me back to the Military-Industrial conspiracy. It's all for them. We have been fighting for them. Did anyone raise a peep over China crushing Tibet? Do we really give two shakes about what happens in Africa, but for the Islamic threats there now? To be continued, etc. etc., as always, ad infinitum....
Just saw the movie. Brought tears to my eyes again.
Great work.
Post a Comment