Reading Hunter's excellent diary this morning on McCain's photo-op trip ("Forgotten, USA") brought up so many memories of Bobby Kennedy's visits to some of the same forgotten places. Thinking about these events side-by-side gives a clear picture of the chasm that separates the "soul" of the GOP and the soul of the Democratic Party-- or, at least, what we used to be, and can be again.
McCain in the Ninth Ward:
"...Rebuild, tear it down, whatever..."
McCain's pandering and posing continued in Appalachia as he devoted time to flogging Bittergate and telling people how elitist Obama was for condemning the traditional values of working people. Oh, and elitist because Obama will raise (miners?) capital gains taxes.
Bobby in Hazard, Kentucky:
"Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."
My sig also came from this trip. More after the jump.
Bobby went into the mines and hollers of Appalachia. He sat on porches of sharecropper shacks in Mississippi. He walked down dusty roads with young folks and old on the Rez, and went into the fields with migrant workers. He went into roach infested tenements in Harlem where no white man had ever dared to go. He got down on his knees and hugged hungry little children. He comforted weeping women. He clasped the hands of despairing men and looked them in the eye and told them not to give up. Most of all, he listened. He knew that this was wrong. How could this be happening in America? He went back to Washington to do something about it.
Bobby talked to everyone high and low about these forgotten places-- the pols, Congress, young activists, the people themselves, and inspired them to action.
"(He) taught the value of hope in the face of despair."
(When he talked to us) "something happened inside of people."
He got things moving on food stamps, civil rights, community development, and poverty.
He talked about "The Other America" and our responsibilities toward each other.
Here's a clue to why Bobby felt such personal and compassionate commitment to the poor:
"Going through his brother's papers after the assassination, he came upon a scrap of paper from President Kennedy's last cabinet meeting," writes Evan Thomas. "On it, the president had scribbled the word 'poverty' several times and circled it...To RFK, the mere mention of the word 'poverty' was a kind of last testament. He had the scrap of paper framed and kept on display at his office."
--Evan Thomas, Robert Kennedy: His Life ,page 22, quoted in The Gospel According to RFK - Why it Matters Now, by Norman MacAfee
I know ya'll can see Bobby's ideals shining out of the hearts and words of our very best Democrats. Howard Dean's connections with Native Americans and migrant workers and his moving civil rights speech in South Carolina, all ignored by the MSM and the DLC. John Edwards' Two Americas. Obama's message of hope in the face of despair, and the call to unity and becoming our brothers' keeper. We can't let this message be crushed again. Not this time!
McCain is merrily making the rounds of "Forgotten America" trying to show he is a "New Kind of Republican." Good luck with that. We Democrats should get busy showing the country Obama has a vision for the future, but we're still the Old Democrats, too-- RFK Democrats!
RFK's trip to Kentucky:
ripple of hope
Mystery wrapped in an enigma inside a conundrum: One of the most heartbreaking and reality-twisting events during this crazy primary happened when RFK, Jr. endorsed Hillary. WTF? How in the hell did that happen? Edwards and Obama are such obvious inheritors of Bobby's mantle. Ethel has endorsed Barack. What's up with Bobby, Jr?