Reply #3: Something I wrote about RFK back in 2002 for DU

[deutsey]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/02/07/27_rfk.html

RFK: A Reflection on True American Leadership
July 27, 2002
By Dwayne Eutsey


"At stake is not simply the leadership of our party and even our country. It is our right to moral leadership of this planet."
— RFK announcing his presidential candidacy, 1968
Robert F. Kennedy is a personal hero of mine.

For me, RFK (or Bobby, which seems more appropriate to me) embodied the best qualities of authentic American leadership. Until his abrupt murder, Bobby’s pragmatic idealism inspired a nation ripping itself apart to come Together - and it still speaks to us now in a time when corrupted, illegitimate power has such a stranglehold on our country.

Unlike what lamely passes for leadership today, Bobby was the real thing. The inclusive vision of America he proclaimed emerged from a conscience deepened by personal tragedy and moved by the suffering of oppressed people he encountered around the world. Instead of simply talking about compassion, Bobby demonstrated it. He was a true uniter: he brought together anti-war activists and veterans; Hispanics, inner city blacks, and rural whites; young and old; the affluent and the poor. And he was truly one of the most eloquent, impassioned political orators America has ever heard.

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