Three things said by Kennedys which I noticed, and really liked:
1. when Ted Kennedy asked that his brother Robert be remembered as "a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war & tried to stop it."
2. In a speech (I think) it was Robert Kennedy who said the phrase "...make gentle the life of this world." [after noting millions spent on weapons rather than improvements for human life], and
3. The day Martin Luther King was killed, Bobby Kennedy, campaigning, was advised not to go out and speak in front of a group -- a largely black, urban audience (Detroit, maybe?) and he went out anyway & spoke and called for "love," on top of having already requested understanding and calm, whatever else -- I'll find the quote another day.
On top of asking people not to despair or let anger take over, he requested that they "love" -- it was more like how a pastor would speak rather than a politician, or anybody else...asking for love on such an angry, shocked, and disappointing day seemed a little "over the top" to me - ! - but in a good way. Nervy.
And somehow those three quotes (or versions of them) were floating around in my memory and for some reason I thought of assassinations -- I know why, was watching Martin Scorsese's Bob Dylan documentary and there was film footage from Dealey Plaza -- I'm fascinated, yet hate seeing that, at the same time, when he's alive and smiling, you can't watch that without having different thoughts and reactions tumbling on top of each other, jumping ahead because you know too well what's going to happen, what already happened, and you don't want to know but you cannot help but know.
And anyway -- seeing that, being reminded, + thinking of those three quotes which seem uplifting to me, somehow those thoughts meshed together and gave me the theory of presidents who have both Ideals and Money.
According to my list, only two had both -- George H.W. Bush (the dad) and John Kennedy. Bush was done after one term; Kennedy was taken out.
And the piece to the puzzle that makes me think, the factor they have in common is that combination of having both Strong Ideals and Money.
Because if you look at it that way -- make the combination of Ideals And Money the common denominator, then Robert Kennedy gets pulled into it too. The thing he doesn't have in common with Bush Sr. and JFK is, being president. But the thing he does have in common with the other two is Ideals & Money (+ his campaign to be president).
The Money component: 2 things.
1. Most of the presidents listed, I typed "Money-no." Of course, didn't mean I think these guys are, or were, strapped for cash or something. But you know, they don't have Serious Wealth.
And
2. I'm not talking about a notion that a president is going to take his own personal wealth and just start spending large amounts of it to personally cure the world's problems -- rather, I'm referring to the Power that Money allows a person -- the politician, or whatever, and his apparatus (his posse, whatever ya got...) if there is someone who --
a. understands the Leverage the Money/Power allows
b. is Interested; and
c. has the Will to apply it.
Joseph Kennedy.
Have a nice day.
There's a lot of Money floating around, and we got plenty of presidents, but only three guys had that particular Power-Combination propelling them in public life -- George H.W. Bush, a president, John F. Kennedy, a president, and Robert F. Kennedy, a candidate for the presidency. Bush's vote was split with Perot in '92, to remove him from office; both Kennedy brothers assassinated. Right before our eyes. On camera.
[space of silence for thought]
don't ask me not to wonder about this ...
-30-
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