Environmental lawyer and Kennedy scion, 69-year-old Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the oldest son of former Atty. General Robert F. Kennedy, announced today his intention to run against 80-year-old President Joe Biden in the Democrat Party primaries. RFK Jr. was 25 when his father Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated June 5, 1968 at the historic-but-now-defunct Ambassador Hotel by 24-year-old Palestinian, Sirhan Sirhan. Sirhan was angry about RFK’s support for Israel after their dramatic victory over Palestinians and five Arab countries in the 1967 Six Day War. Sirhan Sirhan, now 79, asked for parole for the 16th time March 1, 2023, rejected by Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom Jan. 13, 2022. Ironically, RFK Jr. urged the governor and Calif. Parole Board to release Sirhan, citing humanist reasons. RFK Jr.’s wishes were denied by Newsom, largely because Sirhan says he has no recollection of killing RFK in Los Angeles.
Jumping into politics is a novelty for RFK Jr., having spent his career fighting for environmental causes, more recently weighing into the Measles, Mumps and Rubella [MMR] fight, representing passionate parents of autistic children, convinced that vaccines caused a meteoric rise of autism, once one-in-five hundred, now one-in-50 children develop autism. Kennedy subscribed to British Dr. Andrew Wakefield, 66, whose research found a link between MMR vaccines and autism. Wakefield published his findings in a blockbuster scientific article Feb. 28, 1998 in the British Medical Journal Lancet. For technical reasons, largely pressure from multinational drug companies, Lancet retracted Wakefield’s article, denigrating Wakefield’s findings across the global scientific community. Yet Kennedy continued to see merits in Wakefield’s research, despite the controversy.
For much of his adult life, RFK Jr. suffered from a rare vocal disorder called Spasmodic Dysphonia [SD], a controversial vocal cord condition, making it difficult to talk without sounding like a choked-out voice. RFK Jr. still suffers from the condition but has learned to compensate for the worst aspects of the problem, making a life in politics nearly impossible. Jumping into a presidential race should be a real challenge to RFK Jr., speaking in public with his disfigured voice. When it contrasts with Biden, JFK Jr. shouldn’t look too bad because he’s otherwise brilliant with great ideas about many topics. If RFK Jr. takes up ending the Ukraine War, he’ll make a strong case to disgruntled Democrats and independents that Biden isn’t fit for the Oval Office, certainly not commander-in-chief. Kennedy has worked hard to raise money for Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine nonprofit.
Whatever RFK’s problems with his voice, he’s brilliant, carrying the Kennedy tradition of intellectual debate and, more importantly, progressive ideas when it comes to race, poverty and civil society. Unlike today’s progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) or Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), RFK’s Jr.’s ideas are rooted in solid economic principles, knowing the pitfalls of socialism. Bernie and AOC would spend the country into oblivion, racking up more federal budget deficits and a whopping $31 trillion national debt. Kennedy learned his politics from his uncle, John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States. RFK breaths the same idealism from JFK and his father who, after winning the Calif. primary, would have likely defeated President Richard Nixon in 1968. RFK Jr. carries with him in every cell of desire to fulfill his father’s legacy, a life interrupted by Sirhan Sirhan.
Kennedy jumps into a race with most Democrats backing Biden’s failed economic and foreign policy, leaving the country closer to nuclear war than anytime in U.S. history. Biden has the backing of war hawks in Congress, especially the late Sen. John McCain’s (R-Az.) protégé Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). RFK knows that Biden ended decades of hard fought détente with the Soviet Union and now Russian Federation, pushing the world close to the brink of nuclear war with Moscow. No one is more peace conscious than RFK Jr., recognizing the importance to the global community, but also to the U.S. and world economy. Biden’s proxy war in Ukraine against the Kremlin has destabilized the U.S. and world economy to the point of sluggish growth and recession. Biden’s Russian oil boycott has fueled the worst inflation of over 40 years, leaving Wall Street and the economy going sideways.
Democrat Party officials should take RFK Jr. seriously as a suitable replacement for 80-year-old President Joe Biden, well past his prime, but, more importantly, whose economic and foreign policies have harmed U.S. national security. Another four years of Biden, there may not be a world left with his proxy war against the Russian Federation. Biden continues the claptrap about the evils of Russian President Vladimir Putin saying he’s trying to take over Europe. Biden seeks to justify the worst military blunder in U.S. history taking on the Russian Federation. Whatever one thinks of Ukraine, going to war against the Kremlin was pure madness, proving Biden is not fit for office. Whatever appeal Biden has to African Americans and other minorities, RFK Jr. will exceed that quality, bringing in Democrats, crossover Republicans and independents looking for a change in 2024.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and globl news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
