An
elder was recently asked; “If you could change just ONE historic event during
your lifetime, what would it be?” The period of time in question spans the
years from 1948 through today.
This
elder had witnessed cures for polio and other diseases and with no one getting
rich through those contributions. He
grew up at a time when America had the most prosperous middle class the world
had ever known and watched how that growth propelled the most prosperous
economy in history. He waited and prayed
and then watched as a potential nuclear confrontation between the United States
and the Soviet Union was averted. He
cheered the Peace Corps, the passage of Medicare and Medicaid and other
initiatives to stem poverty in the richest country in the world. He cheered America’s landing a man on the
moon. He watched the rise of the single
greatest American who ever lived, Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Junior,
and again cheered as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 became the law of the land.
He
next pondered how American values, morality and civilized, respectful behavior
toward one another has deteriorated. How
we no longer pass laws or rescind laws for moral reasons. How we now declare war on the poor rather than
on poverty. How brutal, vicious violence now goes unchecked. How we callously accept spree shootings and
mass killings, gang murders and our wars.
How we can ignore the suffering and dying of our sick along with acceptance
of rampant unnecessary abortions. How we
have lost our sense of obligation and commonly refuse to accept accountability
for our conduct.
So
to properly address the question, reflection on when this deterioration began was
necessary. For it is at that point in
history that crucial change was necessary.
In
1968 America was in the midst of a revolution. As stated in the June 27, 2013
Malat Musing entitled “Moons and Junes and Ferris Wheels;” “The Vietnam war was tearing the nation apart. Buildings, draft cards and American flags were
burned. Schools were temporarily
closed. Roads and access to buildings
were blocked. Government buildings were
burglarized. Parents and children became
estranged as never before. Children left
home and joined communes and embraced a rebellious, radical, sometimes violent lifestyle. Brothers stopped speaking to one
another. The contemporary depiction of the
police was; “the pigs.” Service men were spat on, egged and called baby
killers. Young Americans headed north of
the border to avoid imprisonment.
Protestors were beaten, imprisoned and shot to death while 58,282
families buried their loved ones – the casualties of this war. The country also witnessed the sunshine of
hope for a brighter tomorrow eclipsed by the dark moons of assassination, as
the country buried their most compassionate and loving leaders of the day.” The country was badly fractured. The awful hatreds surrounding Vietnam, civil
rights, poverty and injustice were tearing America apart and destroying
altruistic objectives – destroying the very best of who we were.
It
is still widely accepted that Senator Robert F. Kennedy was the only candidate who
could have unified the country at the height of all this madness. Senator Eugene McCarthy ran a strictly
anti-war campaign. Richard Nixon ran a
get tough campaign comprised of both restoring “Law-And-Order” and a military victory – “I pledge to you that we shall have an
honorable end to the war in Vietnam.” - “Peace-With-Honor”
in Vietnam. Hubert Humphrey straddled
the political fence with great skill, careful not to alienate anyone. He uttered nothing of importance until the
last month of the 1968 presidential campaign.
Humphrey was convinced that the Democratic Party power structure would
secure his election.
“What I think is
quite clear is that we can work together in the last analysist. And that what’s been going on in the United
States in the period of the last three years; the divisions, the violence the
disenchantment with our society, the divisions whether it’s between the blacks
and whites, between the poor and the more affluent, or between age groups or on
the war in Vietnam; we can start to work together. We are a great country. We are a selfless
country. We are a compassionate country.
And I intend to make that the basis for my running...”
His death fifty-years ago, on June 6, 1968,
signaled the beginning of the end of an era of decency and compassion in governmental
leadership. Progressive ideology began
its descent. The commitment through a strong moral fiber and charter necessary to
govern in this nation’s common good and general welfare began losing its once
significant influence.
Those who may suggest this was just
political rhetoric are reminded of the very first words Kennedy uttered after
being shot and while lying in a pool of his own blood before going into a coma;
“Is everybody OK?”
What one event would that elder change? Bobby would live and our frustration and
heartache with; If Only… and, What If… would instead perish and the bright
sunshine that once adorned America and so much of the rest of the world, would
be restored in all its majesty, for us to bask in once again.
The
Long Good-Bye
Funeral
Train From New York to Washington D.C.
Along
with some of Bobby’s Most Profound Thoughts
Dialogue from the Long Good-Bye
What Bobby Represented and is so Desperately needed today
