Assassination of Bobby Kennedy. Marking 45 years (June 6, 1968)

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bobby KennedyIn a thousand days of JFK,
Hope held sway for a better way.
To the noble we did aspire.
What was keen and bold we did admire.

Jackie helped us look for class,
Rise above the crass and brass.
In Spanish and French, for Jack she spoke,
To grace and poise she inspired plain folk.

Naught did we dream, little think or say,
How soon Camelot would pass away.
When we looked to Bobby five years later,
‘Twas hard to say who was the greater.

Something like his brother’s were his ways,
His rise like a blaze through inky haze.
Like Gaius Gracchus in his time,
With Tiberius’ torch – bright, sublime.

Memory of the Gracchi brothers will never cease,
Nor Agis and Cleomones of ancient Greece.
Like John and Bob killed by assassins’ blow,
They dared to defy, go against the flow.

Losing such leaders, so matchless and rare,
Some Americans gave way to despair.
Yet memory of two courageous profiles,
Will strengthen resolve for future trials.

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About Author

Writer, retired history teacher, lecturer for Knights of Columbus--Bremerton WA (c. 1379), author of new & as yet unpublished book, "Rekindling the Spirit of 1776: Insurrectionary Solutions for Postmodern Maladies."

  • Struble

    I’m proud to say that when I was an undergraduate at SDSU, I founded the
    RFK for President campus campaign organization, 1968. I still have a
    letter of appreciation signed by Bobby.

  • Donald R. Gatwood

    Those were definitely different times. there was a spirit amongst the people of this country which has since been lost.

  • Randall Ward

    Robert Kennedy was as crooked as his older brother. We were spared a nightmare.

  • Freddy Fingers

    The only good thing about the Kennedys is that their vile lifestyles taught us that the scriptures are true about reaping what you sow.
    Not that any of our contry`s leaders have been any better in the last 100 years, all scoundrels once you peel back the layers.

  • CDville

    The legacy of the Kennedy family is taxpayer-funded abortion around the world. I am amazed that anyone on this website, least of all Mr. Struble, would idolize them. Camelot was fantasy, an empty campaign promise, just like the Hope and Change we are enduring now.

  • Struble

    CDville. I’m afraid you need to assess your assertion in light of the chronology. The country was pro-life until 1973, and neither Bobby nor Jack favored the culture of death. Please don’t get me started on Teddy, however.

    • CDville

      I apologize. I shouldn’t cast aspersions on the whole family based on Teddy’s behavior. In fact, I always assumed Cardinal O’Malley participated in that controversial funeral for the sake of family members who are probably still faithful to Rome, albeit quietly.

  • goral

    Bob, the country is still pro-life in the minds of Paul Ryan and Rick
    Santorum. How much support do you think they got from the Kennedy
    worshipers?

    The logical conclusion of the Kennedy/church love affair is Biden, Pelosi Sebelius and breeding grounds of BC and Georgetown.

    The
    exclamation point of that most troubling and tragic relationship was
    the eulogy at Ted’s funeral that all but told God to take this guy into
    eternal bliss, today, because he is a man after the church’s own heart.

    I
    was too young to be caught up in the Kennedy magic, so I don’t have the
    fond memories that you do. I trust your instincts that there was much
    good in both brothers;

    Yet, the final salvo of that sinful and
    lucrative love affair is the Kennedy legacy that culminated in the life
    of, perhaps, the biggest and most influential catholic demagogue that this
    country ever had and a Catholic Church left in a morass of scandals,
    struggling to regain its credibility that it is not the Democrat party
    in prayer.