From Main Street – I Don’t Care About Tax Records, Do You Read a Book?

RFK Jr. Runs For 2024 Presidential Nomination As An Independent

I am writing outside my usual Main Street box about baseball, Israel and now about Robert Kennedy. A quick Stepheny story will explain why I have done this and will continue to pop in a few posts like this from time to time.

Years ago, I had a telephone call from husband, Bob who was downtown Chicago working at Leo Burnett Advertising Company. My big news of the day was I had shopped at the newly opened Dominick’s grocery store. Later, I thought, wow, that must have been one fascinating conversation for someone living in a very grown up world. I shook myself and turned around twice. That was the last time I allowed myself to loose sight of the number of leaves on a tree or mention Dominick’s.

I wouldn’t want you to ignore the preservation of Rocky Mount’s architecture, but baseball and our American political story deserve reflection. Perplexed as many of us are over the LOW voter turnout and the outcome of the Ward 1 race, this writing is to remind myself and prove to you that I am more than a ‘Dominick’s grocery store’ kind of girl. I hope the diversion is acceptable because it has taken me out of the election drama mode and back to other things that are meaningful to me and hopefully, to you.

I began to read about Bobby Kennedy after the death of his brother. The image of him carrying John Kennedy’s over-coat on his arm has stayed with me. I enjoyed my latest David Halberstam read: The Unfinished Odyssey of Robert Kennedy. I put this book on my list after the announcement that Bobby Kennedy’s son was considering running in the 2024 presidential election.

Eventually I came to read about the Roosevelt years, and characters like Joseph Kennedy and related history. I highly recommend reading Citizens of London by Carol Olson – one of the best.

My reading has lead me to think that it isn’t tax records we should ask to see from our leaders but a list of the books they have read and are reading. I have yelled more than once at TV News video clips, “Do any of you jerks read a book?” I now believe the lack of this education is a powerful reason why America is in the state it’s in.

Today we have Robert Francis Kennedy Jr, taking the baton to run in the 2024 marathon. With the face of his father, he has survived the tragedies of his family, of a nation. I find myself deeply moved to see the boy who was 14 years old when his father was assassinated making this decision.

RFK, Jr. is an American environmental lawyer and writer known for advocating anti-vaccine misinformation and public health-related conspiracy theories. Born: January 17, 1954 in Washington, D.C, he carries with him a privileged education, the history of the Kennedy family, and the stories of the bright and best who populated his world. I have no concerns about his reading life. He has written: The Riverkeepers (1997 book) Crimes Against Nature (2004 book)The Real Anthony Fauci (2021 book) A Letter to Liberals (2022 book)

We are all paying for a lack of the talented, intelligent, principled, Democratic leadership that has always been part of American life. It is not only the lack of reading the American story, but Donald Trump became the Democrats obsession. No effort was made to discover and strengthen new talented Democratic leadership. It was obvious the trouble the Democrats were in while watching the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court Hearings. The Presidential hopefuls on the committee were dreadful. I was appalled with how nasty and unforgivable Dianne Feinstein, Sheldon Whitehouse. Amy Klobuchar, Chris Coons, Richard Blumenthal, Mazie Hirono, Cory. Booker, and Alex Padilla all were. No wonder ‘Bidden in the basement’ seemed acceptable. Since those hearings it has remained nothing but Trump, at the expense of finding new leadership with substance. I’m not saying young Kennedy is the answer but I know Kamala or Gavin Newsom are not.

Sitting on my Main Street bench, I am reflecting on the state of things, the quality of leadership that gives or taketh away and how this impacts our lives. Reagan called America the shining light on the hill. We’ve got to get our polishing rags out and reclaim the luster. The election of the American President is of epic proportion in 2024.

Something I was curious about:

I googled….what is the matter with Robert Kennedy’s voice? It’s tough listening. Kennedy has been diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia, a chronic neurological voice disorder and a focal laryngeal dystonia. It results in involuntary spasms of the muscles that open or close the vocal folds, causing a voice that presents with breaks and strained/strangled quality or breathy quality. I’d never heard of this disease let alone how to spell the disorder. With a little research, now I know.

Something I love:

I didn’t know who Aeschylus was but he was one of Bobby Kennedy’s favorite poets. if you google him, you read he is the father of Greek tragedy. These few lines will make you weep knowing pain as we all do one time or another. And this admonition….READ BOOKS. I wanted to know who has orchestrated my life and why; even in disagreement with consequences would we have missed it for anything, never

“Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until in our own despair against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.”