It was March 2004 and Barack Obama had recently won - in an unexpected landslide - the primary election in Illinois for the United States Senate. That's all it took for the Democratic Party to speculate that someday - although nobody thought so soon - Mr. Obama would be a perfect candidate for President of the United
States. To get the ball rolling...the then State Senator Obama was asked to deliver the July 27th, 2004 Keynote Address at the Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts. It was a masterful, powerhouse speech that catapulted him in to the national spotlight and put the name Obama on the tongues of Democrats all across the country. Four years later in 2008, U.S. Senator Obama surprisingly defeated Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination...and in November, Barack Obama was elected our nation's 44th President.
The name Kennedy has been on the minds of Americans since 1960 when U.S. Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy of Massachusetts opposed the then Vice President Richard Nixon in a race for The White House. JFK narrowly defeated Mr. Nixon...and on January 20th, 1961, Mr. Kennedy became America's 35th President...the youngest elected President in U.S. history.
Fast-forward to 2018...and another young Kennedy's star is rising in the Democratic Party. As President Obama did - as a result of that 2004 convention speech - the popularity of Congressman Joseph Kennedy III is skyrocketing in to the political stratosphere following the Democratic Response to Donald Trump's State Of The Union Address on January 30th.
No matter whose name is on the Republican side of the 2020 presidential ballot...Democrats will need a strong candidate to face that individual. Joe Kennedy just may be that person.
In the wake of the February 14th, 2018 shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida - where fourteen teenage students and three faculty members were tragically murdered - gun control is not only the topic of discussion by Americans nationwide, but it's of great concern to Congressman Kennedy.
Although he had not yet been born when his great-uncle Jack and his grandfather Bobby were assassinated...Joe Kennedy is no stranger to being affected by gun violence. I would imagine that many members of the older generation in his family have shared those two heartwrenching days with him...not to mention that there are dozens, if not hundreds of books, that chronicle the murders of two of America's most distinguished, most admired and most revered men.
On the Friday, February 23rd broadcast of the ABC television program, The View...Kennedy emphasized with strength and with passion...that to get a new commonsense universal gun control law passed, it's going to take the American people's thundering voices screaming out..."We want this. We want to protect our kids." And the Massachusetts Democrat opposes what I call an insane, absurd and asinine notion by Donald Trump...and that is to train school teachers so they can be armed with concealed handguns. Furthermore, as for Trump's moronic recommendation to pay bonus money to teachers who carry a pistol on school premises, Kennedy is totally against such an illogical proposal. "Making sure that more and more people have guns" is not "the right way to protect our children in schools." Kennedy also objects to the suggestion of focusing on mental health...instead of firearms...to stop gun violence in the United States. On The View, Kennedy did not mince words as he continues to protest Trump...and the Republicans on Capitol Hill...who want to swing a hatchet and chop to pieces...desperately necessary funding...for people who suffer from mental illness. "The first big bill coming out of Congress was a bill to cut Medicaid, the largest payer of mental health service in this country by 800-billion dollars. So don't turn around and tell me this is a mental health issue when you just tried to cut the biggest payer of it by 800-billion dollars." Kennedy was applauded by The View audience when he also stated that "study after study" shows "people with mental illness are far more likely to be victims of crime than perpetrate them."
Kennedy is a politician that Americans can respect. Like (from left to right in the photograph) his great-uncle, John F. Kennedy...his grandfather, Robert F. Kennedy...and his great-uncle, Edward M. Kennedy...Joseph Kennedy III is someone who serves our country with honor. And also like his three famous relatives...Joe's talent for speech-making is extraordinary. He proved that by his riveting and captivating Democratic Response.
I was only 8 years old on a fateful autumn day in 1963...but I remember that November 22nd as if it was yesterday. It was about 1:40 p.m. Eastern Standard Time when Walter Cronkite's CBS News bulletin interrupted the soap opera, As The World Turns, and shocked the nation that President Kennedy had been shot. I just happened to be home sick that day. Tragedy then hit home for every American, about an hour later, at 2:38 p.m. when Walter gave us the news we did not want to hear. "From Dallas, Texas, the flash apparently official...President Kennedy died at 1 p.m. Central Standard Time, 2 o'clock Eastern Standard Time, some 38 minutes ago." The CBS News anchorman then choked up as my mom and I began to cry. Our nation had suffered the assassination of our President.
About five years later, on June 5th, 1968 - following his win in the California Democratic Primary - smart money was on U.S. Senator Bobby Kennedy of New York to be elected President that November. But all that came to an end when moments after his victory speech at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, Senator Kennedy - like his brother, John - was shot by an assassin's bullets. RFK died the next morning on June 6th.
In 1980, Senator Teddy Kennedy of Massachusetts tossed his hat in to the presidential ring. But unlike his two brothers, Teddy went up against an incumbent President - Jimmy Carter - for the Democratic nomination. And Senator Kennedy lost. It was his only attempt at a run for the presidency. But Ted Kennedy remained a pivotal part of the U.S. Senate for many more years...until a malignant brain tumor hospitalized him in 2008. Teddy Kennedy died on August 25th, 2009.
For a long, long time, I - along with millions of other Americans - have hoped and dreamed that another Kennedy would launch a campaign to seek the highest office in our land. President Kennedy's two children - daughter, Caroline and son, John Jr. - were always discussed by average citizens and the political pundits as possible presidential candidates. In 2013, President Obama appointed Caroline Kennedy to be U.S. Ambassador to Japan...a position she held for four years. As for Caroline's brother - John F. Kennedy, Jr. - death came too soon. The Kennedy family - and all of America - suffered another devastation on July 16th, 1999. The son of the slain President and the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis...John, Jr. - as a little 
boy - was someone Americans fell in love with as "John-John." JFK, Jr. was killed when the airplane he was piloting...crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. Neither John, Jr., nor Caroline, ever expressed an interest in following in their dad's political footsteps.But now, there's Bobby's grandson. I truly believe that Joseph Kennedy III will - at some point - decide that he wants to continue the job that Great-Uncle Jack never had the chance to complete...and to begin the work that Grandpa Bobby had the desire to accomplish.
And that's The Controversy for today.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
"We'll talk again."
The Controversy is a
publication of GBD Productions. Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy
is Gary B. Duglin.
Now please express your personal opinions by following the instructions above. And thank you for reading The Controversy.
Now please express your personal opinions by following the instructions above. And thank you for reading The Controversy.
Photo credits: ABC News (Former President Barack Obama #1), Pinterest (Former President Barack Obama #2), New York Daily News (Former President John F. Kennedy), The Boston Globe (Congressman Joseph Kennedy III #1), ABC News (Congressman Joseph Kennedy, III and The Cast of ABC's The View), ABC News (Former President John F. Kennedy, Former Senator Robert F. Kennedy and Former Senator Edward M. Kennedy), CNN and The Independent (Congressman Joseph Kennedy III #2), CBS News and RobertFeder.com (Walter Cronkite), Daily Mail (Former Senator Robert F. Kennedy), C-SPAN and YouTube (Former Senator Edward M. Kennedy), NBC News (Caroline Kennedy), NBC News (John F. Kennedy, Jr.), UPI (John F. "John-John" Kennedy, Jr.) and CBS Boston (Congressman Joseph Kennedy III #3)
Copyright 2018 Gary B.
Duglin and TheControversy.net. All Rights Reserved.
I don’t know how you can compare Joseph Kennedy III to his great-uncle JFK. In today’s world JFK would have almost been a conservative Republican or at least a center right Democrat. He believed in lower taxes especially for the upper brackets, he wanted a strong military; he stood up to communism, all three beliefs that could get you thrown out of the Democrat party today. Those were some of his better qualities; he was a war hero, started the Peace Corps and pushing the space program were great too. Now for the bad side, he was a womanizer, he abused high doses of pain medication and was said to abuse alcohol. RFK was a strong leader, very smart, was said to be ruthless but also a womanizer. Teddy was a far left liberal also a womanizer, who was said to abuse alcohol and who got away with vehicular manslaughter because of his family name. Now for Joseph Kennedy III, anyone who says his speech was something great was watching a different speech then I did, with drool going down the sides of his mouth, rambling thoughts that made no sense half the time. The line you’re no Jack Kennedy” really fits this guy, go back to liberal Massachusetts and leave the rest of us alone. We don’t need another Kennedy, we could use another Reagan or Bush or even a Eisenhower if there was one but not a left wing Kennedy.
ReplyDeleteAs with many of my Republican readers - which I have to assume you are, given your numerous Kennedy criticisms and your nasty comment for Joe Kennedy to "go back to liberal Massachusetts and leave the rest of us alone" - the only comparisons I made between Joe and his three more famous relatives... are that they are all politicians who Americans, as a whole, respected...and that Jack, Bobby and Teddy served our country with honor...as does Joe. And yes...also...that Joe has a talent for speech-making. Most Democrats applauded Joe for his Democratic Response. Too bad you don't agree.
DeleteFormer Vice President Joe Biden tweeted..."Proud to call you a friend, @RepJoeKennedy. You captured the idealism and optimism of our party — and this nation. Because you understand that everyone is entitled to be treated with dignity. And that in this country, no one gets left behind. Well done."
Former Speaker of the House, now House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi tweeted..."@realDonaldTrump may have painfully tried to deceive the American people into thinking he's not an unstable person, but no one's falling for it. Rep. Joe Kennedy, on the other hand, embodied our values as a country and exemplified the optimism that Americans are seeking."
I'm always amazed by Republicans who will use the "womanizer" word against the Kennedys, Bill Clinton and other Democrats...when the biggest "womanizer" of all is Donald Trump. The fact that Trump will likely be booted out of office because of obstruction of justice, conspiracy and possibly treason...under any other circumstances, his whoring around with a porn star should have already destroyed his presidency. But you go ahead and call three of America's most revered citizens - President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and Senator Edward M. Kennedy - "womanizer(s)."
As for your hateful accusation that Ted Kennedy "got away with vehicular manslaughter because of his family name"...I have always believed that there is more to the Chappaquiddick automobile accident and the death of Mary Jo Kopechne than anyone will ever know...and it has nothing to do with the fault of Ted Kennedy. That being said...I certainly don't think that Kennedy was guilty of manslaughter. But then...you, as a Republican...and someone who obviously doesn't like the Kennedys... would disagree with me.
I guarantee you that if President Kennedy was President today...he'd be just as liberal as his brother Teddy and his great-nephew Joe.
America is bound to become more and more liberal as the years go by, because the younger generations are proving more and more to be liberal. America does need another Kennedy. And as liberal...and as progressive...and as Democratic...as we can get. It's probably not going to happen in 2020, but who knows? I'm betting on one of two people to be elected President in 2020...that is, if one of them decides to run again. And that's Joe Biden...or Hillary Clinton. Oh I know Hillary said she was done...but she also said that after the 2008 campaign. As for Joe...if his health holds up...he will certainly run...and would probably get the nomination...and therefore beat the Republican nominee...who won't be Donald Trump...because Trump will have been forced to resign long before then. But then there's Joe Kennedy. Whether he seeks the presidency in 2020 or later...I hope he does sometime. As I've said more than once...America needs another Kennedy in The White House.
GBD
My “numerous Kennedy criticisms” as you put it were statements of fact. Next, why was my comment about liberal Massachusetts “nasty”? It is liberal, he is from there and he should go back there, all good things, nothing nasty. Quoting Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi who are both big time haters of the right, doesn’t do your argument for Joe Kennedy any good. I didn’t bring up anyone else as a womanizer, you did, JFK would have sex with anyone that wore a skirt, and according to secret service agents shared them with his brother Bobby in the White House pool, Ted Kennedy let a girl drown in his car instead of getting caught with her, Bill Clinton is an accused rapist and President Trump may have cheated on his wife, I think “Bill and Ted's excellent adventures” put them in the lead! As for America becoming more liberal and flushing us more down the toilet, we can hope that the old saying is true “If You Are Not a Liberal When You Are Young, You Have No Heart, and If You Are Not a Conservative When Old, You Have No Brain”. We can hope that the youth of America grows up and grows a brain!
ReplyDeleteThe following response to the above reader will be in three parts.
DeletePART ONE OF THREE
You are one hell of a HATER!
If you really have to ask why your comment about liberals isn't "nasty" then you're a hater who also is a moron.
Democrats do NOT hate...so for you to accuse both Vice President Biden and Speaker Pelosi of being "haters"...only shows YOUR hatred.
I certainly don't agree or condone so-called affairs by men...or by women...who stray from their significant others. However, just to give you some facts. The website Trustify publishes the following. "According to the Associated Press and the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 22% of men say that they've cheated on their significant other at least once during their marriage, and 14% of wives admit to straying." There's also this list of Infidelity Statistics from Trustify and the aforementioned poll. Again, I don't condone any such action, but I give you these facts to show that just because a President of the United States is a "womanizer" doesn't make him any different than about one-quarter of the country.
"In over 1/3 of marriages, one or both partners admit to cheating.
36% of men and women admit to having an affair with a coworker.
17% of men and women admit to having an affair with a sister-in-law or brother-in-law.
People who have cheated before are 350% more likely to cheat again.
Affairs are most likely to occur two years into a marriage.
35% of men and women admit to cheating while on a business trip.
9% of men admit they might have an affair to get back at a spouse.
14% of women admit they might have an affair to get back at a spouse.
10% of affairs begin online.
40% of the time online affairs turn into real life affairs."
GBD
END OF PART ONE OF THREE
PART TWO OF THREE
DeleteBut specifically...the following U.S. Presidents are known to have had affairs...or mistresses.
Republican President Dwight Eisenhower had an affair - while he was married to First Lady Mamie Eisenhower - with his secretary/driver Kay Summersby.
Republican President Warren Harding, while married, had many known affairs...one with Carrie Phillips and another with Nan Britton. And with Britton, Harding had a daughter. But there were many other affairs with women...such as an employee of The Washington Post named Miss Allicott and two chorus girls, Maize Haywood and Blossom Jones. Another two women said they became pregnant by Harding - one had a son while the other aborted her baby. There was also an affair with Grace Cross while Harding was in the Senate. But Harding never tried to keep his flings a secret. He's quoted as telling reporters...“It’s a good thing I am not a woman. I would always be pregnant. I can’t say no.”
You'll probably be shocked to learn that Republican President George H. W. Bush was allegedly involved sexually with political aide, Jennifer Fitzgerald while he's been married to Barbara. The Washington Post once published that Fitzgerald had “served President-elect George Bush in a variety of positions.” Mr. Bush has repeatedly denied the allegations.
And how about this? President George Washington - "the father of our country" was involved in a scandal back in the 1700s with Sally Fairfax while he was engaged to Martha. But there is no definitive evidence that George and Sally ever fooled around AFTER he was married to Mrs. Washington.
Other American Presidents - Democrats and Republicans alike - who have been known to have had affairs include President Woodrow Wilson, President James Garfield, President Lyndon Johnson, President Grover Cleveland, President James Buchanan and President Franklin Roosevelt.
So don't go bringing up President Kennedy as a "womanizer" as if he was the only one. And the only reason I mentioned President Clinton was because that's what Republicans will always eventually note because of the Monica Lewinsky ordeal, along with the allegations that Mr. Clinton was with other women while married to Hillary. President Clinton has denied all such claims except for the "bj" in The Oval Office by Lewinsky.
GBD
END OF PART TWO OF THREE
PART THREE OF THREE
DeleteAgain, you're a hater. You're a Kennedy hater and a hater overall. There is NO PROOF that Ted Kennedy "let a girl drown in his car." The operative word being "let."
You're not only a hater, but you're a disgusting hater. But the "youths of America" are INDEED growing up with brains. And that's why the vast amount of men and women alike in the younger generations are becoming more and more liberal. The kids of today really know what they're doing. And liberal...progressive...Democrats..will again rule the land. Wait, watch and see what happens in November 2018...and then in 2020.
GBD
END OF PART THREE OF THREE