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Peter Hymans's avatar

Beautifully written, Alix

I met Senator Bobby Kennedy and made eye contact and photographed him on May 29, 1968 just a week before he died. In meeting Bobby Jr. at several venues and photographing him, I have had occasion to observe and talk with him. He is so utterly focused on the "now" that when he is on camera, being interviewed by tough, astute, antagonistic or curious people he is locked-on to his context, knowledge base and purpose. Therefore we do not see or experience the genuine human he is. So humble; he offered his seat to me at an event when I walked in with my camera. At his campaign kick-off event and there were false fire alarms going off, he was concerned about everyone else but himself....much like his father, Bobby, whose last words were "Is everybody alright?" when he lay, bleeding on the Ambassador Hotel kitchen pantry. I have heard Bobby say (at your home, Alix) and elsewhere that when he becomes president in the Ukraine he will "Stop the killing." When he referred to Israel as being an aircraft carrier in the Middle East for the U.S. the spiritual and logical disconnect was jarring. I was doing video at an event with the great author David Talbot, in San Francisco last week and Talbot reminded the few who jeered a question about Bobby Jr----"Keep in mind, when John Kennedy was running for president he was more 'Nixon' than Nixon was because it was an election campaign." JFK also had to keep his peace motivations under wraps in 1963 and was withholding his intention to withdraw all forces from Vietnam, until after the election, when his peaceful position would be tenable. Unfortunately the same dark forces who took JFK and RFK Sr. out still hover, linger, sniff and snort in our midst. David Talbot finished his statement up with---remember, it is politics. At my ripe old age, with clear mind and perception I see the humanist in RFK Jr. loud and clear and I realize that I must trust him to be whom he has shown himself to be for so long. These are very tough times. AND at that Fireside Chat we attended in Hayward, there were two large steel barriers between the crowd and the stage, because he is being denied protection by the current administration. I am sure that, if we are allowed to proceed down historic pre-election trails, that much more will surface and he will become an even more attractive alternative to the slagged-up old iron politicians.

Thank you for your erudite essays and all your hard work, Alix!

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Kymberly's avatar

Thanks for posting this!

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