I heard a new phrase last night: \u201cKennedy-Republican\u201d. At first, I thought this was some QAnon inspired reference. The QAnon theory, that John Kennedy Junior didn\u2019t die in a plane crash off of Long Island, and is coming back to lead (along with Donald Trump) an American Revolution, has been around for a while. And while we don\u2019t hear much about QAnon anymore, some of its \u201cmythology\u201d still permeates the far right. So a \u201cKennedy-Republican\u201d; is that John Junior returning from the grave?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then I caught on. There is another Kennedy, the same generation as John Jr., who is actually alive and running for President. And he\u2019s running for the Democratic nomination, (as any good Kennedy heir should). Robert Kennedy Jr, Bobby Jr, the sixty-eight year old third child of Senator Robert Kennedy (brother of the President) filed to run in the Democratic Primaries against Joe Biden for the 2024 nomination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Robert Kennedy Jr is a long-time environmentalist. He made a career out of environmental law, and was in the fore-front of New York State controls on pollution. He\u2019s against fossil fuels and nuclear energy, pushing for use of renewable energy sources. He believes that the fossil-fuel industry controls the Environmental Protection Agency. He endorsed Vice President Al Gore\u2019s 2000 run for the Presidency and John Kerry\u2019s 2004 campaign based on their environmental views, and is an advocate of the Green New Deal plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, while Joe Biden hasn\u2019t gone as far as the Green New Deal, he is seen by many environmentalists as progressive on environmental policy. So why would Kennedy take on an incumbent Democratic President of the United States?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, there is a Kennedy tradition, established by Robert\u2019s uncle, Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. Ted took on Jimmy Carter in 1980, despite Carter being the incumbent President. That divisive Democratic fight was the first step leading to Carter\u2019s defeat by Reagan in the 1980 general election, as the \u201cliberal\u201d wing of the Party felt abandoned by the more moderate Carter\/Mondale ticket. (The inevitable \u201cvictory\u201d of Ronald Reagan wasn\u2019t at all pre-ordained going into the 1980 campaign. A fractured Democratic Party and the Iranian hostages both led to the resounding Carter defeat). <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n So Robert Jr. can look to family tradition: a Kennedy running on \u201cprinciple\u201d against the incumbent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And he, like his father, is an anti-war Democrat. That includes the current war in Ukraine, which Kennedy characterizes as a US war of aggression using Ukrainian bodies to fulfill American foreign policy goals. He believes Ukraine is just a continuation of the \u201cNeo-Con\u201d wars of aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan; all started, according to him, by Americans for financial gain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Kennedy\u2019s real strength isn\u2019t in the Democratic Party, it\u2019s in the far-right of the Republican base. Because for the past decade Kennedy made anti-vaccination and anti-big pharma his main banner headline. Kennedy believes that big-pharma and the American wealthy used Covid-19 to their advantage, creating billions of dollars of wealth with what he termed dangerous and useless treatments. Kennedy was against Covid restrictions and firmly against the Covid vaccine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He wrote a book accusing Anthony Fauci as being a \u201ctechnocrat\u201d who used both the AIDS epidemic and Covid to make money for the Pharmaceutical industry. Kennedy believes the modern vaccinations cause many of the childhood issues of today, including autism and violent allergies. He is anti-vaxx, anti-mask, and a conspiracy theorist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In our modern world of disinformation, the \u201cpost-fact era\u201d of social media, Robert Kennedy Jr fits right in. He has great appeal in the generation that believes that the \u201cmainstream\u201d media is all \u201cfake-news\u201d and propaganda. The more the mainstream tries to fact-check Kennedy, the more popular has views become. And, of course, despite being denied by the most of his famous family, Robert Kennedy Jr still has the name, the smile, and the legacy to reach a great many people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe he isn\u2019t really so far from the QAnon myth.\u00a0\u00a0Kennedy personifies all of the mystery;\u00a0\u00a0he is the \u201cheir\u201d, striking out against\u00a0\u00a0the \u201chidden movers\u201d, that social media thrives on today.\u00a0\u00a0He is really just saying aloud what\u2019s already whispered in the darker recesses of our phones and computers:\u00a0\u00a0that there is some \u201cdark conspiratorial force\u201d changing the world to their benefit.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is it QAnon, or Star Wars? Bobby Kennedy Jr might fit the role of the older Luke Skywalker, called back from exile to save the Republic. Like Skywalker, he is scarred by time, his voice damaged by spasmodic dystonia. But he still has the \u201cmagic\u201d of his father, the smile, the grace, and those vague memories of another time, when Bobby Kennedy called us to greatness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kennedy won\u2019t attract many Democratic votes in the primary. But don\u2019t be surprised if he carries his campaign on into the general election as a third party. After all, if the Democrats strike him down, won\u2019t he come back, \u201c\u2026more powerful than we can possibly imagine?\u201d It\u2019s all about myths and conspiracies, podcasts and old movies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And Bobby Junior fits right in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anti-Vaxxer<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Different Myth<\/h3>\n\n\n\n