Bobby

Tonight I watched the award winning film Bobby. The movie chronicles Robert Kennedy’s final day in 1968 and the lives of some of those he touched. RFK has always been a political hero and (unfairly perhaps) I judge other candidates for public office by his leadership. Of course, I was not yet born when the senator was killed. But in reading of his history what has always impressed me most was his willingness to change course and to try new ideas when policies and ideas failed the challenges of the moment. He was an early architect of the war in Vietnam who became a chief critic. During his brother’s administration he was uneasy about the political impact of the civil rights movement but by the time of his death he had become the moral heir of Martin Luther King, Jr. He campaigned in 1968 to bring an end to a disastrous war and to bring reconciliation to a nation deeply divided along racial and economic lines. Our time echoes his. The most cynical among us will say that politicians cannot bring change but I believe differently. There is still a chance that our political system can produce leaders capable of inspiring the nation to heal the rifts that continue divide us and to end another immoral war. What will it take? All of us. The people of the nation. Once again we need to look past our own cynicism and engage in the political system knowing that it is broken and with a goal of fixing it. Soon I plan to add my voice to one of the presidential campaigns. It won’t be because I think the candidate I have chosen is perfect but because I believe that candidate has shown some of the same moral courage that Robert Kennedy, another imperfect person, did. And it won’t be because I think a president can solve every problem. Hardly. In fact, I think the issues we face today are as much a spiritual crisis as a political one. But democracy will wither away unless we all participate. So I will participate and hope that the forces of progress win this time.  I hope everyone who has been disappointed in the past will join the fight again in 2008.  There is so much at stake.