I was born in the latter half of the '60s. When I worked a cubicle job, many of my young coworkers were astounded that I was “that old.” They had visions of me dancing at Woodstock and burning my draft card. The truth is that I recall precisely three things from the '60s. I vaguely remember the Apollo 11 landing, my parents taking me to a civil rights march (I caught a cold), and making a snowman with my mom. And that is it.
But my parents were big-time peace activists, and had they not been slightly along in years, they would have been hippies. While the '60s may be a distant memory for me and a rallying cry for a few aged has-beens still lurking around the fringes of social media and trying to be relevant at various free Palestine and pro-abortion protests, the legendarium lives on. JFK, RFK, and MLK were practically the Holy Trinity in my house. LBJ might have made it into the pantheon were it not for his involvement in the war in Vietnam.
The Kennedy mystique still lingers, which I think is part of RFK Jr.’s appeal, even to many conservatives. The public face of the Kennedys represents what many thought America could and should be. On the one hand, we may scoff at Camelot. But perhaps there is a part of many of us that wishes that reality had lived up to the legend. To this day, Dion’s “Abraham, Martin, and John” evokes the vision of a bright and just America that has lived up to its founding principles. It’s the America we want. And it might seem tempting to draft a Kennedy to the conservative cause.
I like Kennedy. He is spot-on about Big Pharma, and I am in total agreement that the American people have every right to know what is in their food and what is being stuck in their arms. He is opposed to BlackRock and State Street, as am I.
At the same time, conservatives need to be careful about breaking into the chorus from “Jesus Christ, Superstar” every time the man walks into a room. Here are some of the headlines and blurbs following his testimony on Wednesday:
“RFK Jr. Obliterates the ‘Conspiracy Theorist’ Smear”
“RFK Jr. Shuts Down Senator Wyden Over Supposed Measles Outbreak and Vaccine Use in Samoa”
“RFK Jr. Receives Applause Despite Angry Democrats Tripping Over Themselves Trying to Derail His Confirmation”
“Democrats Threaten RFK Jr.: ‘You must support MANDATORY vaccinations!’”
“Farmers Unite Behind Kennedy to Lead HHS”
“Democratic senator to RFK Jr.: ‘You frighten people’”
“RFK Jr. Turns Tables On Dems ‘Chuckling’ About His Claim That Americans Prefer Private Insurance”
“Dems Hit RFK On Policy Details, But MAHA Cares About His Vision”
“RFK Jr. says he agrees with Trump that 'every abortion is a tragedy' despite personal pro-choice views”
“‘Are You Supportive of These Onesies?’Bernie Sanders Demands RFK Jr. Condemn Baby Outfit”
“RFK Jr. Shuts Down Democrat Sen. Masto, Triggers Applause: MAHA Crucial Because ‘Our Ship Is Sinking’”
“RFK Jr. has made an 'astounding' transformation in popularity that may lead to his confirmation, says CNN poll analyst”
And then there were the X posts:
We need to send a message to @SenateGOP.
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) January 29, 2025
If you think @RobertKennedyJr should be UNANIMOUSLY confirmed, please leave a "👍" in the comments. They are tagged and will see it.
No GOP Senator should defy Trump. RFK Jr. will fight for our children's future. pic.twitter.com/XfO3DpLsNR
Give me a 👍 if you believe every Republican Senator who doesn't vote to confirm RFK Jr. should be voted out in the next Primary. pic.twitter.com/P4TeAaNbmU
— TEAM USA (@__TEAM_USA) January 29, 2025
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. intends to remove the immunity protections from vaccine manufacturers and allow the public to hold them liable for injuries caused by their products. Confirm RFK Jr.! pic.twitter.com/QXfSi059Ay
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) January 29, 2025
When RFK Jr. was making his run for the presidency, I got press clearance for his rally in Salt Lake City. You can read the complete account here. I was impressed with the variety of attendees from across the social and political spectrum. And his populist message resonated even with me, who was trying to retain a certain level of aloofness and remain neutral for the sake of good journalism. But we all knew and still know who has the money, who has the power, and who has the control. We know it isn’t us, and we are sick of it.
When the rally ended, Kennedy’s team announced that he would pose for a selfie with anyone who wanted one, which was just about everyone. True to his word, he stayed. Then, his PR person organized an impromptu presser, and I joined the rest of the media at the rope line. Since I was not with a big-name organization or a network affiliate, I didn’t get a chance to ask my question. And that was a shame since all of the network affiliates wanted to pester him about his family’s opinion on his candidacy. They were going for the tabloid stuff. But then again, any journalist who is serious about the truth is not going to join a network affiliate.
My question was different. During his speech, RFK Jr. repeatedly decried the extraction industry. Given his background, that was to be expected. However, when Obama made his initial run for the White House, he declared that he would bankrupt the coal industry. Not too terribly far from where I live is a small Utah town that, for years, was dependent on the coal industry. Many of its inhabitants voted Democrat, being loyal union members.
What, I wanted to know, would become of those people and a country that relies on fossil fuels if the plug were abruptly yanked on behalf of climate change? Obviously, I never got an answer, and frankly, I thought I deserved one.
Similarly, there has been no shortage of ballyhoo over Sen. John Fetterman, who has made overtures about working with the Trump administration and voted for the Laken Riley Act. But Fetterman also voted against the “Born Alive” act. Fetterman’s quirky and folksy appeal aside, the vote was tantamount to endorsing infanticide.
When a celebrity makes a remark about Jesus or God or shows up in or in proximity to a church, believers have a bad habit of swooning and declaring said celebrity to be a Christian. Of course, it is usually not long before disappointment sets in.
We may welcome the addition of RFK Jr. to the fight. But it would also be wise to remember the words of Kipling, “If you can keep your head when all about you / Are losing theirs and blaming it on you.” We should welcome like-minded people to the cause but, at the same time, recognize where our boundaries are. And we should be ready to say, “This far may you come, but no farther.”
