Bill Clinton's Remarks for Robert F. Kennedy, On June 6, 1993

excerpted:

"We remember him, almost captured in freeze-frame, standing on the hood of a car, grasping at out-reached hands, black and brown and white. His promise was that the hands which reached out to him might someday actually reach out to each other. And together, those hands could make America everything that it ought to be -- a nation reunited with itself and rededicated to its best ideals."

<snip>

"He spoke out against neglect, but he challenged the neglected to seize their own destiny. He wanted so badly for government to act, but he did not trust bureaucracy. And he believed that government had to do things with people, not for them. He knew we had to do things together or not at all. He spoke to the sons and daughters of immigrants and the sons and daughters of sharecroppers, and told them all, as long as you stay apart from each other, you will never be what you ought to be.

He saw the world not in terms of right and left, but right and wrong. And he taught us lessons that cannot be labeled except as powerful proof. Robert Kennedy reminded us that on any day, in any place, at any time, racism is wrong; exploitation is wrong; violence is wrong; anything that denies the simple humanity and potential of any man or woman is wrong."

<snip>

"If you listen now you can hear with me his voice telling me and telling you and telling everyone here, "We can do better." Today's troubles call us to do better. The legacy of Robert Kennedy is a stern rebuke to the cynicism, to the trivialization that grips so much of our public life today.

What use is it in the face of the aching problems gripping millions of Americans -- the American without a job, the American without health care, the American without a safe street to live on or a good school to send a child to? What use of it is it in the face of all the divisions that keep our country down and rob our children of their rightful future?

Let us learn here the simple, powerful, beautiful lesson, the simple faith of Robert Kennedy: We can do better. Let us leave here no longer in two places, but once again in one only: in the here and now, with a commitment to tomorrow, the only part of our time that we can control. Let us embrace the memory of Robert Kennedy by living as he would have us live. For the sake of his memory, of ourselves and of all of our children and all those to come, let us believe again, we can do better."

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What happened to the man who spoke these words, who reminded those in attendance that Bobby's legacy was a stern rebuke to cynicism, and yet joins his wife to run one of the most cynical campaigns I've ever seen a Democrat run? This man, who reminded us that "on any day, in ay place, at any time, racism is wrong; exploitation is wrong; violence is wrong; anything that denies the simple humanity and potential of any man or woman is wrong", has spent this long primary campaign enflaming so many of those wrongs for the purpose of gaining political power. He recalls Bobby's wishes to unite this nation and 15 years later helps his wife emphasize and exploit divisions of race and gender and class.

On that day, he said there was laughter of children and tears of those old enough to remember. He said the memory of Robert Kennedy was so powerful that in a profound way, "we are all in two places today. We are here and now; and we are there, then." That memory is as powerful now as it was 15 years ago, which makes his wife's references to his assassination as a reason to continue a campaign that much more outrageous and appalling.

Everything that President Clinton spoke of in remembrance of Bobby Kennedy could be said of Barack Obama. In a strange and troubling way, he and his wife have campaigned in a way that is counter to everything Bobby stood for. I don't know what happened to President Clinton in those 15 years, but I would suggest he re-read his own words again, perhaps with special emphasis on the last paragraph.

"We can do better. Let us leave here no longer in two places, but once again in one only: in the here and now, with a commitment to tomorrow, the only part of our time that we can control. Let us embrace the memory of Robert Kennedy by living as he would have us live. For the sake of his memory, of ourselves and of all of our children and all those to come, let us believe again, we can do better."

Yes We Can!

8 years of presidency, a blow job (read as republican witch hunt.), major health issues, and campaigning for his wife's crumbling presidential run.


I think that would do just about anybody in. I still love the man though.

and Obama supporters will fail miserably in cheap attempts to tarnish his legacy to score Obama points.

You diminish your own credibility with the public and fellow Dems when you attack the Democratic party and its legacy, but that's your choice. History will not be kind to you.

I'd say at this point they're doing a damn good job of it themselves.

Your clairvoyance is wonderful.