Monday, June 06, 2005

It was 37 years ago today that America lost its last great dreamer of politics. No one could make a speech like Bobby Kennedy.

He spoke these words without preparation in Indianapolis after the death of Martin Luther King, Jr.

My favorite poet was Aeschylus. He wrote: "In our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God."

What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black.

Let us dedicate to ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world.

Let us dedicate ourselves to that, and say a prayer for our country and for our people.

Or at Capetown, South Africa:

We must recognize the full human equality of all our people - before God, before the law, and in the councils of government. We must do this not because it is economically advantageous - although it is; not because the laws of God and man command it - although they do command it; not because people in other lands wish it so. We must do it for the single and fundamental reason that it is the right thing to do.

He spoke of love and equality. He quoted the Greeks and poetry. These days its soundbites and catch phrases. No single politician today has the balls to speak like he did. We lost a lot that day in 1968. I just thought you should have a taste.

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