Tonight, June 4, a tragedy occurred 52 years ago, just after midnight so early June 5, the shooting of Senator Robert F. Kennedy just after he had accepted victory in the California primary, and seemed likely on his way to becoming the Democratic Presidential nominee in 1968.
This author and blogger was watching when RFK was shot and mortally wounded early on June 5, and passed away about 26 hours later, on June 6, 1968.
The world changed, and has never been the same, and one could say the whole history of the past half century could have been dramatically different had Kennedy lived.
It is not that RFK was perfect, and there was no absolute certainty that he would have been the nominee against Richard Nixon, or would have defeated him.
But there are many who think RFK was our destiny, and he was taken from us tragically.
With his faults and shortcomings, which all political leaders and all of us have, what stood out about RFK was his empathy, his compassion, his humanity.
Now, a half century later, we have a Democratic Presidential candidate, Joe Biden, who has similar traits of empathy, compassion, and humanity, and who was inspired as a young man by what RFK represented. Biden was in his mid 20s, and starting his nearly half a century of public service as a US Senator for 36 years and Vice President for 8 years.
And imagine the irony: Both RFK and Joe Biden were born on November 20, in 1925 and 1942 17 years apart!
It can be hoped that what RFK represented can be accomplished in some way by Joe Biden, when he, hopefully, will take the oath of office as the 46th President of the United States!