Otto von Bismarck is credited with observing that, “Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable – the art of the next best.” Given the state of the world today, the strongest possible choice to be the next President of the United States is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
The candidacy of RFK, Jr. is just
that: strong and possible. This endorsement is offered out of sincere
pragmatism, with scant romanticism involved.
Nevertheless, like a Protestant
wedding night, let us dispense with the romance right away.
There is a theory that America is
eager to heal the psychic wounds caused by the assassinations of John F.
Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, Sr. Since RFK, Jr.’s announcement for president,
this notion has been advanced by estimable writers.
After due consideration, we must
reject this idea. While Americans of a certain vintage may wax lyrical about
Camelot and the electric, too-short campaign of 1968, their numbers vanish by
the day, and are already outmatched by the political machine that would deny
RFK, Jr. the Democratic nomination.
As another Fitzgerald averred, we
are “borne back ceaselessly into the past.” To this, L.P. Hartley might add,
“The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.” America
today lacks the cultural memory to recognize and grieve the deaths of JFK and
RFK as we ought. Too few understand that on November 22, 1963, the United
States was sent on the most tragic detour since a chauffer took a wrong turn in
Sarajevo in 1914. On June 6, 1968, our chance to right that course was
foreclosed.
Nostalgia is vapor. In the real
world, we must do the best we can with what we have. We cannot summon Ronald
Reagan to negotiate with Russia, or Abraham Lincoln to heal our national rift,
or James K. Polk to fix the southern border.
Our obligation is to take stock
of the challenges we face, then cast about for the most practical solution. Two
such towering challenges are the threats to personal sovereignty, and America’s
threat to the sovereignty of the other nations of the world.
On each of these, RFK, Jr. has risen
as the people’s champion.
We are just now emerging from three
years of siege. The conflict of which it was part is not new, and did not begin
with an illness. From mankind’s earliest memory, we have fought against the
will to dominate others. This urge for control is the very stuff of hell itself
and, with bittersweet thanks to our global ordeal, those who wish to look can
see it plain as day.
RFK, Jr. is the only major
candidate, from either party, who understood this threat from the beginning and
has consistently stood in opposition thereto. That is almost enough for me to
set down my crayon and conclude this endorsement right here. But wait, there’s
more.
For many modern liberals, the
only F-word they abjure is Freedom. The very notion is sneered at, derided as a
stand-in for any manner of istophobic wrongthink. This column has never before
endorsed a Democrat for any office, in part due to their tendency toward collectivism
and disdain for individual liberty. On only one topic are they unbendingly
“pro-choice.” On all others, from your child’s education to what medication you
must receive, the choice is always theirs.
RFK, Jr.’s pronouncements and
prose are saturated with Freedom. To a civilian wishing for an honest
marketplace of ideas, and a legitimate choice between parties, it is hard to
overstate how refreshing this is. Moreover, he understands the Byzantine
mechanism by which modern man is distanced from his liberty.
In no small thanks to RFK, Jr.,
we have temporarily eluded the medical and digital prison proposed in just-so
tones by globalist busybodies (he literally wrote the book on Anthony Fauci);
but they’ll be back. They have made no secret that their next gambit will be
advanced for the good of the planet.
Here again, RFK, Jr. is
thoroughly versed. For decades, the environment has been one of his defining
issues. But a distinction must be made. Like you, gentle reader, and all decent
people, he is concerned about pollution and the preservation of life. This is
separate from the cricket-chomping Church of Climate that would see you
confined to within 15 minutes of your home, digitally monitored.
Unlike many environmentalists,
RFK, Jr. does not hate humanity, and he understands we have as much right to be
here as the speckled poison arrow frog, or what-have-you. He is therefore able
to address the issue in a responsible way, while defanging its tyranny.
Speaking of tyranny, RFK, Jr. has
pledged to put an end to America’s deathly swaggering about the globe. As every
civics student knows, only Congress has the power to declare war; yet as
everyone with eyes can see, America is always bombing someone. By some
estimates, America has been at peace for only 15 years in its
quarter-millennium of existence.
This has to stop. Simple humanity
decrees that America has no God-given right to kill for its supposed values.
Further, as a matter of national, and perhaps global survival, America’s
blood-drenched, rules-based order must cease to be. I write this as a former
These-Colors-Don’t-Run jingoist of the highest order. Scales have fallen from
my eyes, as perhaps from yours as well.
The most recent theatre of
America’s War on Everyone has brought us closer to nuclear annihilation than at
any time since 1962. Assuming this is averted (and if not, thanks for reading),
it has accelerated the collapse of the US Dollar as the world’s reserve
currency. Consequently, the lifestyle to which Americans have become accustomed
is imminently at an end.
A fiat currency backed by nothing
but other people’s oil through the petrodollar system was always unsustainable
but, thanks to interventionist meddling and confiscation of foreign property,
collapse is upon us. Once again, RFK, Jr. has been specific and compelling in
his condemnation of American foreign policy, and clear-eyed as to the need for
change.
Now let us deal, as we must, with
the orange elephant in the room. It says here that neither Donald Trump, nor
any other Republican nominee, will be permitted to win the presidency in 2024.
We need not make a big, hairy
deal of this, since it is a contentious matter, shrouded in twilight. But we
have seen it enough over the past few years, in both national and state races,
and in elections around the world, to recite the playbook. In brief: Turnout is
beyond robust in favored areas, while less enlightened regions contend with
various challenges (not enough ballots, fritzy machines, broken pipes, etc.).
Confusion reigns, papers fly, fluster is all about. When the lights come back
up, we are solemnly told how close, how excruciatingly close, the election was
but, mirabile dictu, the Approved Candidate has won!
(This column eschews hyperlinks,
inasmuch as we don’t want people clicking away until we have finished making
whatever point it was we had; nevertheless, viz. this forensic analysis
of the 2020 election.)
If none of that tastes right going
down, one wagers that no one you know or respect would contemplate voting for
Trump, or his keychain version in Ron DeSantis, so perhaps look at it that way.
In any case, the Democratic
nomination contest becomes the de facto race for the White House. This
is RFK, Jr.’s principal challenge. It is a chuckling irony that, in a land
replete with roads and buildings named for his dad and uncle, RFK, Jr. is the
enemy of the Established Order. But be assured, dear reader, he is.
The Democratic National Committee
is demonstrably good at engineering who will, or will not, appear on their
national ticket (for more, consult President Sanders). Will they reanimate the
incumbent for a sequel to Weekend at Biden’s? Kamala-mania seems a bridge too
far, even for them. Or perhaps they intend to anoint Gavin Newsom, Grand Duke
of the French Laundry, whose hunger to dominate your person and property have
been laid bare during his governorship of California.
All RFK, Jr. needs is a
transparent process and a fair hearing. He is just an animal in debate and a
surgeon with argumentation. For example, perhaps have a look at his dismantling
of Alan Dershowitz – assuming you have the time and a cigarette for afterwards. Most
important, his words have the benefit of being true.
Many Americans have been reduced
to measured expectations. We seek a president who will not medicate us by
force, restrict our movement, and who will cease to make war upon the world. If
he can also remind us what it feels like to have hope, that would be even
better.
Fortunately, such a president is
on offer, and he is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Theo Caldwell just wanted to
be left alone. Contact him at theo@theocaldwell.com
