RFK Jr.’s Racial Honesty—and Betrayal


Ed Hudgins

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RFK Jr.’s Racial Honesty—and Betrayal

By Edward Hudgins

September 13, 2013—The New York Post has obtained a copy of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s personal diary and published excerpts, much to the chagrin of this scion of the country’s most storied liberal Democrat family.

Much public attention has been paid to the passages concerning his extramarital affairs and his struggle with sex addition. But more revealing for the state of our nation are his candid observations about Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.
Buffoons
Kennedy writes that both black leaders “give me the creeps.”
Kennedy writes that Jackson has “a desperate and destructive addiction to publicity.” RFK Jr. was shocked when, at the funeral of labor activist Cesar Chavez, Jackson pushed “Cesar’s friends and family out of the way to make himself lead pall bearer.”
Kennedy opines that Jackson’s “love affair with [Nation of Islam boss] Louis Farrakhan and his Jewish xenophobia are also unforgivable.” Kennedy adds, “I feel dirty around him, and I feel like I’m being used. I feel like with Jesse, it’s all about Jesse.”
He calls Sharpton a “buffoon” who still has the “stench” of his involvement in the case of Tawana Brawley, who famously and mendaciously claimed she was raped by a pack of white men. Sharpton was always at her side accusing the world of racism, and when her lie was exposed, he never apologized or showed contrition for his behavior.
Kennedy writes that “Al Sharpton has done more damage to the black cause than George Wallace [the 1960s racist Alabama governor]. He has suffocated the decent black leaders in New York.” Kennedy writes that “His transparent venal blackmail and extortion schemes taint all black leadership.”
Not just personal
Kennedy was simply writing what anyone not self-deluded by liberal dogma or scared of being called a “racist” already knows about Jesse and Al. But this isn’t just about personal taste in people. It’s about the tragedy of blacks in America.
Since Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech 50 years ago, many blacks have been able to realize the America dream, thanks in part to the elimination of government-supported racial barriers. But black communities today are plagued by crime, gang violence, broken families, and a general sense of hopelessness. Since King’s speech, over 400,000 blacks have been murdered, mostly by other blacks.
And this sewer culture has been perpetuated by Jesse, Al, and a long list of lowlifes like them.
Betrayal
Liberals like Kennedy have known all along that their refusal to speak up perpetuates such race hustlers as black “leaders.” Now, with his views, revealed, RFK Jr. might have shrugged off his cowardice and called on fellow liberals to relegate the Jesses and Als to the dustbin of history.
Instead, Kennedy complained that his diary wasn’t meant for publication and “I have nothing but respect for … Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, … [who] have distinguished themselves as extraordinary national leaders over the past decade.”
RFK Jr., like many other liberals, consciously betrays the betterment of blacks to support Jesse and Al, who he knows to be demagogues who exploit their own people.
-----
Hudgins is director of advocacy and a senior scholar at The Atlas Society.
For further information:
*Edward Hudgins, “King’s Dream and Today’s Racial Nightmare.” August 27, 2013.
*Edward Hudgins, “Obama’s Inauguration: Celebrating Enslavement.” January 21, 2013.
*Edward Hudgins, “Thoughts on Racial Thinking.” January 17, 2009.
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It strikes me as odd that the man's personal diaries should be discussed on an Objectivist website.

Same thought occured to me.

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Sure, all non-conservative non-libertarians or disagreers with you are morons.

Sure, you say something completely nonsensical and anyone who disagrees with you is some kind of bigot. You say stupid senseless things only to bait people so you can insult them while looking like some kind of victim. Go fuck yourself.

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You say stupid senseless things only to bait people so you can insult them while looking like some kind of victim. Go fuck yourself.

Mikee:

Uncalled for. Diminishes your credibility.

A...

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I choose to comment on whatever I think interesting or important. And I judge it a major story that:

1) the black community is in tragic shape, with 400,000 murdered over the past five decades;

2) that race hustlers like Jesse and Al bear a major responsibility for this crisis;

3) that white liberals—and especially those in the media—bear a major responsibility for anointing these lowlifes as representatives of what is in the interest of blacks; and

4) that white liberal RFK Jr. in his own words essentially acknowledges the nature of the likes of Jesse and Al yet continues to support them, perpetuating the black tragedy.

If you are interested in other major stories as well, fine, so am I.

If you think this story is unimportant, you’re wrong.

If you think there’s something wrong with commenting on the contents of RFK’s diary—or the Pentagon Papers, the Snowden leaks, anything from a whistleblower—then you are misapplying Objectivism and had better stop it immediately before you do permanent damage to you brain!

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I choose to comment on whatever I think interesting or important. And I judge it a major story that:

1) the black community is in tragic shape, with 400,000 murdered over the past five decades;

2) that race hustlers like Jesse and Al bear a major responsibility for this crisis;

3) that white liberals—and especially those in the media—bear a major responsibility for anointing these lowlifes as representatives of what is in the interest of blacks; and

4) that white liberal RFK Jr. in his own words essentially acknowledges the nature of the likes of Jesse and Al yet continues to support them, perpetuating the black tragedy.

If you are interested in other major stories as well, fine, so am I.

If you think this story is unimportant, you’re wrong.

If you think there’s something wrong with commenting on the contents of RFK’s diary—or the Pentagon Papers, the Snowden leaks, anything from a whistleblower—then you are misapplying Objectivism and had better stop it immediately before you do permanent damage to you brain!

Your last point is rather absurd. Really? Damage to my brain? Because I think it unseemly and/or in poor taste to comment on another's private diaries, published against his will in some tabloid? Which brand of Objectivism am I misapplying? I thought one major theme of The Fountainhead was that Gail Wynand's tabloid tactics were a subtle form of second-handed behavior.

Nobody is disputing your right under the Constitution, or your natural right, to publish your views on anything under the Sun. Nobody is disputing that you think this is an important issue. And nobody would really dispute Point 1-4 in your post above--they are rather uncontroversial to anybody honestly paying attention to the subject of race-relations over the past half-century. Private citizen RFK Jr's diaries, however--and the commonplace banalities contained therein--are hardly comparable to the Pentagon Papers, the Snowden leaks, or anything from a whistleblower. These are obviously false analogies. The fate of nations and/or individual privacy rights are not exactly at stake because RFK Jr. has reached the private conclusion that Al Sharpton is a race hustler.

The question is one of taste: if you accidentally happened upon someone's diaries on the side of the road, my guess--based upon what I glean from your sense of life and your high sense of honor in your writings-- is that you would (1) not read them and (2) send them back to their rightful owner, if at all possible. You certainly wouldn't publish an article about them--especially if the main takeaway from such publication is an otherwise obvious and banal point about hypocrisy. Would you?

The fact that a tabloid beat you to the punch, so to speak, doesn't make this situation (in principle) any different.

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Your logic for why I should “blank out” about the RFK Jr. diary information that is now public, wipe this information from my mind, pretend that it does not exist, and thus ignore its crucial implications, is truly bizarre. I suggest that by your lights, even engaging with me on this thread about the matter is endorsing my low, tasteless and perhaps evil actions. So scat! Shoo! Off with you! And leave the adults here to discuss serious matters!

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Your logic for why I should “blank out” about the RFK Jr. diary information that is now public, wipe this information from my mind, pretend that it does not exist, and thus ignore its crucial implications, is truly bizarre. I suggest that by your lights, even engaging with me on this thread about the matter is endorsing my low, tasteless and perhaps evil actions. So scat! Shoo! Off with you! And leave the adults here to discuss serious matters!

"[L]eave the adults here to discuss serious matters"? Is a playground taunt really the best you can do, Ed?

If this high-school level essay and your responses here are indicative of the rigor that a "senior scholar" at the Atlas Society brings to the table, I would hate to see what a junior scholar might offer.

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Ed,


Doesn't TAS have bigger fish to fry?

I mean, why comment on RFKjr's diaries when there are much more important issues that could be analyzed from an Objectivist perspective, like Justin Bieber's behavior, Lady Gaga's latest look, and Katy Perry's love life? Why haven't we heard from TAS about Miley or Beyonce? And people need to know the Objectivist view on The Real Housewives! Who should we root for on The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and Dancing with the Stars?

J

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I'll add my support for Ed Hudgins's choice of article topics. I wasn't aware of the diary entries until I saw Ed's piece. I find them interesting because the Kennedy's are so worshiped by the left and especially be the media --- the whole Camelot thing. Of course, we all know about the breathtaking hypocrisy of those on the left, but, in my view, there can never be too many examples of such hypocrisy. Ordinary people that may not be interested discussing philosophy are nevertheless sensitive to examples of hypocrisy by politicians. And, any kernel of truth that makes them more skeptical of the promises and claims made by the political class is a good thing, in my view.

Darrell

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Darrell, it is true that RFK jr is a political activist, but he is not currently an elected official, and his life and opinions are in the infotainment" sphere. That is a crowded world and I can't see reason, much less Objectivism, gaining much cred by entering it.

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I'll add my support for Ed Hudgins's choice of article topics. I wasn't aware of the diary entries until I saw Ed's piece. I find them interesting because the Kennedy's are so worshiped by the left and especially be the media --- the whole Camelot thing. Of course, we all know about the breathtaking hypocrisy of those on the left, but, in my view, there can never be too many examples of such hypocrisy. Ordinary people that may not be interested discussing philosophy are nevertheless sensitive to examples of hypocrisy by politicians. And, any kernel of truth that makes them more skeptical of the promises and claims made by the political class is a good thing, in my view.

Darrell

I agree that we're ribbing Ed with just a bit too much elbow. His article definitely has value. I think it's just an issue of timing. It should have been saved for a time when the race hustlers were in the act of hustling on the national stage again. Right now the focus should be Syria and other spotlight issues.

J

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I'll add my support for Ed Hudgins's choice of article topics. I wasn't aware of the diary entries until I saw Ed's piece. I find them interesting because the Kennedy's are so worshiped by the left and especially be the media --- the whole Camelot thing. Of course, we all know about the breathtaking hypocrisy of those on the left, but, in my view, there can never be too many examples of such hypocrisy. Ordinary people that may not be interested discussing philosophy are nevertheless sensitive to examples of hypocrisy by politicians. And, any kernel of truth that makes them more skeptical of the promises and claims made by the political class is a good thing, in my view.

Darrell

I swear that the Kennedy clan is cursed or something. They got some of the worst luck.

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