By Barb Hauge
Death of the young is always tragic, yet they are the very ones we send to war to die by the millions.
We all felt sorrow when the airplane carrying John and Caroline Kennedy and Lauren Bessette disappeared at sea. What a tragedy to lose three exceptional young people! But I did not weep as I had wept in 1963 when President Kennedy was assassinated, even though Im sure young Johns character was much less flawed than that of his father.
JFK was a man of our own generation one we had worked hard to get elected President; one who espoused our own beliefs in equality, justice and freedom. He had sufficient courage to challenge the military/industrial establishment that was so entrenched and dangerous. Despite the years that have gone by, I think the military/industrial complex is still entrenched and dangerous and now toxic emissions of all types are making Planet Earth hot as hell.
Is there a Kennedy Curse? This idea probably comes from the Bible which says the sins of the father shall bring a curse on the sons; even unto the fifth generation. If this is true, it is a strong incentive for fathers to tow the line and behave morally every day in every way! We all know old Joe Kennedy, and Jack too, along with a number of other Kennedys, have not shown good moral character.
If we look we might notice this Curse has been inflicted upon members of our own communities. Seek and we shall find evidence that descendants of old-timers, who rode roughshod over the rights of others, are being unjustly punished. Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord. But too many innocents are suffering from that vengeance. If there truly is a God of love and forgiveness, let the reconciliation begin!
Joe Kennedy made billions in illicit booze and through insider knowledge when the stock market crashed in 1929 (which put America and much of the world into poverty.) His sexual liaisons were legion and to have put up with all of that plus bearing him nine children, his wife, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, is certainly a candidate for sainthood. Catholics expect much of their women!
Long ago someone called me a gadfly, which means to annoy or to stir up from lethargy. Here is my Song of the Gadfly.
Wherever theres a child abused, a pregnant girl unwed, a womans body beaten; used. To those in grief Ill fly away! Wherever theres a hungry child, a people; torn by war, unloved children; lost and wild. To those in need Ill fly away! Wherever tyrants reign supreme and rule in tyranny using measures cruel; extreme. To those in stress Ill fly away!
Wherever war is used by men to solve each earthly mess, but solving nothing it is then, to those in pain Ill fly away! But when the journey is too far Ill help them with my pen for gadflys never fear to sear the souls of wicked men!
Thank you Kennedys, for encouraging my generation to speak out and to act against injustices. Keep it up with all the generations to come!
