My heart hurts when I think about JFK and RFK and even JFK Jr.

[lildreamer316]

..and I wasn't even born when they(the first two) were alive. (b.1973). Is that weird?
Do you think we'll ever see their like again?

[acmejack]

1. We can but hope

I think RFK, jr is doing the legacy proud with his work on the voting issues.

[featherman]

2. This (2008) was JFK, jr's perfect time to run for President.

I have no doubt he was positioning for it for much of his adult life. IMO he would have been unbeatable. So sad for all and for his country.

[orpupilofnature57]

4. RFK jr ain't no slouch.

[bobbolink]

7. Isn't he doing great?!

I don't know if he needs to be in political office, but he's doing great for this country!

:toast: RFK, Jr

[orpupilofnature57]

3. You sense the America that should have been ,they would be glad it

Transcended through history .http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/3580/

[Peace Patriot]

5. Give up the dream of a "knight in shining armor" saving us, and welcome

to the better dream of participatory democracy in which we all save each other and our country, as the collective sovereign people of this land.

I lived through it all. I saw all three of my heroes, and the greatest leaders this nation has ever produced, get killed off within the space of five years. It broke my heart. And this is the lesson I learned: No leader can save us, and, in so far as we are dependent on leaders, our democracy is vulnerable. We must each take responsibility for our part in passing democracy on to the next generation, as it was passed by others to us. We must each do our part. We must never forget the human vulnerability of those whom we choose to represent us. And we must attach ourselves to IDEAS, and especially to the idea of democracy as a collective effort, and DETACH ourselves from emotional dependence on any given leader. Let us abandon the notion of "white knights" and royal lineages, and BECOME the SOVEREIGN people that our Founders dreamed that we would become. WE are the people we have been waiting for--as the Hopi elders so eloquently put it. We ARE this democracy. No leader can rule without our consent, and none is "above" even the least of us, no matter how much money, power or "charisma" they may possess.

It is my belief that all three of the great leaders that my generation lost to assassins' bullets knew this, about themselves and our democracy. All three identified strongly with democratic principles and with all of the people in our country. All three sought to empower "the least of these"--the poor, the excluded, the victims of bigotry. I bless them for that. They truly were magnanimous, big-hearted, visionary people and great leaders. But I think they would say to us now what I am saying: YOU are this country. YOU are its government. YOU are its power. YOU are the great dream of democracy. You, you and you! All of you!

[Jay Sherman]

6. Three great leaders?

I count Fred Hampton, Malcolm X, JFK, RFK, and MLKjr. Also 71 black panthers were killed from 68 to 71. But anyway I agree with your sentiments. It's about the people and the ideas. It could be argued it was a mistake on the part of MLK and Malcolm at least in outshining the rest too much. It should be about the ideas, not about the leaders. No movement should falter just because of a single death.

Of course killing 71 black panthers is enough to slow down most movements. Such tactics by the CIA finded right-wing paramilitaries in the Third World have worked excellently.