The Gospel According to RFK: Why It Matters Now (Paperback)
Norman MacAfee
BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)
"Together we can make ourselves a nation that spends more on books than on bombs, more on hospitals than the terrible tools of war, more on decent houses than military aircraft."
-- RFK, March 24, 1968
A couple of years ago, BuzzFlash offered the hardcover edition of this wonderful tribute to the inspirational campaign of Robert F. Kennedy.
In fact, in this new expanded edition to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of RFK's presidential campaign, an excerpt from our review is featured on the inside front cover:
"RFK, in his brief 1968 campaign inspired us to be a better nation and to challenge ourselves. He gave us hope in our hearts, not the facade of religious piety that has no heart. Reading his speeches from the period, it is painful to realize what we lost -- and how America has been stumbling in the fog all these many years. For all their talk of morality, the Busheviks have built an elitist, incompetent monarchy that is dependent on appealing to the most base instincts of Americans, whatever their lofty rhetoric. RFK challenged us to reach for the stars, not to stare at the abyss."
-- BuzzFlash.com
"This collection of excerpts from the speeches Robert F. Kennedy gave when he ran for president in 1968 resound with idealism and a vision for a compassionate world. MacAfee, a translator and author of a book of poetry and an opera (The Death of the Forest), includes the speech at Kansas State University where Kennedy first accepts responsibility for setting the country on a path towards war during JFK's administration, and then explains the evolution of his opposition to the Vietnam war by declaring that, 'we are acting as if no other nation existed [...] our present course will not bring victory; will not bring peace; will not stop the bloodshed; and will not advance [...] the cause of peace in the world.' Kennedy also remarks on the need for universal health care, the positive role played by democratic dissent and debate on issues, and, most convincingly, on the need to end hunger in the US. In a statement delivered less than two months before his death on the campaign trail, he called the failure to end poverty 'a national disgrace. The most prosperous society on the globe must be able to save its children from death, disease, and despair that result from a lack of adequate food.'"
--Publisher's Weekly
From an online reviewer:
Perhaps I am not as objective as other reviewers of this book in that Robert Kennedy is one of the people I most admire. Having read numerous books about him, I was delighted to find this little book. More than any biography, this book speaks about who Robert Kennedy was.
If Robert Kennedy were alive today, he would not be pleased with the current direction of the government. By looking at the speeches documented in this book, one could see exactly what RFK stood for. In the clever design of this book, the author prefaces each of Kennedy's speeches with a short explanation of how that stance applies today. Speeches topics range from civil rights, environment, poverty, education, war, and employment. Of the quotes that best states what Kennedy is about is "I believe that men would rather work at disagreeable jobs that accept the humiliation of a handout..."
The commentary on Vietnam is particularly biting when applied to Iraq. "Together we can make ourselves a nation that spends more on books than bombs, more on hospitals than the terrible tools of war, more on decent houses than military aircraft." I believe what Robert Kennedy said. America is the richest country in the world. There is no reason for people to go to bed hungary and die of starvation in this country. The book only demonstrates how far this country has to go for true equality. A politician would be well served in reading this before hitting the campaign trail.
About Norman MacAfee, the author:
Norman MacAfee's other books include the poetry books, One Class; The Coming of Fascism to America; and A New Requiem; and The Death of the Forest, opera to music of Charles Ives. MacAfee co-translated a volume of the poetry of Pier Paolo Pasolini; two volumes of the letters of Jean-Paul Sartre to Simone de Beauvoir, Witness to My Life and Quiet Moments in a War; and Victor Hugo's Les Misérables. He lives in New York City.
MacAfee is also a BuzzFlash reader.
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