50 years is a long time. It’s even tougher when you have to imagine what might have been.

Back then, I was a disciple of someone you probably never heard of. Allard Lowenstein. Except I knew him as Al.

Al was one of the first folks who were involved (who knows who started it?) in the Dump Johnson movement. Long before the fateful Democratic Convention where the Chicago Cops were empowered to beat the s..t out of folks like me demonstrating for a better America. It was 1967, and Al knew a big name would have to be invoked to obtain the Democratic nomination, not some Jewish fellow from Long Island.

Bobby Kennedy had replied that he would not do so, even though he knew Al was correct that Johnson would quit if challenged in a primary. Bobby was afraid his entering the race would further divide the nation. Now, I wouldn’t say Al took that kindly. (I’m paraphrasing here somewhat- but it was clear that we were going to do it with or without Bobby- and Al proclaimed that Bobby “lacked the balls needed” to do the job.)

George McGovern also said ‘no, thanks’. But, Gene McCarthy- he jumped in. And, we were on board. And, as predicted, Johnson shortly thereafter announced he was out of the running for the next election.

But, when Bobby decided to come into the race (an action that clearly displeased Gene!), most of us (ok, almost everyone except for Al) were thrilled to join his camp.

To be honest, my interactions with Bobby Kennedy helped me understand how Barack Obama could enveigle my son’s heart. Obama’s book, Dreams From My Father, touched my son deeply  and was the impetus behind his desire to see Barack become President.

I had done the same after reading “To Seek a Newer World“. It explained Bobby’s position on VietNam, welfare, nuclear energy, and America. No- it explained my position on those areas. I had been actively involved in civil rights, stopping the war, and social justice for some time. And, that book made it clear that Bobby was the guy I knew we needed to unify America, to bring about the dreams we all said we wanted (even though many subverted those words with their actions.)

Bobby, as a person,  also demonstrated that we (that’s you and me!) can change.  After all, Bobby was on the infamous Joe McCarthy’s legal team and was among Roy Cohn’s pals.   Talk about being on the wrong side of history- except he changed his.

But, on the cusp of his potential victory, Bobby- like his brother and Martin Luther King before him- was assassinated. June 5, 1968. (He was declared dead later, though.)

Setting in motion the events that would allow Richard Milhous Nixon to become America’s Crook-in-Chief. That made it possible for American firms to feel they no longer had any responsibility to their employees, or to their communities. And, setting the American Dream beyond the reach of those who dared to hope.

(Any resemblance to current events is clearly intended.)

Tomorrow will be the 6th of June, which was when Bobby was officially declared to be deceased. That day was known as D-Day to my generation and the one before it. (It is the 74th anniversary of that history-changing date.) Long lost to my children’s generations. When America – and the world- worked together to remove the scourge of Fascism. (But not to help Jews survive. Neither Roosevelt or the American people wanted Jewish foreigners to come to America. And, Roosevelt didn’t use our military might to destroy the train tracks that would have made it much more difficult for those German and Polish concentration camps to execute 6 million Jews.)   Unfortunately, fascism is now back in style. In America. In Europe. In Africa.

As Bobby said… “Some people see things as they are and ask ‘Why?’  I dream things that never were and ask ‘Why Not?'”

Where is that Newer World for which we all hoped?