Bryce Zabel's FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH

Robert Kennedy Dies in Los Angeles, 1968

Tuesday is election day here in California. Apathy reigns, very few people are expected to vote. That was not the case 38 years ago when Senator Robert Kennedy and Senator Eugene McCarthy were duking it out for the Democratic presidential nomination. Kennedy won that election and triumphantly claimed victory here in Los Angeles at the Ambassador Hotel. Then he was murdered. He was 42 years old, even younger than his brother when he was murdered five years earlier.

I've always loved this Newsweek cover about RFK's death. The photo, taken by Phil MacMullan, captures not only Bobby Kennedy's more soulful, empathetic side but also how the ghost of his brother and that previous assassination hung over him. If you CLICK on this cover, you can see it in even better detail.

Newsweek, "Once Again... Once Again", June 17, 1968

Back then, I was living in Oregon where only the week before Kennedy had lost the Oregon primary to McCarthy. It was the first election any Kennedy had lost since their family got into politics. Kennedy desperately needed a win in California to get the momentum needed to take out Vice-President Hubert Humphrey at the Chicago convention that summer. Our family supported McCarthy, but we liked Kennedy a great deal, too. It was a tough choice. I remember seeing him speak in the auditorium at Hillsboro High School right before the election. He was three hours late but we waited because he was a rock star quality politician.

Anyway, Oregon is in the same time zone as California, so it was just after midnight when my dad came and woke me up. "Kennedy's been shot in California," he said. We went downstairs and watched the TV for news and kept up the vigil until he succumbed to his wounds the next day.

This issue, of course, is dominated by news of the murder. The lead article begins, "Once again, the flags slid down to half-staff." They also noted:

"In the last few years, Bobby had emerged dramatically from the shade of his murdered brother. He became increasingly concerned with the quality of of U.S. life in general, and in particular with the plight of the poor and the downtrodden, black and white alike."

That's probably why he lost Oregon. It was not a hugely diverse state population back then and the simple passion of McCarthy's anti-war crusade played better in a place where there were no huge urban cities.

On the Table of Contents page, they usually would have a short piece of writing setting up the pieces to follow. In this issue, they broke with their form and printed a long excerpt from a speech ("Ripple of Hope") RFK had given on June 6, 1966 in South Africa. That was exactly two years to the day before he was murdered and now, in 2006, we celebrate that speech's 40th anniversary. Here it is, as they presented it:

"Each time a man stands for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, these ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.

For the fortunate among us, there is the temptation to follow the easy and familiar paths of personal ambition and financial success so grandly spread before those who enjoy the privilege of education. But that is not the road that history has marked out for us. Like it or not, we live in times of danger and uncertainty. But they are more open to the creative energy of men than any other time in history.

The future does not belong to those who are content with today, apathetic toward common problems and their fellow man alike, timid and fearful in the face of new ideas and bold projects. Rather it will belong to those who can blend vision, reason and courage in a personal commitment to the ideas and great enterprises of American society."

Maybe our politicians today should consider those words and take them to heart. There is an entire web-site devoted to this speech and you can even download it and listen to it. Check it out.

Here is the full speech, by the way, that Robert Kennedy delivered only two months before his own death. It was given the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. had been shot.

Robert Kennedy might still be alive today had he not been shot. He would have been 81 years old.

{To read more of these posts about journalism as the first draft of history, CLICK HERE to go the "Instant History" blog.}

April Showers... in Los Angeles?

It's been quite a run here in the Los Angeles area. A new storm has hit today that has poured steadily through the night and continues unabated. The pool has long since overflowed and even our two endangered desert tortoises have been brought inside so they won't drown. (This involved a daring mid-storm raid to bring back an AWOL tortoise who'd gone "over the wall.")

The Los Angeles Times says some areas around here will get up to five inches of rain:

A storm dipping south from the Gulf of Alaska is expected to bring Southern California three days of rain — some of it in heavy downpours — with the possibility of mudslides in recently burned areas.

Ah, those recently burned areas. It seems like yesterday that our family was turned into a group of urban refugees, fleeing from the brush fires. It was September 30th of last year. You can read about our family's story by CLICKING HERE.

It was just last month when we got hail here. You can see our family's hailstone photo essay by CLICKING HERE.

Back to today, however... Snow level comes down to about 8,000 feet, they say, with up to foot of snow up there for skiiers. All thanks to "a plume of sub-tropical moisture", according to the National Weather Service.

Anyway, where I live, this latest storm may produce thunderstorms, small hail, waterspouts and funnel clouds. No word yet on the locust plague.

Why I Still Like Arnold

I voted "yes" on a couple of Arnold's four-pack of ballot measures and "no" on a couple of others. I actually read them, thought about them and voted what I thought was right. But I couldn't bring myself during the campaign to hate Arnold Schwarzenegger as much as some of these nasty ads wanted me to, and I can't bring myself to feel satisfaction and swagger at his defeat the way a lot of those people seem to feel now either.

"The buck stops with me."

The thing about Arnold is that he called this special election because he sincerely wanted to bring about the reform he ran on and he thought this was the way to do it. He has a good heart.

He also takes responsibility. You can read some of his remarks at Wednesday's news conference by clicking here.

"I don't blame or point fingers at anybody. In fact, I want to do the opposite. I want to say thank you to my team. I want to say thank you for your hard work, working day and night. I also had volunteers working very hard. ... Everyone was trying their best, but the buck stops with me. I take full responsibility for this special election. I take full responsibility for its failure. I take full responsibility for everything."

Moreover, the man has a sense of humor. He also said this today:

"If I were to do another Terminator movie, I would have the Terminator travel back in time to tell Arnold not to have a special election."

He also said that his wife, Maria Shriver, has told him not to do it and that he probably should have listened to her.

I'm still a Democrat son-of-a-school-teacher and a union member who likes Arnold Schwarzenegger and am glad he's the governor. I'm just going to have to learn to live with that.

L.A. Stories: Brush Fire

We were sound asleep when the bullhorn from a police cruiser circling our cul-de-sac woke us up. "This is a mandatory evacuation. Please leave your homes now." You just can't imagine how that makes you feel coming out of a deep sleep. In no way do I mean to imply any parity to the  experience of the Katrina victims, especially since in the aftermath here things have turned out even better than expected. The point is simply that talking about disaster experiences like this can only help people in the future consider their own options.

Welcome to My Neighborhood
Photo Courtesy of LA Times

We live in the current fire zone, but we did not think our particular area was in danger. We had no bags packed and had given no thought to what we would need if we were asked to leave. It was chaotic. Mere minutes to decide what you need -- in the short term, like a change of clothes -- and in the long term -- items selected from a lifetime of accumulation.

We took the dogs, a suitcase of photo albums, the computer with all my files, passports, some cash, all our insurance and other documents, a few clothes and, in my case, the notebook I needed for my pitch the next day at the Sci-Fi Channel. This was, admittedly, an odd last-second grab but it speaks to the human need to want to carry on. This is what I do so I stuffed the notebook in the bag and jumped in the car. We didn't take anything we could buy again, including clothes. We couldn't find a flashlight, but we did take a box of Pop-Tarts. Ironically, Pop-Tarts have a special place in our family -- after the '94 Northridge Earthquake, our kids munched them in our van, watching Disney movies with the neighbors and it kept them calm.

We didn't know whether we should head north or south until, on our way out of the neighborhood, a cop told us to head south. On the way, my phone died because I hadn't left it on charge (note to self!) and my son had forgotten to take his which was a problem considering my wife and daughter were in the other car. Eventually, we rendevouzed with friends in a parking lot next to a McDonald's at 3am and compared notes.

We ended up the first night at the home of the parents of friends, then found a hotel room the next day. We watched the local TV news and every location was one we knew well. Our home never seemed to be imminently in danger so it seemed odd that we were evacuated like we were while we watched others, with flames in their backyards, saying they weren't leaving until the firefighters told them to go. Despite planning efforts, I suspect that disasters have a built-in degree of randomness, something we should remember as we sort out Katrina and point fingers at everybody. It's a disaster, after all.

Anyway, we're back home now. The smoke is everywhere. Ash is all over the place. Fire equipment is as common as cars on the streets. But our home stands.

These firefighters truly are heroic figures. My car's outdoor thermometer said it was 104 degrees yesterday. I was ready to fall over walking to a restaurant for lunch. We owe these men and women plenty. One guy I know bought 250 cheeseburgers for the firefighters. We bought some donuts. Nothing can properly express how much we owe them. Still, thank you all, thank you very much..

Sunday Talk

Bouncing between Meet the Press, This Week with George However-You-Spell-His-Name and Fox News Sunday, you see what a big news day it is.  Hurricaine Dennis is on-the-march, it looks like Bush will be appointing not one but two Supremes and the London attacks have everybody looking at our own turf again. 

But interspersed between all three shows, over-and-over in the commercial blocks here in Los Angeles, was one really irritating commercial -- a 30-second attack ad on Governor Arnold However-You-Spell-His-Name.

It featured a teacher, Sandra Fink, saying that the Governor had broken promises, lied and -- get this -- has a "secret plan" to attack teachers and public employees.  The quotes are theirs, not mine. 

A "Secret Plan"???

Give me a break here.  Arnold's plan is hardly secret.  The state of California practically had spent its way into oblivion when he took office and he's trying to do what he can to set it right.  Agree or disagree, that's his plan.  To spend less, you have to not give money to programs you gave it to before, right?

Arnold's popularity is on the definite wane here, something I wrote about when I first started this blog.  It's not that mysterious.  Millions of dollars are being spent, day after day, on crappy commercials like this one denouncing his "secret plan."

I support education.  But I also support anti-terrorism efforts, environmental protection, infra-structure repair and a whole lot of other things that come with price tags.

My message to Ms. Fink.  Tell your people to be part of the solution here, and try to work it out.  Arnold is a good guy at heart, everyone knows this, and it's just too damn early to start demonizing the man like you are.  Knock this off -- it's really starting to piss me off.

By the way, it's George Stephanopoulos and Arnold Schwarzenegger.  I looked 'em up...

Still Liking Arnold

The "L.A. Times" reports today, that according to a new poll, 58% of Californians now disapprove of the job that Arnold is doing as California governor. I'm not actually that surprised. If you don't live in California, you can't comprehend how many millions have been spent on anti-Arnold TV commercials lately. It's been a real onslaught. But I just can't bring myself to not like this guy.

Maybe the thing about taking on "special interests" is that everybody is for that as long as you don't take on their particular special interest. Arnold has been bold (naive?) enough to say that he would stand up for "the people" against the special interests. Maybe what this proves is that there is no "the people", only a lot of people who all have "special interests."

I'm pretty much a life-long Democrat and he was the first major Republican I ever voted for. I'm also from a family of teachers, so I hate that teachers are in this beef with Arnold, and I hope common ground can be found soon. But I'm still in that 42% that wants him to succeed. Here's why:

A lot of it is stylistic. I like his optimism and his general good humor. But I also like that he is an immigrant success story which makes him credible on this polarizing issue, and someone who might help us fashion a workable solution. The fact that he's a Republican movie star married to a Democratic TV star (and a Kennedy, no less) gives me hope of seeing purple in this country. In an era of extremes on both sides, it's good that Arnold is a centrist with a good heart. And I really like that he's not afraid of sacred cows or of standing up to the political status quo. Plus, he's a very, very bright man. If he wasn't governor material when he ran, he certainly is now.

He's not perfect, but so what? He's really trying and I appreciate the effort. Rather than going approve/disapprove and creating more polarization, the solution is to give the man feedback -- he's a good listener -- and work together on these problems. And everybody needs to remember that there are other special interests out there besides our own.

Not Guilty Ain't Innocent

Okay. Michael Jackson is "not guilty." Let him get on with his life, and let us get on with the important business of news, like covering the scandal over Paris Hilton's hamburger commercials and whether or not Brad and Angelina did it before or after he split with Jennifer.

"No pictures, please..."

The thing is it's pretty clear that Michael Jackson is not "innocent." That's another matter entirely. Any self-respecting parent in the future is now fully warned about the porn and the early warning system. Nothing he can offer at Neverland is worth the price of admission.

Whatever it was like growing up the way he did clearly did a number on his head. That's a damn shame. But, whatever his next act is, I'm done with the guy. Let the crazy fans cheer and spend all their discretionary income on his old CD's. "Thriller" was a great album and I enjoyed it, but he's not getting any more of my money any more than I'm paying to see a Tyson fight. Ever. And, Michael, please hurry up and sell the Beatles music so I can not feel conflicted, okay?

I wish the media could just let him fade away like the irrelevant pop star he's become. That's asking too much I know. But, if you can bear it, just stop paying attention. That's my verdict.

 

Since 1984