1968

I don't usually post -on Fridays but Hillary Clinton's outrageous comment must be addressed. I would like to add my voice.

The 60s were a hopeful and very turbulent time. I remember them well. President John F. Kennedy was shot when I was in second grade. Can you imagine a 7-year old learning what the word "assassination" means?

Unfortunately, by the end of June, 1968 we all knew that word very well. First there was JFK. Then there was El-Hajj Malik Shabazz, better known as Malcolm X. Martin Luther King was assassinated in April, 1968. June brought the death of Bobby Kennedy.

I was eleven years old. My classs had just taken a field trip to the offices of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and our tour guide gave us each a copy of the day's paper. On the front was a picture of Bobby Kennedy. I read the article and started learning about him. That was the first time I became interested in a political candidate. We talked about him at home and I watched him on the news.

One morning my mother woke me up and told me that Bobby Kennedy had been shot. For the next forty years I searched for another candidate who would inspire me the way RFK had. I voted for unpopular candidates like Eugene McCarthy, hoping that my vote would make a difference. It didn't, of course. By the time I reached my forties I was sure everyone was right. All politicians are corrupt. We will never have a decent person in the White House.

Barack Obama changed that for me. When I listened to him speak, I felt inspired again. And this gifted leader actually has a chance. Can you imagine that? For the last few months I've felt like I was living a dream, afraid to wake up.

Hillary Clinton today invoked the awful memory of Bobby Kennedy's assassination and she also maliciously gave voice to the fears of many. There was no mistake in her words. Evidently she's waiting for a June surprise.

Those of us who were alive forty years ago still remember. Many of us also hope that this time it will be different.

This time we have found a true leader and this time he will take his place in the White House. This time the dream will not die.