Jack And Bobby

To admire with grains of objectivity
critical without character attacks
this may be more then my abilities
surely some brain cells that I lack
And still I feel obligated to put forth an effort
engaged in the ever popular ride
my two cents placed before the audience
about the day a president died

The rhetoric he used to gain the presidency
pointed fingers at the communist bloc
corners of the world would rejoice that with the Cuban Missile Crisis
the policy was not all ad hoc
That Bay Of Pigs taught him a deep lesson
CIA boys didn't always present truth
he outgrew the straight Cold War posturing
and aftermath of WWII and his youth

When he took office his was indifferent to Civil Rights
not a topic that ever boggled him down
pessimistic in the chances of legislation passing
with the likes of conservative Democrats in town
But when the movement had the wind at its' back
the Attorney General used the right cards
outplayed a segregationist governor
and federalized the National Guard

This next assertion can't proved absolutely
but is my hunch on the Vietnam affair
his ardor with stopping the Viet Cong
wouldn't have placed troops anywhere
not with his most trusted advisor
brother Bobby realizing the mistake
bombing after bombing doing so little
troops and civilians with families that so ached

What might be a wonderful lesson
is the way he treated political foes in a campaign
didn't question their love of country
or throw the dirt all over their names
easy to do if you have strength in your own convictions
and can state a positive road ahead
that appeal will always have resonance
even though JFK may be dead

Was the nation's collective innocence forever lost
five years later might be the better spot
for it was Bobby whose concern oozed empathy
my hometown the place he was shot
visited those on Indian reservations
stood by the Farm Workers through wretched times
advocated passionately to end hunger
for those who struggled to make just a few dimes

Indeed it was said the difference between the two brothers
was the way in which they reacted to things unjust
Jack's brain lead; for Bobby it was his heart
RFK'S heart had removed much of it's rust....