www.heraldnews.com/…
Rep. Joseph Kennedy III will not be standing in a barren office with no audience when giving his rebuttal to Trump’s I-already-know-it’s-going-to-be-pathetic State of the Union speech.
Oh no. Like the best of the Kennedy’s, he will be among us — the common man, the poor man, the struggling man. Joe has visited this vocational school in the past and he’s going back to give his rebuttal to those of us who need to hear it most.
Fall River is one of those left-behind places, one of those forgotten, unfashionable places, one of those American places that is neither New York City nor some quiet little suburb, nor some farm town. We are not igniting any national trends. We are, at best, the subject of occasional news stories which remind us either than we are a “former mill town,” or that we are at the “epicenter of the opioid crisis.” Neither term is meant as a compliment, just a surface reminder that we are defined by the worst of our problems.
I’m going to push fair use because this is just so good.
It is significant that Kennedy chooses to speak, not from one of Fall River’s worst neighborhoods, but from a school that thrives on work and hope, a school where tax money isn’t “wasted,” where the much-reviled “political correctness” puts wrenches in the hands of girls, where immigrant parents get the chance to see their kids climb above menial work.
Trump will stand behind the podium. Kennedy will stand in the fire, among the children of working people, among the children of immigrants, among the children of the poor, in a government-run school that gives out education without thought to wealth, or social class, or color.
This, we have been told, is “entitlement.” This, we have been told, is “government indoctrination” and lazy unionized teachers. This, we have been told, should be swept away, and you should be left with a privatized education that is only as good as your parents can buy. The poor, who have nothing, must give up still more, we are told.
It’s the perfect place in the perfect town at the perfect moment to stand in the fire.
I have not been this energized by a politician in decades, including Obama and both Clintons, who I happily voted for. But this kid is someone special. He is a better version of his grandfather.
I want this speech to go well. I need this speech to go well. Our Party needs this speech to go well. I think Joe is up to the task.