FLASH
Shkruar nga Federico Rampini
Will we one day remember the election of November 5, 2024, as the challenge "set by a Kennedy"? From the strength of the surname, the charm of a family. Robert Kennedy Jr. will not be the next president of the United States. But he could be the winner.
So not a king, but a "king-maker", capable of dictating the winner. Not since Ross Perot in 1992 has an independent candidate mattered so much in a presidential election. 32 years ago, the billionaire Perot, with a protectionist program very similar to that of Donald Trump today, took quite a few votes away from the elderly Republican George Bush, guaranteeing the victory for the Democrat Bill Clinton.
In the polls he gets between 10 and 15 percent of the vote, a significant figure given the country's bipolar tradition. In fact, he wanted to run for the nomination of the Democratic Party, the party of his family and for a long time his own.
After suffering and denouncing a boycott by prominent Democratic figures, he decided to run as an independent. Democrats fear him more than Republicans, so they are mounting legal challenges to prevent his name from appearing on the November ballot. Although his candidacy only exists in a small number of states, they may be enough to make a difference.
So turning him into a "king-maker," shifting the deciding vote to a challenge between the two most unpopular candidates in American history. Among the absurdities and paradoxes of these elections, we add the following: at the age of 70, Robert Kennedy is a "boy", compared to the other two.
And despite his family wealth, he appears to be the anti-US candidate. Descendant of the most famous and tragic political dynasty in America, Robert Jr. has a life full of misfortunes. The third of 11 children of Robert Kennedy Sr., he was 9 years old when his uncle John Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963.
Meanwhile, he was 14 years old when his father met the same fate in Los Angeles. On June 6, 1968, Robert Jr. was a close witness to his father's death. The vice president's plane rushed him to the hospital as the teenager watched the last spasms of agony of the man who seemed destined to succeed his brother in the White House.
A politician who became a legend not only for his terrible end. In his time, Robert Kennedy was considered the most intellectual and radical member of the Kennedy family. In his brother's administration, he stood out as Minister of Justice, very dedicated to the fight against the mafia.
Në vitin 1968, donte t’i jepte sa më shpejt fund luftës së Vietnamit. Edhe sot e majta anti-kapitaliste citon fjalimin e tij të famshëm që denonconte “diktaturën e PBB-së”. Trashëgimia e një babai të tillë, ka qenë prej kohësh një barrë e padurueshme për djalin që mban emrin e tij.
Traumat e viteve 1960, i nxitën atij paranoja konspirative, të cilat nuk do ta braktisnin asnjëherë. Kështu, ai mbështeti gjithmonë tezën se CIA-s pati një rol në vrasjen e xhaxhait, dhe më pas babait të tij. Kur ishte i ri u bë i varur nga droga, u përjashtua nga disa shkolla dhe u arrestua disa herë nga policia.
Doli nga ky tuneli i errët vetëm në vitin 1983. Por dëmi nuk mbaroi me aq. Gruaja e tij e dytë, ashtu si ai e varur nga droga, vrau veten. Bashkëshortja e tretë dhe aktuale, aktorja Cheryl Hines, e shoqëron në fazën e pjekurisë të kurorëzuar me sukses.
Robert Jr. është një avokat i specializuar në çështjet mjedisore, themelues i OJQ-ve të njohura si Waterkeeper Alliance. Të Gjelbrit Amerikanë e respektojnë, ndërsa në fitoret e tij përfshihen çështje të shumta gjyqësore kundër kompanive të dënuara për ndotjen e lumenjve.
Kundërshtimi i tij i fortë ndaj Big Pharma (kompanive të mëdha farmaceutike), tipike e të majtës ekstreme, frymëzoi disa nga pretendimet e tij më të diskutueshme. Në vitin 2005 ai mbështeti lidhjen midis vaksinimeve dhe autizmit, një lidhje e hedhur poshtë nga shkenca. Gjatë pandemisë së Covid-19, ishte pjesë e kampit të kundërshtarëve të vaksinimit dhe po ashtu u shqua për sulmet e ashpra ndaj mjekut të njohur Anthony Fauci. Vladimir Putin, por edhe e djathta izolacioniste, i pëlqen ato që ai thotë për Ukrainën.
Robert Kennedy Jr. e akuzon Biden se i ka gënjyer amerikanët, se ka nxitur një luftë më prokurë “për të realizuar planin e madh strategjik:shkatërrimin e çdo kombi, që ashtu si Rusia i reziston zgjerimit perandorak të Amerikës”. Ai ndan me të majtën radikale anti-kapitalizmin, ambientalizmin ekstrem dhe pacifizmin.
Megjithatë, qasja në politikën e jashtme e bën atë konkurrues me Trump. Një nga sloganet e tij është “të ndalim tani luftërat tona të pafundme”. Nëse zgjidhet president, premton përgjysmimin brenda 4 vitesh të buxhetit të mbrojtjes së SHBA-së.
Ndërsa në Ukrainë do t’i propozonte menjëherë Putinit një “zgjidhje diplomatike”, kushtet e së cilës duken në fakt më të paqarta dhe më jorealiste se ato të Trump:”tërheqja e trupave ruse nga Ukraina dhe garantim i lirisë dhe pavarësisë për Kievin”.
Në një fushë tjetër, Robert Jr thotë gjëra që i pëlqejnë lideri Xi Jinping:ai nuk parashikon një ndërhyrje ushtarake amerikane në mbrojtje të Tajvanit, në rastin e një pushtimi kinez. Së fundi, ai është “trumpian”, por edhe i aftë për të tërhequr votuesit e majtë pro-izraelitë kur flet për Gazën:premton mbështetje totale për Izraelin.
He has positions that do not respect sides or ideologies. Another emblematic case is immigration. He promises to "seal" the southern border with Mexico, to block the flow of illegal immigrants; and at the same time aims to make legal immigration easier.
His favorite slogan is "high walls, wide gates". It has said several times that it will continue building the border wall with Mexico started by Trump (and partially continued by Biden), while increasing investment in surveillance technologies to prevent illegal entry.
Robert Jr.'s hyper-environmentalist jargon. it attracts a lot of young people of Generation Z. But even here he compromises his reputation with other conspiracy theses. He accuses the environmental movement of "major tactical errors" in the fight against climate change.
According to him, the green agenda is dominated by powerful capitalist interests, by those who produce electric cars or use solar energy and other non-carbon technologies. According to him, the transition towards an economy with zero pollutant emissions in the atmosphere is "being used to establish totalitarian controls on us, to stratify society, with the aim of favoring the rich, the military and the secret services".
And here his penchant for conspiracy theories reappears. According to him, environmentalism is being manipulated by the capitalist elite who meet regularly in Davos and by the multi-billionaire Bill Gates. A narrative very similar to the one he used against vaccines and other health measures taken during the pandemic.
In these same problems, he also sees the issue of American democracy. According to him, basic freedoms are at risk, but the biggest threat comes from the democratic structure. Kennedy has repeatedly supported an identical thesis to the right, that the trials against Trump are a conspiracy by left-wing magistrates to damage a candidate.
Kennedy is in line with many Republicans when he describes an America under the grip of political censorship, imposed by the White House in the name of fighting "fake news". "Biden is by far the biggest threat to our democracy" - he declared.
Not surprisingly, the entire Kennedy clan took to the media to refute Robert Jr.'s statements. and to distance yourself from it. Biden has recruited many - sisters and cousins - relatives of his family, to appear in campaign activities with the aim of guaranteeing the base of supporters. / Adapted Pamphlet from "Corriere della Sera"
Lini një Përgjigje