I have been interested and paying attention to the Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Jr. presidential run since it began last year. Despite having a name like Kennedy and being the nephew of a former president, he is a bit of an outsider because he doesn’t always stay in line with the establishment narrative.
Unfortunately, one area where he has fallen in line with the establishment narrative is with funding Israel. Since the attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023, Kennedy has been in favor of the U.S. government funding and supporting the Israeli state, which would include the mass bombing of Gaza and the killing of innocent people.
Of course, Kennedy won’t quite put it in those terms. He will say that Israel is an ally and that it has a right to defend itself. But killing tens of thousands of innocent people is not self-defense, and he should know that. This mass killing of innocent people is being funded largely by U.S. taxpayers.
Kennedy says he has been against American involvement in every war since World War 2. But he can’t say that anymore because he supports American involvement in this war (although it is hard to call it a war because it is so one-sided in the use of force).
Before October 2023, I generally liked the things Kennedy was saying and emphasizing. I still do to a large degree. I could overlook his flaws and his leftist political instincts. He was so incredible on COVID and helping to expose Fauci and the rest of the medical establishment. He has also been really good when it comes to Ukraine. He understands the history and that the Russian invasion there was anything but unprovoked. I could overlook his leftism on certain domestic issues when he is good on foreign policy, medical tyranny, and privacy concerns.
Kennedy has also said he would drop charges against Julian Assange, and he would free Ross Ulbricht. In fact, Kennedy’s speech in front of the Libertarian Party national convention was phenomenal. I don’t know if he was just being a great salesman to the crowd, but even to recognize his audience and to give a speech accordingly tells me he is at least in tune with libertarian positions.
Domestic Concerns
I have heard some libertarians and libertarian-leaning conservatives express concern over Kennedy on domestic issues. That includes abortion and welfare spending.
While I understand that Kennedy is not libertarian on many domestic issues, these do not concern me all that much. He would probably be better than Trump on these issues, especially on economic issues.
With regard to abortion, Kennedy has seemed to change his positions, especially on whether late-term abortion is acceptable. But from my standpoint, Kennedy would likely have little impact on the issue. The Supreme Court has already overturned Roe v. Wade and sent the issue back to the states. I don’t think Kennedy opposes this. Anyway, even if he did, he would have to get some leftist judge on the Supreme Court, and I think a Kennedy selection would be much better than anyone Joe Biden’s handlers would ever pick.
On this issue, perhaps Trump is slightly better, but Trump isn’t exactly Mr. Consistency. We never know for sure what we will get, but I don’t think Roe v. Wade will be reinstated because of a Kennedy presidency.
On spending, it is true that Kennedy believes, at least to a certain degree, in the American welfare state. But so does Trump. And Kennedy tends to sound more reasonable when talking about domestic spending issues. He at least seems to acknowledge that things have a cost, unlike most Democrats and often many Republicans.
The only way the federal budget will be reduced any time soon is by cutting “defense” spending, which really means spending on the military and overseas adventures. I’m not saying Kennedy would be successful in reducing military spending, but I think he is the only major candidate with a chance to do so.
If he were to actually cut all funding to Ukraine while winding down U.S. involvement in conflicts everywhere, this could actually reduce federal spending by at least a few hundred billion dollars per year. It wouldn’t necessarily balance the budget, but it’s a big start. Aside from the difficultly in having to go against the military-industrial complex, that is the place to start. Nobody is going to start by cutting Medicare and Social Security. That’s just not going to happen, politically speaking.
So, the only chance of cutting spending is to start with the Pentagon and all of the areas that constitute “defense” spending. If a president isn’t willing to cut there, then there won’t be any significant cuts anywhere.
A Return to Sanity
I still haven’t completely ruled out voting for Kennedy, in spite of his bad position on Israel. The support for funding Israel is bothersome not just for that conflict alone; it makes me concerned that he might fold on other foreign policy issues.
Still, I recognize that a Kennedy presidency might be the only way to give us a small return to normalcy. In terms of the deep state, I think the cat is out of the bag. We can never fully return to 2019 (pre COVID hysteria) or 2015 (pre Trump) again, and I’m not saying that should be our goal. But maybe we can get to a place again where things aren’t completely insane.
If Trump wins the presidency, we are going to just get more made-up things from the establishment and its media. It will be more of the Russia hoax, but probably with some other issue. It will be a distraction while Trump doesn’t actually do anything substantial to weaken the deep state. The one thing Trump does well to weaken the deep state is by helping to expose it. But it’s not as if Trump is defunding any of the many agencies who are out to get him.
If Biden or a Biden replacement wins, this will just give a green light to cause even more chaos than what we’ve been given for the last three and a half years. Biden’s handlers, for whatever reason, are trying intentionally to destroy our way of life and our civilization. They are pushing for deadly vaccines. They are pushing for little boys and girls to have sex changes. They have weaponized the “justice” system. They are trying to shut down all dissent that goes against their narrative. They are just an outright evil group.
If a Kennedy administration can give us a little bit of sanity, maybe it can buy us some time. Maybe the libertarian movement can build up enough to overcome all of this with a little more time. There are far fewer people who trust the state today than there have been in many generations. This is generally a good thing, but the establishment knows it is vulnerable. The wild animal that rules over us has been wounded, and it has become very dangerous.
I wish Kennedy would at least soften his position on Israel. If he would, I think I could let go of my other areas of disagreement with Kennedy and vote for him.
Kennedy may be our hope to return a little sanity while getting someone with an ounce of integrity in the White House. I could possibly vote for the lesser of evils if I knew it would give us a more civilized society for 4 years.
Kennedy needs to revise his position on Israel quickly. He at least needs to say that the U.S. government shouldn’t be funding Israel as long as the Israeli state is recklessly bombing civilians. Kennedy needs to give more speeches like the one he gave at the LP convention. If he does this, he can be the protest vote against the system in 2024, and he might even have an outside chance to win.