Idk what it is, but this picture fascinates me. JFK just pulled up to Appalachia and said, “I want you to tell me what you need.” Call me crazy, because yes, times are different, but I see the vision. We need more of this!
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Exactly! Ohio voter here & I think just the same. We need to stop ignoring the elephant in the room & trying to tip toe around in its shit. I know Americans won’t admit to their racist sexism but that doesn’t make it go away or shift reality to one where we just need better leaders. I❤️’d S Brown
Indeed✅
Working people and union members in Ohio had no greater champion than Sherrod Brown and what did those working class people and union members do 👀
They gave him a giant middle finger and supported a man who made no secret of his plans to stick it to them 🤷🏾♂️
Beto sets the standard. His story of meeting Tim Walz was so genuine. His tireless efforts on behalf of the people of Texas, unparalleled. Texas could have the SON of Texas, and chose otherwise. Beto turns the other cheek. He has my vote for any office he seeks. As real as they come. #Beto
It makes sense Not to spend money there because Texas and Florida are so gerrymandered by GOP that Dems cannot win statewide…
Just look at Ted Cruz and Rick Scott wins.
Dems need to concentrate on places where we actually have a chance to win and flip seats.
If you don’t WIN, nothing else matters.
Wait.
Gerrymandering can't affect statewide elections (wish I understood better what the issue is though).
OTOH, gerrymandering can & does affect the composition of the Texas legislature, because state reps & state senators represent gerrymandered districts.
Diff time. Even ppl of privilege served a greater then themselves mantra, served in Navy, Senate and POTUS. Went to the people he wanted to help, the ppl that needed help. Now it's Wall St, Oligarchs and strongmen.
It was just theatre.
Adjusted for inflation, the Kennedy's were billionaires. Ultra-rich people, who can't be trusted. And he gave himself and his family a giant tax-cut.
Anyone too young to remember should pull up old videos of JFK holding a press conference. There was no calling ppl nasty or telling them to be quiet while he called on someone easier. No lambasting of the media as fake news. He answered questions with wit, style & a deep knowledge of the subject.
oops. You are right. I remember Bobby's car trips through Appalachia. It was moving and seemed so promising given his bond with black americans. Where is that picture from?
Worse, if you can imagine, when we killed his brother Robert. After him came Nixon and the modern Republican movement we have today, that got ya in this hellish situation
These days, those same Appalachians would be voting for a fraudulent felon-billionaire who mocks them behind their backs after his rallies and shits in a golden toilet.
You Know Bobby Kennedy did something similar
But Robert Kennedy Jr
went to FL and and got on his Knees and Kissed
Trump’s Fat ASS and told him he would be his whipping Boy
EXACTLY! There are persuadable voters and non voters in these "Red" areas! Howard Dean said the same thing. But, the party leadership has focused on the "Blue Wall" and it has put us where we are!
This is what ALL of our elected officials should be doing! Get out from behind your comfy desk in your comfy office and talk with people! Put yourself in their shoes for just a moment. Experience their lives for a few minutes. Stop hiding in your pink bubble!!
This is the standards we use to have to pick our presidential candidates. Now all they gotta do is be seen on TV. They don't have to care, or be known for doing something substantial for others, they jus gotta be known.
It’s hard to imagine Jr is his son. My dad worked on RFK’s campaign in NY. I was a kid and it was a sad birthday. I’ll never forget going to his funeral. Somewhere along the way we lost the “Telegram” invite. The family had its share of problems but none as sad as Jr.
If asked these days, parents might say they want fewer trans conversion in school while, ironically, dancing to the Village People "Y.M.C.A." gay anthem, because all politics are national now, and ignorant people drink from dirty streams.
Yes, you'd ask if they wanted their kids to have shoes or school and they'd say that the kids shoes were stolen by immigrants abd school makes you trans
Those times were very hard in many ways but, they were hopeful too. You could feel it. Now? It's going to be much harder to gain back what is being trampled.
This visit in WV resulted in JFK's election. JFK showed his appreciation and created the Appalachian Regional Commission that still today works to improve health and life in the southern Appalachian mountains.
They do this. Always have. The ground game this go round, on one side was historic … while the other side talked about Black ppl eating cats. And we know what side won. But yes, MORE.
What we need is a New NEW Deal ... What we need is a new FDR ... someone who's not afraid to take on Corporate America and fight for the working man. What we don't need is any more generic Democrats who prefer dicking around at the margins of policy change rather than undertaking radical reform.
I know it’s reductive in a sense, but we gotta stop telling people we know what’s best for them, instead of listening to their needs.
That’s not to say we do not confront issues that need attention, but let’s be honest, most people that voted for Trump would say Democrats speak down to them
Isn't it crazy that if we can find even a shred of empathy in a leader that we exalt them forever for it? What a world we live in where such low expectations are the most we can hope for.
My grandparents and much of my Mom's family lived in rural WV and my grampa had a framed photo of JFK in the hallway. They trusted and respected him and they mourned when he was killed. He did reach out to them as a community and as a state.
If you look at it with todays eye, you'd say it's just a photo op, but ya know what? Maybe he cared. And that's the difference. Today, most politicians care only for themselves, and their backers and service to the community is just a foreign concept.
Exactly. That’s how you communicate and get your message out. That’s how you generate emotional appeal and engagement. No reason why Dems can’t hold get togethers in rural and small town America every week. Talk, listen and respect one another. Make it real.
Alas, we HAD more of this. That's what drove President Biden & the 117th Congress' Infrastructure (Nov 2021) & Inflation Reduction (Aug 2022) LEGISLATION to give the poor & middle class what they'd been asking for for a long time. https://www.whitehouse.gov/invest/state-fact-sheets/
All 50 states, incl Appalachia.
Yes.
+ Obama was punished for the Affordable Care Act (passed in March 2010) at 2010 & 2012 midterms:
>from the right: Tea Party trolling Scary Obamacare Lies
>from the left (to Repubs' delight): Obama Didn't Do Enough!
2010: Rs took back the House
2012: Rs took back the Senate & Supreme Court
Joe, defeated The Don in 2020 (+ 7 million), knew how racist America still was, & wanted to step aside in his 2nd term.
So I'm much more mad at the rich white Dems who publicly clobbered him for One Bad Debate, instead of bashing Trump over & over in 2024 for his bizarre babbling & bad record.
Tough but simpler work= celebrating the great achievements of the Biden-Harris Admin & continuing the contrast between those & Project 2025. We all knew our Abusive Ex, Don the Con, was LYING about his connection to Ross Vought, the guy he just nominated to head the Office of Management & Budget.
What’s more insane to me is knowing JD Vance wrote Hillbilly Elegy and basically blasted these people….and has now taken advantage of the same powers he condemned to raise himself up while perpetuating the lies fed to the ppl of Appalachia
Tonight on MSNBC or whatever: Could listening to constituents and doing what they want be a winning strategy for Dems in 2026 and beyond? Here's why it won't work.
Old enough to remember seeing it in real time...possibly Life Magazine. There's video of Bobby Kennedy, the elder, in a similar setting. You can't fake the compassion he showed.
I don’t think they have to be different. I think we have allowed ourselves to be lied to and hijacked by terrible people. We have allowed the public discourse to be cheapened and riddled with hate. We needed to stand as Americans and say NO. Just NO. And we didn’t.
Yes, but there is no "invasion." There are only people who are willing to work hard at jobs Americans are unwilling to do.
They are literally feeding America.
Yes that’s my point! Misinformation and lack of education have made it hard to campaign when the opponent says whatever he wants that’s not based on fact.
We have a left wing media if we want to keep it and that's MSNBC, they may not do and say everything we want but if we don't support them they may very well go the other way and then what will we have? Tell me that because I know of no other.
I honestly don't think they know how to deal with someone as corrupt as trump is that is also supported by so many Americans. Those 3 were "brought up" both siding politics.
And in some respects, we can't live in an echo chamber.
Look what happened w/the immigration issue, we were not listening.
Independent media. The younger generations (millennials and Gen z) do not get their current event info from these orgs, they are a dying breed. Brian Tyler Cohen is a great bridge between the mainstream media and the independent media, he goes on the network stations regularly, we need to build that
We do and what I'm saying is that this movement to ban msm in particular, MSNBC, is going to end up hurting us.
You know that MAGA isn't going to ban Fox or oan or any of them, we need to breath life into our media outlets
Now, I have left WaPo and now support ProPublica instead.
We don’t have RW even mentioning this ongoing issue except to mention that the reason why they’re so poor is because of immigration, gender transition surgery for elementary students, abortions and those nasty blue states. Of course their viewers believe it.
Politicians (in general) need to listen more and ask more questions rather than presumptuously prescribing solutions to problems they just assume people have.
Are the current crowd really politicians though?
Seems more are interested in them & their rich mates & how to profit from the system.
How many have links to the tax havens? I wonder why?
If you don't ask questions you'll stay uninformed & things won't change, ever. You'll pay more taxes they won't!
the incoming folks are oligarchs, who won because we’ve increasingly become an oligarch in all but name, tho not totally. now, we’ll become so even more 😞
The photographer caught a great moment. It’s raw and honest. JFK looks relaxed and interested as he listens.
It has a very genuine feel to it.
I had never seen this photo. Thanks for posting it.
This trip changed his whole approach to politics. He was genuinely moved by the people eh met and the stories they told. I know people don't like to hear this but this is exactly how Joe Biden is. I am now and will always remain a Biden Stan.
Someone with status in our country needs to pull up in Appalachia where people are still living in tents after Helene and ask the same questions and then DO SOMETHING.
A local guy ran for city councilman and did just this. His first question to me when I opened the door to him was just like this after he introduced himself. He did this for months prior to the election. He won. We do need more of this.
When I went into West Virginia I was absolutely astounded and appalled at the poverty levels in the late 20th century in an extremely rich country. Now I'm even more astounded and appalled that they continue to vote Republican.
It is exactly what American Political hacks have forgotten. I have fantasy of running for Public Office & starting every rally with that question "I want you to tell me what you need." Didn't know it was a JFK quote.
Republicons hated JFK for trying to really make USA great. For decades now greedy KKK Republicon party have always kept USA from steady progress.
Dems want to help while republicons want to keep you dumb & poor. Don't see how "2 parties" are a good thing. Not in my lifetime. @raskin.house.gov
It’s sticking it to what feminists call “standpoint theory.” Which pretty much says once you get a ton of money and power you stand at a point where you can no longer relate to the populace you serve.
The message I get from this picture is: “I’ll go see for myself how bad they are saying it is.”
JFK is the reason I'm a Democrat. Raised in a GOP family. Saw what was going on in the 60s and how JFK wanted to change things. It was the best of times; it was the worst of times, to borrow from Charles Dickens. Saw our country try to make things right and then saw them kill the man trying to
2. change things. Then saw MLK Jr. and RFK killed within months of each other. I have never thought both parties are the same. They are NOT. Was able to cast my first vote in 1973. Had RFK lived and I could vote at 18, HE would have had my first vote.
They all do that to some extent. I wish America could read and maybe didn’t require a Joe Rogan litmus test for everything outside nuggies and chocky milk
In watching the documentary, Ethel by Rory Kennedy, they discussed how RFK was also so moved that he felt he had to act. https://rfkineky.org/1968-tour.htm
“It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.
Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. This coolness arises partly from fear of the opponents, who have the laws on their side, ...
and partly from the incredulity of men, who do not readily believe in new things until they have had a long experience of them.”
― Niccolò #Machiavelli, The Prince
With out a doubt the world would be a much better place had he been left to finish his presidency!! Have you read his book it’s fantastic? It makes me cry because I think about what it might be like?
I want so much for the Dems to ask me my opinion. Not that I have all answers, but my opinion pooled with 499 others will give them real insight into what we need. Their current policies aren't hitting the mark.
I wrote to the DNC and suggested Salwell run for president and backed it up with my reasons. Months later, I heard they had asked him and he said no. I like to think I was heard, but prob just a coincidence
But part of the problem is the way the people answered him in that era has not changed. Ask West Virginians what they need? They say they need the mines reopened. No amount of explained why that won’t happened will keep them from blaming you for telling the truth. So, they vote for the liars.
Yes but let’s not be fixated on what they are saying but what that means. In short they want jobs where they live. Now that might be difficult but more attainable than the mines. That is where government incentives for business & retraining can help achieve wins for business and community.
I organize and canvass in coal areas of PA and it's more of a longing for stable jobs and the youth not leaving in droves. But the coal industry in the East of PA is older, so longer removed from recent layoffs.
Blaming abandoned working class for giving the liars a chance won't reverse course.
Oh, I don’t blame them.
I think we need to do more for rural areas, everywhere. I was simply pointing out the hill we have to climb to *earn* their trust which we will need in order to make positive changes. Combatting misinformation is a big part of that, imo.
and if the mines were reopened, there would still be few jobs, as most of the stuff down there is automated, and the minerals are extracted through mountaintop removal which destroys the land and pollutes everything around it.
That's why you have to ask different questions, They only want mines reopened because they need the work, and reopening the mines will actually give most of them squat, because most of the work for new mines will be automated, and mountaintop removal literally destroys the land.
I’ve never seen a group of ppl so delighted to die and have their descendants die from black lungs. The mines are a death trap literally and they’re just like … we don’t care.
I agree! JFK also visited the grocery store that my husband’s later boss managed in a small town in WVA. One day he came in, spoke w/ people there, & bought an angel food cake, his apparent favorite! We’ll always treasure the photograph of him, smiling, with his cake!
#JFK, #Appalachia, #GetOutThere
My mom was a Junior at Oceana High in the Spring of ‘60 and she always enjoyed retelling her story about JFK visiting Oceana and then being elected President.
Not JFK. That was Bobby Kennedy. In 1967-68, he toured the Mississippi Delta and later West Virginia to assess the impact of LBJ's War on Poverty, and whether the program should continue. It was largely due to Bobby Kennedy that Food Stamps were made available to families without any income.
JFK did it as well. My uncle (later assistant AG for WV) worked with Jay Rockefeller (before he was governor and senator) to canvas the state with JFK. Rockefeller was there working in WV on the VISTA program at the behest of the Kennedys.
There is a similar story about RFK - senior - walking barefoot in ankle deep mud in Appalachia because he wanted to 'meet the people and see for himself' in what journalists were calling the poorest area in the US. I am going to spend time today looking this up. I know there are pictures.
On this visit to Appalachia he visited one home with a dirt floor and a handful of children and saw a toddler sitting on the dirt floor, clearly listless and empty eyed and Robert wept. He was not a perfect man, but he was a good man. Gone too soon.
It’s not an unheard of concept. Pretty simple to be riding by, see outhouses, & ask ppl why they don’t have indoor plumbing. Technology means outsourcing instead of direct contact. Unfortunately, security risks for Biden are sky high. 💙💙
I don’t know the last time a presidential candidate actually went to places like Fleming-Neon, KY or Norton, VA and truly met with the locals & listened to them.
There will never be this kind of compassion again in politics. These people can’t donate any dollars and we’ve decided (thanks to originalist Supreme Court justices) that corporations are people, with respect to elections, and those have more money that pretty much any people. A sad development…
Yeah that really stung. Truth though is that I don't think it would have gained her much more support if she had, at least so far as stealing votes from Trump or even Green Party or Libertarians. I suspect her silence maybe caused a few liberals to just stay home and not vote at all.
In contrast to the picture of JFK, my point was she was not the same. I do not accept her willingness to sacrifice the tans community to not be controversial. She should have been a leader. If you don't like trans healthcare, tough shit I'm doing it because they're people. They deserve respect
Add apathetic AND misinformed voters.
The fact that millions less voted this election than 2020 even though there was massive GOTV campaigns across the country the movement didn't work.
In these times, this is something that could only happen with local activists who know the people. People everywhere have been turned against gov't by disinformation. They trust no one. Local activists who know the people would have a better chance. We need democracy cells.
That man was a hero .He was everything Trump , or any current republican could never be .....a war hero , a leader ......his " ask not not what your country can do for you " speech at his inauguration . his promise to land a man on the moon , and do it . Impressive !!!!
If you read the platform statement for JFK's presidential campaign, you can also see that he *listened*.
(Which I did when Harris' platform was published. Much more substance in the statements from 1960.)
Comments
They didn’t have Fox and the internet then…the poor today are completely beholden to the people who want to keep them poor✅
Ohio senate race exhibit A
They will disregard their economic interest for shared hatred of a contrived enemy : minorities or immigrants 👋
Working people and union members in Ohio had no greater champion than Sherrod Brown and what did those working class people and union members do 👀
They gave him a giant middle finger and supported a man who made no secret of his plans to stick it to them 🤷🏾♂️
in Texas.
in August.
Door to door.
In towns with 40 residents.
And nearly all were QMAGA.
They spit at him and slammed doors.
He STILL thanked them for their time.
Because his kids were with him and watching.
He’s the Real Deal.
If only the Dem Party would spend the resources.
40.
Forty.
40 Electoral Votes.
Second only to California.
And they spend nearly no resources for those votes.
Make it make sense.
Just look at Ted Cruz and Rick Scott wins.
Dems need to concentrate on places where we actually have a chance to win and flip seats.
If you don’t WIN, nothing else matters.
Know what would STOP Texas being so gerrymandered?
INVEST
RESOURCES!! 🤷🏻♀️
But I so hear you.
It’s like,
Men rape, right?
Forever it’s been that way.
1 in3 girls by the age of 12, so much raping.
That’s why we shouldn’t spend any resources on stopping rape.
I get the logic.
Gerrymandering can't affect statewide elections (wish I understood better what the issue is though).
OTOH, gerrymandering can & does affect the composition of the Texas legislature, because state reps & state senators represent gerrymandered districts.
All the federal money LBJ funnelled in to Texas. They've been a pig at the pork trough for decades
No reason to hold the bank door open for them.
DeLay is free AND prosperous.
Like a Mafia Boss.
THAT’S why DNC should NOT interrupt them!
Backward logic.
40 Electoral Votes.
But you got to be in the game
And money talks.
Ask Tom
Adjusted for inflation, the Kennedy's were billionaires. Ultra-rich people, who can't be trusted. And he gave himself and his family a giant tax-cut.
Appeal to the individual, not the masses.
......but the apparent Life Magazine camera crew on hand suggests it was also a photo shoot opportunity .....and that makes me sad.
But Robert Kennedy Jr
went to FL and and got on his Knees and Kissed
Trump’s Fat ASS and told him he would be his whipping Boy
But, keep hope alive.
This is exactly what needs to happen. And as much as VP Harris tried to do it, she only had 107 days. We need to start now for '28!
💙⚘️
He showed up. ☮️
Probably avoid riots.
Showing up matters.
Speaking from the heart matters.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1183486/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
I want to watch this flick.
I always loved this photo. Thank you
In 1964, he did food stamps.
He learned in 4 years platitudes mean nothing. The democrats who followed reverted to platitudes.
"Lol I'm gonna tho"
That’s not to say we do not confront issues that need attention, but let’s be honest, most people that voted for Trump would say Democrats speak down to them
Amazing photo...
https://www.whitehouse.gov/invest/state-fact-sheets/
All 50 states, incl Appalachia.
+ Obama was punished for the Affordable Care Act (passed in March 2010) at 2010 & 2012 midterms:
>from the right: Tea Party trolling Scary Obamacare Lies
>from the left (to Repubs' delight): Obama Didn't Do Enough!
2010: Rs took back the House
2012: Rs took back the Senate & Supreme Court
So I'm much more mad at the rich white Dems who publicly clobbered him for One Bad Debate, instead of bashing Trump over & over in 2024 for his bizarre babbling & bad record.
But we don't have media reporting on this.
Also, there are hundreds of RW media outlets controlled by the wealthy and foreigners, spouting false information every single minute.
They are literally feeding America.
But regular media ABC, CBS, NBC kept trying to equate both sides.
And in some respects, we can't live in an echo chamber.
Look what happened w/the immigration issue, we were not listening.
You know that MAGA isn't going to ban Fox or oan or any of them, we need to breath life into our media outlets
Now, I have left WaPo and now support ProPublica instead.
Seems more are interested in them & their rich mates & how to profit from the system.
How many have links to the tax havens? I wonder why?
If you don't ask questions you'll stay uninformed & things won't change, ever. You'll pay more taxes they won't!
It has a very genuine feel to it.
I had never seen this photo. Thanks for posting it.
For the sake of the future sanity of the US
However, Kamala had a boots on the ground campaign force knocking on doors and apparently couldn’t reach as many people as one podcast.
Dems want to help while republicons want to keep you dumb & poor. Don't see how "2 parties" are a good thing. Not in my lifetime. @raskin.house.gov
The message I get from this picture is: “I’ll go see for myself how bad they are saying it is.”
But I get what you’re saying.
https://youtu.be/VJeGglhwUME?si=n-sb49rTujsVMfxN
The trade agreements cut by both Dem and GOP admins have decimated “middle America”.
And stripped away any credibility and trust Washington had.
“It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.
― Niccolò #Machiavelli, The Prince
(I'm making a joke, I'm an inspector and that's the first thing I noticed. Lol)
But part of the problem is the way the people answered him in that era has not changed. Ask West Virginians what they need? They say they need the mines reopened. No amount of explained why that won’t happened will keep them from blaming you for telling the truth. So, they vote for the liars.
Rural communities need more attention and investment.
I believed we (as a country) were working in that direction. I fear that progress will now be halted.
I hope I’m wrong.
I truly wouldn’t have posted a statement like that out of nowhere.
And obviously it’s not everyone but … it’s a lot.
Blaming abandoned working class for giving the liars a chance won't reverse course.
I think we need to do more for rural areas, everywhere. I was simply pointing out the hill we have to climb to *earn* their trust which we will need in order to make positive changes. Combatting misinformation is a big part of that, imo.
Also, thank you for the work you do!
Ask what can you do for your country....."
if they had won🫤
But 50% of the voters decided to go with the billionaire grifter.
#JFK, #Appalachia, #GetOutThere
Fortunately, nothing happened to him. And he got King out.
This is not an excuse for that crazy fucker btw.
There were 3 kids with tremendous problems. 2 died young.
The Electoral College and apathetic Americans made a felon in charge instead.
The fact that millions less voted this election than 2020 even though there was massive GOTV campaigns across the country the movement didn't work.
(Which I did when Harris' platform was published. Much more substance in the statements from 1960.)