Robert F. Kennedy For President: 1968 Campaign Ad

Source:Robert F. Kennedy For President- this is from a 1968 RFK For President campaign ad for Nebraska.

“RFK campaign ad 1968, directed by John Frankenheimer (“The Manchurian Candidate”)”

From RFK Must Die 

The environmental movement in the late 1960s, which was just becoming big to the point today and perhaps even twenty-years ago that national Democrats at least couldn’t win without them, especially if they were running for president. But Democrats they couldn’t win in Congress without the environmental community unless they represented a very rural state, or district that was heavily dependent on oil, gas and coal. States like West Virginia, to use as an example.

America changed a lot politically in the 1960s where the Democratic Party started truly becoming the progressive party and the Republican Party starting to become the conservative party. With both parties still have moderate factions in them, but just not as big as they use to be.

Senator Kennedy, made the environment a big part of his 1968 presidential campaign. But it was more about regulations of energy industries and not so much about his own national energy policy. And had he been elected president in 1968, we probably get an EPA and perhaps an Energy Department as well. Instead of President Richard Nixon creating the EPA and President Jimmy Carter creating the Energy Department.

It was also President Nixon that pushed for the idea of a national energy policy and getting off of foreign oil and gas. President Gerald Ford and President Carter, wanted to do the same thing, but differently at least in President Carter’s case. But making the environment a real issue was still very new when Bobby Kennedy ran for president in 1968. 

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Divinity: Dr. Martin L. King: Last Speech in Memphis (1968)

Source:Divinity- Reverend's Dr. Martin L. King and Ralph Abernathy in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968.

“I Have Been to the Mountaintop Full Speech” 

From Divinity

I don’t believe there are many people perhaps in the history of the world, but certainly in the history of the United States who had better timing than Martin L. King. And I say that for a few reasons, but just take when Reverend King gave this speech and when he died which was the next day in 1968 and then look at, or listen to what Reverend King said in this speech and what was in it and what he had to say. Which I at least believe was vision for what the civil rights movement was all about.

Dr. King laid out in his last speech what it means to be an American no matter your race in a liberal democracy such as the United States. Where we all under the United States Constitution are to be treated equally under law with the same constitutional rights and freedoms as any other American. That we aren’t supposed to be treated better, or worse by law in this country. And that’s just one reason why the way African-Americans were treated in America prior to the civil rights laws of the 1960s was simply unconstitutional. Because African-Americans were treated worse than Caucasian-Americans under law in this country.

What Reverend King was saying in this speech was that he’s seen the mountaintop of where all Americans were being treated equally under law. That this vision is real where no American has to live in poverty without the basic necessities and skills to be able to live well in life. That we aren’t there yet and you might not see him there with you, but this vision is real and we can get there together as a people if we keep moving forward as a people and a country to build this society where no race of people is treated worse under law simply based on their race.

Dr. King said that we can accomplish this Utopia in America and get there together if we keep up the fight and struggle for equal and human rights in this country until we finally reach the mountaintop. And finally accomplish what we’ve struggled for all of these years.

Thats what this speech was about as far as I’m concern at least and what Reverend King was telling his supporters, that even if you don’t see him there with you, he’s already seen the vision of what we are fighting for. And know we can get there if we keep on moving the ball forward until we get there. 

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Daredevil Records: Jim Morrison & The Doors- Live At The Hollywood Bowl: Spanish Caravan (1968)

Source:Daredevil Records- The Lizard King Jim Morrison: Live at the Hollywood Bowl, in 1968.

"The Doors 1968 Live at Hollywood Bowl 09 Spanish Caravan"   

From Daredevil Records

Source:The Daily Journal- The Lizard King Jim Morrison: Live at the Hollywood Bowl, in 1968.

Certainly one of the most memorable concerts from The Doors because it was in Hollywood, at The Hollywood Bowl, it was in color, summer of 1968, part of a very crazy and chaotic year and chaotic decade (at least the late 1960s) and The Doors, certainly Jim Morrison represented this era, time and generation as well as it could be represented. 

America was in transition in the 1960s from the Leave it To Beaver 1950s where men were expected to work, get married, have kids and continue to work. Where women were expected to just get married and then stay home and raise their kids. 

By the 1960s the Baby Boomers started coming of age and becoming young adults. And didn't want their parents Leave it To beaver lifestyle and didn't see everything in black and white, including most of the entertainment. And wanted to break out and create their own American culture and lifestyle. Ways of doing things and living and Jim Morrison I believe almost perfectly represents what this generation was going through back then. 

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The Doors Experience: 'L.A. Woman Live- From 2010'

Source:The Doors Experience- Zurich, Switzerland in 2010.

"Filmed by Loïc Duliscouët on Silvester Party 2009 at the Volkshaus in Zurich (Switzerland).

This song leads exactly into the new year 2010.

All rights THE DOORS EXPERIENCE... 

From The Doors Experience

My main issues with The Doors Experience as a cover band for Jim Morrison and The Doors, is that they come off as more as a punk band as far as appearance than a blues rock band. Which is what The Doors were.

The Doors weren't a classic rock band and certainly not a hard rock band, but a blues rock band that mixed in rock & roll with blues and even rhythm and blues. They were similar to Elvis Presley who came before them and Eric Clapton who came out about the same time in the late 1960s as The Doors.

Also, the Jim Morrison cover is a big tall man. Looks like an NFL quarterback or even linebacker. Jim Morrison was built more like an NFL kicker, at least a stereotypical NFL kicker. Average height (at best) and slender.

But The Doors experience does a really good job as far as sound and the music and sound like The Doors. The Jim Morrison has The Lizard King's wardrobe and act down. The tight black leather jeans, the big concho belt, the cowboy boots, a lot of black shirts. So in this sense The Doors Experience does a very good job as The Doors. 

Intelligent Channel: Alex Cherian- ‘U.S. Senator & Future Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy (1967)’

Source:Intelligent Channel- U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy (Democrat, New York) visiting San Francisco, California in 1967.

“Senator Robert F. Kennedy, future presidential candidate, visiting San Francisco (1967) – from THE EDUCATION ARCHIVE. Kennedy was on a 10-state, 15-city tour to evaluate President Lyndon Johnson’s ambitious War on Poverty campaign. San Francisco State’s archivist Alex Cherian provides a 2013 introduction. Copyright belongs to Young Broadcasting of San Francisco, Inc. Special appreciation to Pat Patton and KRON-TV for helping to make this material publicly accessible.” 

From the Intelligent Channel

This video is the exact reason why I wish former U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone was still alive and had he lived I believe he not only would’ve been reelected to the Senate, but would’ve pushed what Senator Robert F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin L. King called the Poor People’s Campaign and tour from the late 1960s. But Senator Wellstone would’ve started this campaign the 21st Century once he returned to the U.S. Senate.

Not many people were talking about poverty in America back then at least not many public officials at the Federal level. And not many public people who were at, or near the height of Martin King were talking about.

Poverty and yes that it actually existed back then in a country that was then and now the richest country in the world and yet we have 1-5 or 1-4 then Americans living in poverty in Appalachia, the Delta in Mississippi, inner-city ghettos like in big cities like Detroit and Los Angeles, Baltimore and so-forth. That how can a country that’s as rich as ours have so many people who don’t have enough to live a good life.

Another thing that I respect about Senator Kennedy’s campaign was that it came right after the so-called War on Poverty was announced by President Lyndon Johnson. Because that so-called war really didn’t go far enough and I’m not talking about money.

What Senator Kennedy was looking at we're not only the what people in poverty go through and their living conditions, but also how to help these people move out of poverty and make a good life for themselves. Where the so-called War on Poverty was more about how to do we prevent these people from starving, going homeless, without clothes and healthcare and so-forth.

The War on Poverty, didn’t take the next step and building off of a system that prevents people from essentially dying. But how we do we empower them so they don’t have to live in poverty at all. Which I believe had Bobby Kennedy had lived, we would’ve seen those ideas come from him later on.

This is just one example of why RFK’s assassination was so tragic, because of the attention and the focus to these issues he would’ve brought. And why we need people with that type of power to focus people on these issues today since we are still dealing with the same issues that we were talking about as a country forty-five years ago. And be able to finally focus on how we actually solve these problems. Instead of just talking about them. 

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NBA TV: NBA 1988- Dallas Mavericks @ Seattle Sonics: 1st Quarter

Source:NBA-TV- The Dallas Mavericks at the Seattle Sonics, from 1988.

"February 15, 1988 Mavericks @ Sonics" 

From Sheba 021

Great matchup between Mark Aguirre of the Mavericks and Xavier McDaniel of the Sonics. The Mavericks were one of the teams that the Sonics upset in the 1987 Western Conference Playoffs, just to get to the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. So I guess you could say that the Mavericks were looking for revenge in this game. Even though regular season games don't have the same meaning as playoff games. 

Baltimore Orioles Baseball: '1989 Baltimore Orioles: "Why Not?"'

Source:Baltimore Orioles Baseball- the Orioles against I believe the Anaheim Angels, in 1989.

"This music video is from the VHS documentary of the 1989 Baltimore Orioles.  

The 1988 Baltimore Orioles started the '88 season 0-21 and finished that year with a record of just 54 wins, and 108 losses.  So when the 1989 season began, no one gave the Orioles a chance to even compete.  But the young and hungry Orioles had something to prove, going 87-75 and finishing just two games out of first place in the American League East.  During that season, the term, "WHY NOT?", was coined by Oriole fans, and  it has lived with us since that magical season." 

From Baltimore Orioles Baseball

The Orioles literally came out of nowhere in 1989 to be AL East contenders after having one of the worst teams of all time in 1988. Which is one of the reasons why they were so successful in 1989 because they surprised so many people. 

A lot of the Orioles success started in 1988, by calling up pitcher Bob Milacki and trading for power hitting catcher Mickey Tettleton. And in the offseason of 1988-89 by trading their best player in Eddie Murray to the Los Angeles Dodgers and getting 1B Randy Milligan and OF Mike Deveraux who both contributed to the Orioles success of 1989, as well as in 1992. 

The 1989 Orioles weren't really great anywhere except on defense, but they had three reliable starting pitchers they could count on in Jeff Ballard who only had one good year in his entire MLB career but that year was 1989. To go along with Bob Milacki and Dave Schmidt and Dave Johnson came up during that year and won some big games for them. And they had a solid bullpen that could hold leads with Greg Olson closing out games. And 2-3 hitters in their lineup they could rely on to hit big home runs and drive in runs. Cal Ripken, Mickey Tettleton and Craig Worthington, and Phil Bradley at the top of the lineup.

The 1989 Orioles were a lot of fun to watch and it made going back to Baltimore Memorial Stadium fun again because you knew that the Orioles had a good shot at winning again. And without 1989, the Orioles would've had a harder time getting Oriole Park at least when they did. And their financial situation in the 1990s would've looked at lot different having to play at Baltimore Memorial Stadium for perhaps another five years, with Baltimore still trying to land a pro football franchise. So 1989 was critical for the Orioles success.