Lawrence O'Donnell made a really odd comment about Joe Kennedy's speech last night.

[Ken Burch]

He made a bit of an issue with the fact that Joe didn't make a point of sounding "law and order" in the way his grandfather Bobby did. O'Donnell specifically referenced the thing about Bobby reminding his audience that he'd been Attorney General.

Does O'Donnell realize that Joe hasn't actually BEEN Attorney General yet, and has no way to invoke "law and order" in the way Bobby could?

Why d'ya think he'd even bring that up?

[Sophia4]

1. Nostalgia and because it appeals to Republicans are my guesses. Just guesses.

[Hortensis]

17. Bobby became AG at 35 (!) when his brother appointed him.

Bobby made a point of pointing out this cred in a speech.

Joe 3 is 37 and has no brother to appoint him AG.
He avoided a topic that could have highlighted this non-Bobbyness.

With all the comparisons being drawn, O'Donnell the knowledgeable observer may just have been pointing out a little way in which comparison was avoided. If it even was.

[JI7]

2. Is there a clip of it ?

[Ken Burch]

6. Not sure. But it was in the post-speech comments

right after Joe's response to Trump.

Hadn't thought about searching for a clip yet, because I'd seen it live and assumed everybody else had, too.

[samnsara]

3. i dont even know what that means

[Ken Burch]

4. It's about making a show of being "tough on crime".

Bobby would talk about being "the top law enforcement official of the land" in his presidential campaign speeches, the same speeches in which he made passionate calls for social and economic justice and for a real commitment to ending poverty and racism.

[bettyellen]

5. Lawrence wrote a book on RFK, so he has definite opinions about where his appeal came from...

He’s naturally going to me more knowledgeable and vocal when anyone invokes RFK comparisons to anyone. I guess he means the AG experience made RFK seem more of an authority and tougher than most his age.

[JI7]

9. That's what i was thinking

Just a comparison based on his own knowledge, not criticism.

[Ken Burch]

10. I get why Bobby did it, but it's puzzling that O'Donnell wanted Joe to bring that up

when he, himself, hasn't actually been in any position remotely comparable to the Attorney General's job.

Does it really mean anything to say "I'm tough on law and order", when you've never been in a job that involved prosecuting criminals or enforcing the law?

And I guess it looked to me as though O'Donnell felt he HAD to find something lacking in Joe's speech just for the SAKE of finding fault.

[bettyellen]

13. What I thought I heard was that he had no opportunity to do so- not that he should manufacture law a

And order bonafides. That would be kinda weird, no?
I don’t know, I like him but find his personality a bit weak. Not thrilled about his moderate record which would def make me see him in a better light.

[Ken Burch]

14. Thanks for the info. I actually don't know much about Joe.

At this point, he's more possible convention speech material than national candidate material.

Joe had no opportunity to work in much of anything about himself-and it would have been out of place for the guy to make the speech about himself. Bobby was running for president-Joe was simply responding to a crazy old white dude.

[underthematrix]

7. Yes I saw that too and the glaring awkward silence that followed was stunning

[The_Casual_Observer]

8. What's the point of talking "Law & Order" when we live in what is essentially

a very well funded police state?

[Ken Burch]

11. Indeed.

And when those running the police state put themselves ABOVE the law?

[CincyDem]

12. I think he was making a different point...

It caught my ear when I heard it too. While he included the reference to RFK's time as AG, I think the point he was making was more basic.

In the speech last night, JKIII to an unequivocal swing at the wall. I think LOD's point was simply that tempering his appropriate opposition to "the wall" could have (should have) been tempered with a recognition that some form of border control is also appropriate. Not a unilateral 25billion dollar wall but something that manages the pace of immigration. I think he said something like "RFK would have framed immigration management as an ongoing, important role of the federal government while pointing out that the wall as it's currently envisioned is not a viable or valuable part of that management".

Just my take on it.

[Ken Burch]

15. Problem there is, the party doesn't have an entirely clear position on immigration control.

Joe wasn't really in a place to express any official Democratic view on that, since we the party doesn't have a consensus view on the issues you described.

Any attempt on his part to express specific policy on immigration would probably have put him in the doghouse with at least half of the party.

[CincyDem]

23. yeah - good point. Hadn't considered the impact of "strategic fuzziness" on the topic. n/t

[Tatiana]

21. That's what I thought too.

Lawrence didn't want to be critical -- he was just pointing out a way in which Kennedy could broaden his appeal and widen the Democratic base. He gave red meat to the base, but O'Donnell wanted him to appeal more to the centrist Independents who are propping up Trump's vicious hold on power.

[Puzzledtraveller]

16. Fear of young and new?

[Ken Burch]

19. That is plausible.

n/t.

[eppur_se_muova]

18. I thought it was clear -- RFK threw in some "law and order" appeal to the centrists ...

and to placate the right wing a little. Young Joe didn't bother to do that. He's not bothering to say sweet nothings to keep the RWNJ heads from exploding, instead he's letting them stew in their bigotry and xenophobia. Don't try to appeal to people who would only soil your reputation if you allied with them. Stand for your progressive principles, and let the wingers know you're not OK with *ANY* part of their program.

[Ken Burch]

20. And when Bobby was doing that, he was a presidential candidate.

Joe wasn't actually running for anything last night.

[eppur_se_muova]

22. True. Also true he's speaking to fellow Dems.

Urging them not to try to appeal to the center-right. The cost is too high.