On Wednesday, in the time-honored tradition of Democrats using children to manipulate their audiences into feeling empathy for their point of view, Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-MA) invoked his two young children as a reason he voted to impeach President Donald Trump. Kennedy also breathlessly hyped the drama of the moment, claiming, “This is a moment that you’ll read about in your history books”
Kennedy began, “Dear Ellie and James: This is a moment that you’ll read about in your history books. Today, I will vote to impeach the president of the United States. And I want you to know why. He broke our laws. He threatened our security.”
There was Trump no mention of his granduncle JFK or his behavior in the White House as Kennedy continued of, “He abused the highest, most sacred office in our land.”
Kennedy continued with protestations that he felt miserable about toeing the Democratic party line: “I want you to know that it does not feel good. I can’t stop thinking about the cost to our country – not just the impeachable offenses, but the collateral damage of a president who uses power like a weapon against his own people. Erodes our decency, degrades our dignity. “
Another attempt followed to make his speech into a historic moment: “I don’t yet know how they will tell the story of this era, but I want to tell you the story of this day”
An attempt to imitate JFK’s famous quote from his 1961 inaugural address, “Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans …” came next, as Kennedy proclaimed, ”Let the record show that today, justice won; that we did our job, that we kept our word, that we stood our sacred ground. Let the record show that we did not let you down.”
Kennedy concluded with another reference to his children: “I love you. Listen to Mom. I’ll be home soon.”
As far back as 1980, in a televised debate with GOP presidential candidate Ronald Reagan, President Jimmy Carter famously invoked his daughter Amy when asked how he would deal with the nuclear arms race with Russia. Carter responded that he asked his daughter what the most important issue was, saying, “I think, to close out this discussion, it would be better to put into perspective what we’re talking about. I had a discussion with my daughter, Amy, the other day, before I came here, to ask her what the most important issue was. She said she thought nuclear weaponry – and the control of nuclear arms.”
After Rush Limbaugh criticized Georgetown University Law student Sandra Fluke for demanding that her Catholic school pay for its students’ birth control, President Obama invoked his daughters when he spoke about calling Fluke to offer his support, saying, “I thought about Malia and Sasha. And one of the things I want them…to be able to do is speak their minds in a civil and thoughtful way, and I don’t want them attacked or called horrible names when they’re good citizens.”
Video of Kennedy below: