{"id":5479,"date":"2020-09-11T09:00:41","date_gmt":"2020-09-11T14:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/?p=5479"},"modified":"2020-09-11T09:00:41","modified_gmt":"2020-09-11T14:00:41","slug":"the-downfall-of-the-last-great-american-dynasty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/?p=5479","title":{"rendered":"The Downfall of the Last Great American Dynasty"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by Devon Mitchell<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThere goes the last great American dynasty,\u201d – Taylor Swift, \u201cThe Last Great American Dynasty\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For nearly 100 years the Massachusetts Democrats have been dominated by an American dynasty. Beginning with Joe Kennedy Sr. in the 1930s, the Kennedy line has had a rich history in politics. But every dynasty must come to an end, and the Kennedy\u2019s saw theirs last week during the Massachusetts primary when Joe Kennedy III lost to incumbent Ed Markey.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The progressive Senator, Ed Markey, had his work cut out for him when Joseph Kennedy III announced he was running for the Senate seat. After all, a Kennedy has never lost a Massachusetts election. Markey\u2019s determination, progressive agenda, and previous work in the Senate proved enough to outweigh the great-nephew of President John F. Kennedy in the eyes of the voters.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201cdownfall\u201d of the Kennedy dynasty has been coming for a while. After the death of Senator Ted Kennedy in 2009, it was thought that his nephew, Joe Kennedy II, would campaign for the so-called \u201cKennedy Seat\u201d in Massachusetts. Joe Kennedy II did not pursue this seat. Perhaps he realized what his son failed to; in a democracy, it is absurd to have a position of power which is passed down through a bloodline.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Personally, I think it is extremely important Joe Kennedy III lost this race. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I am not anti-Kennedy by any means. In fact, I have a shelf on my bookcase dedicated to biographies about the Kennedy family, complete with a bust of JFK I use as a bookend. I am not trying to bash the Kennedys. However, America\u2019s democracy was not built on bloodline politics. Representatives are elected to terms, which eventually run out. At that point, if he or she does not campaign again, then someone new is supposed to take their place and bring fresh views and ideas to the office. How are we supposed to move forward as a country if the same names keep appearing on the ballot? We need those new ideas and fresh perspectives especially in a time when the face of America is changing so drastically. Gone are the days of old money politicians from a well-known family. Didn\u2019t we prove that in the election of representatives such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ed Markey\u2019s win in the Massachusetts primary is a symbolic moment. It represents a new era in American politics. These political \u2018dynasties\u2019 such as the Kennedy\u2019s or the Bush\u2019s can\u2019t succeed in modern-day politics. This is a positive sign; it means we are moving forward and stepping out of the past. While the Kennedy family is probably mourning this loss, I can\u2019t help but think Markey is taking one from Taylor Swift\u2019s book saying, \u201cI had a marvelous time ruining everything.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Devon Mitchell \u201cThere goes the last great American dynasty,\u201d – Taylor Swift, \u201cThe Last Great American Dynasty\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 For nearly 100 years the Massachusetts Democrats have been dominated by an American dynasty. Beginning with Joe Kennedy Sr. in the 1930s, the Kennedy line has had a rich history in politics. But every dynasty must…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5480,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[23],"class_list":["post-5479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-summer2019"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/The-Last-Great-American-Dynasty.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}