The Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization is holding a 24-day hunger strike to protest President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy on illegal immigration at the southern border sector located in McAllen, Texas. Joining in on the cause for “the good of humanity” are celebrities Martin Sheen, Levar Burton, and Alec Baldwin. But no Rosie O’Donnell who it appears is sitting this one out.
It seems organizer Kerry Kennedy, cocooned in the blanket of the bygone benevolence of her father, didn’t read the mass memo distributed by every single media outlet, including Scholastic News, declaring that Trump was rescinding his “zero tolerance” policy posthaste.
What’s a good Kennedy to do when the wind dies down and the sails hang limp? Switch to engine power, make a lot of noise, and soldier on for the cause.
Why a Hunger Strike?
The number 24 is symbolic to the cause as it represents 2,400 children separated from their families after being apprehended illegally crossing the border. The leftists love their optics and this publicity stunt ties in Bobby Kennedy and the famous-for-fasting protester, Cesar Chavez, with a sparkly pink bow.
Make no mistake, this isn’t about the plight of the migrants. Rather, as Kerry Kennedy herself suggests, it’s about resuscitating an unconscious Democratic Party with the Kennedy mystique:
“This event reflects the lasting bond between the work of Cesar Chavez, the Texas Civil Rights Project, and the Kennedy family. The Kennedy family accompanied Cesar as he broke his first fast in 1968. We all stand united with courage against the actions taken by administration officials and Border Patrol that are inflicting enormous harm on immigrant families at the border.”
Fasting, as a form of non-violent protest, has historically been effective in bringing attention to a cause. But as professor Sharman Apt Russell, author of “Hunger: An Unnatural History,” has warned, it tends to have unintended consequences; angering people for abusing a basic human right as 800 million people around the world are tragically malnourished and “over 30 million people — one in ten Americans — live in what are called food-insecure households.”
How Ironic
With all due respect, the Democrat-led hunger strike in McAllen is more of a 24-hour inconvenience as this event is a hunger “chain” with interchangeable human links. Yes, the drama of starving oneself for 24-days is fatally mislabeled, as once the original day of fasting is complete, the fasting link is replaced with a freshly-fed fanatic on standby. And so on and so on until the cameras stop rolling. Russell also states that “interest will wane if the cause at stake does not withstand public scrutiny.”
Well, this one certainly does not pass the sniff test. What it actually does is mock the world’s hungry. Hardly the best choice for a protest, dear Democrats.
One could imagine Bobby Kennedy finding room in the tomb for a facepalm over this latest desperate ploy by his beloved daughter and party.
Celebrities on a humanitarian mission, during their own lengthy hiatus from the public eye, and a handful of Congressmen are hell-bent on publicizing their mission in McAllen to vilify President Trump’s enforcement of a law that has been on the books for decades. Where were the hysterics when the law was passed?
In a conflicted and divided nation, another dash of salt on an open wound is a fool’s mission.
