A wild couple of weeks for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. keeps escalating and social media would like off the ride. RFK is trending in conjunction with the word “felching” today. Needless to say, a lot of people out there are trying to digest this information that they did not ask for. Writer/former journalist Ryan Lizza has been talking about Olivia Nuzzi’s continuing scandal with RFK. He decided to effectively slow the Internet to a halt with that felching story.
Lizza’s newsletter drops some really graphic details of alleged poems RFK wrote Nuzzi. For context, The 51 year old used to be engaged to her, and their engagement was quickly broken off when allegations of infidelity surfaced. All of this is messy, pun not intended, and social media at large is living for every sorted detail that hits the timeline. It’s important to emphasize that these allegations are not confirmed yet. But the discourse machine is up and running.
In the newsletter, Lizza says that RFK wrote, “Yr open mouth awaiting my harvest. … I mean to squeeze your cheeks to force open your mouth. I’ll hold your nose as you look up at me to encourage you to swallow. ‘Dont spill a drop’. I am a river You are my canyon, I mean to flow through you. I mean to subdue and tame you. My Love.”
Now, the entire political social media landscape has a juicy new rumor to ruminate on and other users just trying to find recipes or Wordle solutions have to live with that information taking up space in their brains. It’s a no-win scenario for everyone involved.
Why was RFK sending Olivia Nuzzi perverted poetry?
RFK has demonstrated brazenness at every point of his political career. To be honest, he probably never thought these poems wouldn’t ever see the light of day. In that regard he’s the same as Nuzzi because her dirty laundry has been airing on social media for the better part of a year and a half now. Check out her MySpace single that is still somehow live on the Internet for more on just how long forever is on the web.
In a better political climate, this would all be just tabloid fodder. But, multiple key stakeholders in this poetry situation have their hands in all kinds of government regulation. So, these little oddities become even more alluring for the average person to rubberneck at.
Over at The Handbasket, Marisa Kabas does amazing political writing on things that matter. She had to address all the Nuzzi/RFK nonsesnse in a recent newsletter. The writer is probably thrilled to have penned this before the word “Felching” came into the conversation. Her piece about Moral Rot in journalism is a must-read.
“There are some stories where there are no winners–only losers,” she says. “This is one of those stories.” That’s a feeling a lot of people have this year. Numerous stories manifest in ways that make you ask why a journalist withheld information for a book or deliberately covered for a colleague’s wrongdoing. But, our hunger for more juicy details ends up doing more damage than good.
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
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