The LuLac Edition #236, May 29th, 2007
PHOTO INDEX:
JOHN F. KENNEDY
JFK AT 90
Today marks the 90th birthday of John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States. For anyone over the age of 48, the killing of Kennedy on November 22nd is a seminal moment in our history. We remember where we were, what we were doing and what our circumstances were like when it happened.
The legacy of the Kennedy Presidency is "unfulfilled potential". We wonder what America would have become had he lived. The Kennedy family dwells on JFK's date of birth instead of the day he died to celebrate his accomplishments and life. With Kennedy's medical history, it is doubtful he would have lived to 90. But we don't know that for a fact. So we speculate. It is our only option.
Gone over 40 years, John F. Kennedy still has a hold on my generation. It'll be the same when and if a few us are lucky enough to hit the big 9-0 too. The legacy of JFK, a constant in our lives.
posted by David Yonki @ 6:55 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
No disrespect to JFK, but I think even his two-term legacy would be "unfulfilled potential." He had the excitement of youth, good looks and a well-placed political family. But that doesn't play out in the Congress.
What does play out, and gets things done, is a wise old political hand who has a desk full of chits he can call in when needed.
Ok, we got to the moon inside of a decade at a cost of $35 for each man, woman and child in the U.S. It made us feel flag-waving good and after we sift out all the supposed benefits NASA says we got from it, there's not much left to show.
It wasn't until Lyndon Johnson, the consummate southern politician, came along that JFK's vision could become reality in a way that, I think, even JFK would not have guessed. I don't think too many presidents can match LBJ's record; certainly not the person whose imagination started it but, IMO, would not have had the clout to finish it.
Speaking of which, it wasn't LBJ who got us into French Indochina.
IN RESPONSE TO T. CARTEN
JOHN KENNEDY WILL ALWAYS HAVE A SPECIAL PLACE IN MY HEART. AS A YOUNG BOY, AT THE AGE OF 6 I SAW HIM IN PERSON ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL. I BELIEVE THERE WAS SO MUCH HE COULD HAVE ACCOMPLISHED. THAT SAID, I MUST AGREE WITH YOU 1000% ABOUT LYNDON JOHNSON. IT WAS LBJ WHO GOT OLD LINE SOUTHERNERS AND LIBERAL NORTHEAST REPUBLICANS TO FORM A COALITION THAT SAVED THE CIVIL RIGHTS LEGISLATION. WITHOUT HIM, IT WOULD BE DEAD IN THE WATER. JOHNSON IS TOTALLY UNDERRATED AS A PRESIDENT. THE SPACE PROGRAM YOU SPEAK OF WAS LBJ'S BABY AS VICE PRESIDENT, MANY PEOPLE REMEMBER JFK PUTTING THE GOAL OUT THERE BUT FEW REMEMBER LBJ IN THE TRENCHES. THERE'S A REASON WHY THEY CALL IT THE JOHNSON SPACE CENTER YOU KNOW. JOHNSON, AS YOU SAY WAS TRAPPED BY THE WAR AND I BELIEVE IT KILLED HIM. UNLIKE CURRENT OCCUPANTS IN THE WHITE HOUSE, I THINK THE DEATH TOLL TORE AT HIM. THE WAR WAS NOT STARTED BY HIM AND I FAULT THE KENNEDY BOYS WHO WOULD NOT BACK DOWN ON THE CONFLICT. IN MY ESTIMATION, ROBERT MACNAMERA HAS MORE TO ACCOUNT FOR THAN LBJ. HIS BIGGEST MISTAKE IN MY VIEW WAS NOT FILLING THE CABINET WITH HIS OWN PEOPLE SOONER. IRONIC THAT THIS MAN PEOPLE SAID WAS A BULLY WAS WAY TOO NICE TO THE KENNEDY LOYALISTS THAT WERE BOUND BY LAW TO SERVE THE PRESIDENT, BE IT LBJ OR JFK.
Dave wrote:
IN MY ESTIMATION, ROBERT MACNAMARA HAS MORE TO ACCOUNT FOR THAN LBJ.
There's one issue that has always bothered me, and I wonder why the veterans have never picked up on it. It's almost as if there is a conspiracy to focus on one person and keep The Secret about another.
Let me explain:
Jane Fonda went to North Vietnam; she did some stupid things, but nobody died. Yet, even with apologies and the passage of decades, the vets have never forgiven her.
Robert McNamara knew the war could not be won and sending any more troops over there would pretty much guarantee their deaths. Yet he sent them over; by the thousands he sent them over.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial ("The Wall") is filled with names, thousands of them due to Robert McNamara, yet no veteran says a word against him, no bumper stickers say:
"Fonda Made Me Mad -- But Mac Killed My Dad."
How does she get all the blame? And how did he get away with it?
would not back down on the conflict?...if that were true, the military would have had no reason to execute him
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