Kennedy's Legacy

First topic message reminder :

I have seen a lot of debate on various blogs and forums where people are debating whether or not Kennedy was actually a good President, actually trying to bring us out of the darkness of the Cold War.

Americans have a propensity for self-awareness and little notice of how others view our realm. To most Americans, Kennedy's death was a very personal loss and they have little notion how he could have had much effect beyond our shores. He had not, after all, spent all that much time overseas while in office.

The impact JFK had on the world was noticeable more to me - and others like me, philatelists all - by the number of countries around the world who issued stamps in memory of Kennedy. Almost every country outside the iron curtain (and even some within those bounds) issued stamps and held a time of mourning for the fallen President.

Why should these other countries even care?

Perhaps they saw a guiding light to lead the world from the grips of the Cold War, someone who saw opportunity where everyone else saw obstacles.

"Ich bin ein Berliner" was accepted by most of the world believing that Kennedy was one of them no matter where they were, Berlin or not. The vision he had of the future seemed to ignite people everywhere.

And when the light was extinguished there was wailing, moaning, gnashing of teeth, renting of clothing, darkness and desolation, from Ireland to South Africa.

Today I see so many people invested in the case that lie outside the United States. Some wonder why "those foreigners" bother themselves with something that is a purely American affair.

Those people cannot see the obvious.

And probably never will.

Greg:  indeed.

Dan: I'll spare you the emoticon.  What you say about JFK & the UN rings true; he in fact thought it important enough to address the UN twice concerning Congo in order to keep the UN forces there.  Those (like the John Birchers) who yell the loudest about the UN are all too ready to use the UN as cover when it suits them. As for Galbraith, when I was a freshman in high school I read The Affluent Society, which colored my economic thinking profoundly.

greg parker wrote:Jack Ruby: "a whole new form of government is going to take over our country, and I know I won't live to see you another time."

The Oxnard Caller: "the [current form of] Government is going up in flames."

The Oxnard Caller: "The [new style] Government takes over everything lock, stock and barrel.”

Corporate Fascism.

Yes, corporate fascism. Every president has seemed to bend over backward to give the Big Boys the things they want. They also have done provocative actions that promote terror - that familiar mainstay of politics as we know it today. The Cold War was the terrorism of yesterday and now we have the Muslim extremists to worry about. That or the gay people who want to marry.

Terror keeps the populous anxious, and anxiety leads to a lot of fun things like selling your freedoms. Yes, to those same Big Boys of Business.

Kennedy, however, was a bit different as a President. He said Let's defuse the Cold War, let's find a way to live in peace. He took on the steel industry as well as his own joint chiefs of staff. He created the Peace Corps, the Alliance for Progress, the Presidents Council of Physical Fitness for schools (I even won one of his badges when in school).

He embodied HOPE in a world where most of our presidents in the past two centuries have only given us FEAR.

That was his greatness.