It is sad to say that fifty years hence, many of the same conditions exist that JFK was committed to setting right. He wanted us to be a leader in the world, on the side of liberty and freedom. He wanted us to use our great might to achieve things that could barely be imagined and to further the ideals of science and humanity beyond the limits of thinking at the time. Using the Peace Corps to reach out a hand to the developing world, turning our police powers to weeding our graft and corruption in our own country and reigning in the military industrial complex were all part of the visionary beliefs and ideals of this one man. The vast majority of people in the United States of America believed in the same things, in the idea that we could be a leader amongst other countries around the globe and that something about us uniquely suited us to be the living example for others to emulate.
As we are seeing during the Presidency of Barack Obama, one man and his beliefs can never be enough to change our nation in any substantive way, especially if his intent is to make the country better. It seems that when one man wants to liberate capital and allow more and more of it to flow into the hands of the few, great strides can be made when one man has the bully pulpit, but when the same office is held by someone who wants to do the right thing, it becomes much more difficult to make progress in any real way. Whether or not the majority are with him, the one percent have just enough agents pleading their case to assure inaction. The withering of democracy has been planned and executed by a select group of people for decades. Now the fruits of this ancient political system have been collected by the richest and most powerful for so long that they have become addicted to their wealth and drunk with the power and prestige of it.
There may be no way to silence the conspiracy theorists, but that is not my intention here. What I would like to convey is the plausible possibility that sheer ineptness, laziness and stupidity often lead to far greater problems than could ever be maliciously planned. The last week or two has been spent rehashing the single bullet and the single shooter theory of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy but for myself I would prefer that we commemorate his life rather than his death. In the fashion of our current political climate and world view, the end is often more important than the process. JFK was perhaps wrongly portrayed as a figure of action. Even though he was sickly and somewhat frail, the images that were captured of him relayed a youthful vigor and as we have seen in other areas, what we believe is often more important than what is real. The worldwide love affair that people had with this President is in evidence on this fifty year anniversary, but what we loved could not be killed. He told us straight out that we could achieve greatness, but that we were responsible for that greatness. "Ask not what your country can do for you, rather ask what you can do for your country." still holds the power to transform our lives and those of the people living in the rest of the world, but aside from the current commander in chief, there are few who would be willing to utter those fateful syllables.
It would be tidy if we could point to organized crime, the Russian government or Castro as the puppet masters behind Lee Harvey Oswald's attack, but we cannot. It would be clearly resolved if we could link Jack Ruby, Oswald's killer, to someone who would have benefited from silencing Oswald or the President but we cannot. In the global depression that followed the assassination, we would have grasped at any straw to give the tragedy meaning. Some things just don't make sense. As we looked back this week, there seemed to be no meaning other than that we all felt a bit of our humanity die that day. The real meaning of Kennedy's life was what went unrealized. He was, perhaps, one of the most conservative Democrats to ever hold the office of President, but that gave him much greater respect amongst the party that was out of power. In those days, there was far less intransigence and ideological fervor in the halls of Washington politics. The representatives and senators, of his time, were brought up on a steady diet of compromise and statesmanship. today, an intellectual humanitarian would be shouted down and branded "socialist" (as if that meant they were unamerican). If JFK had been allowed to fulfill his term in office, many of our current problems may not have come to pass. Many of the changes that we desperately need and are still waiting to take place may have been dealt with in a more timely fashion and the terms of debate could have been forever changed.
It is a luxury to believe in the conspiracy theories, to think that those who felt most threatened by him and his administration would save themselves the hassle of dealing with issues that would reign in their power. Alas, it is a hard sell in terms of the availability of data, confessions, detailed lines of evidence and logical tie-ins that make sense. What matters most is where we go from here. In spite of the fact that we lost one of our greatest leaders, we are indeed a people, a nation and we had formerly been a nation of consequence. Rather than just a collection of banksters and billionaires who crash the world economy for their benefit, we are also a nation of compassionate individuals who have been lied to and misguided for decades. What we do know is that we are pretty much in free fall relative to the rest of the world. for one thing, China, France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Japan have made investments in high speed rail while we languish without it. another area in which we are failing is our educational and intellectual prowess. The very quality of our children is being degraded, their curiosity and adaptability, their entire love for learning is being stripped away and it is in evidence by the fact that more and more countries out perform us. The economic interests of the few have strangled our recovery as other parts of the world have begun to rebuild their economic interests in a more equitable way. The nation that JFK would have helped build is still possible, but without a charismatic leader at the helm and a cooperative stance being taken by congress, no change is possible.
A favorite saying that has come from the progressives over the years is that if the people lead, our leaders will eventually follow. What we need most is to get over our fears and begin acting like the planet and one another mattered. The greatest legacy that we are struggling with today is the killing off of our leaders when we were still able to envision what we wanted our nation to become. has had a difficult timeWhen JFK went to Texas, there were those who were committed to being the best, in spite of the clamor of well-funded interests that were destroying our nation for their profit margin. SOS form Texas has had a difficult time staying true to their ideals, but they survive because their morals and ethics align with the belief that there are things worth standing up for, reasons to be proud of doing the right thing and it is with happy heart that I offer this link to their organic cotton clothing line. i don't include this information to be another rude SOB, trying to get your money on this Black Friday shopping day, but rather as a friend of the air, the water and the entire biosphere. These folks offer a way forward no matter how difficult the path. When our world begins to crash down around us, as it did after JFK's demise, it is well to remember that we are not left to fight on our own. There is a massive cadre of people around the planet who are attempting to set things right. I honor that light within you! Blessed Be.
As we are seeing during the Presidency of Barack Obama, one man and his beliefs can never be enough to change our nation in any substantive way, especially if his intent is to make the country better. It seems that when one man wants to liberate capital and allow more and more of it to flow into the hands of the few, great strides can be made when one man has the bully pulpit, but when the same office is held by someone who wants to do the right thing, it becomes much more difficult to make progress in any real way. Whether or not the majority are with him, the one percent have just enough agents pleading their case to assure inaction. The withering of democracy has been planned and executed by a select group of people for decades. Now the fruits of this ancient political system have been collected by the richest and most powerful for so long that they have become addicted to their wealth and drunk with the power and prestige of it.
There may be no way to silence the conspiracy theorists, but that is not my intention here. What I would like to convey is the plausible possibility that sheer ineptness, laziness and stupidity often lead to far greater problems than could ever be maliciously planned. The last week or two has been spent rehashing the single bullet and the single shooter theory of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy but for myself I would prefer that we commemorate his life rather than his death. In the fashion of our current political climate and world view, the end is often more important than the process. JFK was perhaps wrongly portrayed as a figure of action. Even though he was sickly and somewhat frail, the images that were captured of him relayed a youthful vigor and as we have seen in other areas, what we believe is often more important than what is real. The worldwide love affair that people had with this President is in evidence on this fifty year anniversary, but what we loved could not be killed. He told us straight out that we could achieve greatness, but that we were responsible for that greatness. "Ask not what your country can do for you, rather ask what you can do for your country." still holds the power to transform our lives and those of the people living in the rest of the world, but aside from the current commander in chief, there are few who would be willing to utter those fateful syllables.
It would be tidy if we could point to organized crime, the Russian government or Castro as the puppet masters behind Lee Harvey Oswald's attack, but we cannot. It would be clearly resolved if we could link Jack Ruby, Oswald's killer, to someone who would have benefited from silencing Oswald or the President but we cannot. In the global depression that followed the assassination, we would have grasped at any straw to give the tragedy meaning. Some things just don't make sense. As we looked back this week, there seemed to be no meaning other than that we all felt a bit of our humanity die that day. The real meaning of Kennedy's life was what went unrealized. He was, perhaps, one of the most conservative Democrats to ever hold the office of President, but that gave him much greater respect amongst the party that was out of power. In those days, there was far less intransigence and ideological fervor in the halls of Washington politics. The representatives and senators, of his time, were brought up on a steady diet of compromise and statesmanship. today, an intellectual humanitarian would be shouted down and branded "socialist" (as if that meant they were unamerican). If JFK had been allowed to fulfill his term in office, many of our current problems may not have come to pass. Many of the changes that we desperately need and are still waiting to take place may have been dealt with in a more timely fashion and the terms of debate could have been forever changed.
It is a luxury to believe in the conspiracy theories, to think that those who felt most threatened by him and his administration would save themselves the hassle of dealing with issues that would reign in their power. Alas, it is a hard sell in terms of the availability of data, confessions, detailed lines of evidence and logical tie-ins that make sense. What matters most is where we go from here. In spite of the fact that we lost one of our greatest leaders, we are indeed a people, a nation and we had formerly been a nation of consequence. Rather than just a collection of banksters and billionaires who crash the world economy for their benefit, we are also a nation of compassionate individuals who have been lied to and misguided for decades. What we do know is that we are pretty much in free fall relative to the rest of the world. for one thing, China, France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Japan have made investments in high speed rail while we languish without it. another area in which we are failing is our educational and intellectual prowess. The very quality of our children is being degraded, their curiosity and adaptability, their entire love for learning is being stripped away and it is in evidence by the fact that more and more countries out perform us. The economic interests of the few have strangled our recovery as other parts of the world have begun to rebuild their economic interests in a more equitable way. The nation that JFK would have helped build is still possible, but without a charismatic leader at the helm and a cooperative stance being taken by congress, no change is possible.
A favorite saying that has come from the progressives over the years is that if the people lead, our leaders will eventually follow. What we need most is to get over our fears and begin acting like the planet and one another mattered. The greatest legacy that we are struggling with today is the killing off of our leaders when we were still able to envision what we wanted our nation to become. has had a difficult timeWhen JFK went to Texas, there were those who were committed to being the best, in spite of the clamor of well-funded interests that were destroying our nation for their profit margin. SOS form Texas has had a difficult time staying true to their ideals, but they survive because their morals and ethics align with the belief that there are things worth standing up for, reasons to be proud of doing the right thing and it is with happy heart that I offer this link to their organic cotton clothing line. i don't include this information to be another rude SOB, trying to get your money on this Black Friday shopping day, but rather as a friend of the air, the water and the entire biosphere. These folks offer a way forward no matter how difficult the path. When our world begins to crash down around us, as it did after JFK's demise, it is well to remember that we are not left to fight on our own. There is a massive cadre of people around the planet who are attempting to set things right. I honor that light within you! Blessed Be.
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