I will admit that I was caught up with all of the excitement of the John F. Kennedy era in the early 1960's and his promises. I still can wax poetic about the perceived covenant of the Age of Aquarius. In hindsight, it is easier to focus on the promise and the Camelot aura of his short time in office. I am right now going to commit what many will see as a mortal sin. Even my closest friends were in shock when I said this in conversation.
What exactly did JFK accomplish?
He was responsible for the Bay of Pigs debacle in 1961.
JFK brought the world to the brink of an atomic war with the Cuban Missile Crisis. It may have been something that had to be done, but I do remember being frightened, and I was a teenager at the time.
Kennedy established the Alliance for Progress to thwart the growth of Communism in South American. It espoused that violence had to be stopped in order to prevent revolution. Chile and Peru still have problems with groups actively trying to overthrow governments. And Hugo Chavez is prominent today in Venezuela and constantly verbally threatens the U.S.
He committed ground troops to Vietnam and consequently began the U.S. involvement in a country's internal problem when Eisenhower avoided it at all costs. He did this under the quise of thwarting Communism in Southeast Asia.
As a result of the Vietnam War JFK pledged not only ground and air troops, but he ignored President Eisenhower's caution to beware the growth and influence of the military-industrial complex in his farewell address. Just look at Iraq to see the gargantuan, tentacled monster that may be the ultimate example of the ignored warning.
He gave a memorable speech, Ich bin ein Berliner stressing that a democratic united Germany was important. The East German Government had already built the wall but he crackdown worsened immediately after the speech. Ronald Reagan finally helped bring the wall down and and the unification of the two Germanies.
Yes, John F. Kennedy did positive and good things also, but who can know, if he hadn't been assassinated, he could have followed through on any of them. It took others to finish what he began, and there is no way to tell.
All of this is a prelude to point out a piece that Amb. Joseph Wilson wrote initially for the Baltimore Sun that was on the Huffington Post today - Battle Tested.
Yes, Wilson is pro-Clinton for both political and personal reasons, but he brings up questions to which I've tried to generate attention.
What gives us confidence Mr. Obama will be stronger the next time he faces Mr. McCain, a seasoned political fighter with extensive national security credentials?
How will he answer charges that his desire for unstructured personal summits without preconditions with a host of America's adversaries, from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Kim Jong Il, would be little more than premature capitulation?
Wilson points to Sen. Obama's repeated claim that he was against the Iraq War from the beginning but brings up a scenario that I have alluded to previously.
Senator Obama claims superior judgment on the war in Iraq based on one speech given as a state legislator representing the most liberal district in Illinois at an anti-war rally in Chicago, and in so doing impugns the integrity of those who were part of the debate on the national scene. In mischaracterizing the debate on the Authorization for the Use of Military Force as a declaration of war, he implicitly blames Democrats for George Bush's war of choice. Obama's negative attack line does not conform to the facts. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I should know. I was among the most prominent anti-war voices at the time -- and never heard about or from then Illinois State Senator Obama.
Wilson makes the point that Obama, at the time, did not have all of the information that was presented to Mrs. Clinton and other Senators at the time, that we now know was clouded right from the beginning by the Bush/Cheney administration.
I know that I can go on about this, but I recommend that you read Ambassador Wilson's piece for yourself, especially for the complete explanation of the Iraq war argument. Look through all of the rhetoric of change and focus on what is and not on what might be. They can both be very confusing, and the country is in such a mess from the outrageous things that Bush/Cheney have done to our democracy that I believe that we need to focus on what's real. You can read it here:
Battle Tested
i guess i just finally officially verified what was a transparent illusion - I support Senator Clinton.
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