A Voice in the Wilderness
columnist: R.J. Moeller

"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we [link edited for length]shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

This much we pledge?and more."

-John F. Kennedy's Inauguration Speech (January 20th, 1961)

These were the courageous words of a man who understood the solemn duty an American President accepts every four years. In the midst of a Cold War against a world-wide movement of totalitarianism that lasted nearly half a century, that had few (if any) easily recognizable "victories," a former junior Senator from Massachusetts named John Fitzgerald Kennedy was elected the 35th Commander-in-Chief of these States United. At the time he was the youngest person ever to hold that position and many questioned whether or not the handsome, energetic, engaging Kennedy had enough substance behind his style to do the job the American voters had commissioned him for.

JFK was and is an icon of the Democratic Party, but without a doubt the man would be ostracized by, and banished from, that same Party had he been a candidate in this year's primaries. And as badly as Senator Barack Obama, his campaign staff subordinates, his hapless minions in the mainstream media, and adoring fans on "the stump" would like the rhetorical comparisons between Barack and the likes of JFK, FDR, and Abraham Lincoln to be accurate (or even plausible) --- the reality is something vastly different.

President Kennedy reminded the American people and their elected representatives that, "?The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God," and then promptly enacted something unthinkable to modern Democrats: the biggest tax cut in U.S. history. The worldview expressed not only in his words, but more importantly his actions, revealed that Kennedy actually believed in the Founding Fathers' vision of a largely hands-off federal government. Obama now claims that he does as well, but has lived, walked, talked, voted to the contrary.

JFK, like Thomas Jefferson before him, countered his largely de-centralized view of [link edited for length]governmental authority in America with the republican ideals of both personal responsibility and civic duty. His legendary, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country," remains the rallying cry for all sober-minded, appreciative citizens who see through the deceptively alluring calls for Nanny-state policies by Collectivistic politicians. We occasionally need a "hand up" from Uncle Sam but never do we desire a "hand out" at the forced expense of our neighbor.

For some odd reason, when it comes to the most important, Constitutionally-mandated roles for our government to play in matters of foreign policy and national defense, modern Democrats seek to put more trust (power) in the ineffective hands of impotent global organizations like the United Nations so they won't have to be bothered with trivial things like combating evil and defeating our self-proclaimed enemies.

John F. Kennedy's stance towards the evil of his time, the USSR? "We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed."

Meanwhile, Senator Obama insists that his plan (depending on the day and audience) to negotiate with any terrorist that has good enough cable reception and internet connection in his cave to hear Barack's misguided offer is analogous to JFK and Ronald Reagan's meetings with Russian Communist leaders during their respective times in office. Let's put aside the fact that Barack is naively insinuating that the only problem in the world currently is American's unwillingness to sit down for a Memorial Day barbecue with Iranian or North Korean despots. More pertinent to the point is Obama's daily exposing of the Left's same appeasement-induced Achilles heel since Vietnam (a war Kennedy got us in to, ironically) when he castigates neo-Conservatives, President Bush, and religion-clinging gun owners more harshly than he does madmen like Mahmoud Ahmadienjad who promise the death and destruction of Israel and the United States within the next two years.

....continued here

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Reader Comments:

Posted By: Spence
Date: 2008-05-29 00:53:31

So basically, you're saying that Kennedy was really a conservative?

And by the way, for anyone that doesn't know by now, what Ahmedinejad really said was that he wished for the removal of the Israeli regime. He has nothing against Jews; in fact, there's nearly 30,000 living peacefully in his country. 

Kennedy also wasn't the DINO (democrat in name only) you're painting him to be through all this conservative talk. He set the groundwork for expanding many of our social welfare programs, something which LBJ carried out after his assassination. For someone that wanted to give people a "hand up" he gave them a whole arm.

While I have no doubt that he had some noble intentions, the truth of the matter is his legacy is exaggerated and the world will never know if he would have turned out to be a poor president or not. And just to make this clear, I am no fan of Obama.

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Posted By: RJ
Date: 2008-05-29 13:55:45

Spence-

You make good points and I agree with you entirely.  JFK wasn't a Conservative, but neither is Joe Lieberman and he was booted out of his own Party for supporting the wars in the Middle East.  All I am intending to do is draw attention to the fact that the modern Democrats have been over-run with defeatist, collectivist, anti-capitalist who are afraid of their own shadow but think themselves brave because they rant and rave against an already unpopular president.

JFK's full legacy will never be known due to his untimely demise, but Obama has incessantly made the comparison so I thought it appropriate to offer some commentary and context.  I know who JFK was and what he did, but the overwhelming majority of Democrats (including Obama himself) either do not or choose to ignore the glaring differences that would render Kennedy unwelcome in his own Party today.

Thanks for reading, and again, you make good points.

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