America's Emerald Prince

[H2O Man]

“...This is a time for courage and a time of challenge. Neither conformity nor complacency will do. Neither the fanatics nor the fainthearted are needed. ….Let us stand together with renewed confidence in our cause ….” – From President John F. Kennedy's speech to have been delivered on the afternoon of November 22, 1963 in Texas.

When a person dies young, in some unexpected way, those who survive tend to ask the question, “What might have been?” This is especially true if that young man or woman showed some great potential to make a difference in others' lives. The decade of the 1960s was one where literally thousands of good young Americans died, some in the Civil Rights struggle, and others in the jungles of Vietnam. Yet there are four deaths that took not only individual lives, but the potential for the United States to have reached that higher ground which their being helped to define: John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy.

One can theorize many options, for example, regarding if President Kennedy had been re-elected in 1964. One question that is frequently debated is in regard to Vietnam: would Kennedy have escalated the US involvement in the manner LBJ did? Or would he have gotten the “military advisers” out? My father always said that the reason that people could make both cases is because JFK, much more so than any other US President, always kept as many options open as possible. Even within his own administration, his closest aides often had very different impressions of what JFK would do on various issues. However, all of his closest aides have said President Kennedy definitely planned to get the US out of Vietnam.

The events in Dallas remain one of the most debated events in American history. Two official government investigations – the Warren Commission and the House Select Committee – reached very different conclusions. While I do not intend for this thread to discuss anyone's theories on the assassination, it is certainly an event that had a great impact on our country. All of us who are able to remember that terrible day, forty-seven years ago today, still wonder, “What might have been?”

My oldest brother believed that Dallas represented a coup d'etat. I remember him debating this with my father. I remember my Dad saying, “No. The coup was Kennedy's election in 1960. Dallas was simply the system realigning itself.” My father was influenced by the June 1968 discussion that Tip O'Neill describes on page 211 of his autobiography, “Man of the House.” This took place at Jimmy's Harborside Restaurant in Boston. It was the discussion with Kenny O'Donnell, regarding what exactly he and Dave Powers had both seen and heard that day. It was, by no coincidence, the discussion that also changed Ted Sorensen's opinion about Dallas, as well.

I've long held an opinion on death that is a bit different than what I understand western culture to believe. I think that you are born with a certain number of days in your hand. You ride on this living rock we know as earth for as many spins around the sun, as you are supposed to. Hence, when I think of President John F. Kennedy today – looking through the JFK section of my library, which I dare say is quite large, and when I listen to my old album of his speeches, and my newer CD of other speeches – I do so in celebration of the man's life. I do have a number of books on his death, ranging from Marrs to Bugliosi, but they are not as important to me as those on his life.

I'll end with one of my favorite JFK quotes:

“I believe in an America where every family can live in a decent house in a decent neighborhood – where children can play in parks and playgrounds, not the streets of slums – where no home is unsafe or unsanitary – where a good doctor and a good hospital are neither too far away or too expensive – and where the water is clean and the air is pure and the streets are safe at night.”

[kgnu_fan]

1. Thank you H2O Man!

This post is so beautiful, too beautiful to let it go down the list. I want more people to read it.

[H2O Man]

3. Thank you.

It's a strange day for me. In 1978, one of my closest friends was murdered. Although the identity of the men who killed him is known, no one was ever held responsible. Between Dallas and that, it is always a reminder to never take anything or anyone for granted. Life can end in the blink of an eye.

[kgnu_fan]

7. Being able to live according to one's conviction is like a gift because

I don't think you can just "will" to live like that. Something, some insight might come to you to live bravely, fully aware of the consequence, despite other influences in your life....because you realize that your time is limited, and you make a choice, whether to live according to the fate of conscience or to shrink from it and yet your time comes anyway.

Do you remember one of the Don Juan's story --- One day walking along a narrow mountain side road, Carlos stopped and bend down to tie his shoelace which came undone. At the moment, a huge rock was dislodged above him and tumbled down the hill and fall in front of him. If he had not stopped for shoelace, he could have been instantly dead.

I think Don Juan told Carlos some wise words, such as " live every moment as a warrior, as if it is the last moment in your life.... ", but I forgot the detail. However, I always remember that story whenever I am not sure what I need to do next.

[FourScore]

2. Beautiful as always, H2O Man!

:hi:

[H2O Man]

9. Thank you.

I'm enjoying reading through some of my favorite JFK books today. I think that it is probably hard for young folk to realize what he meant to people.

I remember years ago, my oldest sister saying she didn't understand what people saw in him. We watched some film of him at some press conferences. Then she understood. She hadn't paid attention when he was alive, though she definitely remembered him. But watching him, and listening to him interact with reporters, changed her perceptions entirely.

[immoderate]

4. K&R

--imm

[AspenRose]

5. K&R

:cry: :patriot:

[Uncle Joe]

6. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, H2O Man.

[wovenpaint]

8. K&R for the evening

Thanks for another excellent post. :hi:

[Beringia]

10. Different subject

but there was a docu-drama on John Lennon yesterday night. It is playing on PBS stations. They made him out to be kind of lopsided as pissed off all the time, which I don't think fit at all. That was part of who he was, but not more than 25%. There was some good acting in it and the actor did look and talk like Lennon.