JFK Used Audits to Silence His Critics

Insight ^ | September 4, 2003 | John Berlau

[afz400]

I have a wish that someone would p*ss on JFK's "Eternal Flame" and extinguish it forever.

[GOPyouth]

Wasn't Paula Jones audited out of the blue as well when she filed suit against our former president?

[Mears]

JFK is considered a great president because he was killed at an early age. It is the "died young" syndrome. If he was another old geezer ex-president still hanging around there would be no Kennedy mystique.

[mtbopfuyn]

Slick Willy learned at JFK's knee. Shrillary will continue the legacy.

[Prince Charles]

And the The Bent One did the same thing 30 years later.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

He died young, and left a good-looking corpse. It amazes me that liberals wanted to have Clinton's legacy outshine JFK's. JFK didn't cause as much damage to our nation as Clinton did. Maybe that is because JFK died, and didn't serve a second term.

[republicanwizard]

Evil Tricky Dick.

[Mears]

He was good looking,was a great speaker, and had a very attractive wife,and that's it.

Remember the Bay of Pigs Invasion? That wasn't even mentioned in the JFK Library until recently. He has been sanctified and God knows why.

[RoughDobermann]

and left a good-looking corpse

Have you seen JFK's autopsy pictures?

[Pan_Yans Wife]

He was sanctified because people would rather dream about "what might have been", then to look at the reality of what he truly did. I am not surprised that the Bay of Pigs wasn't mentioned in his library until recently, as you mentioned.

Think Clinton's library will handle the Lewinsky scandal in a fair and balanced way? :)

[Pan_Yans Wife]

LOL... point taken.

I just keep having visions of Camelot, and the grim reality behind the scenes.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

JFK is considered a great president because he was killed at an early age.

This is true, politically JFK's administration was mediocre. If Eisenhower had been president in the early 60s, Castro would have been removed as a threat to the US without hesitation.

[Bubba_Leroy]

Everything that Nixon was ever accused of Kennedy did first. Nixon's biggest crime was doing it while being a Republican.

[Pilsner]

I have a wish that someone would p*ss on JFK's "Eternal Flame" and extinguish it forever.

Now, now. That comment is both ungenerous and unwise. The eternal flame serves a valid purpose.

It allows the rest of us a well lighted view of the faces of aging Democrats as they stand there in front of JFK's grave in Arlington Cemertary and try to work out why he didn't rise again on the third day.

[Tailgunner Joe]

bttt

[saradippity]

I have a serious question. I was 24 when Kennedy was assassinated,and by the way,I liked him and felt awful about it. I was living in Texas and thought that Johnson was involved. I did not,and do not,believe a lone gunman shot him.

I have a very good friend whose father-in-law was sent to prison,convicted of taking campaign money (for his own political run).He was told that if he did not bring his delegates into the Kennedy camp,he would find himself in big trouble,he did not and he found himself in big trouble. Another good friend's mother dated him in the early 50's,she thought he was intelligent,fascinating and had a magnatism that was irresistible to men and women.

I say all this as prelude to the very sincere question I am going to ask. I just want you to know that I have heard the worst and the best,have watched everything quite carefullly,read most of the books about the assassination through the years and my opinion of him is favorable. I have been a Freeper for a couple of years.

Escept for a few books about Camelot which were romanticized and nonsubstantive fairy tales,I have never read anything about Kennedy that was good,or that showed him to be anything but a lying,sickly,conniving,womanizing,bought and paid for political animal,whose book was written by someone other than himself.I read he was the son of a man,whose purpose in having children was merely to have his wife birth a President for the United States. His father was also a womanizing adulterer,a bootlegger that made all of his money through political machinations and nefarious undertakings.Even his son was nothing but a less than bright,failed entrepeneur whose bravado and stupidity caused him to fly a plane which he was not qualified to fly,thus killing two beautiful innocent women. I have evenread here,on these very threads that his "sainted" mother drank too much and was mean to the help.

Having told you everything I have read,and not having read anything to the contrary in the last 35 years,I am sincerely asking anyone to point out one article or book or interview that contains material that sanctifies,lionizes,idolizes,admires,credits or even supports him. So,where can I find something positive about John F.Kennedy?

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Escept for a few books about Camelot which were romanticized and nonsubstantive fairy tales

I believe you have found the crux of the matter. If you think about the public's adoration for Bill Clinton, today, and contrast that with the reality, not only of Lewinsky and the impeachment, but also the mounting evidence that shows he contributed to September 11th, not to mention being embroiled in scandal involving the Chinese, ALL of these traits add up to a terrible presidency.

But, that doesn't matter to the liberals. The same people that think Clinton is wonderful, believe that Kennedy was a dream, and that FDR was the greatest president ever! They do not consult reality. And, if you think about it, if the liberals can only point to fairytales as powerful presidential legacies, this must prove that they live in an altered state of reality. They refuse to see the truth before them.

Kennedy was a womanizer, who learned from his father. He was groomed, since the time of his elder brother's death, to be president. He married into the right family, his father helped him cultivate all of the political contacts he needed, he was elected via shady campaign tactics, and then he entered the WH. Once there, he did not perform very well.

Perhaps it is to this nation's benefit that he was never elected for a second term. I would never say that the man should have been assassinated, that was a terrible event that truly impacted our nation. But, on the other hand, if his first three years did not show much glowing promise, why should we believe that a second term would have yielded many positive results?

As for your final question, perhaps there is NOTHING positive about Kennedy, truly. And, knowing that America has an extremely short attention span it doesn't matter what facts they unearth that prove just how terrible his presidency was. He is dead, everyone says... leave it at that. But, I firmly disagree. We should know our history, fully.

[saradippity]

Thankyou for your thoughtful reply.

There is something about the villification of the Kennedy family that rings wrong. (I exempt Teddy and Bobby's kids from that statement)Roosevelt with his gang of Communists intended to turn the West into another Communist nation and then become the world's first emperor/king. Clinton also saw himself as a major player,but in a Socialist world,and I think had aspirations of ruling that world.

All of their moves and traitorous deals showed that we were just pawns in the game.Both of these men,in my opinion,were truly evil men,willing to sell their country with all of it's citizens right down the river,in their own quest for power and privelege for themselves and their cronies.And to that end they kept us enmired in wars,and bigger and bigger government with more controls.

Kennedy certainly compromised to get into office;and therefore it would have never worked. But I don't see his agenda at all like FDR's or WJC's.

In fact,I see him as one of only two conservative Presidents,the other being Reagan,in my lifetime.Additionally,he made me very proud to be an American and ready to do what had to be done for my country. Many times I wonder if that may be the reason so many dislike him,maybe the plan was to let us believe our country was there to do for us,until we begged for the chains that bind us.Any thoughts?

[Pan_Yans Wife]

But, I remember learning about the Cuban Missle crisis, I remember learning about the Bay of Pigs. And these two events happened during his short time in office.

Show me the other side of the coin with the laundry list of achievements that he accomplished. And then, try to sell me on the idea that Kennedy's good intentions outweighed the dire consequences.

If you cannot do that, then I cannot believe that he was a wonderful president.

As for your last comment... Kennedy echoed that with, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." This sentiment is no different than FDR rallying America during WWII, or GWBush saying, "In the war on terror, knowledge is power." Both FDR and GWBush calmly and rationally rallied the nation behind a cause.

The fact that Kennedy had similar stirring words of patriotism may have more to do with the audience that he was speaking to, and the era in which they lived, than anything else. In the early sixties in America, life was pretty good. (I admit this means leaving the plight of blacks and civil rights out of the equation for a moment.) But, all in all, it was good. And, perhaps the people were apathetic because it was so good.

For example, people talk of Reagan's presidency as being the "me generation", filled with greed. In hindsight, I would say that this applies more to Clinton's presidency, not only because he passed the buck when it came to terrorism, but also because of things like the Enron scandals, Lewinsky, Clinton's haircut on the tarmac, etc.

When thinking of Kennedy's time, it WAS Camelot, because of it's place in history, after WWII, and before Viet Nam. A time of innocence. How many older people with hippee children during the sixties wished that they could go back to when children didn't care about politics, and all we had to worry about was the Cubans and the Soviets?

I believe that when people look at Kennedy, they see the innocence... Viet Nam was just getting started, but not a big problem, yet. Nixon wasn't in office, thank God! Carter wasn't ruining the economy. GHWBush wasn't ignoring domestic policy while gloriously kicking Saddam out of Kuwait. Clinton wasn't committing immoral acts in the Oval Office! Compared to the history that followed Kennedy, Kennedy was charming.