John F. Kennedy

Senator Jim DeMint And The Big Lie Technique: The “Individual Mandate”

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South Carolina Republican Senator Jim DeMint has become a master of the Big Lie Technique, which was masterfully used by Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany!

Of course, the Big Lie Technique is that if you repeat and perpetuate a lie enough times, most people will believe it!

DeMint, infamous for saying his goal was to make the Health Care reform President Obama’s “Waterloo”, has stated that the “Individual Mandate”, which requires everyone to purchase health insurance by 2014, will require the Internal Revenue Service to hire 16,000 agents to hunt down and arrest citizens who refuse to buy health insurance, and also refuse to pay a fine.

If one actually looks at the wording of the Health Care reform legislation, one discovers that while it is expected that everyone purchase health insurance, and that there is a fine if one does not do so, there is no enforcement mechanism that actually will penalize anyone who does not do so!

And right now, there are about 16,000 IRS agents, and there is no plan to double the number of agents because of the so called “Individual Mandate”.

What it comes down to is that every citizen in this country has a responsibility to purchase health insurance, so as not to become a burden on the rest of us if he or she gets sick or is injured. Is it really too much to say that just as all of us are required to pay taxes, obey traffic laws, and in theory be available to serve on juries and to exercise our right to vote, as well as fill out census forms once in ten years, that we also have a basic responsibility to do what we can to protect our health, just as we are expected to insure our homes and automobiles against danger?

It is time for everyone to realize their basic responsibilities to their country, as John F. Kennedy enunciated in his Inaugural Address in 1961. It is time for us to realize that protecting our health, and caring about the health of our fellow citizens, is more important than having those extra drinks, tobacco, and illegal drugs that undermine our health and safety, and that a responsibility of adulthood is to insure our health, as much as we somehow find the ability to support our need for food, clothing and shelter.

It is also time for the GOP to stop spreading lies and propaganda about Health Care reform, and to accept the responsibility to stop dividing us and in the process of doing so, encouraging confrontation and lawlessness that could at anytime lead to bloodshed and violence!

Stewart Udall, Outstanding Secretary Of The Interior, Dead

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Stewart Udall, one of the most outstanding Interior Secretaries in US history, passed away on Saturday of natural causes at the age of 90.

Father of New Mexico Senator Tom Udall, and brother of the late Arizona Congressman Morris “Mo” Udall (who challenged Jimmy Carter for the Presidential nomination in 1976), Udall was in the cabinet during the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations in the 1960s.

He stood out as a advocate for the environment, much like FDR’s earlier Secretary of the Interior, Harold Ickes, in the 1930s and 1940s.

Udall’s death marks the last person to pass away of the Kennedy cabinet, and makes us realize how indeed it has been 47-50 years since the Kennedy Administration, and that is hard to accept! 🙂

John F. Kennedy And The Proposed History Channel Miniseries

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The History Channel, a cable station which often has had excellent programming, and has successfully promoted many citizens’ interest in history, is now on the road to the promotion of myth and sensationalism, rather than historical truth.

Already controversial for a series a few years ago that promoted the view that Lyndon Johnson was involved in the conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy, now plans are in the works for a miniseries on the Kennedy Presidency, with actors reenacting the events of the Kennedy Administration, but with great distortions and mistruths as the basis of the miniseries, an agenda being promoted by political opponents of the Kennedy family.

With up to 20 scenes that portray the President as seemingly always engaging in sexual affairs, and apparently focused on that rather than the duties of his office, the series looks as if it will be a hatchet job on a President, who despite his shortcomings and admitted love affairs in office, actually had major accomplishments, and should not be remembered by future generations of students and citizens primarily for his escapades, but for his courage in the areas of the civil rights movement, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

It is a disgrace when history is so popularized that it becomes a mythology that will much longer remain in the minds of Americans, than the actual important truths and contributions that are made by historical figures.

The History Channel should immediately change the nature of the upcoming miniseries in 2011, or cancel it promptly! 🙁

Comparing Barack Obama To Past Presidents

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President Obama, after just nine months in office, is being actively compared by different commentators and scholars to several former Presidents, who happen to be vastly different. So it all depends on one’s ideological bent as to which comparison makes the most sense.

Obama has been compared to Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton! What an interesting list this is, and based on differing perceptions.

Obama is FDR to some, because of the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression, and his willingness to experiment and try anything, as well as his inclination to create more government intervention in the economy, ability to communicate with the public, his strong charismatic personality, and strong ideological attacks beginning in the first year and causing the President to be called contradictory “isms”!

Obama is called John F. Kennedy because he is young, charismatic, has great communications abilities, is considered inexperienced for his position by critics, is a leader who overcame a barrier not accomplished earlier (religion or race), and faced strong foreign policy challenges immediately upon taking office.

Obama is Lyndon B. Johnson in that he is seeking to accomplish a tremendous amount of legislation as soon as possible, sees FDR as a model, and faces a major decision early on over escalation of a foreign intervention.

Obama is Richard Nixon in that he is very bright as Nixon was, is attacking his media critics in a strong fashion, and also is involved in tough decisions on escalation of a foreign intervention.

Obama is Jimmy Carter in that he is seen also as inexperienced, overly idealistic and visionary, wants to lessen the possibility of war by pursuing every avenue toward peace, and prefers negotiations over confrontation, and had a similar background in the state senate before seeking higher office.

Obama is Ronald Reagan in that he is personally popular, had to deal with a serious economic downturn, often had his policies disliked even with a high personal rating, and had a reputation as a “Great Communicator”.

Obama is Bill Clinton in that both were young, had desire to promote health care reform, had great ability as communicators, and Obama has used a lot of “Clintonites” in his administration, including Hillary Clinton, the First Lady under her husband’s administration.

These comparisons are, of course, fascinating, but at the same time, there are ways that Obama can be shown to be DIFFERENT than any and all of these predecessors.

The truth is, it is really too early to know how Obama will be rated in history, or compared ultimately to his predecessors, both those mentioned above, and the others who, each in their own way, made positive or negative contributions to the office of the Presidency.

But the beginning of rating Obama is deeply engaged already!

The Death Of Ted Kennedy An Immense Loss! :(

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The death of Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts late last evening is an immense loss to the nation.

Kennedy certainly had his critics and naysayers, and not all of the criticism is undeserved.

This man was exasperating much of the time in his personal life, particularly when he was middle aged and stupid and reckless, as for instance when he was driving drunk in Martha’s Vineyard, and drove his car into a canal at Chappaquiddick, nearly causing his own drowning death, and actually causing the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, who was with him at a party he should not have been at, since he was a married man. Many have said he murdered her, but that is not true, but still his wild, reckless behavior is rightfully condemned.

Ted often seemed undirected, as when he decided to challenge President Carter in 1980, and yet could not explain WHY he wanted to be President. That, plus the fact that the Chappaquiddick affair besmirched his reputation for all time, prevented him from ever reaching the Presidency.

But after continuing to womanize, drink too heavily, and divorce the mother of his three children, he finally grew up and married his second wife in 1992, and that seemed to stabilize his existence, and one could say that FINALLY at age 60, he grew up and began to act responsibly.

At the same time that Ted misbehaved in a horrible way for so many years, he also dedicated himself to a life’s work fighting for the poor, the disadvantaged, the sick, the elderly, the working people, and racial and ethnic minorities. He headed the Judiciary Committee and later the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, fought for a higher minimum wage and education reform, and promoted the concept of universal health care, his last great battle of many in the Senate.

He managed to make friends of Republican colleagues, who often fought him on many issues, but respected him greatly despite their ideological differences. Among those he worked well with were Arizona Senator John McCain and Utah Senator Orrin Hatch.

Kennedy gained the name LION OF THE SENATE, and he is going to be much missed by all of his Senate colleagues who knew him to be a man of great energy and tremendous commitment to the causes he believed in.

Kennedy also did many small deeds in his home state of Massachusetts and in the city of Washington, DC, without wanting attention or publicity to be brought to his activities, such as reading to elementary school classes in the capital city and visiting hospitals.

He was constantly in the limelight, but did not seek constant attention, and always demonstrated a good sense of humor and tons of compassion, seeing his luck of being born wealthy as the opportunity to serve others and give back to the nation.

Franklin D. Roosevelt once stated that a person who dedicates his life to those less fortunate is more to be remembered and revered, than one who spends his lifetime enriching himself and displaying greed and lack of concern for those below him. This is the true meaning of our existence, and our western religions teach that we should follow the road of compassion, concern, and good deeds and not be greedy, selfish, or self centered.

Ted Kennedy was a great servant to his country and the world, and he is really irreplaceable.

In conclusion, there is no doubt that Ted Kennedy will be ranked as one of the most prominent, influential senators of all time, certainly in the top ten of our history since 1789, and as the giant of the last 30 years in particular, for sure. He might have been in opposition most of the time with Republican Presidents, but he still left a heavy footprint on his times and provided us with an amazing legacy.

It can be hoped that his death will promote a substantial reform of health care in his honor, and because it is right to bring about such a change.

He will be buried alongside his brothers, President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, so Americans will be able to visit and come to realize the tremendous impact this family had on American history.

Ted, we will never forget you, and may you rest in peace!