The Peculiarly Enduring Legacy of JFK

[veritas]

Kennedy was involved in the Bay of Pigs up to his armpits. His brother Bobby was even deeper in the mire. A lot of people were hung out to dry over that debacle. But Jack and Bobby walked away clean. They were give a free pass by the media of their day. Much as Obama gets a free pass from the MSM of our day. If JFK and Obama have anything in common, it's the media's love affair with them.

Plus you have to remember that the "media" at that time was the three TV networks, radio and newspapers not the all encompassing 24 hr cable-internet age we live in. You're right, though, in that the media simply didn't report on the behind the scenes doings in those days and even less so if they happened to like the guy in office, which they did with JFK.

Kennedy was no raving conservative by any means but he did do a few things liberals today would oppose such as his meddling in Vietnam (the Diem episode especially) and his tax cuts to spur the economy. Regarding the Cuban Missile Crisis, people see that as some great Kennedy victory but the fact remained that Khruschev had no choice whatever other than to pack up and leave. The US had at least 10-1 nuclear superiority at the time, perhaps much higher. There was zero chance of the Russians firing any missiles over Cuba. What Khruschev did get, though, was the removal of our missiles in Turkey, something we needn't have offered under the circumstances. So, the CMC was really a net gain for the Russians.

[soulflower]

Kennedy was no raving conservative by any means but he did do a few things liberals today would oppose such as his meddling in Vietnam (the Diem episode especially) and his tax cuts to spur the economy.

Liberals tend to be more in favor of military interventionism than Conservatives(ie The Roosevelts, Kennedy, LBJ, Clinton, Obama, etc.).

As for tax cuts, even Keynes supported tax cuts to spur economic growth. It's not a Liberal vs. Conservative thing. There are some circumstances where tax cuts make sense.

[veritas]

Liberals tend to be more in favor of military interventionism than Conservatives(ie The Roosevelts, Kennedy, LBJ, Clinton, Obama, etc.).

As for tax cuts, even Keynes supported tax cuts to spur economic growth. It's not a Liberal vs. Conservative thing. There are some circumstances where tax cuts make sense.

I'm not so sure that "Ask not..." sentiment would be very popular on the left today.

[zenwalk]

Kennedy was involved in the Bay of Pigs up to his armpits. His brother Bobby was even deeper in the mire. A lot of people were hung out to dry over that debacle. But Jack and Bobby walked away clean. They were give a free pass by the media of their day. Much as Obama gets a free pass from the MSM of our day. If JFK and Obama have anything in common, it's the media's love affair with them.

He just took office barely three months before. Sure he knew about it, but it was sold as a no-brainer, a slam dunk, an operation with plausible deniability. We seem to forget that part of it 50 years on. The bottom line is if we invaded Cuba we risked a nuclear war. Ironically, the Bay of Pigs eventually led to a missile crisis.

[soulflower]

I'm not so sure that "Ask not..." sentiment would be very popular on the left today.

Why not? It's not very different from the rhetoric that Obama uses in his speeches today.