Wednesday, November 22, 2006
NOVEMBER 22nd, 1963
"Your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions, and where there is no vision the people perish"." -Proverbs
The Kennedy assassination was the moment where the Boomer generation started to go off the rails.
Vietnam, the assassinations of Martin Luther King, jr. and Robert Kennedy, rioting, the New Left, the 1968 Democratic Convention, the Pentagon Papers, Watergate - all these events left their psychological mark. We can hardly see the deserts of Iraq for all the rice paddies that permeate the mental landscape of the mainstream media and senior government officials. Our presidential elections re-argue the events of a war that ended before most younger voters were even born.
Would things though, have come out much differently for America, had Kennedy lived ? ¶ 10:24 AM
"Your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions, and where there is no vision the people perish"." -Proverbs
The Kennedy assassination was the moment where the Boomer generation started to go off the rails.
Vietnam, the assassinations of Martin Luther King, jr. and Robert Kennedy, rioting, the New Left, the 1968 Democratic Convention, the Pentagon Papers, Watergate - all these events left their psychological mark. We can hardly see the deserts of Iraq for all the rice paddies that permeate the mental landscape of the mainstream media and senior government officials. Our presidential elections re-argue the events of a war that ended before most younger voters were even born.
Would things though, have come out much differently for America, had Kennedy lived ? ¶ 10:24 AM
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I think a lot of things would have been different had Kennedy lived. I think Kennedy would have been more willing (and less able, politically) to fight in Viet Nam. I think it's more than likely that Goldwater would have defeated Kennedy in the 1964 election.
I think it's pretty likely that the Civil Rights Act and the various Great Society program bills would never have been passed.
I think it's pretty likely that the Civil Rights Act and the various Great Society program bills would never have been passed.
To me the big question is whether he would have fought in Vietnam and how that would have played out under his leadership. As to Dave's comments, I have to disagree...the civil rights movement was much larger than any one person. Also, a greater percentage of republicans voted for the civil rights act than did democrats so I don't follow your statement.
# posted by 
: Wednesday, 22 November, 2006
: Wednesday, 22 November, 2006
"The 60s" would not have happened.
Tough to say what he'd have done in Vietnam. He would not have fallen for the military's bullshit. The senior generals and admirals told him, pretty much, that they had one plan and one plan only for Cuba -- full scale nuclear war. He and a bunch of amateurs had to cook up the "quarantine" idea. JFK would have treated the four stars like dishonest servants who cannot be trusted. We can know that much. My guess is that he was an Irishman from Boston before he was anything, and if Vietnam looked like a loss, he'd have pulverized NV rather than let it happen. But this is part sentiment and only part analysis.
The Civil Rights Act would have passed. The far more important Voting Rights Act would have passed, too. In fact, had this happened, to this day, the GOP might have become the haven for Black voters. W
The huge great society effort would never have happened under the business-friendly and fiscally conservative JFK. The Democrats would have remained a centrist party.
The world would have been a much better place.
Dave, I don't think Goldwater would have gotten the 1964 nomination. With JFK running there would have been a decent chance to beat him and a more serious Republican would have run. Goldwater got it because no one else wanted it.
We might have had Rockefeller in 1964.
Tough to say what he'd have done in Vietnam. He would not have fallen for the military's bullshit. The senior generals and admirals told him, pretty much, that they had one plan and one plan only for Cuba -- full scale nuclear war. He and a bunch of amateurs had to cook up the "quarantine" idea. JFK would have treated the four stars like dishonest servants who cannot be trusted. We can know that much. My guess is that he was an Irishman from Boston before he was anything, and if Vietnam looked like a loss, he'd have pulverized NV rather than let it happen. But this is part sentiment and only part analysis.
The Civil Rights Act would have passed. The far more important Voting Rights Act would have passed, too. In fact, had this happened, to this day, the GOP might have become the haven for Black voters. W
The huge great society effort would never have happened under the business-friendly and fiscally conservative JFK. The Democrats would have remained a centrist party.
The world would have been a much better place.
Dave, I don't think Goldwater would have gotten the 1964 nomination. With JFK running there would have been a decent chance to beat him and a more serious Republican would have run. Goldwater got it because no one else wanted it.
We might have had Rockefeller in 1964.
# posted by : Wednesday, 22 November, 2006
: Wednesday, 22 November, 2006
Very interesting comments - which is why I like posing the occasional counterfactual question.
I think the Great Society would have been a non-starter. Pressure for Civil Rights though, I think was going to happen anyway, African-Americans were at the boiling point with segregation. Civil Rights legislation short-circuited mass radicalization of the Black community by demonstrating the system could work through peaceable lobbying.
Vietnam is trickier. A combination of more severe tactics but very limited manpower might have been JFK's route. I don't see Kennedy going for full-blown Americanization of the war given what we know about his actions during the Bay of Pigs and EXCOMM debates.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone !
I think the Great Society would have been a non-starter. Pressure for Civil Rights though, I think was going to happen anyway, African-Americans were at the boiling point with segregation. Civil Rights legislation short-circuited mass radicalization of the Black community by demonstrating the system could work through peaceable lobbying.
Vietnam is trickier. A combination of more severe tactics but very limited manpower might have been JFK's route. I don't see Kennedy going for full-blown Americanization of the war given what we know about his actions during the Bay of Pigs and EXCOMM debates.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone !
FYI:
Richard John Neuhaus of First Things discusses James Piereson's article in Commentary Magazine, “Lee Harvey Oswald & the Liberal Crack-Up”:
http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/?m=2006&w=18
Sadly, the article under discussion is no longer available for free online, but the link still makes for interesting reading.
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Richard John Neuhaus of First Things discusses James Piereson's article in Commentary Magazine, “Lee Harvey Oswald & the Liberal Crack-Up”:
http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/?m=2006&w=18
Sadly, the article under discussion is no longer available for free online, but the link still makes for interesting reading.
# posted by : Friday, 24 November, 2006
: Friday, 24 November, 2006<< Home
