http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs-x0-ffP0Q

What's past is prologue.

You only did this because things sbout jfk are on the discovery channel and the history channel today

Last edited: Sunday, November 19, 2006 at 3:04:19 PM

If ^ knew anything about Nyar or JFK, he never would have said that...

Now if I only could see the video.. Youtube is blocked here. What piece is it, Nyar?

President John F. Kennedy
"The President and the Press" (April 27, 1961)

"...The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not intend to permit to the extent that it is in my control. And no official of my Administration, whether his rank is high or low, civilian or military, should interpret my words here tonight as an excuse to censor the news, to stifle dissent, to cover up our mistakes or to withhold from the press and the public the facts they deserve to know.

Perhaps there is no answer to the dilemma faced by a free and open society in a cold and secret war. In times of peace, any discussion of this subject, and any action that results, are both painful and without precedent. But this is a time of peace and peril which knows no precedent in history.

It is the unprecedented nature of this challenge that also gives rise to your second obligation--an obligation which I share. And that is our obligation to inform and alert the American people--to make certain that they possess all the facts that they need, and understand them as well--the perils, the prospects, the purposes of our program and the choices that we face.

No President should fear public scrutiny of his program. For from that scrutiny comes understanding; and from that understanding comes support or opposition. And both are necessary. I am not asking your newspapers to support the Administration, but I.am asking your help in the tremendous task of informing and alerting the American people. For I have complete confidence in the response and dedication of our citizens whenever they are fully informed.

I not only could not stifle controversy among your readers--I welcome it. This Administration intends to be candid about its errors; for, as a wise man once said: "An error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it." We intend to accept full responsibility for our errors; and we expect you to point them out when we miss them.

Without debate, without criticism, no Administration and no country can succeed-and no republic can survive. That is why the Athenian law-maker Solon decreed it a crime for any citizen to shrink from controversy. And that is why our press was protected by the First Amendment--the only business in America specifically protected by the Constitution--not primarily to amuse and entertain, not to emphasize the trivial and the sentimental, not to simply "give the public what it wants"--but to inform, to arouse, to reflect, to state our dangers and our opportunities, to indicate our crises and our choices, to lead, mold, educate and sometimes even anger public opinion.

This means greater coverage and analysis of international news--for it is no longer far away and foreign but close at hand and local. It means greater attention to improved understanding of the news as well as improved transmission. And it means, finally, that government at all levels, must meet its obligation to provide you with the fullest possible information outside the narrowest limits of national security--and we intend to do it.

It was early in the Seventeenth Century that Francis Bacon remarked on three recent inventions already transforming the world: the compass, gunpowder and the printing press. Now the links between the nations first forged by the compass have made us all citizens of the world, the hopes and threats of one becoming the hopes and threats of us all. In that one world's efforts to live together, the evolution of gunpowder to its ultimate limit has warned mankind of the terrible consequences of failure.

And so it is to the printing press--to the recorder of man's deeds, the keeper of his conscience, the courier of his news--that we look for strength and assistance, confident that with your help man will be what he was born to be: free and independent."

Very good post nyar. Miss having chats with you.

^^ yeah very well said

Thanks, Nyar.

I was but a wee little one back then, but his words are still compelling and so relevant. May our next President understand half of what he said.

I found it on Google video- it was a slideshow with audio. Link

The slideshow includes some pertinent current day figures...

If anyone wants the transcript, here you go.

Well...i find that kinda interesting only because JFK authorized more "secret" missions for the CIA than any other president. Remember the Bay of Pigs? Of course you do because that was JFK's secret invasion of cuba that was blown and became not-so-secret. Dont get me wrong....JFK had some great moments, but he remains tainted in my mind.

^ that couldnt have been accomplished via email?

Here I dangle what I feel is a persuasive counterpoint to the above posts and I get no takers?!?!? Just a "how's the band doing" directed towards nyar...

No one finds the all-too-common political hypocrisy from what many consider one of our greatest presidents related to current events even slighty compelling?

Ah well...maybe a thread discussing the smelling of one's own farts would garner more reaction.

JFK came into office with very little documented substance (apart from distinguished valor in response to a Japanese sub sinking his boat), and every bit of the plans for the Bay of Pigs were inherited from his predecessor's administration. Coming just three months into his presidency, he deeply regretted not opposing the plan as it had been represented to him.

He accepted full responsibility for the failure. He also accepted the resignations of Allen Dulles, Richard Bissell, and General Charles Cabbell (whose brother, Earl, was the mayor of Dallas, TX). He learned from his experience. He distrusted the military, and he resolved to revamp the CIA beginning with a series of NSAM's directing that the Joint Chief's of Staff were thereafter personally responsible for all covert and paramilitary actions which CIA had previously arranged with impugnity; he also sent a clear message to the intelligence establishment by going outside of its ranks with the appointment of John McCone as new director.

I think that his record shows growth and accomplishment as well as inevitable mistakes and failures, (the Diem brothers, for instance). I also think that at a time which was in many ways an absolute peak of cold war hostilities and rhetoric, he opposed military action in virtually every conflict which warranted the recommendations of his military and diplomatic advisors, in return for which he was despised and accused of being "soft" on communism. The value of finding a noncombative resolution to the Cuban missile crisis of Oct., '62, at a time when there really were wmd's presenting an immediate and present danger to the security of the United States (ICBM with nuclear warheads launch time from Cuba to detonation over Washington, DC: 5 minutes), remains, arguably, the most important achievement of any president of the 20th century. He and his brother did nothing less than avert a doomsday scenario of full-scale nuclear war with the Soviets.

He was president two years, ten months and two days.

I wish he could rest in peace.

Last edited: Tuesday, November 21, 2006 at 11:28:24 PM

@ Get some:
Right... Deleted!

Good question, get some.

There is a degree of hipocrisy in all politicians (at least as I see it). I can't think of an exception.

Thanks for the reply, Nyar. You know more details about it than I did. I do know he was less than perfect, he made mistakes, and he did see La Bahia de Los Cochinos as a big mistake.

Two years, ten month, two days. So much done in so little time, and so much hope was put on him.

Those were dark days. Anyone else remember the air raid and nuclear bomb drills? The way the Cuban missile crisis was handled saved the world, IMO. How many of us remember phrases like MAD (mutually assured destruction), MIRVs (multiple independent reentry vehicles), and Megatons and Kilotons?

Something we have Bobby Kennedy to thank for.

@ LGM

I myself was not there but I still remember doing the "get under your desk" nuclear drills in the 80's. What a riot to think about the absurdity of that now.

I suppose to be a politician you have to sell idealism but act with realism in mind. Doesnt mean I like it...would be nice if the gap between the two weren't so great. I am holding onto hopes that in my lifetime we get to see a leader in the mold of FDR...our best president to date IMO.

Last edited: Wednesday, November 22, 2006 at 11:31:03 AM

I'll never forgive him for upstaging me on my day of birth. (Happy BD to me)

Just the opposite here. The bastard gave away half the free world to the Russians at Yalta and is therefore to blame for the millions of deaths, untold suffering by billions and the cost of the cold war (which gave rise to Osama Bin Hiddin).

.....ouch. That is really strecting the cause/effect issue out a bit. But touche!

On that note....who would be our greatest president ever? Opinions people please!

Last edited: Wednesday, November 22, 2006 at 11:53:35 AM

Ronald Reagan...

JFK, hands-down. Reagan had flaws, so did Roosevelt (both of them). JFK was a humanitarian. Sure, he had flaws too, but nobody's perfect.

Happy Birthday, BC - you share the day with my daughter, too.

(we keep disliking the connection with JFK's death, too)

REAGAN?!!?

Oh please. I just see him as a precursor to our present day mess. He did well with ending the cold war, but his economic policies were not in the public interest. (Trickle down = pissed on)

I vote for Grover Cleveland. With that name, I get visions of a fuzzy blue monster taking over a city in Ohio. ;)

The only good thing about Reagan was he did what he said. That is the only thing I will ever give him. I still think it was planned for those helecopters not to start up, and thus, the end of Jimmy Carter.

Personally, I think the best pres was the first, simply because he didn't try to run again. He knew that he wasn't cut out for the job again, and he knew that he couldn't be king. He died quietly, and treated all his servants/slaves like family. Just my opinion, though.

I find it hard to judge dead people.
2+ years, yes, he had a lasting impact, even if it's just the romance of JFK. Perhaps an 8-year tenure would have sullied his image?
But he was a lover of women, and that means a lot in my book: a lover of life, a passionate man, and not just a cold, calculating man. But yes, Cuba and the world did not go up in flames, certainly in part due to him.
-------
Best? I'd say W. Bush was the best, for he showed us what the worst looks like. With this rigged Iraq invasion, he discredited imperial policies for a generation and united most of the world against armed conflicts. He advanced the world further into post-modernism with language deconstruction and overt 'DoubleSpeak' speeches. His polarizing effect contributed to global integration, global consciousness. And global liberalism.
-------
I read a good one yesterday, something like:
'Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the absence of violence within conflict'.

Last edited: Wednesday, November 22, 2006 at 3:59:40 PM

The speech was good (JFK was a good man)... All the crap in the video was not.

Very good Amigo :0)

Turkey-day made me miss this one Nyar. First time in a while I've been happy for a silly dot bumping an almost dead thread.

JFK had some good speaches. The first thing that came to my mind was that I would love to see G.W. Just try to read one of these. First he couldn't say it and second he could understand it.

There was one line that really struck me.

The barb still hits home. There are major events happening everday and we get to hear about K-fed and Britney. Sad isn't it that almost everybody knows who they are but have no clue who the current presidents of occupied Iraq and Afghanistan are.

As for who was the best president in history there's been a few who have acheived a lasting impression. Lincoln, Teddy, FDR, JFK, plus a few more. But there has also been several ones that have threatened to destroy this country; Jackson, Grant, & maybe G. W. Bush. It seems to take at least 50 years after a president serves in office to know what kind of legacy they leave. It just takes this time to allow all of the complex issues that they dealt with come to some degree of fruition.

Personally I think the president who has had the greatest single impact upon the world since Lincoln is poor Harry Truman. He was given a horrible choice and he made the best choice he could and then lived the rest of his life with the nightmares.

Last edited: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 at 11:09:01 PM

An unexpected but well recieved twist. You may be on to something hugo...

@ THE V

Truman?!?!? He dropped the bomb...killing hundreds of thousands of people. I dont buy the argument that japan would have never surrendered without the dropping of the bomb and that doing so saved the lives of thounsands of american soldiers. Drop it off the coast on one of the hundreds of uninhabitited islands and let the japs get a sense of the warm glowey feel of a nuclear reaction....the point would have been driven home w/out the loss of life. Truman lacked imagination, patience and compassion. I dont think it would be too off base to blame him for our current situation of nuclear prolferation.

Best president eh? Wow that's a hard one...

I have to say George W. Bush. He's an incredible president. You kooky liberals can screech your lungs out about how eeeeeeeeeevil Bush is, but he's really an extraordinary president.

And as for all the media attacks on him...has anyone noticed that the more good stuff Bush does for America, the more wacko the press goes? Also notice how Clinton like, NEVER got attacked by the press.

I'm wondering what good stuff he did. Can you be specific? Can you honestly say he's the best?

@ Get Some

Notice I didn't say Truman was the best, just the greatest impact and the most difficult decision. We will be second guessing him forever but he was still the man who made the decision.