Today is one of those dates in history that everyone living on this date in 1963 remembers where they were. People very much younger than myself will not be able to recall those horrible days of shock and turmoil, I can barely remember a few of the details, being that I was only in the 1st grade.
Our school let out early and sent everyone home. I remember older students talking on the school bus and saying they would not want to be Robert Kennedy, who was Attorney General at the time. I assumed it was because they figured his life was also in danger, as he was in the government too.
I also remember that the grown ups were on edge, thinking the assassination of the president was a prelude to an attack by Russia, on account of the Cuban Missile Crisis. As a child I was mostly sheltered from the things that concerned the adults, only hearing about them later in life. But at the time, a nuclear war was not beyond the realm of possibility. Neither is it now for that matter, we have just become complacent about the ideal. After all, what can we do as individuals if someone in the world decides to "push the button"? No point in worrying about things we have no control of.
There have been (and are) people who really wished for an assassination of Mr. Bush, Mr. Clinton, or the current president. These people evidently have no memory, nor have they read history. The murder of a president of the United States can never be viewed as a "good thing", under any circumstance. We can all be thankful for the unbelievable excellent work of the Secret Service, whether we like a current president or not. That is one form of chaos I hope never to see again in my lifetime.
Having read some of the history detailing the policies of JFK, it is impossible not to contrast those policies with his political party of today, the democrats. Everyone has heard the famous clip of JFK's speech when he said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country." That is surely not the message I get coming from the current politicians of that party. Just listen to the promises they make; it is all about what they "will do for you and me", never mind that they can't afford to keep the lights on in Washington, they still promise to give us all kinds of goodies, if we will only vote for them. Ok, so it is not restricted to that party, but more so than other political parties.
In remembering JFK, take a minute to consider, what would he have thought of his democrat party today?
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