November 22

A couple of weeks ago I taught a class about the assassination of President Kennedy.  The room was filled with over sixty men and women who ranged in age from 75 to nearly 100.  When I asked what they remembered about that day in 1963, nearly every one of them wanted to share their recollections of precisely where they were and what they were doing.  Age hadn't dimmed their memories.  Some even remembered Kennedy's visits to Eugene, Oregon as he was campaigning for president, in minute detail.

There's little that can be said about the death of President Kennedy that hasn't been said before.  Over the last couple of weeks, we've heard every conceivable remembrance, theory, account and speculation.  We're reminded that, of all of the events in the last 100 years, it's the assassination of John F. Kennedy that seems to have captured the imagination of our nation.  As the World War II generation fades, fewer and fewer people can recall Pearl Harbor or the death of Franklin Roosevelt.  And, truth be told, even for them it was Kennedy's passing that had the strongest lingering impact.  In my own age group, one would expect the death of Princess Diana or, even more shocking, the events of September 11, 2001 to be foremost in terms of historical landmarks.  Yet, even though I was born a full decade after that day in Dallas, it's still the images from Dealey Plaza that strike the deepest chord.

I won't try to figure out "why".  There are as many explanations as there are conspiracy theories.  What I think is most remarkable is that Kennedy's passing truly brought the world together in mourning.  Genuine grief for a man who had touched so many more lives than he could have ever anticipated was displayed virtually everywhere.  And, it wasn't just the president himself, but his wife, Jacqueline, and his family, near and extended.  For some reason, the nation took them to heart.  While in later years this fascination has manifested itself in our consumption of the tawdriest tabloids, the Kennedy family of Camelot bears little resemblance to those skewed impressions.  Truth be told, whenever we view the images from those four days in November, we see John and Jacqueline Kennedy as they were then, without all of the noise of more recent, and often unreliable, revelations.

Anyone who thinks that the 1950's and 60's were a simpler time need only remember the crisis that could have occurred in the shadow of the president's death.  The Cold War was at full tilt, nuclear war had only been averted by the slimmest of chances during the recent Cuban Missile Crisis.  The situation in Berlin continued to threaten world peace.  The bloodbath of Vietnam was on the horizon and the violence that characterized southern reaction to the Civil Rights movement continued.  There was also the concern that the assassination might be part of a much larger attempt to unseat the government of the United States.  Somehow, in spite of all of these threats, the world still seemed a safe enough place for the President of the United States to ride through an American city, in full view and only feet away from thousands of citizens.  The reality of the world was frightening, but the perception was still one of peace and tranquility.

In recalling the events of that long weekend before Thanksgiving, 1963, it's important to focus not just on the heinous act committed in Dealey Plaza which lasted only moments, but also on the days of ceremonies that followed.  Jacqueline Kennedy and the government and military of the United States presented a far different picture than those dreadful minutes in Dallas.  Dignity, solemnity and order were the overriding impressions that remain from the funeral of the president.  The transition of the presidency was, when studies anew, a model of all that is good about about the democratic system.  It showed that, in spite of the seeming chaos of recent events, that our system of government worked, and those at the helm of state were capable and trustworthy.

Today, as we stop to consider the death of a man many of us were not alive to recall personally, we might also mourn, not just the man himself, not for a simpler time, but a period where Americans were, by and large, proud of their nation.  Filled with hope and optimism and a sense that we had the vitality and imagination necessary to make a mark for good in the world.  Of course there were all the problems that we see today and, probably, more.  It was not the absence of challenges that marked the age, but the idea that, in spite of these difficulties, we might prevail.  John F. Kennedy was not only remarkable for what he might have achieved, but also for the inspiration he was, and continues to be, for his country.  November 22 is not just a day to look back, but also a day to look forward and to commit ourselves anew to those values that so inspired us.

Time to Move On

I was kind of tough on the President yesterday, and I feel just a little badly about it.  OK, not that badly.  It was a well-deserved salvo that was, hopefully, taken as constructive criticism (and believe me...  we KNOW that President Obama visited this blog...  right?).  But, it's time to move on.  Everyone from the President to Secretary Sebelius to the guy who's still waiting for that webpage to load realizes that the rollout of Obamacare was less than satisfactory.  Both the President and the Secretary of Health and Human Services have accepted full responsibility and are doing whatever is possible to remedy the situation.  So, where do we go from here?  Rather than piling on further accusations and blame, it might be more useful to focus on solutions...  The clock's ticking!

Perhaps one of my favorite moments during Kathleen Sebelius' testimony came today when Republican Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan, the panel's chairman, opened the session by saying news of Obamacare problems "seems to get worse by the day," and that "Americans are scared" and "may be losing their faith in the government."  For some reason his statement about scared Americans strikes me as a bit pathetic.  I doubt that many of my fellow countrymen are of such a lily-livered disposition.  Concerned?  Yes.  Scared?  We'll save that for tomorrow's visitations from small-framed ghouls and goblins, hepped up on sugar and demanding candy.

The most ironic part of Rep. Upton's statement, though, is the part about Americans losing faith in their government...  we MAY be losing faith?  Perhaps Mr. Upton would be well to remember that we are way past "may" and that the Republicans are in large part responsible for that dire situation.  When over 70% of the country feels that no member of Congress should be reelected, even when asked about their own representatives, lawmakers should be cleaning their own houses, not just looking for ways to shift blame.  
The President's real problems lie overseas, in my view.  The current issues surrounding the NSA are far more likely to cause long-term damage to the administration, although President Obama may be able to restore trust more effectively than we might think.  Obamacare?  Let's remember that, while it's been enacted, its effects won't really start to be seen until after coverage begins on January 1.  To hear those opposed to the Affordable Care Act talk, you'd think American's were dying in the streets because of the technical problems encountered so far.  What do we really need here?  We need patience.  If we can muster the necessary calm and serenity to spend Thanksgiving night, in the rain, waiting outside our local Big Lots in order to by a 48" big screen TV discounted by 20%, we can surely wait a little longer to sign up for our health care plans.

Just What DID the President Know?

There are few words that have raised more concern in the White House over the past forty years than, “What did the President know and when did he know it?” The Obama Administration isn't immune from the taint of these words as we are learning this week.

My politics run to the left of the President but I have been a vocal supporter of his from the start. However, in the interest of fairness and credibility, I think that it's important to recognize the faults and mistakes of those you admire. Sadly, the Obama White House has made it easy for critics over the last few days with disclosures of spying on foreign leaders, the indication that the President was unaware of the vast problems that would be encountered when Obamacare became a reality and the fact that many people would lose coverage despite specific and repeated promises to the contrary.

First, spying on your friends is never a good idea. They are bound to find out and when they do, well friendship takes a back seat in international politics. The results are magnified when the friends who are being spied upon are top leaders of our allies such as Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel. We seem primed for further revelations that others were similarly targeted, meaning that this scandal could have far-reaching implications. Further allegations that foreign citizens were also monitored at home have done nothing to improve the level of trust that has so diminished since the spike of hope that Obama's election caused worldwide. Appearing before Congress today, intelligence chiefs played down the gravity of the situation suggesting that, in terms of spying on foreign leaders, “everyone does it” - an excuse that hasn't held water with any American mother in centuries - and, in the case of foreign citizens that, “... this is a good thing! If the French knew what was going on, they would be glad! They should be popping champagne corks!” Somehow I wouldn't expect any cork-popping in the Elysee Palace tonight.

The second issue that begs the question of how deeply the President is involved in his signature health care program surrounds the huge problems encountered on the technical side. If, in fact, President Obama didn't know what was coming, it signals a woeful lack of stewardship. If he was aware, and simply hoped the problem would go away, we're faced with a similar problem. I fully understand that no president has control over everything that happens during their time in office and, certainly, no one can avoid all of the pitfalls of launching such an enormous undertaking. However, in light of the other issues that seem to have been kept from the President, well... Houston... We have a problem.

Finally, and this one bothers me most personally, the loss of coverage to many Americans despite President Obama's repeated promise that, “...if you like your health plan, you can keep it!”. Americans were promised that they would not be forced to leave their existing health plans. Instead, Obamacare is to provide access to those that wouldn't otherwise have it. Don't get me wrong, I still think that the Affordable Care Act is far more positive than not, but it bothers me that either the President didn't know about this, too, or that he skimmed over the facts in his pledges to the American people. Either way, that's not the Obama that I voted for. Why does this hit home for me? Because I have countered several friend's contentions that the Affordable Care Act would cause just this sort of thing. To me, it's all about credibility. Give me the straight story and I can deal with it. Try to make it more palatable by changing the facts? Well, ask my kids - it's time for a presidential time out.

No, I'm not turning against the President. Overall, I still support him and his initiatives. But, I can't help but be somewhat disillusioned. It's especially grating because, after the political firestorm that followed the recent government shut-down, he was in an especially good position to really make things happen. A waste of political capital which it will be hard, if not impossible, to get back.