Dobbs wrong about Kennedy

Date: 12/4/2013

Editor Mike Dobbs editorialized about President Kennedy “involving the country into the Vietnam conflict ... stared down Kruschchev and had the missiles removed from Cuba ... put the space program on the path to land a man on the moon ... supported efforts to end segregation ...” That’s Editor Dobbs’ version of Kennedy.

The President Kennedy I remember personally approved the Vietnam coup which led to the assassination of Vietnam's legally-elected president, Ngo Dinh Diem. Kennedy withdrew air support at the last minute from the disastrous Bay of Pigs attack, which encouraged Kruschchev to move his missiles to Cuba.

Far from staring down Kruschchev, he had to remove our Jupiter missiles from Italy and Turkey, and promise never to attack Communist Cuba again in exchange for the removal of Russian missiles – not exactly a victory. He only ordered the moon landing after Russia's Sputnik scared the living daylights out of the US military. He may have given lip service against segregation, but it took Lyndon Johnson and the Southern Republicans to actually do something about it. It is now generally accepted that Kennedy stole his election in the wards of Daley’s Chicago and LBJ’s Texas. But he was the darling of the media, and all embarrassments were carefully scrubbed to protect him.

Kennedy promised to instill in America a “new vigor” after the Eisenhower years. He promised to bring change to America. He was young, fearless, photogenic, and gave stirring campaign speeches. But after election, he proved incompetent as a leader, making the disastrous foreign policy decisions listed above and actually accomplishing very little. You’d think America might have learned a lesson from Kennedy’s election, but no. Just 45 years later, we elected his clone: another president who is young, fearless, photogenic, gave stirring campaign speeches promising to “change America,” and then has been a disaster as a leader. His many missteps and scandals (Black Panther voter intimidation, Fast and Furious gun deaths, Benghazi lies and cover-ups, the IRS war on the Tea Party, losing the entire Middle East to Islamic radicals, NSA spying, ObamaCare lying, and many more) have been “broomed” by today's adoring mainstream media. We who refuse to learn from history – even recent history just 50 years old – seem doomed to repeat it.

Before getting mad, stop and ask yourself which of the statements I’ve made are false? Do your own research. Don’t depend on the media to do it for you; they are part of the problem. Ask instead why half the country couldn’t see the incredible parallels between these two men? And why they shower both of them with love, praise and trust even today?

Pat Henry

East Longmeadow