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Caroline Kennedy: A President Like My Father

Discussion in 'Political Debate & Discussion' started by KenH, Jan 26, 2008.

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  1. KenH

    KenH Well-Known Member

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    A President Like My Father
    By CAROLINE KENNEDY

    OVER the years, I’ve been deeply moved by the people who’ve told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when my father was president. This sense is even more profound today. That is why I am supporting a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries, Barack Obama.

    My reasons are patriotic, political and personal, and the three are intertwined. All my life, people have told me that my father changed their lives, that they got involved in public service or politics because he asked them to. And the generation he inspired has passed that spirit on to its children. I meet young people who were born long after John F. Kennedy was president, yet who ask me how to live out his ideals.

    Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments, when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible.

    We have that kind of opportunity with Senator Obama. It isn’t that the other candidates are not experienced or knowledgeable. But this year, that may not be enough. We need a change in the leadership of this country — just as we did in 1960....

    I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved.

    I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans.

    Caroline Kennedy is the author of “A Patriot’s Handbook: Songs, Poems, Stories and Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love.”

    - rest at www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/opinion/27kennedy.html?_r=1&hpq&oref=slogin

    I guess we'll see if inspiration can overcome a political machine on February 5.
     
    #1 KenH, Jan 26, 2008
  2. Martin

    Martin Active Member

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    ==Even though I can't support Obama it would be nice to see him defeat Hillary Clinton. The Clinton's have used very low and dirty tactics in this race. They should be ashamed of themselves and they deserve to lose the nomination. Sadly I don't think it will happen. While most Americans claim to want "change" very few are actually willing to make change happen. Too many people will still fall for the old Clinton strategy.
     
    #2 Martin, Jan 26, 2008
  3. TomVols

    TomVols New Member

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    The Clinton machine is powerful. Was tonight's SC drubbing a referendum about how Bill is perceived?
     
    #3 TomVols, Jan 26, 2008
  4. KenH

    KenH Well-Known Member

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    Obama did somewhat better among white voters than I was first reading about this evening - about 25% instead of 10%.

    Clinton has a huge lead in the polls, about 4-1, among Hispanics in California, New Jersey, Illinois, New York, and Arizona. Obama will have to make inroads in this group by February 5 to win those states.
     
    #4 KenH, Jan 26, 2008
  5. carpro

    carpro Well-Known Member
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    Dream on.:tonofbricks:
     
    #5 carpro, Jan 27, 2008
  6. KenH

    KenH Well-Known Member

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    Yes, carpro, a dream for a better America is always a good thing to have. :)
     
    #6 KenH, Jan 27, 2008
  7. carpro

    carpro Well-Known Member
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    Dreams invested in the wrong person, like Obama, are tickets to a nightmare.

    His politics, unchecked, would be a disaster for America.
     
    #7 carpro, Jan 27, 2008
  8. KenH

    KenH Well-Known Member

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    It would be difficult for anyone's policies to be as much of a disaster for these United States as those of George W. Bush's have been.
     
    #8 KenH, Jan 27, 2008
  9. carpro

    carpro Well-Known Member
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    The only thing I'm sure of is that Gore or Kerry would have been even worse.
     
    #9 carpro, Jan 27, 2008
  10. KenH

    KenH Well-Known Member

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    And I am sure that Obama's policies will be better than those of George W. Bush. I read his foreign policy essay in Foreign Affairs and was very impressed with his positions and thoughts.
     
    #10 KenH, Jan 27, 2008
  11. carpro

    carpro Well-Known Member
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    He won't be running against Bush.
     
    #11 carpro, Jan 27, 2008
  12. Alcott

    Alcott Well-Known Member
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    Yeah? Why is the expression, "You live in a dream world!" considered so derisive?
     
    #12 Alcott, Jan 27, 2008
  13. KenH

    KenH Well-Known Member

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    It is derisive in the minds of those who can't or won't see past their immediate surroundings/circumstances.
     
    #13 KenH, Jan 27, 2008
  14. Cara

    Cara New Member

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    I have this theory, developed over many years, and it is simply this: You CANNOT trust any man -- in ANY interactions with him (business, political, or social) -- who cheats on his wife. That theory has never been proven wrong to me. Honestly...what were Kennedy's accomplishments? Americans, in general, have put him on a pedestal because he was young and assassinated. I was ten years old when he was elected...rode my bike all over town the summer before the election, distributing pamphlets and encouraging people to vote for him. (I even have a personal letter written to me the day before he was elected.) But, hey! I was only ten...my theory hadn't been even a twinkle in my eye at that point!

    I have no knowledge of Obama's marital fidelity. But the whole world knows about Bill Clinton's, um, extramarital indiscretions -- and about his wife's complicit, even enabling acceptance of them, which makes Hillary about as trustworthy as her "husband" is. For that reason alone -- and, oh, boy, there are so many others -- Hillary wouldn't have my vote, even if I were still that little idealistic 10-year-old Democrat (which I'm not)!

    This primary race is exciting. I have no problem with a black candidate or a female candidate on the Dem side, but you can be sure that I'll be casting my vote for a Republican, whoever it is...oh, unless an unrepented extramarital "indiscretion" pops out of the woodwork on the Republican side. Then, my theory will start prickling at my conscience, and I'd be in a real bind! :) I'd have to do a write-in vote for my own husband, whose fidelity to me is unquestioned!

    Now, don't think I base all my votes one one issue! I don't. But "Cara's Theory" has always been right on the mark in the 25 years or so since I have embraced it! My husband is even an ardent believer in it now!
     
    #14 Cara, Jan 27, 2008
  15. Magnetic Poles

    Magnetic Poles New Member

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    I think his resolve in facing down Nikita Khruschev and Fidel Castro was a turning point in world history. A lesser man could have resulted in nuclear catastrophe for the world.

    No man is perfect. IMHO, President Kennedy, with all his faults, was far above average, especially when compared and contrasted to the current occupant of the White House.
     
    #15 Magnetic Poles, Jan 27, 2008
  16. Cara

    Cara New Member

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    Certainly, no man is perfect. But does Bay of Pigs ring a bell? And Vietnam was no picnic, either. Johnson just escalated the involvement there that Kennedy pushed.
     
    #16 Cara, Jan 27, 2008
  17. just-want-peace

    just-want-peace Well-Known Member
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    Brutus had it pretty well right when he said,

    "The evil that man does lives after him; the good is oft interred with their bones."

    I have a minor addendum to add: Whether the evil, or the good, lives on, is determined mostly by who's doing the recalling!!

    And if you folks thing things are bad NOW, just give the Ds power for a while and you'll see the fallacy of condemning Bush now!

    Not to say that the Rs are a lot better (some; well, yes, a lot!) but the end of this country under R leadership will be evident in X years, and fairly civil, while the same end will be in less than half the time and very crude, immoral and "in-your-face" under the D leadership! (Sorry, should say POWER, not leadership!)

    MARANATHA!
     
    #17 just-want-peace, Jan 27, 2008
  18. KenH

    KenH Well-Known Member

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    I seriously doubt that.
     
    #18 KenH, Jan 27, 2008
  19. Magnetic Poles

    Magnetic Poles New Member

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    Cara, could you stop the red text. Hard on the eyes.
     
    #19 Magnetic Poles, Jan 27, 2008
  20. Cara

    Cara New Member

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    Sure! Sorry...
     
    #20 Cara, Jan 27, 2008
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