Remembering JFK

I was five years old when John F. Kennedy was elected, eight years old when he was assasinated, 34 years ago yesterday. As young as I was at the time I still have vivid recollections of JFK, particularly his inspirational eloquence. Although it is his "Ask not, what your country can do for you..." Inauguration address that has been quoted most often, the speech that has always resonated most with me is his 1962 speech at Rice University about the "Space Race":

“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too."

This is the sort of leadership that is so sorely needed today. Take out "go to the moon" and insert "attain energy independence" or "deliver universal health care" or "solve global warming" or any of the many difficult challenges facing us today and try to imagine our recent leaders in Washington - of either party - rising to the moment with this type of leadership. Hard to imagine huh?

We avoid solving these issues precisely because they are not easy, they are hard. We the people must DEMAND that these issues be addressed. I truly believe that we as a people are up to it and would embrace such leadership. We cannot allow Republicans to distract us with phony "values issues" that have nothing to do with values, nor can we allow Democrats to pursue the path of least resistance. Like JFK we need to accept these challenges and be unwilling to postpone them.

"Johnny, we hardly knew ye"

Full text of the JFK speech can be found here:

http://www.rice.edu/fondren/woodson/speech.html