Trajan
conscientia mille testes
So, summing it up quickly, in 1961 JFK went to Vienna to meet Khrushchev for the first time and, was savaged. He said as much as he told James Reston that exactly. Shortly thereafter, the Berlin Wall went up.
Kennedy realized he had performed badly; felt that he had left Khrushchev with a poor image of him, as weak, perhaps ineffectual, ripe for the plucking as this performance did little to dispel the opinion at large ( and certainly Khrushchev’s) as to his missteps regards the Bay of Pigs fiasco etc. .
JFK’s life experience as a whole was a product of some encounters that provided him with true gravitas and a ‘center’ that would serve him well later, borne thru some hard life experiences, and though from a rich family and part of the ‘privileged’ , he carried his weight and stood up when he had to at a moment when it counted the most, being cited for his heroic conduct after the ramming of his PT Boat, keeping his men motivated, towing a man though, he himself was injured ( a lifelong ailment) to a nearby island, 3 terms as a congressman, 1 as a senator ( after 2 very difficult races) and reelected, then beginning his run for the presidency a year later….
When the Cuban missile crisis began, to some large extent born[e] via his poor initial meeting with Khrushchev, he found his ‘center’ again, and as we all know, he handled the issue with decisive alacrity.
Obama? I don’t know,*shrugs* …… are there life experiences that will serve as his ‘center’ now?
Being the gifted one, recognized as supremely endowed verbally and scholastically, praised and handled as one of the privileged. His early work, the ability to motivate people to protest for goods and services from others in possession of same, the practice of drumming up and focusing at his will, the ‘ aggrieved’. One former colleague provided some back handed praise for obama as being a guy who had a phenomenal faculty for walking the line, he works a room, leaves and everyone left behind thinks he’s on their side despite severe differences in their platforms etc. .
Elected to a one party body, no memorable achievements, a run for the senate against a severely politically wounded candidate who withdrew with a nutty latecomer as a stand in. 2 years as a senator and a successful run ( and reelection) to the presidency, no mean achievement, but, theres something just not there, lacking in all the ground we have covered in that time.
I remember the Hillary 3:00 am phone call add, and most of all, I remember Bidens remark ; "Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy,"….well, by some very adroit maneuvering, he/we escaped that 6 month window, hes held back the tides for 4 years, yes, a wonderful achievement but one wonders if the previous 4 years are coming home to roost, pun intended……
Whats come to pass, where in a former KBG col. is in the position to hold us in rancor, and we can go back and find our President in agreement as to the United States misplaced sense of Exceptionalism with this thug, well, I don’t know what inner strength or sense of duty Obama possesses, but, we are most certainly going to find out in the next 3 and half years, the Emperor has been exposed and he’d better find his clothes for all our sakes, fast.
Kennedy realized he had performed badly; felt that he had left Khrushchev with a poor image of him, as weak, perhaps ineffectual, ripe for the plucking as this performance did little to dispel the opinion at large ( and certainly Khrushchev’s) as to his missteps regards the Bay of Pigs fiasco etc. .
JFK’s life experience as a whole was a product of some encounters that provided him with true gravitas and a ‘center’ that would serve him well later, borne thru some hard life experiences, and though from a rich family and part of the ‘privileged’ , he carried his weight and stood up when he had to at a moment when it counted the most, being cited for his heroic conduct after the ramming of his PT Boat, keeping his men motivated, towing a man though, he himself was injured ( a lifelong ailment) to a nearby island, 3 terms as a congressman, 1 as a senator ( after 2 very difficult races) and reelected, then beginning his run for the presidency a year later….
When the Cuban missile crisis began, to some large extent born[e] via his poor initial meeting with Khrushchev, he found his ‘center’ again, and as we all know, he handled the issue with decisive alacrity.
Obama? I don’t know,*shrugs* …… are there life experiences that will serve as his ‘center’ now?
Being the gifted one, recognized as supremely endowed verbally and scholastically, praised and handled as one of the privileged. His early work, the ability to motivate people to protest for goods and services from others in possession of same, the practice of drumming up and focusing at his will, the ‘ aggrieved’. One former colleague provided some back handed praise for obama as being a guy who had a phenomenal faculty for walking the line, he works a room, leaves and everyone left behind thinks he’s on their side despite severe differences in their platforms etc. .
Elected to a one party body, no memorable achievements, a run for the senate against a severely politically wounded candidate who withdrew with a nutty latecomer as a stand in. 2 years as a senator and a successful run ( and reelection) to the presidency, no mean achievement, but, theres something just not there, lacking in all the ground we have covered in that time.
I remember the Hillary 3:00 am phone call add, and most of all, I remember Bidens remark ; "Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy,"….well, by some very adroit maneuvering, he/we escaped that 6 month window, hes held back the tides for 4 years, yes, a wonderful achievement but one wonders if the previous 4 years are coming home to roost, pun intended……
Whats come to pass, where in a former KBG col. is in the position to hold us in rancor, and we can go back and find our President in agreement as to the United States misplaced sense of Exceptionalism with this thug, well, I don’t know what inner strength or sense of duty Obama possesses, but, we are most certainly going to find out in the next 3 and half years, the Emperor has been exposed and he’d better find his clothes for all our sakes, fast.