JFK Was Conservative!

It's Sunday so I'm in a political mood. Have you heard this quote before?

"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty."

If it sounds familiar, it should...but not because it's recent. This quote is from JFK's inaugural address in 1961. It's amazing how it fits today just as well as then. He also said, regarding allies: "United, there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do -- for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder. " Again, this is very poignant in today's world. While talking about allied nations, he may as well have been talking about the American political climate.

The Democratic Party won back majority in the House and Senate this past election, and Nancy Pelosi from San Francisco is now the speaker of the house. The first 9 months of their rule has been aimed at one thing: tear down everything Bush has built. It doesn't seem to matter what it is, whether it has benefit or not. If Bush did it, it's bad. The GOP, on the other hand, is forced into a filibuster mindset where they're trying to block the Dems at each turn. Frustratingly, nothing is getting done to improve our lives.

The bridge collapsed in Minnesota, and within two days faithful dems and libs were pointing out that this is yet another failure on the part of the Republicans. Ed Schultz even went so far as to say that the only reason Bush is talking about fatalities is because he didn’t give MN enough money to maintain the bridge. Others have said that it's because for too many years now, we haven't been paying enough in taxes. Never mind the facts, let's blame the president and raise taxes right away before everyone figures out the truth. Wait - the truth is already out. The bridge was declared "structurally deficient" in 1990 (SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO). The state on Minnesota allocates their transportation spending via their congressmen - the president has nothing to do with it. And lastly - in 2001, the Minnesota state transport agency deemed that the bridge needed to be replaced...by 2020. But let's blame Bush and raise taxes.

That's (one of) the problem(s) with this country. Every issue gets politicized and shoved at people before they have a chance to learn any of the extenuating circumstances. Studies show that once someone has developed an opinion on something they are not likely to change it, no matter how much evidence to the contrary they are presented with. Hence the urgency to bombard people with rhetoric 24x7.

Which brings me back to the beginning of this post. JFKs words seem to line up pretty closely with the actions of our current president. Yet the Democrats, who revere all things Kennedy, will pay any price (with our tax money) and bear any burden (as long as it's not long and difficult, like a war on terrorism) and meet any hardship (with partisan rhetoric) to assure (THEIR) survival and success of (replacing our) liberty (with the nanny state).

I therefore submit that JFK was, in fact, conservative, and he would have agreed with the conservative viewpoints today. There it is, write it down, get your friends to write it down, and we might convert a few of the Kennedy faithful.