The American Spectator : JFK, Bush, and the Politics of Hate

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JFK, Bush, and the Politics of Hate

By Jeffrey Lord on 11.20.07 @ 12:08AM

Assailed in November 1963, hating the President is just fine today.

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"If the trespasser looked closer, however, he would be momentarily baffled. The memento of the happy time would be cleaned before storing. Obviously this (second) costume had not been. There are ugly splotches along the front and hem of the skirt....the inside of each shoe are caked dark red. And the stockings are quite odd...rusty clots have caked off....Examining them closely, the intruder would see his error. This clothing, he would perceive, had not been kept out of sentiment. He would realize that it had been worn by a slender young woman who had met with some dreadful accident. He might ponder whether she had survived. He might even wonder who had been to blame.

br> One looks back at William Manchester's descriptions of the Dallas of November 22, 1963. One looks now at the condition of the modern day American liberal movement as it stands on November 22, 2007. And it is impossible not to ponder Manchester's closing question exactly.

Who is to blame?

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topics:
Television, Islam, Environment, Hollywood, Constitution, Supreme Court, Israel, NATO, Oil

About the Author

Jeffrey Lord is a former Reagan White House political director and author. He writes from Pennsylvania at jlpa1@aol.com.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (1) | Leave a comment

T G.| 3.8.10 @ 11:14AM

How can anyone begin to compare JFK to George W. Bush? Because I just don't believe for a moment the analogy that JFK's starchy vowels and personal wealth make any kind of valid comparison to George's W. Bush's Texas drawl and personal wealth. It's like making cartoon analogies between the good and the bad guys. With the bad guys dressed in black capes with shifty mustaches and the good guys always dressed in white. Therefore, JFK and George W. Bush must be literal counterparts by these analogies.
But we know those analogies are just symbols. And in the real world people can be of all shapes, sizes, and colors and still be good, bad, or indifferent. So therefore, in the case of George W. Bush and JFK , I believe most people will ultimately judge their presidencies but what they've done. Despite any political prejudices on their part.
And furthermore, we know the people of Dallas pretty much gave JFK a very warm welcome in spite of any right wing ill will. And in the case of George W. Bush at his last Iraqi press conference we know he wasn't getting a warm welcome because an Iraqi reporter threw a shoe at his face. From a country that he supposedly liberated. Which are not analogies but actual events.