by John Walters
Just listened to a few words from the president from West Point, a part of the country that in June is as lovely as anyplace else on Earth. Anyway, besides finding it comical that a man who spurned (and “spurred”) military duty on four (or is it five?) different occasions when he was their age gets to address the graduating class at West Point in 2020 (truly sad), I’m also amused by his touting Space Force.
Space Force is nothing more than an intergalactic symbol for what is wrong with Old White Republicans and potentially catastrophic for this nation. Here they are talking about owning outer space when anyone with half a brain can see that America is being destroyed from within. It’s like a father of six who decides the only car his family needs is a tricked out Porsche 2-seater because it’ll make him look good. And how will you get the kids back and forth to school and sports, etc? That’s their problem.
What.
A.
Dope.
Your “destroyed from within” comments lead me to think about current racial tensions. Seems there is parallel to Kennedy and the race to the moon and racial strife in the late 50s and early 60s prior to the civil rights act. The space race as a way to focus the nation on something bigger.
I wonder, Kurt.
I wasn’t around then (we’ll have to ask Susie B.) but it seems to me that the space race preceded the civil rights movement, whereas here the two events are happening in the opposite order. I also don’t think the 60s would’ve been as turbulent if JFK had lived to serve a second term. We’ll never know for sure.
Kurt is right – the “space race” & the Civil Rights movement occurred during the same years – from early 50s to early 70s & both peaked in the late 60s.
I was extremely young when Kennedy was killed (it’s actually my very 1st memory) so what I know about Kennedy & his administration, I learned in school. But I too have often wondered if the 60s would have become as violent as they did if Kennedy had not been shot & instead served 2 full terms.
It’s possible that his shocking assassination broke the proverbial damn & out gushed the torrent of “water” & swept up everything in its way. The Civil Rights movement evolved into the Black Power movement & both were overtaken in the news by the loud anti-war movement. Would Kennedy have escalated in Vietnam or removed the “advisors” no later than 1964? Johnson actually pushed thru much of the Civil Rights Acts (1st while he was Senator & later as President) & was possibly even more “liberal” in his actions (‘War on Poverty” for example) than Kennedy ever would have been. It’s interesting to ponder “what if” & while our speculations may be wildly off, I will always believe his assassination “broke something open” in America, both bad & good.
The “final rip” was Watergate (occurred in 72, the Hearing was summer of 73 & Nixon forced to resign in Aug 74). After this political cataclysm when Americans were forced to wonder if our government & country were irretrievably broken, things actually quieted down. We had peered into the abyss & stepped back in fear.