Jouney to PA

(Note: This is from the forum Democratic Underground.)


{1} "Bullfight critics ranked in rows
Crowd the enormous Plaza full;
But only one is there who knows,
And he’s the man who fights the bull."
--Domingo Ortega

President John F. Kennedy used to carry a copy of this verse in his wallet. It was inexplicably included in Kennedy’s last morning Intelligence Checklist, after analysis of estimates on Saigon, Cyprus, Korea, Vietnam, and Khruschchev’s statement from Kiev on the "very firm" Soviet position on Berlin.

The next President of the United States will be facing domestic and international difficulties that are as severe as those JFK was dealing with in 1963. I am supporting Barack Obama, because I think that he is the most capable of leading this country in the same manner that President Kennedy was.

I believe that Barack Obama is planning to carry on the goals that President Kennedy outlined in his Commencement Address at American University, on June 10, 1963. The older democrats who have listened closely to Senator Obama recognize this, while younger Obama supporters are hearing the message with new ears. I understand that his democratic critics are unable to hear this. But I am convinced that the nation’s leaders operating behind the curtain do.

{2} "Still, let us not be complacent. Should private interests fail today and public purpose thereafter, what rough beast, its hour come round at last, may be slouching toward Washington to be born?"
--Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.; The Vital Center: The Politics of Freedom; 1949

We support Barack Obama not merely because he reminds us of the poetry of old, but because he offers the only alternative to the course that the nation is currently on. That is the course that President Eisenhower warned of in his Farewell Address, and that Kennedy said posed the greatest danger to our Constitutional democracy.

Many of the supporters of Senator Hillary Clinton believe that she is uniquely qualified to lead the country in the next eight years. A substantial number of them believe that Barack Obama would make a good vice president, and get more of the experience that he needs in order to become the chief executive.

By the middle of this week, the democratic party will be significantly closer to identifying who the nominee will be for the Fall ’08 campaign. A growing number of democrats are recognizing that the nominee will be Barack Obama. As this process moves forward, the remaining advocates for a Clinton presidency is expressing the sentiments of those who would not want Obama as Hillary’s VP. However, even in the ABC debate, which I believe was orchestrated by those powers opposed to both Clinton and Obama, Senator Clinton made clear that she will support Barack Obama if he is indeed the nominee.

{3} "We came down
The rivers and highways
We came down fromForests and falls
We came down fromCarson and Springfield
We came down fromPhoenix enthralled
And I can tell you
The names of the KingdomI can tell you
The things that you know
Listening for a fistful of silence
Climbing valleys into the shadefor seven years,
I dweltin the loose palace of exileplaying strange games with the girls of the island
now, I have come againto the land of the fair, and the strong, and the wise
brothers and sisters of the pale forestchildren of night
who among you will run with the hunt?
now night arrives with her purple legion
Retire now to your tents and to your dreams
Tomorrow we enter the town of my birth
I want to be ready."
--James Douglas Morrison

Tuesday is going to be an important event in the democratic process. Many people from both the Clinton and Obama campaign have put a significant amount of work into the state’s primary. It is safe to say that the nation will be watching closely.

As democrats, we know from experience that people opposed to our party have been not only watching, but attempting to plant the seeds of mistrust and division in our party. Be awake. Be aware.

It is going to be a very competitive contest. From Tuesday night on, for the next several days, emotions will run high. That is to be expected. And we can also expect the slouching republican machine to try to disrupt our party’s future. Don’t let them.

Good luck to both candidates. I hope that no matter which democratic candidate you support, that you hear that message of promise that President Kennedy delivered some 45 years ago:

"…. Let us examine our attitude toward peace itself. Too many of us think it is impossible. Too many think it unreal. But that is a dangerous, defeatist belief. It leads to the conclusion that war is inevitable--that mankind is doomed--that we are gripped by forces we cannot control.
"We need not accept that view. Our problems are manmade--therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man's reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable--and we believe they can do it again.

"I am not referring to the absolute, infinite concept of peace and good will of which some fantasies and fanatics dream. I do not deny the value of hopes and dreams but we merely invite discouragement and incredulity by making that our only and immediate goal.

"Let us focus instead on a more practical, more attainable peace-- based not on a sudden revolution in human nature but on a gradual evolution in human institutions--on a series of concrete actions and effective agreements which are in the interest of all concerned.

"There is no single, simple key to this peace--no grand or magic formula to be adopted by one or two powers. Genuine peace must be the product of many nations, the sum of many acts. It must be dynamic, not static, changing to meet the challenge of each new generation. For peace is a process--a way of solving problems.

"With such a peace, there will still be quarrels and conflicting interests, as there are within families and nations. World peace, like community peace, does not require that each man love his neighbor--it requires only that they live together in mutual tolerance, submitting their disputes to a just and peaceful settlement. And history teaches us that enmities between nations, as between individuals, do not last forever. However fixed our likes and dislikes may seem, the tide of time and events will often bring surprising changes in the relations between nations and neighbors. …."

Read or listen to the complete speech:

http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/Speeches/JFK/003POF03AmericanUniversity06101963.htm