Obama; The Second JFK...?

(As I hadn't put up anything in quite a while, I thought it seemed like a good time to put in my thoughts on the election last night.)

As any one who know me personally knows, I have very little use for politations and politics in general.
However, as I watched the speeches, and considered the conditions which brought us our first African American President, similarities came to mind of a President, 47 years ago, and nine presidents ago: John F. Kennedy.

While it can be argued that there are many things that are different form JFK and Barack Obama. Both were the first in a number of ways; JFK, was a Boston born, blue-blood, who came from wealth and power, his father, Joe Kennedy, was a major player in many circles and he was eventually was drawn into the political arena. Obama, on the other hand ,is the son of a immigrant, and born in Hawaii, and was raised in very different circumstances. The end result both men found themselves in the right place at the right time on history.
Many things had to be just right and happen for them to fulfill their destiny's .

One of the major players in the two presidencys , 40 years apart, was/is the mood of the country. Simply put the country, ie people. particularly young folks, are tired of the status quo. Things were not going well back in '59-'60. and people were starting to see that changes could be made, if enough people were upset enough and willing to try new ideas and programs that would allow the country to grow and prosper. In short the "Old guard" was out, JFK became a symbol of of the hope of the nation to turn itself around and make a more level field so every man had a equals chance to get ahead, and not just barely get by.


As I said it came to me that JFK was the first in several way; First Irsh-American, Catholic , and he used the media of the day, Television, particularly the debates to his advantage. He also dis a very grassroots campaign that involved shaking millions of hands and traveling thousands of miles. All of this lead to his stardom, and helped build the mystique that has covered him for almost 50 yeas. When he was Killed that bullet took the breath away from the country, to to a large extend the world. It has never quite completly recovered it. No one has come close to following his legend, yes, I said Legend. its up to history to judge how great he did, or could have been, had things been different in Dallas.

Last night we may have seen the begins of the legend to follow Kennedy. At least we can HOPE.
The country is in a place where it need straight no B.S. answers and a clear path that everyone need to get aboard on, regardless of their political color, or skin color. What is needed is to sit down and pick apart what will work here and what will there and put it together and make the whole thing work regardless of where the ideas came from, what matters is quality of the ideas and not where they came from.

What Obama has succeed in doing is uniting the whole country in a way which it has been very seldom united for many years. He used modern tools, such as Tv, and the internet in creating very localized grassroots movement that was able to move people to do more then they could ever have done in the old traditional campaigning methods, The power of the internet and the savvy of the people using has created a whole new school of political power.

What is needed now is a cross between Harry s Truman, Teddy Roosevelt, and Ike. These were men who said what they meant and for the most part did what they said. and Most importantly took responsibly for their actions, and were prepared to accept the consequences if what they did failed. They tried new ideas and for the most part made them work. It might be a good time to revisit some of the old programs and see how some of them could be reworked to fit todays economy and workers needs,. it called Learning from your past...

The question is now, Can Obama, live up to the promises, either said or implied by election. Will he handle events that are thrown at him in a clear level headed manor and learn to "draw his gun quickly, and take his time" and act quickly but not so quickly that he over or under shoots, and misses completly, today as then, it could be fatal. Only this time he has the whole country standing behind him if he misses.........