Thoughts on the 50th anniversary of the Assassination of the President of the United States.

I was too young to have actual memories of the death of John F. Kennedy. I lived with the aftermath as I grew up however, and recognized the scar it left on us, as a country. I always thought of Kennedy as a hero figure. He sent us to the moon and championed civil rights. He was a young man, heralding a new age of young ideas. He was a progressive, opening the door to the end of America’s childhood. Naively, as a youngster, I assumed that everyone thought of Kennedy the way I envisioned him.

It wasn’t until I went to see the movie “JFK” ( yes, I know this movie is largely fiction) that I learned my idea of Kennedy was only part truth. There was a scene early in the movie, just after his assassination, that depicted a group of men at a diner counter watching the news report of his death on the television. Several men were outwardly rejoicing at his murder.

I asked my father about that scene the next day. It was incomprehensible to me that anyone would be anything but crushed at the death of a sitting President. He related to me that in fact, there was quite a bit of hatred for Kennedy at the time. I, of course, was not there to relate to what may have been going on in people’s minds, but I imagine it was largely about progressivism, fear of changes in race relations, and probably his Catholicism as well.

I’m not writing today about Kennedy, however. I’m writing about Barack Obama. Before you tear off and start writing your response, I am in no way comparing Obama to Kennedy. They are two VERY different men. My point is that they are targets of that same type of hatred.

As the rhetoric and name-calling continues, the demagoguery only fuels the fire of this hatred. The continued labelling of Obama as a “Muslim”, as a “Socialist”, the outcry of doubt of his citizenship all stoking the fires of hatred. Disagreement over policy and law are the foundation of what makes our society work. The straw man arguments and ad-hominem attacks are only tactics to incite an underlying hatred.

My fear is, that as this kettle of hatred simmers, what bubbles to the surface may be that loner at the fringe. All we need is for that wrong person to finally hear too much hatred and take action.

It’s time for us, as a nation, to grow up. We need to get beyond the politics of fear. We need to get beyond the rhetoric of propaganda. We need to come to the realization that if we as a society are to survive and progress, that we need to act in the best interests of The People. We need to grow beyond hatred. We need to respect the institution of American government and if necessary, work within its framework to affect change.

I was having a conversation with a friend of mine recently about peace. He said these words that could never be put more eloquently.  He asked,”What did YOU do today?”

Disagree with policy or law? Disagree with a direction of our Government? That’s great. We’re supposed to do that. But I have to ask you, what did YOU do today?