Category: National

“Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years” by David Talbot is a compelling read. And bear in mind, I’ve never been a Kennedy fan. I never even bought the Irish-Catholic thing. Would that Bill Clinton’s boyhood idol had been Harry Truman and not JFK.

Anyway, you don’t have to be a conspiracy obsessive to conclude this: In retrospect, it’s amazing that – for all the Camelot choreography and charm – John F. Kennedy made it through almost three years of his presidency.

Start with a truly rogue, Cold War-revved CIA that never accepted Kennedy and kept him out of key loops. Then there were Strangelovian generals such as Curtis LeMay who found Kennedy and his Ivy League coterie frightfully weak on the Communist threat and no friend of pre-emptive warfare.

Having speech writer/advisor Ted Sorensen, a World War II conscientious objector married to a Quaker, sitting at JFK’s right hand only made it more visceral.

Kennedy would always be considered a liability on national security and the military. As the scion of Joe Kennedy, he was also the suspect son of a disgraced (World War II) appeaser with Mob ties.

Then add the vendetta-hungry Mob that knew that the elimination of JFK and the elevation of Vice President Lyndon Johnson would likely sandbag Attorney General Robert Kennedy – and reduce a sustained assault on organized crime as an administration priority.

Some Mafia kingpins, notably Chicago’s Sam Giancana, considered JFK the avatar of betrayal for reneging on political debts and unleashing his brother on the Mob after Mafia help in the 1960 presidential election. Other bosses, such as Tampa’s Santo Trafficante, who was heavily invested in Havana hotels and casinos, never forgave JFK for backing off on air cover for the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion. Trafficante’s circle included lots of apoplectic Cuban exiles.

New Orleans’ powerful Carlos Marcello had already been deported once by Robert Kennedy. Both Marcello and Trafficante had enjoyed a veritable treasure trove of loans from the Teamsters’ Union pension fund. All this was at risk from Robert Kennedy’s crusade against Jimmy Hoffa.

And then there were JFK’s notorious liaisons – from celebs to hookers to foreign nationals – all of whom represented the quintessential worst-case scenario for a sitting U.S. president: blackmail. Plus Vietnam. At the time (1963), there were 16,000 U.S. military advisors in Vietnam. By all accounts, JFK had no intention of escalating the war. His domino-theorizing generals disagreed, often vehemently and disrespectfully.

And it hardly helped that Southern segregationists were inflamed that the Kennedy Administration would use U.S. troops, however reluctant to mobilize, to ensure that James Meredith could enroll at the University of Mississippi.How ironic that it would be a lone, unaffiliated gunman who ended Camelot

Let’s see if we have this straight. Nobody who doesn’t live in the shadows thinks the current immigration policy with Mexico works. Everybody, quite arguably, thinks it’s a national disgrace and that something must be done.

Yet with the defeat of the proposed immigration bill, which had something for everyone to dislike, it is guaranteed that the status quo, deservedly unacceptable to everybody, will continue to prevail.

Well done.

What a difference a presidential candidacy can make. Conservative, erstwhile candidate Patrick Buchanan lowered the rhetorical boom on President George W. Bush the other day for the president’s “worship” of democracy.

Can you envision how that would play in the New Hampshire primary?

Buchanan’s rant was occasioned by Bush’s declaration that “Every time people are given a choice, they choose freedom.”

Buchanan’s response: “Oh. In Iran in 2005, the people chose Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In 2006, free elections gave victories to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Hezbollah, Hamas and anti-American radicals in Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua, who joined forces with twice-elected Hugo Chavez. The German people chose Hitler and the Nazi Party.

“It is one thing to believe democracy is a superior form of government,” added Buchanan. “It is another to worship it, or ascribe to it powers or attributes that can ensure permanent peace among nations. Democracy means rule by the people, and peoples can be as corrupt and bloodthirsty as tyrants and kings.”

And then for, more or less, good measure he cited the president’s avowal that “Freedom is the design of our Maker and the longing of every soul.”

Buchanan’s take: “Did Churchill long for freedom, as he fought to preserve the British Empire and British rule in India?”

Can you imagine such sacrilege on America’s presidential hustings?

Interesting piece the other day in the New York Times about the notable – and noticeable – increase in Muslim women in Great Britain out and about covered head to toe in flowing black gowns (niqabs) that only permit slits for eyes. It’s caused a non-Muslim reaction that is considerably less than a celebration of diversity.

It’s also led to debate among Muslims. One person’s religious symbol, act of faith and cultural comfort zone, it turns out, is someone else’s sign of subjugation.

What wasn’t, surprisingly, aired in the Times’ piece was reasoning that trumps both ethno-centric double takes as well as Muslim misgivings about the symbolism. The niqab is, to put it politely, UK incompatible in an era of civilizational war between the West and Islamic fanaticism — one that includes the terror attack on London’s transit system two years ago and the near disasters in Glasgow as well as London again.

The argument should be self evident that in terrorist times, it’s unconscionable to be cruising around in public in such a fashion as to conceal your identity as well as everything else. Surely, the Koran can be cherry-picked for help on this one.

Here’s a quote that puts the current “surge” and the whole American occupation in Iraq into context. The quote is 90 years old and resonates no less today than when T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia), sagely said it.

“Do not try to do too much with your own hands. Better the Arabs do it tolerably than that you do it perfectly,” explained Lawrence. “It is their war, and you are to help them, not to win it for them. Actually, also, under the very odd conditions of Arabia, your practical work will not be as good as, perhaps, you think it is.”

I remember reading once that the Aleut language of Eskimos had several dozen different words for “snow.” Stands to reason, given the role of snow in that society. It’s embedded in the culture. It’s that important, that relevant, that dominant.

Now we come to learn that the Iraqis actually have a word – “sahel” – that means to so dominate and humiliate someone as to drag their corpse through the streets. Speaks volumes, doesn’t it, about the challenge faced by anyone who deigns to convert Mes O’Potamia into something approximating a contemporary democracy with a civilizational rule of law?

What the Iraqis need, instead, is a couple dozen words for reconciliation.

Despite what Jimmy Carter and a lot of Brits might think, British Prime Minister Tony Blair had it dead right in his recent manifesto: “A Global Alliance for Global Values.”

Stated Blair: “This terrorism, in my view, will not be defeated until we confront not just the methods of the extremists but also their ideas. I don’t mean just telling them that terrorist activity is wrong. I mean telling them that their attitude to America is absurd, that their concept of governance is pre-feudal, that their positions on women and other faiths are reactionary. We must reject not just their barbaric acts, but their presumed and false sense of grievance against the West, their attempt to persuade us that it is we and not they who are responsible for their violence.”

Would that President Bush could articulate it that well.

Around this office – granted, it’s a home office – we have what we call “Epitaph Days.” Perhaps you know the feeling. These are days when something in the news or just stubbornly embedded in the society gets you scratching your head or clenching your fist. Sometimes it’s because you’ve been made to feel like an alien in your own culture. Or you get “mad as hell” in the Howard Beale/”Network” sense. And sometimes it’s just a chagrin-and-bear-it moment; nothing a TV remote can’t surf away.

But the net result: “EDs.” As in: “When the epitaph of this country is ultimately written, this will be included.” Not to wax histrionic about rise-and-fall-of-empire scenarios, but here’s a working short list:

*Embarrassingly low voter turnouts. Demoralizing, appalling frames of reference for anything related to civics. Single-issue voters with their marching orders.We continue to lecture the world, especially countries that are still post-colonial constructs, about the merits of democracy. In fact, we get vicariously giddy upon seeing a bunch of Muslims showing off a painted digit after voting for their favorite cleric or war lord.

*The re-election of George W. Bush.

*That there is a need – and that surely can’t be debated – for a law that allows a parent to anonymously drop off an unwanted infant at a designated “safe haven,” such as a firehouse. It’s a disincentive to use dumpsters for newborns. Are we losing our ranking in the animal kingdom?

*Marilyn Manson

*Sure, most people don’t want a military draft for all the obvious reasons. But the fact that this issue has been exhumed speaks volumes. We haven’t resorted to Hessians yet, but increasingly our over-committed armed forces are getting herded into battle based on demographics.

Educational qualifications continue to erode, and a criminal record is no longer considered poor form for military service. Sort of like tattoos: Doesn’t look good, but what the hell. And we now have gang members returning to civilian life after undergoing professional weapons training.

*Being confronted with a do-or-die, us-or-them, civilizational war, we still refuse to enlist the American people in the battle. We remain sacrifice-challenged, except for those over-contributing overseas and $3-per-gallon gas. But nobody’s driving appreciably less – and efforts to wean the U.S. off imported oil remain token at best.

*No country worth its sovereign salt has ever ceded control over its own borders. How long can America continue as an historical aberration?

*Despite the Don Imus Imess, rap music and its myriad financial benefactors still go largely unhassled, unfazed and unleashed. How alarming is it that a crude, thuggish, nihilistic, self-loathing, crotch-grabbing, misogynistic, dysfunctional culture is not something that is scorned – but successful and celebrated as “real”?

*Howard Stern.

*The Goliath syndrome. So, exactly where does the United States fit in this imperfect world? And what do we do that best advances our enlightened self-interest? The case can be made that not enough Americans are asking that question, and yet our national security and our place in the global economy are inextricably involved. The case can be made that if we don’t get this one right, everything else is moot.

*A presidential selection system that requires candidates to first impress the most extreme among us in order to have a chance to represent all of us.

*Elijah Dukes.

*A presidential selection system that now requires the most viable candidates to raise $100 million. That’s ostensibly what it will cost Barack Obama if he is to succeed in taking “cynicism” out of the political process. Who knows what it would cost to take irony out of the process.

*The neo-monarchial prospect of a Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton caste continuum.

*The Cold War relic that is America’s embargo-dominated policy toward Cuba. Only now it further undermines our worldwide credibility as a fair and honest force for good in the world.

*Anna Nicole Smith

*Obesity as a birthright.

*Political correctness that’s much more the rule than exception. Imagine not being able to properly use the profiling tool in defending ourselves against terrorists.

*Affirmative action that is still tilted at equal results rather than equal opportunity. The last bastion of meritocracy: the National Basketball Association.

*Out-of-wedlock births. Stigma? What stigma? It’s a choice.

*Marriage. Two men? Two women? One of each?

*China.

*Too much attention on self-esteem curricula in our schools. Would that it helped America compete in a global economy. But perhaps we will feel better than we otherwise would have for future failures.

*Laws (we’re not making this up, Louisiana has one and others are considering) that address how pants should be worn – and the proper ensemble role of underwear.

*Media meltdowns. Ratings-driven media that pander as much as inform. The line between reporting and editorializing too often obliterated. The blogosphere: Who needs editors, publishers and libel laws? Local news devoting precious air time to pimp non-news network programming.

*Neocons.

*Remedial courses on college campuses.

*Coarsening and trivializing of the culture. Let’s not even count the ways.

*Online predators.

*Entitlement attitudes.

*Rosie O’Donnell.

*Two hallowed Amendments, the First and the Second, continuously subverted. If the forefathers were anticipating porn shops and assault weapons, then they get high marks for prescience and low marks for perversion.

*Did I mention oxymoronic rap artists?

Of course, this is not a definitive list. But it does put into context cell phonies, Saturday morning leaf blowers and drivers with jet-engine-decibel-level car stereos.

It’s a lot worse than that.

In his youth, Havana native Antonio Zamora put it all on the line to take out the Fidel Castro regime and rid the hemisphere of a menacing Soviet satellite. He survived the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion – and subsequent imprisonment in a Cuban jail.

He could be the avatar of anti-Castro, pro-embargo Cuban gravitas. Indeed, for years he was legal counsel for the hard-line Cuban American National Foundation (CANF). And he readily acknowledges that he “wrote the book on Miami politics.”

But time has elapsed, and times have changed. The influential Miami attorney is now president of FORNORM, the Foundation For The Normalization of US/Cuba Relations.

He was in town last week, along with representatives of 16 other organizations whose charge was to speak with one voice on the need to normalize relations with Cuba. To speak, in effect, with a voice other than the strident, pro-embargo, South Florida one that has dominated the subject of Cuban-American relations for the better part of half a century.

They gathered, appropriately enough, in the theatre of Ybor City’s Circulo Cubano (Cuban Club).

“It’s a different world now,” reflected Zamora. “Back then was a function of the Cold War era. That’s over. Things change

Around this office – granted, it’s a home office – we have what we call “Epitaph Days.” Perhaps you know the feeling.

These are days when something in the news or just embedded in the society gets you scratching your head. Sometimes it’s because you’ve been made to feel like an alien in your own culture. Sometimes you just feel disgusted. The result: “EDs.” As in: “When the epitaph of this country is ultimately written, this will be included.”

Not to wax histrionic about potential Pax Romana scenarios, but these are a few of my least favorite contemporary things:

*Embarrassingly low voter turnouts. Demoralizing, appalling frames of reference for anything related to civics. Single-issue voters with their marching orders.

We continue to lecture the world, especially countries that are still post-colonial constructs, about the merits of democracy. In fact, we get officially giddy upon seeing a bunch of Muslims showing off a painted digit after voting for their favorite cleric or war lord.

*That there is a need – and that surely can’t be debated – for a law that allows a parent to anonymously drop off an unwanted infant at a designated “safe haven,” such as a firehouse. It’s a disincentive to use dumpsters for newborns. Are we losing our ranking in the animal kingdom?

*Marilyn Manson

*Sure, most people don’t want a military draft for all the obvious reasons. But the fact that this issue has been exhumed speaks volumes. We haven’t resorted to Hessians yet, but increasingly our over-committed armed forces are getting herded into battle based on demographics. Educational qualifications continue to erode and a criminal record is no longer considered poor form for military service. Sort of like tattoos: Doesn’t look good, but what the hell. And we now have gang members returning to civilian life after undergoing professional weapons training.

*Being confronted with a do-or-die, us-or-them, civilizational war, we still refuse to enlist the American people in the battle. We remain sacrifice-challenged, except for those over-contributing overseas and $3-per-gallon gas. But nobody’s driving appreciably less – and efforts to wean the U.S. off imported oil remain token at best.

*No country worth its sovereign salt has ever ceded control over its own borders. How long can America continue as a historical aberration?

*Despite the Don Imus Imess, rap music and its myriad financial benefactors still go largely unhassled, unfazed and unleashed. How alarming is it that a crude, thuggish, self-loathing, dysfunctional, misogynistic culture is not something that is scorned – but celebrated?

*Howard Stern

*The Goliath syndrome. So, exactly where does the United States fit in this imperfect world? And what do we do that best advances our enlightened self-interest? The case can be made that not enough Americans are asking that question, and yet our national security and our place in the global economy are inextricably involved. The case can be made that if we don’t get this one right, everything else is moot.

*A presidential selection system that requires candidates to first impress the most extreme among us in order to have a chance to represent all of us.

*A presidential selection system that now requires the most viable candidates to raise $100 million. That’s ostensibly what it will cost Barack Obama if he is to succeed in taking “cynicism” out of the political process. Who knows what it would cost to take irony out of the process.

*The neo-monarchial prospect of a Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton continuum.

*The Cold War relic that is America’s embargo-dominated policy toward Cuba – and how it helps undermine our worldwide credibility as a fair and honest force for good in the world.

*Anna Nicole Smith

*Obesity as a birthright. *Political correctness that’s much more the rule than exception. Imagine not being able to use the profiling tool in defending ourselves against terrorists.

*Affirmative action that is still tilted at equal results rather than equal opportunity. The only true meritocracy: the National Basketball Association.

*Out-of-wedlock births. Stigma? What stigma? It’s a choice.

*Marriage. Two men? Two women? One of each?

*AIDS still killing.

*Self-esteem curricula in schools that don’t do a thing to help America compete in a global economy.

*Laws (we’re not making this up, Louisiana has one and others are considering) that address how pants should be worn – and the proper ensemble role of underwear.

*Ratings-driven media that pander as much as inform. Line between reporting and editorializing too often obliterated. The blogosphere: Who needs editors, publishers and libel laws? Local news devoting precious air time to pimp non-news network programming.

*Neocons.

*Coarsening and trivializing of the culture. Let’s not even count the ways.

*Online predators.

*Entitlement attitudes.

*Two hallowed Amendments, the First and the Second, continuously subverted. If the forefathers were anticipating porn shops and assault weapons, then they get high marks for prescience and low marks for perversion.

*Did I mention rap?

Of course this is not a definitive list. But it does put into context cell phonies, Saturday morning leaf blowers and drivers with jet-engine-decibel-level car stereos.

It’s a lot worse than that.