13 Days vs. 13 IQ....JFK vs. GWB

[julka]

I saw the Cuban missile crisis movie on July 4.

seemed to follow what I've read on the subject closely enough.

I could NOT help drawing a comparison between how Kennedy and his inner circle stood up to the backstabbing warmongers who would have RELISHed armageddon in 1962, and seemed to work against JFK at every turn.

Kennedy admitted that he didn't know what to do; who to listen to; upon what past lessons to draw. He made mistakes during as the drama played itself out, but he made the wise choice, without knowing what the outcome would be, and against the counsel of almost all his military advisors.

there are many who think that this decision lay the groundwork for his murder.

Contrast that with what must happen in today's White House. I would dearly love to see * dancing toe-to-toe with Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, or Uncle Dick on any matter more nuanced than whether to say "smoke em out" or "bring em on."

just how sick are you of having this lying puppet lionized by the handmaidens, to the point where the public STILL supports, to a great degree, the burgeoning fiasco both at home an abroad.

[julka]

1. if I could write, I'd've said something along these lines

Hubris or lack of vision?


It seems President Bush is a true CEO, and it should be becoming abundantly clear why the Bush model of CEO as president doesn't work. Or maybe it is just a reflection of the fact that Bush is a CEO by training and not by nature-that is he is a leader by training and not by nature. So far in his presidency, he, and his administration, are making repeated attempts at branding- that is creating a successful, powerful, memorable image- to sell himself and his initiatives. Among the unfortunate aspects to this idea for Bush is the fact that he isn't creating his own images; he is constantly borrowing from previous ones. He seems to be of the why re-invent the wheel school of thought. I suppose that is an okay philosophy if you are in a business which is well established, but the daily world is constantly evolving and it requires visionary thought.


The latest attempt at branding the Bush II legacy is to make a comparison between the Bush-Iraq and JFK-Cuba situations. I heard Donald Rumsfeld on NPR defending this comparision, and President Bush brought up JFK in his speech on Monday, October 7, 2002. This comparision, this attempt to brand as the new JFK is not only disingenuous it is wrong. While JFK's handling of the Cuban missle crisis and Bush's approach to the Iraq situation can be compared on a very, very superficial basis, once you actually look at the facts the comparison is on of opposites.


First, last I checked, Iraq was not an island located within striking distance of the United States. Additionally, Iraq is not being used by another superpower to be a host for weapons to directly attack the US.


Next, a similarity on the surface, JFK ignored his generals. Bush has been ignoring the generals and the other intelligence agencies. Except that JFK's generals were the hawks. They wanted to go to war immediately. Bush generals and intelligence people are saying don't go to Iraq. It is his adminstration who are the hawks. JFK's stand against the generals was heroic because he was a former soldier. It must have been really hard to go against the grain of training and to deny the orders of commanding officers.


JFK used the UN in a very effective way to force diplomacy. He took the time to get airtight proof and forced the Russian envoy into an embarrassing position which in turn forced the Russians to back down. Bush went to the UN, but he didn't bring any proof or any leverage to force Iraq into compliance. He used second and thirdhand heresay and outdated information to meet the forms of proof. He doesn't have any intention of forcing a diplomatic-non violent solution. He wants to go to war. Bush is using the UN as a way to legitamize war.


These are just some of the basic falsehoods in Bush's comparison. Bush is not JFK and can never be. The Cuban Missle Crisis and the current Iraq situation are not parallel and never will be.

thanks to samantha


can't find the link to her blog

edit: http://upstreamdownstream.blogspot.com/2002_10_13_upstreamdownstream_archive.html