A new beginning

[Bob]

It's a historic day in America. In 1968, MLK and RFK were assassinated. Earlier in the decade, JFK and Medgar Evers were assassinated also, in 1963. There were riots in Grant Park in Chicago during the Democratic Convention in 68. 40 years later, we have elected our first black President and Grant Park became a scene of celebration, instead of policemen beating protesters with their billy clubs, like in 1968. The people of the U.S.A. have truly spoken. Look at the map from last night. Obama won Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Indiana and Virginia. Virginia, the place where Richmond is...the confederate capital from the Civil War. A war that was about slavery. The slavery of black men and women in America. I think we have come a long way from 1865 until 1968 and now, but our work has just begun. I definitely know the world sees us in much better light. We are now led by a visionary. Dumbya Bu$h can take his 25% approval rating, his Iraq war based on bullshit, his lies about 9/11, war profiteering ideology, failed economy, foreclosures, massive healthcare and energy costs, stock market fluctuation, torture, illegal wiretapping, no habeas corpus, stolen elections and his SCANDAL after SCANDAL ways and get his treasonous ass out of DC and back to Crawford where it belongs. Actually it doesn't belong in Crawford. Dumbya was a PHONY cowboy. He was a phony man of God as well. A phony tough guy. A PHONY President. He belongs in at his family compound in Maine where all the treasonous Bu$hes should stay out of our site FOREVER. The damage that the Bu$h family has done to this country will NEVER be measured. Hardly any one knows about their treason. We know, but few others do. Bottom line, we now have a new beginning. I just hope it will last for a long time. I have to be honest with you. As Obama was on stage last night at Grant Park, I was worried that some right wing wacko might take a shot at him from an office building near the park. Like what happened in the streets of Dallas in November, 1963. Except it WASN'T Oswald that killed JFK. It was a conspiracy that involved a right wing ideology and the greed of powerful men in government, oil and banking. Barack Obama also threatens those forces today. But it is a new beginning for the United States and also the world. I only hope that all people give Obama the chance to succeed. The chance that JFK never got to finish. The chance that Dumbya Bu$h squandered away with his incompetence and delusions. Last night the U.S.A. sent a message to Bu$h and his ilk that his policies are NOT acceptable. The U.S.A. now has a new beginning. As does the entire world. Let's not blow it.

[R Croxford]

Great post Bob.This is truly a new beginning and I hope that we as a nation can get back to being the beacon of hope and the example of freedom we used to be. I wonder what will happen after 4 years and the right still has the 2nd amendment and all the other horror stories that they have laid upon the people fail to transpire. What then? They will have nothing to scare the American people with. The Republican party might just cease to exist after this one. It is soooooooo refreshing to have a President that speaks clearly and can form a sentence without studdering. If any person in this country is not excited and proud to be an American today. You probably are not in love with this country.I am still here and read all the time.Peace

[scottjfkmad]

JFK....I have deliberately waited one day to write this piece as in truth it was alittle overwhelming to see Barack Obama elected the 44th President Of The United States and the first Black President. In doing so, to me, JFK has been given the ultimate stamp of approval that his Presidency, Camelot on a whole served America so well that 40 years after his death a Black Man can be President Of The United States.If it were not for Presidents like John Kennedy, or Abraham Lincoln then no black man would be in a position to run for the highest office in the land. President elect Obama knows this, and is truly appreciative and respectful in just what the Kennedy presidency means to America and the world.The White House will have a young family in it for the first time in a while, and hopefully President Obama will be able to make the kind of history that will inspire a generation, just like John F Kennedy did….RFKNot only is it a victory for Obama, and the memory of President Kennedy but in no way let us forget Robert Kennedy. The part he played as Attorney General was a key part to Civil Rights legislation. As Senator in New York he continued to show deep concern and make every effort to support black people all across America.His run for the Presidency in 1968 would have lead to American having another wonderful Kennedy Presidency but the hope was cut short, and we all know how.With Barrack Obama’s election to the Presidency, it is the ultimate conformation that the peace, respect and honour that both John & Robert Kennedy fought for so hard, is finally here… Congratulations, President Obama

[Bob]

Excellent thoughts guys. Speaking of the Kennedys and Barack Obama, word is that Obama is considering Caroline Kennedy to be the ambassador to the UN, while he is also considering RFK Jr. to be head of the EPA. Also, speaking of RFK, he once was quoted as saying, "But suppose God is black? What if we go to Heaven and we, all our lives, have treated the Negro as an inferior, and God is there, and we look up and He is not white? What then is our response?" He made that statement in the 60's, when the Civil Rights movement was in full fury. RFK also spoke to a crowd of mostly blacks in Indianapolis during his campaign for President in 1968 the night MLK was assassinated. His words meant something to those folks, as his brother had been assassinated just 4 and a half years earlier. And just two months later, he too, was shot down in his prime. I was born on JFK's birthday. I have RFK's first two names. I wasn't named for RFK, as I was named for my dad's brother that was killed in the Korean war. But I have always had a connection to the Kennedy family. They were a family that was very rich and endowed, yet they still strived to make the poor and the weak more fortunate. Unlike another rich family in power now, that ONLY cares about THEIR class of people and NO one else...the Bu$h family. Hopefully the Obama Presidency will show the same qualities of the JFK administration. The best and the brighest. JFK and RFK were also in tune with reality and had a great sense of reasoning things out like they did in the Cuban Missile Crisis. I still get pissed off when I hear people try to blame JFK for the Bay of Pigs. That inept plan was hatched in the Eisenhower administration by Allen Dulles and Richard Nixon. The Bay of Pigs happened in April of 1961, just 3 months after JFK was inaugurated. JFK put too much trust into the CIA and that's why the plan failed. That's why he then fired Dulles and others that were responsible for the plan. That's why he didn't listen to the neocons like Dulles, Lemnitzer and Prescott Bu$h that wanted Operation Northwoods to really happen and the attack of Cuba to take place during the Cuban Missile Crisis. JFK learned very quickly. He knew what he needed to do to fix this country. He was attempting to do just that when he was murdered in Dallas. I only hope that the Obama administration gets a REAL chance to do what is right for the U.S.A. AND the world.

[scottjfkmad]

As Bob McNamara himself said, ''What President within 3 months of his first term would not listen to a recommendation from the CIA, the outgoing Administration that had been in power for 3 years, and the Joint Chief’s''... Anyone with any proper knowledge, or grasp of politics and world affairs would not blame John Kennedy for the Bay Of Pigs...Something that pisses me off more than that, is when some so called historians try and blame JFK for bringing the world to it final war with the Cuban Missile Crisis..If these so called historians understood the chess game Moscow was trying to play at the time, then it would grasp that the Kennedy decision and outcome was the most brilliant and least lost life’s outing that was humanly possible...Obama will be a good President, but I do feel within 6 months he will be tested firmly, and not necessarily by our enemies..I heard Caroline was going to be offered Ambassador to the UK, which would be excellent as I believe she has friends and a residence here...

[Bob]

Scott, yes I have heard two possibilities for Caroline, one as the ambassador to the UN, and as you suggested the ambassador to the UK. The latter would be very ironic, as her grandfather Joe, was also the ambassador to the UK under FDR, when Joe Jr., John, Bobby, Ted and the rest were all kids. Joe was an isolationist about becoming involved in WWII, but his son's definitely took the war very seriously, as Joe Jr. was killed when his plane exploded on a very dangerous mission and John almost died in the PT-109 incident, when a Japanese destroyer cut the PT boat in half. John won the Navy and Marine Corp Medal for his bravery during this episode. Kennedy's actions to save his surviving crew after the sinking of the PT-109 made him a war hero, which proved helpful in his political career.