I was going to post this in The History Thread, but didn't want to change the narrative of that very good thread and decided to make a separate one.

Just finished watching the documentary "JFK: A President Betrayed".

Now, before anyone leaps in to shout about all the negative stuff regarding Kennedy, I'm fully aware of the guy's faults as POTUS. Of the 45 Presidents we've had over the course of history, I'm pretty sure we've had exactly ZERO who have been perfect.

JFK gets rightly criticized for things he did wrong, particularly during the early days of his presidency. But in the huge moments in the history of the U.S. and arguably the world, Kennedy I believe stepped up to the plate. It can be argued that few U.S. Presidents have stepped into office with so many critical issues hanging on the balance. Yet JFK, for all his rookie mistakes, was pretty much in the process of righting the ship when his presidency was abruptly ended in Nov 1963.

I watch Kennedy's speeches, as I've watched old speeches from past world leaders, and I can honestly say I truly decry the depths we've sunk to, and to which we've become accustomed to..... making it the new normal in the world. To hear Kennedy speak, or Eisenhower, or other world leaders of the time..... and then to hear Trump speak.... is almost like traveling to another planet and watching aliens speak.

Please spare me the "well, times have changed" spiel. Yeah, times have changed. Technology has changed our world. Communications have gone from landlines and letter, to smartphones and social media.

But human decency and the dignity of the highest office in the land. Has there been a need for that to change as well?

It's not just Trump, either. Seems like the unlikeliest personalities have been popping up as world leaders like so many mushrooms.

Toward the end of the documentary, Evan Thomas, a professor in Princeton University, sums things up nicely. Coming from him, it is valuable, since he was old enough to remember the Cuban Missile Crisis and JFK's assassination.




Summing up, this isn't just another dig at Trump, whose election to the highest public office in the world is still mind-boggling to me. This is just an expression of sadness, much like Thomas said, about how far we've plunged down the cliff of human dignity and decency, to the point where we can elect just any Joe Shmoe to be President, or PM, or whatever...... and be satisfied and happy with it. Settling is such a downer.

Anyway, there's many sayings and quotes to pick from. But I'll just choose a couple for now.