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Open Thread - 11-06-26 - There Stood a Man

In my humble opinion, folks, this is a great speech.

The President and the Press: Address before the American Newspaper Publishers Association, April 27, 1961

19:44

Not only is it a great speech, it's always been controversial as well. Here's the official description from The Kennedy Library:

Sound recording of President John F. Kennedy's address to the American Newspaper Publishers Association at a Bureau of Advertising dinner held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. In his speech President Kennedy addresses his discontent with the press' news coverage of the Bay of Pigs incident, suggesting that there is a need for "far greater public information" and "far greater official secrecy."

Source: John F Kennedy Library and Museum

AI says:

Core Themes of the Speech

• The Peril of a Secret Society: Kennedy opened by stating that the very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society, noting that the dangers of excessive concealment far outweigh the risks used to justify it.

• The "Ruthless Conspiracy": Delivered just ten days after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, Kennedy argued that the United States was facing a global, covert threat from a "monolithic and ruthless conspiracy" (referring to Soviet Communism) that relied on subversion and infiltration rather than open warfare.

• A Plea for Self-Restraint: Rather than advocating for official government censorship or establishing new security classifications, Kennedy asked the press to voluntarily exercise self-discipline. He urged publishers and editors to ask themselves a crucial question before printing a story: "Is it in the interest of national security?">

Now here's a condensed and taken out of context meme version of the speech:

Cleasar-Present.jpg

Well, that certainly opens many doors for alternate theories, don't you think? That's just one of many. Do a search for "clear and present danger speech" and you'll find multiple alternative theories about its meaning. Even the video above, although an accurate audio copy of the full speech, has somewhat of a misleading title.

But who knows, maybe there are deeper layers to its meaning, outside of occam's razor. It does make for great conjecture though.

Either way you look at it, it was a great speech from a great man, and, I also believe there's some relevance in his words to today's ongoing political zeitgeist.

We could use a man of his stature and eloquence right now, don't you agree?

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Comments

I think after one reads or listens to the speech, it's obvious what JFK was referencing. But that's just me.

More importantly, what are you thinking about today?

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QMS's picture

.

he was warning us about "communism" (meaning USSR) as a
threat to the USA. The techniques used by the 'enemy' have
been fully embraced by the US in this present age 50 years on.
We have met the enemy and it is us. Thanks for publishing the
speech. JFK was the last true statesman we had. And was executed
for his efforts. Which left a wound in an entire generation.

Thanks for the OT. Carry on.

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—

Zionism is a social disease

and not project the present on it. Also the past, having just come out of the Mcarthy era. Maybe it was always an undercurrent of our government flowing out of our sight. I don't know if it's nostalgia, but it brought up deep feelings of loss for me, after the assassination, that still haven't dissipated.

Starting with Johnson and "We are not about to send American boys 9 or 10 thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves." to today, us 99%, except for our one day of voting, seem to matter little. Every day seems a little worse, and politics intrudes all the time leaving us to try and figure out how to dodge the dictates of the 1% and survive.

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enhydra lutris's picture

great. Heading out for a weekend down in Solvang so have a great weekend.
be well and have a good one

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—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

were on the receiving end of on tuesday.

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