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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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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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The Liberal Moonbat's picture

Convenient how every high-profile enemy of The Narrative just happens to be a sex-criminal, isn't it? 13 years ago he was getting this kind of popular press (#3): https://www.cracked.com/article_20413_5-heartwarming-stories-to-restore-...

That's the case against buying it; the case for is...he was convicted. You tell me, can not even court-verdicts be trusted any longer?

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In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.

Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!

@The Liberal Moonbat I do not trust the court system in England.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

The Liberal Moonbat's picture

@on the cusp Why not? Is your view of the American court system any different?

What would your talking-points be if you were to try to defend Brand to someone else now?

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In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.

Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!

@The Liberal Moonbat as to what facts they can present to a jury. It works as a bar to an accused from defending him/herself. In the us, facts that are not, for example, hearsay, are heard by a jury, if the defense chooses to present a defense. You must defend yourself in British court. In the US, you are not required to do so.
Brand had a defense. The jury did not hear it. It was barred.
One of the biggest faults in our system is jury selection. The next big problem is biased judges.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

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I read a couple of the declassified State Dept memos inspired by your post JtC.

One was an early bs session in preparation for the study led by Maxwell Taylor I believe. Then this one at the link below which summarizes the military action... There's more but I think this is presented as the general factual description of the failed operation.

231. Memorandum No. 1 From the Cuba Study Group to President Kennedy0

the immediately following docs 232, 233, 234, I believe complete the study. Memos 2, 3 and 4, respectively.

Interesting speech, don't think I've heard it before. Newman's book on the motives for JFKs assassination I believe considered this an ill advised fait accompli presented to JFK upon taking office, which later colored his response during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

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己所不欲,勿施于人。