OH, THIS IS GONNA STING!!!

[TygrBright]

33. Some of my most vivid early memories also...

I remember being charmed that kids my age were living in the White House. Pictures of JFK in the Oval Office, playing with "John-John" (as he was styled then) and Caroline made it seem as though the First Family was, well.... a family. It was a compelling blend of accessibility, idealism, and pragmatic compromise - above all, the ADULTS were in charge.

But they weren't the old fuddy-duddy adults from the previous administrations. These adults were part of the mainstream of young families working to take advantage of the booming economy, make sense of the Cold War and its risks, and push on to a more perfect Union with rights and opportunities for all. People like my parents could see themselves in the Kennedy Administration mirror, and believe that the future would be better for them and their children.

And then, when it was all shut down, the dignified grieving that Jaqueline Kennedy quietly led the nation through resonated with all of us as we processed an attack on who we believed we were. It imbued us with a determination to transcend that attack and carry those goals and values forward even against the rising tides of antiliberal, reactionary proto-fascism.

Unfortunately, the emphasis on idealism was swamped by the power of the military-industrial complex Eisenhower warned us against, and the rise of the moneyed technocrats and their useful idiot enablers stopped too many important efforts in their tracks, and led us into a swamp of bread and circuses...

sadly,
Bright