"Caroline Kennedy endorses Barack Obama today in an op-ed titled "A President Like My Father" and promulgates more of the ethereal mysticism about Obama being the new JFK. I won't challenge Kennedy's own preferences or her own assessment of her dad's contributions to national life.
But I will say that JFK, as significant a leader as he was, was a hard core Cold War hawk. He approved the invasion of other nations and approved of regime change as a tool of American foreign policy. While in the end, his intellect and the assembled high quality intellectuals he had around him kept the world from falling into a nuclear catastrophe with the Soviet Union, it was Kennedy's youthfulness and his combination of hawkishness and Wilsonian rhetoric that helped precipitate a number of crises.
Messing with the memory of any icon like JFK has its dangers -- but while Caroline Kennedy may not want to feature these parts of her father's legacy in her endorsement of Obama, I feel I must note them. Obama is a compelling candidate who must know that gravity operates even in the White House.
Mysticism and gut will not assure our allies, deter our foes, restore confidence among our citizens, or make America regain its unique national and international character again."
http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/
