[lbo-talk] JFK - withdrawal from Vietnam?

Kenneth Campbell kkc at sympatico.ca
Wed Oct 22 20:46:09 PDT 2003



>Just curious if anyone who's commented on this has read
>Galbraith's piece.

Yes, I did. I think he's probably right...

But the bureaucratic parsing of documents... helps in court, not in Galbraith's point.

One thing that stands out from that immediate post-FDR era is that many powerful people were more influenced "by the times" than "by precedent."

Eisenhower appointed 2 SC justices... and later claimed they were his only 2 mistakes (Earl Warren being one).

Once in real power, without influence from others, at that time, people reacted differently than expected. And the post-war era made (some) people realize there was a common law tradition of "social policy" that could strike things down.

I am not "American" so I don't give a shit about JFK's reputation and yer hand wringing about Vietnam. (You aren't there now, good for you guys.)

However, I've seen a trend in history that shows that an early deference to power that fucks up leads to greater defiance. JFK had something LBJ didn't -- the Bay of Pigs. He didn't have a blind faith, which Lyndon did.

Doesn't make JFK a genius. Just smart.

Ken.

-- If the Nuremberg Laws were applied, then every post-war American president would be hanged.

-- Noam Chomsky



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