As we prepare to hear President Obama’s speech on the way forward in Afghanistan, let me put forward what I believe it is that we need to hear:
“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”
For those who may not remember, these were the words of another Democratic President, John F. Kennedy, in his Inaugural Address on January 20, 1961.
Anything short of this is unacceptable, and not in accordance with the American spirit. And if these words, or a similar message is spoken, then it will be up to the American people to insure the performance of it.
This is no world for wimps. We need strong leadership.
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Almost fifty years ago, my father made an aluminum frame to hold a printed copy of JFK's address, and the speech hung on the wall of my dad's home until after his death a decade ago. When the family house was sold there was very little that my wife Michele or I wanted to take from it. But the copy of this speech, one of the greatest speeches ever delivered by an American, housed in the aluminum frame, was a priceless memory I asked if I could take. It brought me back to a time of greatness in America, which both my father and I recognized. The copy of the speech now has a second home in my classroom at O'Neill High School. Coincidentally, just today I spoke about JFK's inaugural address, and encouraged my 12th grade students to read the copy of it.
Bill, you hold up the words of President Kennedy as a standard by which our current president's speech will be judged, and you rightly say that it will then be up to the American people to put his words into action. I ask: Does today's mighty America still have the courage, fortitude, and resolve of JFK's generation?
-Gary Ciesla
Almost fifty years ago, my father made an aluminum frame to hold the text of JFK's address, and it hung on the wall of my dad's home until after his death a decade ago. When the family house was sold there was very little that my wife Michele or I wanted to take. But the copy of this speech, one of the greatest speeches ever delivered by an American, housed in the aluminum frame, brought me back to a rememberance of a time of greatness in America, which both my father and I recognized. The copy of the speech now has a second home in my classroom at O'Neill High School. Coincidentally, just today I spoke to my 12th grade students about JFK's inaugural address, and I encouraged them to read it.
Bill, you hold up the words of President Kennedy as a standard by which our current president's speech will be judged, and you rightly say that it will then be up to the American people to put those words into action. I ask: Does today's mighty America still have the courage, fortitude, and resolve of JFK's generation?
-Gary Ciesla
I pray we do.
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