Nov. 18, 1961

As we approach the 50th anniversary of the Nixon/Kennedy presidential debates, and are within ear shot of marking a half century since that fateful day in Dallas, we must be reminded of the prescience, and vibrant intelligence that was John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

In a speech delivered two short years before he passed, President John F. Kennedy's words eerily resonate, and must not be forgotten by those who entertain the notion that the Tea Party, so-called, is a new entity, but is instead a vestigial appendage of the John Birch Society of Mr. Kennedy's time:

"Now we are face to face once again with a period of heightened peril. The risks are great, the burdens heavy, the problems incapable of swift or lasting solution. And under the strains and frustrations imposed by constant tension and harassment, the discordant voices of extremism are heard once again in the land. Men who are unwilling to face up to the danger from without are convinced that the real danger comes from within. They look suspiciously at their neighbors and their leaders. They call for a 'man on horseback' because they do not trust the people. They find treason in our finest churches, in our highest court, and even in the treatment of our water. They equate the Democratic Party with the welfare state, the welfare state with socialism, and socialism with communism. They object quite rightly to politics' intruding on the military -- but they are anxious for the military to engage in politics."

For the full speech, please go to:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/35_kennedy/psources/ps_conspir.html