A half-century after John F. Kennedy was elected president, the visionary Bob Herbert recalls a time when our politics was inspired by vision:
Kennedy’s great gift was his capacity to inspire. His message as he traveled the country was that Americans could do better, that great things were undeniably possible, that obstacles were challenges to be overcome with hard work and sacrifice.
I don’t think he would have known what to make of the America of today, where the messages coming from the smoldering ruins of public life are not just uninspiring, but demeaning: that we must hack away at the achievements of the past (Social Security, Medicare); that we cannot afford to rebuild the nation’s aging infrastructure or establish a first-class public school system for all children; that we cannot bring an end to debilitating warfare, or establish a new era of clean energy, or put millions of jobless and underemployed Americans back to work.
As Herbert points out, Kennedy aimed for the moon, while Chris Christie is trying to kill a railroad tunnel under the Hudson River. Modern Republicans have myopia, not vision.
Whatever one thinks of the tragically short Kennedy administration, we’d do well to pay renewed attention to the lofty ideals and broad themes that Kennedy brought to the national stage. We’ve become so used to aiming low that mediocrity is seen as a step up. We need to be reminded of what is possible.
We have another president with a rare gift to inspire. To reignite his base and the entire Democratic party, he would do well consider Herbert's thoughts. The Republicans keep telling us what we can't do, and too many Democrats buy into it, even if but because of the Republicans. Let's hear what we can do, from a new green economy to a new approach to human and civil rights that finally reflects our claimed national ideology. Aim high and the nation will rally.