In article 9Yq1d.187109$Fg5.159779@attbi_s53,
"robert j. kolker" writes:


Emmanuel Gustin wrote:
The problem with such comparisons is that right-wingers are
always comparing Bush with Churchill, FDR, Kennedy, etc.;

Just what did Kennedy do in his short 3 years, besides screw up the Bay
of Pigs invasion? Creating the Camelot ambiance does not count.

Well, there was also the Berlin Crisis of 1961, which saw a long-term
nuclear showdown with the Soviets, including having the the National
Guard activated to, among other things, stand Victor Alert (That's
nuclear bombs at the end of the runway) in Europe, and that Cuban
Missile Thingy, and continuous Airborne Alert with fully armed B-52s -
until a couple of them crashed with live weapons on board, and the MLF
(Multi-Lateral Force: Basically big freighters with Polaris missile
tubes and NATO crews, which would Sail the Seas to deter the
Soviets. (As Tom Lehrer put it "We've got the missiles, the peace to
deter-mine, and one of the fingers on the Button will be German."))

We spent most of the Kennedy era with the Guard and Reserve activated,
with everybody primed for Nuclear Conflict, toe-to-toe with the
Russkies. One crisis after another. Now, mind you, a lot of that was
due to Kruschev's hopeless misreading of Kennedy's intellect and
willpower, but I can recall some rather scary times.

--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster