Charita Goshay: JFK's anniversary highlights our lack of statesmanship

In the six decades since President John F. Kennedy was killed, America has added many chapters to its story.

These days, some are hand-wringing that things have never been worse, conveniently forgetting that in 1963, America was wrangling with civil rights, an aggressive Soviet Union and a quagmire in Vietnam, all during a decade which included not one, but three assassinations.

On Nov. 22, 1963, America was shaken and shocked out of the fantasy that we had progressed beyond the kind of political hatred and anarchy which had cost three previous presidents their lives.

In the autumn of 1963, we were the world's premiere power, our sights set on the moon, led by an erudite president who embodied The American Century. Assassination was so beyond the pale of how we saw ourselves, it gave birth to theories that persist to this day.

Doubt still persists: The government should release JFK assassination files

Despite all of our achievements hence, his death cast a shadow from which we never have fully escaped.

Kennedy was not perfect. His first meeting with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev was a disaster, as was the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba. We now know all about his illnesses and infidelities and his initial reticence toward civil rights.

But his brief presidency shines a glaring light on our acute lack of statesmanship in 2023.

We've devolved from "Ask not what your country can do you you; ask what you can do for your country," to the notion that America is so paralyzed and corrupt, democracy is no longer worth such sacrifice.

In keeping with the current anti-intellectual populism, those few who still embrace the notion of statesmanship are derided as weak or "elites."

In 2023, we're electing people who choose performance art over substance, and are proud of it. Their rejection of statesmanship is not a source of embarrassment, but rather a badge of honor. As a result, we've opted for people who "tell it like it is" rather than those telling us what we need to hear.

Taxpayers are being cheated, daily, by people who excel in gasbag rhetoric but have no skills — or interest — in legislating. Aided and abetted by a national media always in search of the next horse race, they have no intention of embracing statesmanship because nuance doesn't generate clicks.

In a 1957 a speech at the University of Pennsylvania, Kennedy noted:

"At most periods of our history, our national prestige and effective influence has been measurable by the strength of will, the capacity for judgment, and the articulation of policies at the pinnacle – and that is the presidency. If initiative falters there, if the public is not honestly informed, if all executive action is merely reflex action, then foreign policy by its very nature cannot but fail in its large objectives."

The brilliance of our system is that the founders assumed that liars, crooks and charlatans would wheedle their way into power. They implemented checks and balances designed to withstand such people — up to a point.

Our current desire for noise and jingoism over the hard work of statesmanship diminishes the legacy of one of America's most promising presidents.

Election? What election?

Before the smoke from Election Day had even cleared, some Ohio legislators have declared they intend to undermine the public's approval of Issues 1 and 2.

In other words, some of the same folks who clamor for less government and more freedom are telling you to your face that they intend to ignore the results and will subvert the democratic process.

Some have expressed shock that a number of Republicans voted for Issue 1, but they shouldn't have been so surprised. People of all stripes have had it with overreach, no matter the cause.

Regarding Issue 2, legislators have indicated they want the proceeds from marijuana sales to be used to build more jails rather than the social programs for which they were to be designated.

It's too bad such determination to "tweak" the results isn't being applied to Ohio's crooked election maps.

Charita M. Goshay is a Canton Repository staff writer and member of the editorial board. Reach her at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @cgoshayREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Charita Goshay: JFK anniversary highlights our lack of statesmanship