The Kennedy Temptation
Assassinations of popular leaders prompt many to speculate what might have been had they lived. Citizens mourn that a violent killer or a small group of extremists can dash the hopes and choice of many as was the case with US President John F. Kennedy. “America’s national politics is so poisoned by provincial partisanship – especially among Republicans, who have hated Obama from the beginning – that democracy itself looks damaged,” writes Ian Buruma, a professor at Bard College, for Project Syndicate as he reflects on the untimely death of President Kennedy 50 years ago. “Economic inequality is deeper than ever…. In foreign policy, the US is seen as either a swaggering bully or a dithering coward.” Choosing to quarrel rather than cooperate, mindlessly insisting on American exceptionalism, political leaders no longer strive for idealism and visionary projects that once attracted global admiration for the United States. – YaleGlobal
The Kennedy Temptation
The failure of US leaders to cooperate for the common good, instead engaging in partisan bickering, suggests that democracy’s best days are in the past
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Ian Buruma is professor of Democracy, Human Rights, and Journalism at Bard College. He is the author of numerous books, including Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo Van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance and Taming the Gods: Religion and Democracy on Three Continents.
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