November 22, 1963 … the Day America Wept

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”
–President John F. Kennedy

It’s one of those dates that you always remember where you were and what you were doing when the news broke that President John F. Kennedy had been shot and killed in Dallas. November 22, 1963.

In America, everyone wept — Democrats, Republicans, Protestants, Catholics — all felt the violent loss of a well-liked president who was assassinated. Schools were out, a state funeral was broadcast on television, a nation mourned.

Could it really be 53 years since that fateful day….

November 22, 1963 … President John F. Kennedy was assassinated

By Lynn R. Mitchell

It’s one of those dates where you always remember where you were when you heard the news that President John F. Kennedy had been shot and killed in Dallas. November 22, 1963.

In America, everyone wept — Democrats, Republicans — all felt the violent loss of a well-liked president who was assassinated. Schools were out, a state funeral was broadcast on television, a nation mourned.

Could it really be 52 years since that fateful day….

Time for holiday cheer or jeer?

By Daniel P. Cortez

It will be difficult depending on which political blowhard one chooses to listen to, as to how exuberant independent voters should be in the New Year.

Like many, I remain jaded when Democrats and Republicans firmly suggest they exclusively remain “the light and the way.” Especially if they suggest divine providence ordered their political involvement … and some have.

But I acknowledge some exceptional folks on both sides of the aisle. Presidents John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and father and son Bush are at the top of my chart. Plus former Senator George Allen and Senator Diane Feinstein remain two of the more civil and dedicated politicians I’ve had the honor to work with closely.

Sadly, their ability to reach across the aisle is not shared by their contemporaries. And the collective political failure of both parties has allowed the once dominant U.S. military to be decimated by an administration bent on unilateral appeasement through sequestration.