JFK describes "The Unthinkable" -- "The High Cabal"

[David Sellers]

P.S.

The entire speech may be read at:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=...347234634#

JFK was referencing the communist system -- at least at the literal level of his remarks.

The section directly preceding your quote:

"Those who make themselves our enemy are advancing around the globe. The survival of our friends is in danger. And yet no war has been declared, no borders have been crossed by marching troops, no missiles have been fired. If the press is awaiting a declaration of war before it imposes the self-discipline of combat conditions, then I can only say that no war ever posed a greater threat to our security. If you are awaiting a finding of "clear and present danger," then I can only say that the danger has never been more clear and its presence has never been more imminent. It requires a change in outlook, a change in tactics, a change in missions--by the government, by the people, by every businessman or labor leader, and by every newspaper."

I want to believe that JFK was sending a message at the level of subtext.

The passage that directly follows your quote:

"Nevertheless, every democracy recognizes the necessary restraints of national security--and the question remains whether those restraints need to be more strictly observed if we are to oppose this kind of attack as well as outright invasion. For the facts of the matter are that this nation's foes have openly boasted of acquiring through our newspapers information they would otherwise hire agents to acquire through theft, bribery or espionage; that details of this nation's covert preparations to counter the enemy's covert operations have been available to every newspaper reader, friend and foe alike; that the size, the strength, the location and the nature of our forces and weapons, and our plans and strategy for their use, have all been pinpointed in the press and other news media to a degree sufficient to satisfy any foreign power; and that, in at least in one case, the publication of details concerning a secret mechanism whereby satellites were followed required its alteration at the expense of considerable time and money. The newspapers which printed these stories were loyal, patriotic, responsible and well-meaning. Had we been engaged in open warfare, they undoubtedly would not have published such items. But in the absence of open warfare, they recognized only the tests of journalism and not the tests of national security. And my question tonight is whether additional tests should not now be adopted."

This may be interpreted as a subtle warning for the media to police itself before the government forces it to do so.

Please understand my position: Both John and Robert Kennedy are, for me, saintly men not because they were born so, but because they became so in spite of every imaginable counter-influence.

And so they were crucified.

Charles,

In my opinion, the scope of power to which JFK refers goes far beyond the constraints and/or boundaries of any nation's sovereignty, beyond any political ideology (communist, capitalist, or otherwise); indeed it goes beyond that which is "speakable". That his speech was made in the context of the "communist" threat is incidental to the larger picture.

Moreover, the words he uses to describe the "system" and the "conspiracy" are easily seen as attributes of our own government at the time (maybe even now) and of the Soviet Union--and beyond.

Wasn't the initial charge in the JFK case going to be a "Communist conspiracy?"