Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day

The speaker? The occasion? "The 1930's taught us a clear lesson: aggressive conduct, if allowed to go unchecked and unchallenged ultimately leads to war. This nation is opposed to war. We are also true to our word. Our unswerving objective, therefore, must be to prevent the use of these missiles against this or any other country..."

Did you know? Guess? Well, it was President John F. Kennedy on 22 October 1962 speaking about the Soviet arms buildup in Cuba. And now, his moving and very relevant conclusion:

"My fellow citizens: let no one doubt that this is a difficult and dangerous effort on which we have set out. No one can see precisely what course it will take or what costs or casualties will be incurred. Many months of sacrifice and self-discipline lie ahead — months in which our patience and our will will be tested — months in which many threats and denunciations will keep us aware of our dangers. But the greatest danger of all would be to do nothing...

Our goal is not the victory of might, but the vindication of right — not peace at the expense of freedom, but both peace and freedom, here in this hemisphere, and, we hope, around the world. God willing, that goal will be achieved."

Today, we ask how did people fail to recognize the evil of communism in the 1960's, and forty years from now, when the world looks back at 2003, many will ask how could so many people have made the same mistake then when faced with malevolence. One answer will be that many of those who read communism wrong a generation ago were among the leaders of 2003.