Of Bears and Penguins

Lady Bird wore black:
His mouth is drawn tight, the chamber subdued and in dark clothing, it is 5 days past Kennedy's assination, and what on earth can anyone say?

This speech is both a mourning and call. It is perhaps impossible to listen to in the same trust of government that accompanied that time before Vietnam, and Watergate and all the rest of it. It is difficult to hear Johnson speak of peace while knowing that a war that would rend the American fabric was brewing in Asia.

But on that day, it was still in the future, and the nation had suffered a "profound shock."

While hearing Johnson speak of what would later become his sweeping social reforms, it begs of the question of how much of that is Kennedy's own dream, and how much Johnson. I've read in an article from a Johnson aide, that those were more his issues than his predeccesor's.

It is clear that he is more comfortable a member of the senate fraternity, than burdened with the presidency. And he is most compelling when he acknowledges that in the office he did not seek, and which was thrust upon him by cruel fate, he is in need of the help of all Americans.

Some of what he said is much like what President Bush has said - that we will be loyal to our friends, but foes to those who would impose the tyranny of terror.

Once he reaches the phrase "Let us continue," the speech shifts in tone to a call to action.

From accent to sentiment he is unmistakeably Texan - there is no doubt in my mind that when he utters the phrase "I promise..." he means it to his very core. His name is his word, he is loyal to allies and friends, earnest in knowing and acting right - these are creeds that I also know to my very core and it is my own knowledge that recognizes it in him. In the Texas where I was young, we wore our boots and waved our flags, learning early that the word Texas meant friend, learning early that to betray a friend was an unimaginable act, that to promise something was to put your name and honor on the line. Though in our post-Vietnam country, it is hard to hear or hold these things without seeming or being judged naive, and I don't know how many people still do.

His call for all Americans to respect and understand one another, his call to end the teaching and preaching of hate and violence, his call to turn from fanatics and bigots and other poisoners remains inspiring and lifting today.

And though he may have felt more comfortable on the other side of the speakers podium, when he invokes Lincoln, calling the body to "highly resolve," that Kennedy "shall not have lived or died in vain," it is clear that he is mantling the Presidency - having given his word, what else could he do?