Is there a Dem today with the 'balls' to say...

[Sam Odom]

"And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." ?

Actually, is there a politico of any stripe willing to say that?

[jobycom]

1. I don't care what he or she says, if they show me their balls I'll

slap them silly.

Honestly, why do male genitalia have anything to do with what a person says, other than "Hey baby, I have cocaine, come to my place."

[Bucky]

7. You're not thinking literally enough. Maybe the OP actually meant balls

That would be refreshing. Toddlers play with balls and toddlers are invariably honest. And of course a toddler could do a better job in Iraq than the Republicans.

[Captain Hilts]

2. Moral fortitude does not require ownership of 'balls'. nt

[MADem]

13. But it helps...here's some, they're.magic balls!!!!

Oh, you were talking about the other kind...never mind!

[mtnsnake]

19. Oh geez

Out pop the ever so sensitive feminist fundamentalists, right on cue.

[Schema Thing]

3. Wes Clark

Continually looks for ways to put out that message.

[Captain Hilts]

4. Yes, Clark does put out the message. nt

[CarolNYC]

18. Yes, Wes does

In fact, my sister works with a staunch conservative...He's not totally unreasonable but he's not exactly persuadable either, although he doesn't much like Bush. He is, however, concerned about global warming so, when Wes had the ClarkCasts on global warming, my sister directed him to Wes' site to check them out. She didn't try to convince him that Wes should be President or anything, as she knew that would be fruitless, just suggested he go and listen...So, she was a bit thunderstruck when he showed up the next day and told her he'd nosed around Wes' site and was really really impressed with what he found. He said that Wes was his guy now. He was the one this guy would support for President BUT, he said, Wes is going to have a hard time because he actually asks people to sacrifice and take responsibility and people don't want to hear that. They want to take the easy way which is what everybody else is selling....

I personally think that Clark is inspirational enough to sell this message but this guy has a point...People don't want to hear that they have to work, they have to take responsibility for what happens....So much easier to leave it to others...

[Sam Odom]

5. I'm not sure when the worm turned

but when it went to:

"And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what you can do for your country; ask what your country can do for you."

'We' started downhill.

[dweller]

6. no, i'm pretty sure it was when it showed its balls.

}(

dp

[guidod]

8. My balls don't talk!

[OneBlueSky]

9. personally, I'd like to find just one Democrat who would say . . .

"We must end corporate control of the Congress" . . .

[silverojo]

17. Now THAT would take balls!

:evilgrin:

[Indy_Dem_Defender]

10. With all this talk of balls

AC/DC
Big Balls

I'm ever upper class high society
God's gift to ballroom notoriety
I always fill my ballroom
The event is never small
The social pages say I've got
The biggest balls of all

CHORUS:
I've got big balls
I've got big balls
And they're such big balls
Dirty big balls
And he's got big balls
And she's got big balls
But we've got the biggest balls of them all

And my balls are always bouncing
My ballroom always full
And everybody cums and cums again
If your name is on the guest list
No one can take you higher
Everybody says I've got
Great balls of fire

CHORUS

Some balls are held for charity
And some for fancy dress
But when they're held for pleasure
They're the balls that I like best
My balls are always bouncing
To the left and to the right
It's my belief that my big balls
Should be held every night

CHORUS

And I'm just itching to tell you about them
Oh we had such wonderful fun
Seafood cocktail, crabs, crayfish...

Ball sucker

[AtomicKitten]

11. I could see (or hear as it were) Al Gore say that.

But, of course, I'm prejudiced in his favor.

We could use some spine-tingling inspiration.

[C-note]

12. There are alternative candidates who might say a lot more!

For instance:

I’ll do away with welfare and social security. Instead, every American will receive a minimum income of $1,000 a month. This amount will be tied to the cost of living and will not be taxable.

We will have universal prenatal-to-the-grave health care and universal free education with equal access.

I’ll do away with all tax deductions for over $12,000 income. Instead, there will be a flat tax of 10% on annual income of less than one million dollars for an individual and less than five million dollars for a corporation. But the flat tax will jump to 75% on annual income exceeding these limits.

I’ll cut the military budget by at least half.

Public mass transit will be free, 24/7, and reliable.

All patents and copyrights will expire in 20 years. Inventions, products, etc. which are developed with governmental money and/or public institutions can not be patented.

All businesses selling their products in the U.S. will have to certify that their products were manufactured in accordance with this country’s labor, wage, environmental, and safety laws ... that they meet or exceed these ... no matter where they were produced.

Each city and each “media market” will have at least two public access channels on radio, broadcast television, cable, AND satellite!

Election day will be a paid holiday.

MORE TO COME!
-----------
from Frank Moore's Platform -- http://www.frankmooreforpresident08.com

I know who I am voting for in 2008!

[MADem]

14. That guy makes a rabid dog look friendly

[KKKarl is an idiot]

24. Military budget

That sounds like a good idea cut it in half. Don't let the NRA hear you say that they may think you going to take away their guns.

[eridani]

15. What about "Ask not what your country can do for you--

--ask what your country is doing."

[rucky]

16. Look what happened to the last guy who said it. n/t

[TayTay]

20. Yeah, the "pay any price, bear any burden" thing

Be very careful when asked to 'do' for your country. Make sure and check the fine print. Sometimes that 'do' for your country can put you in a rice field in Vietnam shooting at people and getting shot at for no damn good reason at all. Or the 'pay any price, bear any burden' thing can put you in Al Anbar province where the IEDs bloom fatally in the desert.

It didn't take balls to say those words. It took and will take balls to extricate us from the people who said those things without any understanding of the consequences of their calls. There are indeed genuine calls to sacrifice for the good of the country. There are also a lot of evil people who want to exploit that noble goal of giving for a greater good. Read the damn fine print before you leap to any conclusions on these 'stirring' words.

[saltpoint]

21. I think of Democrats generally and not just Kennedy specifically

when I hear those words. And in regard to public service and social issues, not war.

I definitely don't think of Republicans.

When I think of Republicans I think of corporate sweet deals, fear-mongering taken to absurd heights, unholy alliances with fundamentalist nutcases, and so forth. Not Lincoln, Weicker, and McCloskey, but Nixon, Bush, Reagan, Bush, etc.

[TayTay]

22. But it's not in there specifically.

The Democratic Party does stand for the general good and for sacrifice to share the burdens among all the people.

Whenever I hear Kennedy's words though, I think of RFK, who lived to rue his actions as a rabid anti-communist McCarthy supporter in the 50's. He lived to understand that the call for service must be a shared call or it doesn't amount to anything. It is far too easy to stir up patriotic and altruistic sentiments among a good people. (And Americans are, basically, a good and generous people.) Again, read the fine print. These are also the easiest of sentiments to turn to unfeeling nationalism in support of nothing but greed and rampant corporatism. Yes, this is cynical. I think Americans have earned the right to be cynical and to be very wary of any politician who promises that America can be great without actually doing anything to make sure that it is indeed greatness and not just boosterism.

Why does it always seem that the same group of people have to 'do' for their country?

[saltpoint]

23. Agreed. I stumbled on context, grafting my own personal use of

John Kennedy's words onto my own social-issues context.

For many Democrats, the "bear any burden" clause resonates as an impulse toward social services. I think of Kerry's health plan, or Edwards' Two Americas remarks. Or Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech.

I reflexively went that direction and not toward foreign policy, which can fall into the hands of lesser lights like George W. Bush.

Good catch, Tay-Tay.

[TayTay]

25. It is very laudable to want to do things for the common good

That is the upside of the Kennedy legacy. The Peace Corp, the drive to help people in the Appalachian corridor get out of grinding poverty, the drive to bring all Americans into full citizenship. These are wonderful Democratic goals.

There is a big difference between going off to a third world country to help people acquire skills to live better lives and promising that you can protect them against the foes of 'liberty.' A big difference exists there my friend, a big difference.

Someday maybe someone should ask John Kerry his thoughts on the other ideas that came with that:

"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty."

Maybe they should ask Cindy Sheehan as well. Bright and pretty words that ask people to 'do' for their country can be twisted oh so easily. Always ask for the fine print and ask to see who really is benefitting and who is not from this bright and shining lie.