What Democrats need to remember on this day

As you know, today, November 22, is the anniversary of the assassination of JFK in 1963. I was barely ten years old, but I still choke up when I hear the sound of muffled drums accompanied by the clip-clop of horses' hooves.

But I don't want to remember when he died. I want to talk about the spirit of JFK, what he stood for, and what it means to Democrats today.

In his single inaugural address he said this:

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 to assure the survival
And the success of liberty

Clearly, these were words spoken by a young member of "The Greatest Generation" just a scant 16 years after the Normandy Invasion and in the midst of the Cold War.

But he couldn't know what his words would lead to when employed by the fellow liberal Democrat who followed him into the Oval Office. Nor could he know what his words would lead to when employed by former-liberals-turned-conservatives (and those that followed them), the so-called "neo-conservatives."

But here we are, remembering JFK on the anniversary of the day he died, remembering his stirring call and wondering how (and whether) we can remain true to his vision:

Now the trumpet summons us again
Not as a call to bear arms - though embattled we are
But a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle
A struggle against the common enemies of man: Tyranny - Poverty - Disease - and War itself

Got that? This was the man who started the Peace Corps as well as the man who put us on a war footing in Viet Nam. He understood that you have to address the issues that are an outgrowth of tyranny, the issues that lead to war. He understood -- we as Democrats should understand -- that there is more to freedom than just overthrowing a dictator.

He understood that while tyranny was our enemy, so was war itself. And he understood that the struggle against war included conquering those enemies that lead to chaos -- poverty and disease.

He also understood the role that sacrifice plays in binding us together as a nation and as a world:

And so my fellow Americans
Ask not what your country can do for you
Ask what you can do for your country
My fellow citizens of the world - ask not
What America can do for you - but what together
We can do for the freedom of man

And, lastly, he recognized the role of God in our nation's history and in our mission, but he also understood that it is up to us to take responsibility for making this a better world:

With a good conscience our only sure reward
With history the final judge of our deeds
Let us go forth to lead the land we love - asking His blessing
And his help - but knowing that here on earth
God's work must truly be our own.

They don't write them like that anymore.

Democrats would do well to re-examine that speech and everything that came after it. Democrats need to remember and understand what we stand for.