Relaxing And Pondering

The parts of the day I didn’t spend in sweet slumber, I watched two movies. The first, American Psycho (great movie), I watched in anticipation of tomorrow’s DVD release of Batman Begins! Christian Bale is completely and utterly hot in both movies!

The second movie, Thirteen Days, is about how the Kennedy Administration handled the Cuban missile crisis during the thirteen days in October of 1962 that it occurred! Back in college, I jumped at any every opportunity to write any kind of paper on John F. Kennedy or Robert F. Kennedy!

It wasn’t actually until October 22, 1962, that President Kennedy informed the world that the Soviet Union was building secret missile bases in Cuba, a mere 90 miles off the shores of Florida. After weighing such options as an armed invasion of Cuba and air strikes against the missiles, Kennedy decided on a less dangerous response... blockade. In addition to demanding that Russian Premier Khrushchev remove all the missile bases and their deadly contents, Kennedy ordered a naval quarantine (a blockade is technically an act of war, so the term “quarantine” was used instead) of Cuba in order to prevent Russian ships from bringing additional missiles and construction materials to the island. In response to the American naval blockade, Premier Khrushchev authorized his Soviet field commanders in Cuba to launch their tactical nuclear weapons if invaded by U.S. forces. Deadlocked in this manner, the two leaders of the world's greatest nuclear superpowers stared each other down for seven days… until Khrushchev blinked. On October 28, thinking better of prolonging his challenge to the United States, the Russian Premier conceded to President Kennedy's demands by ordering all Soviet supply ships away from Cuban waters and agreeing to remove the missiles from Cuba's mainland. After several days of teetering on the brink of nuclear holocaust, the world breathed a sigh of relief.

One of my favorite quotes from John F. Kennedy is from a speech he gives in reference to this situation… anytime I hear it, it helps keeps me going when I don’t think I have anymore to give, and it gives me hope when I’ve lost all hope.

"Our problems are man-made. Therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man’s reason and spirit have often solved a seemingly unsolvable."

Anyway… I now await the release of Batman Begins!