What we can learn from JFK

This week's issue of Time Magazine had former president John F. Kennedy on the cover. Perhaps the editors decided (and rightly so) that everyone was getting a little sick of the talk of the presidential candidates, so they decided to run a retrospective political issue. The cover story was entitled "What We Can Learn From JFK," and it was one of several articles in the issue that explored the presidency and the personality of President Kennedy.

The editors and writers had lots of nice things to say about JFK, which makes sense. He's essentially the patron saint of the modern Democratic Party, much in the same way that Ronald Reagan is emerging as the guiding star for the Republicans. The articles weren't really objective or critical pieces -- they glossed over many of the less-attractive aspects of the slain president. This also makes sense -- Americans don't like to remember their heroes have flaws.

After reading all the articles in this issue of Time, I have come to the conclusion that we do have a lot to learn from JFK, but it doesn't have anything to do with what the articles talked about. JFK teaches us the following:

• Be Rich. You can get almost anywhere you want to go if you're rich.
• Be Good Looking. Everyone will love you if you are attractive, and they'll completely forget about your privileged background.
• Wear snappy clothes. If you set trends, no one will remember your faults.
  
• It never hurts to have family connections.
  
• Some fooling around is okay, as long as you don't take it too far.
• If you are popular enough, you can get away with blatant nepotism.
• Die young if you want to be remembered forever.