Inspiring Rhetoric

President Barack Obama can deliver a good speech, but in these testing times neither America nor anyone else is as hopeful as the world once was - when a youthful John F. Kennedy burst on to the political scene.

Here are a few of the words that JFK spoke in his inaugural address on January 20 1961 - and on a good day they can make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end - just like the oratory of Martin Luther King.

“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. This much we pledge — and more.”

Now that's what I call inspiring rhetoric and although Kennedy did make his own political mistakes - he was beginning to make a real difference in those heady, hopeful days - before his life was cut tragically short.

Today, many of the world's younger generation have never witnessed America at its very best - its role in the liberation of Europe and the Far East during World War II, the cultural and social revolution of the 1960s - and its 'can do' approach to change and innovation which has fuelled America's economic success over the years.

Of course, there are two sides to this balance sheet - America has a darker side and has made big mistakes, for example in Vietnam, and the dark legacy of an imperialist foreign policy casts a long shadow - as do the political witch hunts of the McCarthy Era.

But warts and all, I still think America is a great country, a wonderful place to visit and settle in as well I'm imagine - which is why so many people would still like to live in the USA given even half a chance.