Former Kennedy Adviser Ted Sorensen Hits Bush Administration for "Incompetence and Shortsightedness"
In an unabashedly partisan speech punctuated with jabs at the Republicans, wistful recollections of Camelot, as well as wry wit and clipped phrases that recalled President John F. Kennedy and an earlier, more hopeful time, Theodore [“Ted”] C. Sorensen, the chief speechwriter and close adviser to President John F. Kennedy delivered a pungent speech at The Fletcher School at Tufts University on Feb. 9.
Indeed, he paid tribute to The Fletcher School in his introductory remarks as “the most distinguished school of international studies, perhaps, in the world, but certainly in this country.” While the speech was given a general title “Presidential Trashing of American Law and Diplomacy,” there was no mistaking Sorensen’s central target – the Bush Administration – which he sharply criticized throughout his 35-minute speech.
Now 78, Sorensen showed the residual effects of a stroke he had suffered several years ago which has impaired his vision and weakened his gait. But the clear blue eyes, his slender build and much of his neatly trimmed dark hair were all intact.
More importantly, Sorensen’s intelligence, sense of history, wit and cool demeanor were much in evidence. Struggling at the podium to pour himself a glass of water – in what could have been an awkward moment, he quipped: “Don’t you worry about my eyesight. I have more vision than the President of the United States.” [Crowd laughter.]
![Theodore [“Ted”] C. Sorensen](../news/2006/02/img/ECP_7832.jpg)
Noting he was speaking at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, he tore into an Administration, which he chided for regarding “law” and “diplomacy” as “optional.” Referring to the Administration’s controversial policies of surveillance of American citizens as part of the war on terrorism, and its lengthy detention of people suspected of terrorist acts being held at Guantanamo, he charged the Administration with “bypassing the 4th Amendment,” which protects citizens against “unreasonable” search and seizures. He also praised Sandra Day O’Connor, formerly a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, for her view that where the rights of citizens is concerned “a state of war is not a blank check.
Asked why the Democrats had not been effective in making their case against the Administration’s controversial foreign policy, he mused: “Someone said – Andy Young told me it was Julian Bond -- that when you have an Administration that’s reckless, you can’t have an opposition that’s spineless.”
When a Fletcher student asked if the Administration’s policies on domestic spying rose to the level of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” he said: “It’s whole lot more serious than fooling around with an intern,” as the crowd roared with laughter.
When a Tufts student, identifying himself as a political arts major, asked how he would “whip” the American media into line, he quipped “are you a Danish cartoonist?”
Finally, when asked what the Democratic position should be on Iraq, he said that Democrats need to take a leaf from Republicans who understood the value of short sound bites. “Three words,” he said. “Stop the killing.” Later he added: “People are dying because of the incompetence and shortsightedness of this Administration’s foreign policy.”
Following his speech, an informal reception was held which found Sorensen comparing notes with Fletcher students, including a young Iraqi woman attending Fletcher on a Fulbright scholarship and a Palestinian who was once a member of Arafat’s security guard.
Asked at a private dinner the question he has parried more than 3,000 times by his own count as to whether he wrote all of Kennedy's memorable inaugural address -- one that has the phrase "Ask not what your country can do for you -- Sorensen replied with a smile. "My answer is, ask not." His old boss would have been proud.