You’re an asshole, John F. Kennedy. Adultery is a private offense, of course, a matter to be resolved between you and Jackie. How she chooses to deal with this ought not to be something that holier-than-thou pundits argue she should behave the way so many did in the case of Hillary Clinton in regards to Bill’s philandering. If she forgives you, as millions have done for their straying spouses, then count yourself lucky.
But I don’t forgive you. And I suspect many of your long-time supporters will not either. How can we? Your betrayal of us and the Democratic Party was not a private matter. It doesn't matter what else you accomplished, adultery shall overshadow it all.
While things were different back then, where the media stayed out of the bedroom and reported on real news, now you need to be called out. Politicians are necessarily in the public eye, and while many a good citizen doesn’t blink at what you’ve done that so many do. And that fact can cost us dearly at elections.
One can argue persuasively that it shouldn’t matter. But should isn’t the real world, and it’s delusional to operate these days as a politician with the idea that what you have done doesn’t affect how some people might vote. Because the press no longer is willing to keep such private matters private anymore. Our Christian nation can't tolerate sinners being elected to office. Your soul must be pure for the job of Commander in Chief.
You knew when you declared for the presidency that this affair hung over you, that it might easily come to light. Heck, you even had Marilyn sing a very lusty Happy Birthday to you, Mr. President. That it could, had you not been killed, have wrecked the party’s chances for winning the White House again, tamped down support for Democrats running for seats in Congress, and set progressives back a decade.
But you kept at it anyway. You lied. And you got others to lie for you. You did this knowing full well the damage that could be done, not to your marriage, but to the party and the aspirations for better governance of those who looked to you as a leader who could help bring it about.
Your populist message was and is a crucial one, the source of much of your support, the reason that many of us backed you even though you were a relatively unknown. Your speaking out for the needs of a sector of the population previously ignored by other candidates created a powerful and loyal constituency.
You have made it clear that you cared more about yourself than about that constituency. Than about us. You were willing to take a chance that you would be elected to the Presidency and that the revelation of this affair would later put a Republican in the White House, ironically, a Republican who would eventually be impeached for the events surrounding Watergate..
Do us all a favor, eh? Just Disappear.