Why do I keep remembering a lesson taught to me by high school football coach? He said: “when the opponent is coming at you in the open field, shield your crotch!” That’s what he said. Or sometimes, he was more colloquial: “keep your nuts covered when you are about to be hit.” Now that the shit has hit the fan and everyone knows that we know about the missiles in Cuba, I can’t get that advice out of my mind. The problem is: in this context, there is no way to follow the old man’s advice. There is no protection against an attack of nuclear ballistic missiles. There is no way to put a great big jock strap over the United States of America. That’s what all my hotheads can’t quite grasp.

Maybe as a back-up strategy, I can find a way to put jock straps over the heads of my generals, to muffle their calls for war, war, and more war! That sounds like a job for the great Bob McNamara. I wonder if McNamara knows what a jock strap is. Oh, this is scary. America, cover your nuts.

I need to find a metaphor for the 50% of Americans who have no nuts to cover. I’ll speak to Jackie about this tonight.

JFK