Why this lionization of JFK?

[BainsBane]

31. Based on his speeches?

Presidents say all kinds of stuff, much of it bears little relation to reality. JFK was a Cold Warrior, and like all of his era ran clandestine operations and wielded the carrot and stick over Latin America. Chomsky is right. If one is critical of US foreign policy, there is no conceivable reason to exempt Kennedy. Trying to overthrow the government of Cuba is no minor thing. Funding brutal dictatorships in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua is not minor. They are part of the ugly legacy of American empire. Then there is Vietnam, for God's sake. He increased the US presence there.

The only thing convenient about JFK's death is that it has prompted people to call him a martyr.
If he were alive today you and your friends would skewer him. He lowered taxes on the rich. The Eisenhower tax rate that Bernie talked about in the debate--JFK got rid of that.

The tendency to see political figures as idols or villains requires abandoning evidence for a faith/emotion based view. When the facts don't fit the idea that JFK or Bernie is perfect or Clinton evil, people create conspiracy theories to accommodate their own inability to understand the complexity of history, society, and life. I have no patience for it.