One of my favorite stories from recent memory is of a particular French pal of mine. He voted for Socialist candidate Segolène Royal in the last election. Of course, he pretended that he actually liked and had voted for now President Sarkozy, simply because that's what he thought everyone else wanted. He didn't want to stand up for his views and beliefs - he wanted to go along with the crowd. Now that Sarko's approval rating is at a whopping 28%, he has revealed his actual vote, no doubt again to go along with the crowd. You see, that is exactly the problem...

Why do we do silly things like that? Are we so afraid of standing up for what we believe in that we will sacrifice our own convictions and maybe even our own soul just to ensure we're accepted by others? If so, where does it end?

So what do we do about all this? That's a very popular question nowadays. And I think JFK just might have the answer...

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Here's a bad joke for you: What did French president Nicolas Sarkozy say to Carla Bruni the first night they met?

Give up?

"Voulez-vous karcher avec moi ce soir?"

(Karcher is a manufacturer of power washers.)

And really, can you blame him? I mean, let's face it: there are people in this world who love to take advantage of others. These parasites use everyone around them for their own personal gain and glory. They feed off of the hard work of normal people like you and me. They don't believe in a hard day's work; they believe in hardly working. They lie, cheat, steal, and then more or less complain about how unfairly they're being treated by using the most mangled logic to justify their actions. Quite often, even when caught in a lie, they just keep on lying.

That's the kind of scum we're dealing with here.

So, I agree wholeheartedly with the good Sarkonator: break out the powerwashers!

Of course, I'm not talking about those pesky bothersome immigrants (*SHUDDER!*) that take all the jobs that no one else wants because the rest of the people are too busy trying to "live large" with a giant house and 2.5 SUVs and a 3,000 inch ultra high-def big-screen flat panel television. No no no - I'm talking about psychopaths. You know, those men and women that seem to be so popular in the halls of power nowadays, even as the people look around at each other saying things like, "Um, dudes, I don't know ANYONE who voted for this clown. So, like, how did he get into power? I mean, 60% of the votes?! Gimme a break!"

One of my favorite stories from recent memory is of a particular French pal of mine. He voted for Socialist candidate Segolène Royal in the last election. Of course, he pretended that he actually liked and had voted for Sarko, simply because that's what he thought everyone else wanted. He didn't want to stand up for his views and beliefs - he wanted to go along with the crowd. Now that Sarko's approval rating is at a whopping 28%, he has revealed his actual vote, no doubt again to go along with the crowd. You see, that is exactly the problem...

Why do we do silly things like that? Are we so afraid of standing up for what we believe in that we will sacrifice our own convictions and maybe even our own soul just to ensure we're accepted by others? If so, where does it end? Doesn't that mean that we would also go along with the murder of millions? Do you really think that people today are that special, that different than those Germans that turned a blind eye during the reign of Hitler and the Nazis? You do? Well, guess again, my friend!

So what do we do about all this? That's a very popular question nowadays. People want to do something, but like always, they want to go along with the crowd. They want someone else to lead the way. They want to continue to be followers instead of leaders.

And so, it is for this very reason that I am sitting here writing this little article. But, let's face it: I'm no literary genius. And besides, I'm an engineering type, and we just hate inefficiency. So, I figure, "Why reinvent the wheel?!" There is one man in particular whose words remain so powerful and relevant today that I could hardly hope to best them myself. That man is JFK.

Now, before some of you get your undies in a bundle about how everyone always praises JFK, but in reality he was a womanizer, a crook, etc., let me just point something out: in words and deeds, JFK arguably did more than any other American leader to battle the disease that is pathocracy - the psychopathy that has so evidently taken over our nations today.

If you don't understand how this is true, you need to educate yourself. Start here: Evidence of Revision. Yes, I may have just called you uneducated. You shouldn't be offended, because the psychopaths in power treat you like that every single day - you just may not realize it yet. They rely on you to not know anything about anything, and to not care about the things that truly matter if any of us are to have a real future. They rely on you to be so busy wanting to just "live your life" and "make babies and be happy" that you will always look for someone else to be the leader so that you can be the follower. And then they do what they want, when they want, and get it broadcast over every media outlet as the "right thing to do" - rubbing it in your face, as it were. They insult your intelligence every time you watch the evening news or read a newspaper, and you let them do it.

So, quite frankly, I don't give a rat's ass how many women JFK slept with, or if he used the mafia to get into power. I judge the man by what he said and what he did, and what he intended to do had he not been assassinated. Great people sometimes have great faults, but that doesn't negate the magnitude of what they accomplished when the bigger picture is taken into account. That's good enough for me. And unless you enjoy pointing out the mote in another's eye while ignoring the splinter in your own, it should be good enough for you, too.

I think after reading the following, you will really begin to see that the answer to the question, "What can we DO about this mess?!" is perfectly clear, and has always been so. It's just that we always tend to look for solutions in the wrong way. In this case, I think a lot of us wait for someone else to tell us what to do. We wait for someone else to take the first step so that we can follow, just like we always do. We keep doing what we've always done, so we keep getting what we always got.

Sometimes it takes that most powerful of human faculties which the psychopath lacks to help us find our way.

The following is a collection of various JFK quotes, blended together with a dash of creative license. And so, without further ado, I give you The Man himself:

To know how to battle the pathocracy in our world today, we must first recultivate a long-extinct crop: courage.

A world which has forgotten the quality of courage, which in the past has been brought to public life, is not as likely to insist upon or regard that quality in its chosen leaders today - and in fact we have forgotten. But efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction. Direction requires truth, and truth requires facts.

Our leaders should not be afraid to entrust the people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For leaders that are afraid to let their people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market are leaders that are afraid of their people.

Without these facts and ideas, we have come to enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought. The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie: deliberate, continued, and dishonest; but the myth: persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.

In addition to the myths perpetrated on us by our leaders, secrecy has become a way of life for them, while our privacy is destroyed. The very word 'secrecy' is repugnant in a free and open society. We as a people should be inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths, and to secret proceedings.

To solve these problems, let us not seek the "Republican" answer or the "Democratic" answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past, except insofar as it allows us to understand where we must go in the future. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future. Everyone counts. The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all. It is not enough to simply conform to the day's norms: conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.

We must realize how to work for an end to this most dangerous of games. Without belittling the courage with which many men and women have died, we should not forget those acts of courage with which some people have lived. A person must do what he or she must - in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures - and that is the basis of all human morality.

As we stand on the edge of the pathocratic abyss, there is no room for second place. Once you say you're going to settle for second, that's what happens to you in life. For time and the world do not stand still: Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.

Now is also not the time for neutrality, but the time for taking a stand. Dante once said that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in a period of moral crises maintain their neutrality.

But the problems of the world also cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need people who can dream of things that never were.

To dream of a new tomorrow, we need to know the facts, no matter how painful. To state the facts frankly is not to despair the future nor indict the past. The prudent heir takes careful inventory of his legacies and gives a faithful accounting to those whom he owes an obligation of trust.

For in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. We should not shrink from this responsibility - we should welcome it. We must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to merely utter words, but to live by them.

There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction.

And so, let us take that first step. Let us step back from the shadows of eternal war and destruction and seek out the way of peace. And if that journey is a thousand miles, or even more, let history record that we, on this planet, at this time, took the first step.

Things do not just happen. Things are made to happen. Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.

We have the power to make this the best generation of humankind in the history of the world - or to make it the last.

We should choose such a course of action not because it is easy, but because it is hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our skills and talents, because that challenge is one we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win.

So do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men and women. If we are strong, our strength will speak for itself. If we are weak, words will be of no help.

Let no one doubt that this is a difficult and dangerous effort on which we have set out. No one can foresee precisely what course it will take or what costs or casualties will be incurred. Many months of sacrifice and self-discipline lie ahead - months in which both our patience and our will shall be tested - months in which many threats and denunciations will keep us aware of our dangers. But the greatest danger of all would be to do nothing. Our goal is not the victory of might but the vindication of truth - not peace at the expense of freedom but both peace and freedom around the world. That goal must be achieved.

What really counts is not the immediate act of courage or of valor, but those who bear the struggle day in and day out - not the sunshine patriots but those who are willing to stand for a long period of time.

We on this planet, in this generation, are, by destiny rather than choice, the watchmen on the walls of world freedom. We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility, that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint, and that we may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient vision of "Peace on earth, good will toward all." That must always be our goal, and the truth of our cause must always underlie our strength.

You already know what to do: use the fire in your hearts to fight for your future, and that of your children. That fire is our greatest strength, and one that a psychopath cannot possibly even begin to comprehend.

And you already know how to do it: "What to do" is different and unique for each person. All of us have something to contribute to peaceful change.

The flapping of a million teensy butterfly wings... Evolution, not revolution...

So, what do you say?