Evening star., 1961-04-16
The Weekly Ritual News Dance

I took. I find that a Pepper up,
or Pop-Upper. or Up-Popper, got
the floor and began:
Mr.. President, sir, in view Of
the meteorological fledderis in nu-
clear weapons, and the Solsimate
glutgobbles of the ever-normal
granary, would you care to COM
ment on the dreel sprail Of
the"
let it go at that, though I have
been an expert on double-talk in
my day. But you know something?
Mr.. Kennedy understood every
word of that question!
Surprising Laughter
@. I see our time is nearly up,
sir. but might we hear a couple
more of your impressions?
A. Well, I can't pretend to un-
derStand the myStique Of the
American presidential press con-
ference on the basis Of one Speci-
men, but I sure was surprised at
some Of the places where laughter
occurred.
@. Any specific example in
mind?
A. Yes. The Incompatible May
Craig, resplendent in pink hat and
pink scarf, asked an 8l-word ques-
tion about shouldn't we label food
we give to other countries as The
gift Of the American people? Mr..
Kennedy answered in four words:
II think we should"
@. Well?
A. Laughter. If you don't be-
lieve it, look in The New York
Times.
Q. What in hell were they
laughing at ?
A. You tell me. Then Mr.. Ken
nedy said, again II think we
should"
@. Well?
A. No laughter this time. In
teresting. eh? Now here I have
a theory.
@. Give.
A. My theory is that Mr.. Ken
nedy repeated his statement to
show that he had not meant his
answer to be humorous; that he
was surprised at the sudden
laughter; and that, on May
Craig'S behalf, he didn't like it.
In any case, he extinguished the
laughter expertly, and went on to
answer the doughty lady's ques-
tion in careful detail And this
leads me on to my main finding.
1t is confirmation of something
which I, as a John @. Citizen, had
been thinking for some time.
Namely that our new President
for all his phenomenally sharp
brain and prodigiouS store of
knowledge and natural leadership
is ito choose a phrase with the
greatest care) a humble man.
He struck this observer as being
truly humble in both outlook and
philosophy as he treads his in
finitely difficult early path
through the labyrinth of world
crises under the mounting vast
pressures of the biggest and
toughest job in the world"
And this outlook and this phi
loSophy were expressed, to my
eyes at least, by the way he nod
ded his head.
@. This is passing strange.
A. Not at all.
He nodded gravely at the queS-
TONERS as they questioned, and
this, 1 thought, was with a double
purpose: to indicate that he un-
derStood the sometimes complex
questions Che always did; and to
encourage and put at ease the
questioners in case they were
nervous (they often were). 1t was
reasSuring, the essence Of cour-
tesy, and exceedingly pleasant to
watch.
And he nodded his head gently
as he gave his answers. The Ma
tion saw this on TV. These mods
seemed to say: II am answering
you to the best of my ability, on
the basis of my present know
ledge. I shall be pleased if time
proves my answer to have been
the right and best one, but in any
case, am pleased that we are all
in direct communication with
each other-you with me, and I
with you, and both of us with our
country"
We have time for one more
question.
@. Thank you, Mr.. Cooke.