Yesterday, addressing the den of jackals, thieves, petty dictators and other international flotsam -- which goes by the name of the United Nations General Assembly -- President Bush echoed the brave, necessary words of the once Prince of Camelot.

 "We are determined to destroy terror networks wherever they operate ... We are determined to end the state sponsorship of terror ... we are determined to prevent proliferation and to enforce the demands of the world ... .The work ahead is demanding. But these difficulties will not shake our conviction that the future of Afghanistan and Iraq is a future of liberty. The proper response to difficulty is not to retreat, it is to prevail ... The advance of freedom always carries a cost -- paid by the bravest among us ...

 "Let history also record that our generation of leaders followed through on these ideals, even in adversity. Let history show that in a decisive decade (we) did not grow weary in our duties, or waver in meeting them ... I am confident that this young century will be liberty's century. I believe we will rise to this moment ... I have faith in the transforming power of freedom."

As John Kennedy said, "any danger spot is tenable if men -- brave men, will make it so." He would recognize President Bush's convictions as his own -- words and thoughts which have not changed a jot or a title in the three years since Sept. 11 ...

 None of us may predict what men from another time would think of our age. But it is hard to imagine that John Kennedy, a man who would -- and did -- "pay any price and bear any burden" could be heartened to see his near namesake and party son twist and turn, evade and avoid, rally and retreat on the supreme issues of war and peace in a desperate and unprincipled political hunger for high office. It is doubtful that JFK-1 would support JFK-2.