The Exterminator

The most significant thing about John Kennedy, transcending politics, was this: he did not wait his turn. And now, no one does. Part of that was because he thought he would die young -- and he had to make his move the first chance he got. He went after the presidency out of turn and essentially destroyed the old system of selecting presidents. The only way he could get the job was by creating a new system in which the press was more important than old-fashioned political titans. Political institutions, educational institutions, religious institutions have been broken since then in the same way -- using media. The last institution standing, I think, is the courts, and they won't survive without change now that television is in courtrooms. Whatever television touches, it dominates or destroys.

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