You know how it plays out. A handsome, charismatic President and his lovely wife are in a motorcade touring through the heart of Dallas when shots ring out and the young man collapses into his wife’s arms. The promise that was, dies and the America we live in today, the one with the softly eroding liberties, arrives from this event.
It really is amazing how much has changed. We were freer then. Kennedy’s staggering death, the killings of RFK and MLK, to the attacks of 9/11, have produced a litany of lost liberties. Ten years ago all I needed to get my driver’s license renewed was to show up with the old license. Now I need four different documents to prove who I am. Something nobody needs to present to run for the office of President. All of the paperwork is scanned and uploaded to some mysterious place in the belly of the beast. Boarding a plane used to be a simple process. Now TSA security personnel with dubious backgrounds, rummage through my checked luggage every time I fly, an event that has happened five times now. As if searching the bag of a non-terrorist is going to keep our country safe from terror. I would think after two or three times they would finally conclude I’m no threat to National Security. It may be more a circumstance of intimidation. Maybe the blogging about JFK is a red flag for them. My fourth Amendment rights have been violated here but a complaint would deliver me into dead zone where our liberties have gone. This must mean the only real terror a citizen faces now is the terror from an out of control and bloated Federal Government.
John F. Kennedy represents a man who was the last real President. He governed as if he was in control, the top man. No American President since governs like John Kennedy did and mostly likely none ever will. By doing so, he collected a vast array of enemies. He stood up to a large grouping of powerful forces such as the Military/Pentagon, military contractors, the Mob, the CIA, the Texas oil barons, the Cubans, and various other interest groups. Kennedy threatened the power of these entities and in the process hastened his own demise.
Rather than trace shots fired around Dealey Plaza and debunk the lame single bullet theory, just take a look at the policy changes, both foreign and domestic, that occurred upon JFK’s death. Everybody Kennedy said no to, Lyndon Johnson said yes to. That’s not a coincidence. I find it hard to believe that all of these divergent groups found themselves the beneficiaries of such good fortune. That a ne'er-do-well shows up on the parade route to take care of their enemy and they get to celebrate their grand luck. Imagine Allen Dulles calling up his buddy Clint Murchison to gloat over what charmed men they were, that a long nut showed up in Dallas and got rid of that awful Kennedy boy. Brandy and cigars gentlemen! It’s been business as usual ever since.
Other than expose a Machevillian window into the heart American politics, the Kennedy assassination exposed a wound in the National Press and their reporting of such events. The early reporters learned that lasting careers could be made if one went along with the whole thing. Notice how many local Texas boys evolved into millionaires working for CBS. Even the current set of Media Darlings are on the payroll. From conservative Rush Limbaugh to the liberal Chris Mathews, they all spout the same exact party line: Kennedy was killed by a communist. I guess one has to, if one wants to get out of the dirt and play in the Big Leagues. This is the other half of the disgust and disappointment of the Kennedy assassination. It is in a sense, a betrayal of the truth. We were lied to about what happened 50 years ago and the media is a big part of the Big Lie. They keep it going. They give it an unduly long life. And if you don’t believe them? You are called a pejorative name–a conspiracy theorist.
I hope something like this never happens again. But you know? It probably will.
