November 22, 1963

[bradygirl_12]

Just a moment to remember what happened 46 years ago today in Dallas.

I think I have it counted correctly: when the 50th anniversary comes around it'll be on a Friday. It's rare when significant anniversaries fall on the day they happened originally.

It's tough for people born after this watershed event to realized how shattering the assassination of JFK was, but the reverberations still emanate today. It signaled the beginning of the erosion of trust the American people had in their Government, watching the Feds botch the investigation and then try to cover their butts with the Warren Commission Report which would eventually trickle down later in the decade to mistrust over Vietam.

I'm not huge on conspiracy theories, and I'm a believer that often, stuff just happens, I've read the evidence and while the anti-conspiracy theorists may be right and Oswald was the lone assassin, I don't think so. I do believe that JFK was murdered by more than one person that day, and that Oswald was probably a patsy, just like he said.

If this happened today, the Zapruder assassination film and others' photos would have been all over the Internet within hours, if not minutes. Doubtful the police and Feds could have confiscated everyone's cellphones!

For years the actual murder footage was suppressed, though eventually still photos were published in LIFE magazine, and bootleg copies of the actual Zapruder film started making the rounds of college campuses and church halls until eventually in 1975, the film was screened on network TV.

The psychological shock had the country reeling: a young President murdered with his blood and brains spattered all over his wife, and leaving behind two young children and the promise and hope of the era. Also, the symbolism of the murder of the nation's chieftain/father/leader went deep in the human/American psyche. People start to think if it could happen to the most powerful man on Earth, cut down in his prime, what hope for them?

A lot of things would change after that day, as cliched as that might sound, but cliches are often true.

Comments

[northern-star.livejournal.com]

(I have no other "political" icon, but I think this one is fitting anyway...)

Thanks for posting this -- I expect there would have been a few mentions on news sites and on TV, but I'm kind of far away from those right now. :S

I'd take a minute of silence, but I've barely said a word all day anyway (*lol*) but I still have his biography as an audio book on my iPod, so I'll listen to that on my next flight - it's a good way to remember, I think. :)

[bradygirl_12]

I'm sure that there will always be mentions of the anniversary, but when the 50th rolls around, it'll be all over the place.

I can't believe that it's been almost half a century!

Sounds like a good way to remember him, dear.

[(Anonymous)]

I was born after his death but even I felt the effects of that era of assassinations and government mistrust. Kennedy both JFK and RFK left their mark on the world's psyche. Their lives and their deaths. As well as MLK, Jr. The irony is I was alive when John Lennon was shot but I can't really remember it. Although I did appreciate it later on.

As for the conspiracy theory stuff. I no longer subscribe to that kind of thinking on his death. And the height of that was the film "JFK" by Oliver Stone when he managed to merge them all. Although I do love Gary Oldman. I'll admit it's been over a decade since I saw it. But I now think he did it i.e. Oswald. And the reason was he wanted to be famous and did various things to achieve it. Including defecting to the U.S.S.R. which obviously didn't work out. There's documentaries that probably can explain why better than I can. I think one of them might be "Oswald's Ghost".

But here's another reason why I think he did it. I'll point out John Kennedy had two brothers that were involved in politics and both believed that the guy they caught did it. And if anyone wanted justice it would be them not to mention his widow. As far as I know the family were satisfied that the killer was caught. They've had years to speak out against it and they never have. I believe Edward Kennedy's book states he thought Oswald did it.

I think the reason conspiracy theories were popular was because of the inherent distrust of government of the time created by the situation. And then the further assassinations. And Vietnam didn't help especially later with both LBJ as well as Nixon. As for the investigations if there were any stuff-ups it could be just a stuff-up rather than conspiracy. I prefer the KISS principle. Or Occam's Razor i.e. the simplest explanation probably is the best.

Ironically if true there's been more failed assassination attempts on Castro by the U.S.A. by most Presidents and they still haven't succeeded. The only President that didn't try to have him killed was Ford because he obviously had some backbone i.e. morals. If reports are true (that included up to G. W. Bush and probably since Eisenhower). I've heard RFK really didn't like him because he was his brother's greatest supporter. As well as hatchet man (so his brother looked good he did the dirty jobs). Although he did in the end became his own man. As his brother's death really did transform him into compassion for others especially those hurting.

Sorry this is my long-winded way of saying conspiracies generally get found out and evidence for them will be uncovered. To this day nobody has been accused of being in the conspiracy and that's because it's probably denial of the real killer; the lone killer on some peoples part. Including because of the complications of how he died. Which meant there was no trial and no evidence shown in court. It's understandable especially with the lies about Vietnam. But sometimes the one man conspiracy is a one man conspiracy. Otherwise I want to see some evidence against someone else. If you don't have that then it's just speculation and not healthy speculation. Which history repeats with September 11 and those nasty conspiracy theories. When it was a conspiracy and the perpetrators died doing it. But that doesn't stop other nasty and destructive lies told about it (I don't want to mention them). Sorry to say it so bluntly.

P.S. - Condolences for him and his brothers and other relatives that have died.

P.P.S. - It's the 23rd November here and that means "Doctor Who" is 46 years old. It aired officially the day after although I'm not sure on the time differences. It's also why I'll never forget both dates unless I get memory problems.

Angeloz

[bradygirl_12]

It was a terrible event and a terrible waste.

As for conspiracy theories, you could be right that it was a lone assassin, and the family's satisfaction could point to that. I just don't believe it anymore, but that doesn't mean I'm right.