bradygirl_12 | (Reply)

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I wrote a (sorta humorous) memoir a couple years ago called 'Bring Me the Brain of John F. Kennedy,' which basically said the assassination and the aftermath were a series of events that reeked of incompetence. It seems to me it takes a set of pretty thick blinders to believe the Warren Report.

I've read sections of the Warren Report and some of the conspiracy theorists and even though some theorists are nutjobs, others really present a case. The Warren Report is the biggest mess ever foisted upon the American people.

Anyway, JFK's death was an American tragedy, basically stealing our national innocence, if there ever was such a thing. I was much more personally affected by Bobby's death (months of horror and depression), and I was sorta re-traumatized when JFK Jr's plane disappeared. That was a horrible summer for me.

I remember Bobby's death and how it was like, "They've killed another Kennedy!" 1968 might have been the most depressing year in American history when you examine all the events of that year and its cumulative effect.

When it comes to JFK, I'll never forget being at home and watching Oswald killed on live TV. Everyone else was at church, and I evidently was sick, sleeping in the hide-a-bed in the living room in front of the TV. And, as usual, nobody believed me when they got home, said I must have been dreaming.

I was with my dad in the living room watching TV when it happened, and we called my mother, who was in the kitchen preparing Sunday dinner. My sister was just a baby and was in her playpen. I was too young to understand the import of everything, though I knew that weekend was different. I've seen the documentary about the funeral, but I have some personal memories of the sound of those drums and the clip-clop of Black Jack's hooves on the street.

The Kennedys have certainly had lifetimes of tragedy . . . whether people love or hate them, they should certainly admire their consistent public service. It's inspiring to me, and it always has been.

They lost Joe, Jr., during a mission in World War II, Kathleen in a plane crash in '48, and then Jack and Bobby to assassins' bullets. They have been a family touched by tragedy and they were the politicians that drew me into politics in the first place.