(And I want to preface this that with these words, I mean no disrespect at all to anyone who believes standard line or believes other theories. It was not shared on DU, but rather on my blog. I am ambivalent. It's not that I don't care.
I think this is one of the most thoughtful polls I have seen on DU. As someone who loves history, social and political movements, I care abut this issue -- so having said that, I would like to share what I wrote here.)
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Living in a Post JFK World
A President was murdered 50 years ago today. I wasn't born yet. I grew up hearing great stories about this man President John F. Kennedy. I grew up around schools, libraries, and airports named after a much beloved President that had been killed one afternoon in Dallas Texas. I was taught about Camelot. I grew up seeing plates of Mr. Kennedy next to his wife. I grew up seeing things like this:
Images of President Kennedy were everywhere. He was the man who put us on the moon. He was exotic because he was Catholic. Everyone loved this man, I was told.
Yet, There was something else. I also grew up hearing about plots to kill the president; conspiracies were mentioned in hushed tones by the adults in my life. Words like communist, the Soviets, Castro, mafia, Hoover were mentioned in a way that I knew these were things not to be talked about. This was grown-up conversation, and it was private. Talk of what happened to the president was not encouraged. He had been assassinated, and what we may have heard as children was not to be discussed outside the home, if even that. We were children, we didn't need to know. It happened before I and my siblings were born. I have always lived in a post-JFK world. It was inferred that it was disrespectful to speak ill of a dead president. Still, the adults whispered about it. They whispered of affairs and Marilyn Monroe. They whispered because if they said it aloud, people might laugh at them... think that they were crazy. They whispered because it was considered too out there, too fringe.
As I grew up, these conspiracy theories became mainstream. With the onslaught of 24/7 news channels and my ability to go out in the world and read, I learned that the things I heard whispered quietly as a child had somehow became okay to discuss publicly, even the stranger theories about this man's murder, and subsequently, the murder of his brother, Robert. I've read the theories. Here on this blog there is ongoing debate. To me, he was a president that was killed before I was born. I have always lived in a post-JFK world. I never really identified with the red scare or the iron curtain. It was before my time. And, to be honest, I can say that I don't identify with those who were alive when President Kennedy was assassinated. Believing the Warren Commission or not is just not a priority for me. He was killed and the psyche of our nation was forever changed, so the historians say. I believe that, I saw it change again September of 2001. A new generation would now question: was it Mihop or Lihop?
I have always lived in a world where there are conspiracies everywhere. Perhaps it's because I live in a post-JFK world. What does it matter what I believe? Would it change anything? 50 years people have been claiming to know what happened, and 50 years things that were once considered fringe have now became the norm, Are we a better nation for it? Personally, I say no. Personally, I think my generation has suffered for it. This is what happens when the fringe is allowed to become normal.
A half-century later, few people are laughing. After Kennedy’s death in Dallas, the notion of conspiracy moved permanently into the political mainstream. The assassination and its unknown motive became a benchmark conundrum for anyone with even a faint interest in public life. Americans of all stripes found it difficult to accept that such a monumental tragedy could be the random act of one man. Theories, ranging from the Warren Commission’s Report’s official finding that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone to speculation about additional shooters and Oswald being connected to the Mafia, CIA or other shadowy operatives, became part of American life.
The mainstreaming of conspiracy changed the political process in the U.S. by suggesting that candidates might win elections by running against government. The rhetoric of the Tea Party and the recent congressional attempts to bring down the administration of President Barack Obama at all costs are the legacy of JFK’s assassination.
Perhaps this is the remnant of a cold war paranoia that still lingers in our society today. Perhaps we are all crazy ourselves, and in our collective search for our truth, we have prevented ourselves from really seeing. That makes us suffer as a nation.
In the mean time, 50 years ago today, we had a great man taken away from the nation, his family and the world. Everyone I know that was alive and of a certain age can tell you exactly where they were when they learned of his tragic fate. One can only hypothesize what would have happened had he not been gunned down in Dallas on November 22, 1963. 50 years later, people are still doing just that.
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I honestly don't know what to believe. There are so many stories out there that it's hard to make sense.
Once again, thank you for this poll, I'm glad it was bumped and that I didn't miss it.
Raine
(edited to change my post title)
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