John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)

We Remember

On this day before Thanksgiving, 2006, there will be the usual hustle and bustle on the highway and the airports and at the supermarkets as Americans prepare for our great holiday. But November 22nd also marks a tragic event in American history, the day John Kennedy went to Dallas and never made it back alive. Oh, there will probably be a blip on the news about it, but by and large it’s just another sad day in the history books.

After more than 40 years, really, who cares anymore? Jack Kennedy is dead. Jackie Kennedy is dead. His son and his brother are dead. The Myth of “Camelot” is dead. Most of the actors in the play are dead, Oswald, Ruby, Warren and Hoover, the cops…all dead now. Why then even bother even giving a moment’s thought to the Great American Mystery? Does it even matter anymore? In the year 2006, is it relevant or is it just another tragic event discarded in the dusty bin of history?

Life doesn’t allow for do-overs, or what-ifs, that’s why truth is paramount as is the value of history. We are supposed to learn from tragedies in order that they are not repeated. I do not offer these words in memory of a beloved historical figure. The truth is Kennedy’s Presidency was well before I had developed a social consciousness. On the Friday afternoon when he was killed, I was sitting in an elementary parochial school classroom. His pictures were on the wall next to The Pope, so, even at that age, I became aware of an event that transcended a seven-year old’s inchoate frame of reference.

Anyone who was alive at that particular moment in time can remember exactly where they were, what they were doing and how this particular tragedy affected their lives in a deeply personal way. And, with every passing day, there are fewer and fewer people who can relate first-hand to the events. Can we ever get over it? I don't know. All I know is that the effect of his murder are still generating rippling waves of the tsunami, 43 years later.

President Kennedy’s murder was not simply the killing of a man and the policies for which he stood. It was a 9/11-cataclysym, a seminal turning point, a radical departure for this nation. In the coming days and months, I hope to discuss the crime itself and its horrific aftermath. Today, however, I want to discuss how the murder of the President profoundly affected the course of America for the worse.

You tell me: is America a better place? Is it closer to fulfilling its ideals or has it drifted into an intractable morass of apathy? Let's look at what has happened in and to the United States since that Friday in November of 1963:

Johnson’s abandoning of Kennedy’s stated intent to withdraw all military forces from Vietnam by the end of 1964.
Warren Commission Delivers Report To President Finding That JFK Was Killed By A Lone Gunman
“Gulf Of Tonkin” Incident
The long term consequences of Johnson’s “Great Society” social policies.
Riots In Watts
USS Pueblo Captured By North Koreans/No Military Response
Johnson’s abrupt decision not to seek re-election in 1968 after Walter Cronkite told the nation that the Vietnam War couldn’t be won.
Paris Peace Talks Begin
The murder of Martin Luther King.
The murder of Robert Kennedy
The 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago
The Rebirth of Richard Nixon/The Imperial Presidency
Nixon Orders Secret Bombing Of Cambodia
The War continues unabated, college students protesting the War are murdered on campuses by the National Guard
Nixon Easily Reelected
Nixon Travels To China
Paris Peace Accord Signed
Energy/Gas Shortages
Nixon’s “Saturday Night Massacre”
Watergate, Nixon and National Disgrace
Ford Pardons Nixon
Bush I Appointed as DCI
Vietnam Falls to the Communists./58,000 Americans Killed During War
Carter defeats Ford
HSCA Hearings on JFK and MLK Begin
Islamists overthrow Iran
Islamofascists overrun the American embassy in Tehran taking diplomatic staff and military personnel hostage for the next 1 ½ years
HSCA Determines JFK Murdered “Probably” As The Result Of A Conspiracy
A failure to secure the hostages weakens American prestige and further emboldens the terrorists
Reagan defeats Carter in a landslide with Bush I as VP
Reagan, Casey & the CIA’s Clandestine Iran-Contra Activities
Attempted Assassination of Reagan
The Centralization of Capital/The Decline of Organized Labor
Massive Buildup in Defense Spending
Islamists Blow Up Barracks In Lebanon Killing 250 Marines
Americans Withdraw From Lebanon
The “Great White Father” is easily Re-elected
The Fall of The Soviet Bloc and The Berlin Wall
Bush I Succeeds Reagan as President
Gulf War I
Americans Elect Clinton/Gore
WTC Bombed
Americans Vote Republicans Into Majority Of House & Senate For The First Time In 40 Years “Contract With America”
Rise of High Tech Economy and Dot.Com’s
Clinton/Gore Easily Reelected
Bubble Bursts On High Tech Stocks
Khobar Towers Incident/USS Cole Attacked/Token Military Response
Clinton Involved In Sex/Lying Scandal
Clinton Is Impeached (Majority Votes To Remove/Articles Fail by Less Than 2/3 Required Vote)
Clinton Attempts To Broker Israel/Palestine Peace Accord/Israel Offers Major Concessions, Arafat Refuses
Taliban Come To Power In Afghanistan
Bush II Elected Governor of Texas
Gore Runs Against Bush II For Presidency
Gore Wins Popular Vote But Loses Electoral College Vote To Bush II
Gore Contests Election Results In Florida/Dispute Goes To Supreme Court Which Rules In Favor of Bush II
Bush II Assumes Presidency
September 11th
US Military Crushes Taliban Regime In Afghanistan
Reorganization of Intelligence Agencies/Implementation of Patriot Act
US Tells UN That Iraq Has “Weapons Of Mass Destruction” and Regime Change Is Required
US/Coalition Forces Attack Iraq and Remove Saddam From Power
Bush II Says “Mission Accomplished”
Bush II Reelected
US Reconstruction Efforts Become Bogged Down In Sunni/Shi’a Sectarian Warfare
Iranian Prime Minister Reveals Development Of Nuclear Technology And Warns Of The Destruction Of Israel
Federal Response To Katrina Disaster Is A Disaster
Military/Industrial Complex Corporations Earning Record Profits/Dow Industrial Index Reaches New All-Time Highs
Armed Militias Bring Iraq To State Of Civil War
Syrian Proxies Assassinate Several High-Level Lebanese Christian Government Officials
Hezbollah, Funded By Syria/Iran Attacks Israel
North Korea Tests Nuclear Device
Saddam Hussein Is Convicted Of Genocide By Iraqi Court, Sentenced To Death
Americans Vote For Democratic Control of House & Senate/ Bush II Repudiated For Iraq War Strategy

We can play what ifs until pigs can fly, won’t change a blessed thing. Looking back at the “what was” in the aftermath is particularly grievous. America was proud and strong in 1963, guided by leaders who lived through the horror of war and economic depression. But all people want to consider is whether he was sleeping with Marilyn Monroe. Who cares? This culture’s obsession with the prurient is stunning. If the real killer turned out to be a jilted hot blonde, we would’ve arrived at the truth in no time. I don’t feel a sense of resolve in us any longer. We’ve been co-opted by the politically correct equivocators, dreadful dishonest phonies, or front men for those who seek the ends of power for personal profit or the advancement of a malevolent agenda. So while we continue our obsession with salacious themes and personalities who offer nothing constructive in the way of cultural development, the guys who want to turn back the clock a millennium or so are planning a comeback. Looking back at all these events, all I feel is a great sense of sadness, maybe things could’ve been different, that’s all.

The murder of a President is horrifying enough; but what is even more tragic is the fact that most people were willing to accept “the official findings” and move on, even though they knew in their heart of hearts that something very sinister happened on that day. The very idea that the government would knowingly allow/permit the President of the United States to travel by motor vehicle through a shooting gallery configuration is the height of folly, and not only a breach of one phase of security protocol but a total breakdown of the system. And what is most staggering in its arrogance is the thought that the American People would buy it, when any second-year law student could look at “the evidence” and find an indictment with more holes in it than a slice of Swiss cheese.

So, whenever November 22nd rolls around and I look at the eternal flame above the President’s grave, I feel great sadness, not just for him and those who loved and were inspired by him to make America a better place, I grieve for those who were lost on battlefields far away, and for what might have been. America has lost her greatness, and I don’t know whether we’ll ever reclaim it again.

It’s up to you and me, Faithful Reader.