I'm watching a documentary on the History Channel about the Kennedy family, with lots of background and home movies. I'm over 90 minutes into it and it's stayed very far away from the subject of who did the hatchet work, and why. No mention of conspiracy theories, but several of the "family curse."
This is typical of the way media's fascination with our fears and superstitions trumps the search for the truth, and outrage with people we know have their hands on the real facts, but keep their cowardly mouths shut tight. It is especially relevant to ask who killed the Kennedys now, five years after 9/11 and we still don't have a revealing answer as to who did it and why, and rumors are circulating that Osama bin Laden has died, but we don't know if, when or where. We also don't know if he was really involved with 9/11, although that theory is as good as any.
One thing is very certain about all of it: whatever your opinion, you don't know and you never will. In the case of 9/11, you can be sure Bush, Cheney and Rove know the real story, and they aren't going to tell you. You aren't entitled to know, and they're far too important to sully their hands with such dirty work. Or something like that. Their behavior strongly suggests they don't want you to see how bloody their bungling hands are.
I have a secret theory of my own about the deaths of John, Robert and John, Jr., which is as good as any theory, I figure, because we'll never know. I've never shared my theory, but I've thought it since the day JFK was shot. I believe all three were killed by the GOP. I believe JFK's fate was sealed when he overpowered Nixon in their televised debate. Republicans always ignored the unmistakable fact Nixon was a ridiculous clown; to them, and himself, he was a very important republican who must be respected. When Kennedy was narrowly elected, it was a not just a defeat, but an unendurable humiliation; and not just for republicans, but for Nixon, unfairly punched in the nose by ungrateful voters who failed to recognize his importance and respectability. Out came the "I miss Ike" bumper stickers.
Because the Kennedys have influenced American society for generations by virtue of their personalities and character, they've been a thorn in the side of the GOP. The perception of John Kennedy's attitude that nothing was beyond his grasp became a standard republicans would assume and turn against the Kennedys and democrats. Their lack of infrastructure and legitimate candidates gave them an incredibly frustrating feeling of powerlessness, however, and the GOP began a long campaign to organize and coordinate campaigns and voters. And in the 1960s, the conviction was born that absolutely nothing was as important as winning, and no means were beyond using, no matter how vile or illegal.
The poorest of losers, republicans felt forced to avenge Nixon's embarrassing loss. They began planning immediately how to run him for president again, and felt he'd be a perfect candidate against Johnson. When he failed to receive the party's nomination, a terrible angst began building with some in the party--and when Robert Kennedy was nominated in the next cycle, well, something had to be done.
Add to that the perception that Dubya couldn't beat John Kennedy, Jr. if he were to declare his intention to run in 2000, and you have a consistent theory. Since then, the GOP has done every imagineable thing to win everywhere, everytime. Republicans can deny my theory if they want. It's just my opinion, after all. But, if they deny it, I say, prove it. Portions of the Warren Commission report which would shed light on JFK's assassination are still sealed and will be for another generation or two, if not longer. Today's egregious lawbreaking by the Bush administration and the stunts Reagan and Bush41 pulled have been inspired in no small part by retribution for Nixon's resignation (which, incidentally, wasn't the democrats' fault), and they hold the secrets of Iran-Contra, 9/11, Osama--and, who killed the Kennedys. You won't find out, and republicans will make damn sure you NEVER find out. I was surprised Bill Clinton wasn't assassinated, but the GOP did impeach him for no reason.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
"The poorest of losers, republicans felt forced to avenge Nixon's embarrassing loss."
imho, that is entirely too benign a motive for undertaking a 50+ year campaign to acquire unfettered power, establish social control, attempt to monopolize the world's resources, and extend global hegemony... the tools they are using to accomplish this agenda - eviscerating the social compact, creating chaotic conditions meant to insure endless war, and manipulating citizens through fear - go well beyond revenge for an embarrassing political loss... as over the top as it may sound, these people are pure evil and harbor nothing but the darkest intentions... they are dangerous and they must be stopped... our job is to figure out how to do it...
I admit it's an idea that's impossible to defend. But so is any theory about any of those things. Until the truth is told, it's all just wild guesses. Howard Zinn pointed out in his address at Camp Democracy that democracy happens in the streets, not the legislative halls. It's time to take to the streets, and beyond. It's been that way since 2000. I don't know how far people will have to be pushed. I've been ready, but I'll look pretty dumb going by myself.
Heh, besides! If Jerry Falwell can claim conservative evangelical Christians fear Hillary Clinton more than Satan, then the gloves come off.
To quote a book review at BuzzFlash.com, Ultimate Sacrifice: John and Robert Kennedy, the Plan for a Coup in Cuba, and the Murder of JFK (Hardcover) by Lamar Waldron, with Thom Hartmann:
"Certainly, when it comes to speculation about what information the U.S. government has kept from its citizens, the Warren Commission -- and the John F. Kennedy assassination -- is the granddaddy of examples of how we are kept in the dark.
BuzzFlash isn't a great follower of Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories, because there are so many. This is precisely because the goal of the Warren Commission -- like the goal of the 9/11 Commission -- was to make sure that nothing was revealed that might cause domestic or international shock waves.
BuzzFlash doesn't profess to know the true tale of who was behind the Kennedy assassination. But, many of the conspiracy theories are more believable than the Warren Commission report, which bent facts like pretzels in order to "conclude" that Oswald was an isolated, rogue assassin. In fact, it is extremely difficult to fathom -- given the available information and logic -- that Oswald acted entirely on his own volition."
Would you believe Oswald wasn't involved at all? . . . that he was a pre-arranged patsy?
"The problem presented when you have a tradition of an elitist government that keeps the truth from the public is that it is very difficult to ferret out what really happened -- because much of the information that you need to come to a plausible conclusion has been destroyed, classified or purposefully shunted aside.
That is why 'Ultimate Sacrifice: John and Robert Kennedy, the Plan for a Coup in Cuba, and the Murder of JFK' breaks new ground in the effort to understand why JFK was assassinated. Co-authored by Thom Hartmann, one of BuzzFlash's favorite colleagues, and Lamar Waldron, a veteran researcher -- this 912-page book was 17 years in the making. Hartmann and Waldron took advantage of belatedly declassified CIA and other government documents to carefully document their theory, along with extensive interviews with individuals close to the Kennedys and the CIA."
Read the rest. I haven't acquired the book yet - I'm waiting for it to appear at my used-book emporium, but anything Thom Hartmann has a role in is bound to be [yuk, yuk, bound to be . . . <|;-D . . . heheh] worth the read and very educational.
I wonder sometimes if these so-called 'bright guys' running our government have ever figured out that the general population isn't as doltish as they imagine, and if the issues don't ever go away, perhaps the fault is - dare I say it - theirs???
Just remember how pointy our ears became when Raisinbrain began his obvious resistance to a proper 911 investigation, and when the resistance failed, tried to put uber-cover-up artist, Kissinger, in charge of it. Then came their refusals to testify at all, followed by refusing to testify under oath . . . yadda, yadda, yadda . . . If people hadn't noticed before the likelihood these @$$holes probably had plenty to hide, they certainly did then!
Actually, the GOP *needed* to impeach Clinton to have one to balance against the impeachment of Nixon. Assassination would just have made him a national icon like Kennedy.
While I don't think the GOP payback theory explains the assassinations, it does explain a lot of what the Republicans have been up to -- including the canonization of Saint Ronnie. The Democrats by and large produce presidents who are beloved, do good works after leaving office, and where the worst you can say about them is that some of them are oversexed. The Republicans tend to produce presidents who are reviled, spend their post-presidential years playing golf and chasing money, and who no woman would look at twice.
The Republicans, not being able to understand that there's an actual difference in personality between them and the Democrats, seem to think it's all a matter of PR and that if they can just smear enough Democrats and overinflate enough Republicans, they'll get back to parity. It's a lot like them calling the Democratic Party the "Democrat Party" -- not merely a cheap shot, but a Freudian response to their subliminal awareness that the Democrats are the party of the people and they aren't.
Democrats, being the generous, big-hearted people they mostly are, tend not to notice that the Republicans have a bad self-image problem, thinking of themselves as a pack of slimy, foul-smelling rat bastards who cower in dark corners and launch stealth attacks against the higher values of the nation. Unfortunately, there's no easy way to correct this short of them turning into genuine human beings -- which is the one thing they seem determined not to do. It's a conundrum.
I was in fourth grade when JFK was shot, so I was just a kid. But, I remember being very impressed by the the bewildering reaction the republicans had with Nixon's and Goldwater's defeats. They couldn't stand it. The republicans next door became militant. The previously amicable relations across the aisle in Congress began to degenerate. And the GOP agenda became an endless list of dirty tricks, when all they really had to do was get some candidates who didn't behave and look like a bag of hammers. Now they all vote for Hasbro Wind Up Toy so long as it's republican, and poor behavior demonstrates their idea of might makes right.
Anyway, at the time I thought about who had an axe to grind with JFK: DoD, CIA, Cuba, the Mafia...but none of them were as agitated and irrational as the GOP. Sheesh, I thought, concede and move on already.
You're quite right, Mr. U. None of them were as irrational as the GOP. The GOP is irrational.
While I haven't read Thom's book yet, he and his co-author have talked about it quite a bit on Thom's program so I know enough about it to know they believe, based on the documentation that HAS been released, as well as their interviews with surviving witnesses, that irrationality had nothing to do with any of it. It was as cold-blooded an event as anyone could imagine - the mob taking out JFK as a means of stopping his brother, Bobby.
The cover-up that followed was by Bobby, according to this evidence, in an effort to prevent what those in the know felt would become World War III. Amazing. I can't wait to lay my hands on a copy.
I began thinking that if the film shows the driver of the limo shooting Kennedy, and with so many eyes watching, how could he have been anyone but a known Secret Service agent? So, was he a double agent? Bill Clinton? A tall white? Anybody can play this game, and so it goes with Osama, 9/11, deportation, wiretapping, ad infinitum.
i dig most of your theory in original post, Uranus. and the book quoted by LeeB sounds really good.
prof marcus, your last 'graph and this next certainly do NOT sound 'over the top': these people are pure evil and harbor nothing but the darkest intentions... they are dangerous and they must be stopped... our job is to figure out how to do it...
Thanks Lee and Rimone. I feel like the Nixon experience did a lot to radicalize the GOP. One thing led to another. As far as the GOP killing the Kennedys, it lacks much substantive basis, but the bigger point to this is that it's fun to play who has the button, and anyone can do it. So, before you get too married to a hypothesis, consider most all of them come from people who are not better authority than I am.
Post a Comment