patrick.net

Maybe not Camelot. But Fuckalot, Drugalot, Bribealot, Murderalot, Drinkalot and DieMessedUpDeathalot, that's a different story.

I was chillin' in mom's ovaries, so I learned about the whole thing through bleary black-and-white photos in old Time-Life books - or maybe Highlights For Children (The Zapruder Issue!) at the dentist's office.

Dad was totally pink, but pulled me aside in early childhood and explained carefully that I was to take any attempted brainwashing about the Kennedy mythology with extreme skepticism. To give you an idea, he kept a JFK doll on top of his filing cabinet, posed with the hand grabbing the back of his head.

So, no, I would say my only interest in the Camelot legend was why so many people bought into it.

Basically, it was a presidency in which not much happened that was good or bad, though JFK deserves props for the Cuban Missile Crisis, in particular for his handling of Curtis LeMay.

Finally, I have always found Jackie vomitously ugly.

The assassination was the worst thing to happen to the United States between Pearl Harbor and 9-11. (I would say this no matter who had been in the limo that day.) Shooting presidents is bad for America, as it is deprives them of the right to trial in a court of law for their actions. That is un-American.

Camelot was an invention of Jackie Kennedy, in the days which followed the assassination with Life magazine.

Neither John nor Robert Kennedy referenced their time in office, as the 1000 days of Camelot. The fact that a reasonably young and handsome President was cut down in his prime, created a space for a legend to grow.

In a musical analogy, it's the reason why the Doors are so lauded today. It's because Jim Morrison died at his peak, upon the release of 'LA Woman'. Otherwise, it's more likely that the Doors would have been remembered as another Steppenwolf, a flash in the pan of that Woodstock era.

And I wasn't alive during Kennedy's time so it's all from parents and relatives.

Dan8267 says

I wonder what the Google logo will be?

Google Doodle Honors Doctor Who, Except In U.S. Because Of John F. Kennedy Assassination

Why no Google Doodle for JFK 50th

Thousands Disappointed There’s No Google Doodle Sniper Game For JFK Anniversary

I'm surprised the Google execs thought this anniversary was too controversial to touch. I was expecting a visual tribute to some of JFK's accomplishments like the lunar landing, the Peace Corps, civil rights advancements.

Yet nothing. And we don't even get the Dr. Who tribute either. Bad Google. You upset both the general masses and the geeks.

I never believed that Oswald acted on his own, I bet this was a high profile assassination. You don't shoot the shooter, unless you are afraid that he'll point a finger at a guy who hired him for the job.

Dan8267 says

I was expecting a visual tribute to some of JFK's accomplishments like the lunar landing, the Peace Corps, civil rights advancements

I'm thinking of the eternal flame fused with the Moon landing.

Ceffer says

Maybe not Camelot. But Fuckalot, Drugalot, Bribealot, Murderalot, Drinkalot and DieMessedUpDeathalot, that's a different story.

ditto... odd how the Liberal forgive Kennedy over all his sins so easily ...

Dan8267 says

Or has your perspective changed as you've gotten older?

A lot will depend on who you think killed him.
Upwards of 75% of Americans doubt the Warren Commission Report.

I have 8 close relatives who killed him, from Grandma to Great Uncle Angus, who sprayed bullets from his wheelchair at the motorcade. The sky over Elm street was black with bullets for several minutes - it was the best coordinated operation you could imagine the CIA, the mob, Castro, the FBI, the Kremlin, the Chinese, the John Birch Society, the Teamsters, the Viet Cong, Elvis, the Posse Comitatus, the Freemasons, the Trilateral Commission, Joe Dimaggio, and the Jews undertaking together. The vast numbers of Americans there that day, many carrying water-cooled/belt-fed weapons, made the whole skyline positively bristle with gun barrels.

A three-foot layer of shell casings covered Dealey Plaza from the triple underpass all the way up to the book depository. My uncles never understood how they even got the limousine to Parkland Hospital over the pyramid of spent magazines blocking the underpass.

More likely you were hangin down by the hemmoroids buying up hot property...

egads101 says

I sensed a disturbance from within the womb!