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Al Barger and MoreThings - getting people's goats since 1998.
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November 22, 2003
Crazy JFK assassination theories and the triumph of evil chaos
President John Kennedy got his brains blown out 40 years ago today. That was a damned shame, but these things happen. If you whack one politician, there'll always be a hundred more to take their place, much like the smaller variety of cockroaches. C'est la vie.
We'll probably never know 100% for sure, but the best indication is that it was just what it initially appeared to be: one lone gunman. Theoretically, there could have been a bunch of people or groups conspiring together, but it's unlikely that numerous collaborators could have kept their mouths shut for these many decades- besides any other evidence that would have been discovered by the fine tooth combs of government, media and authors in these passing decades.
The most interesting thing about it now is the continuing cottage industry in arcane conspiracy theories. Despite the passage of decades, this one assassination continues to haunt the collective imagination with innumerable books, tv shows, and now websites spinning incredibly arcane JFK assassination conspiracies.
Why so much widespread public emotional involvement in a relatively minor historical event (minor compared to, say, any war or the civil rights movement)? I have a theory! (Oh no, not you too.)
As much as this ground has been plowed over, I'd have to guess someone has said something similar. Forgive me then if this doesn't strike you as incredibly original. I value truth over originality anyway:
The assassination of JFK by a lone gunman represents a total triumph of evil chaos that is difficult to accept. It is understandable and acceptable emotionally that some bad powerful rich dudes might be able to muster their resources to kill even a president. It's ugly, but you can wrap your mind around it, and imagine ways to fight it.
It is much harder to accept that one petty, low level dumbass like Oswald can change the course of history with 50 cents worth of bullets and a little luck. The president has all kinds of guards, and an unlimited budget for personal security. If all those officers and millions of dollars can't protect you from just one idiot with a rifle, then there's no security for any of us ever.
This rings even more unnervingly true today than it would have in 1963. At that time, the main enemy was the USSR. They were evil, alright, but we knew who they were and where to find them. If we really had to, we could go after them.
Today, we fight an indistinct enemy. Only it's not really AN enemy, but lots of people who vaguely or more clearly wish us all harm. We can wipe out any government in the world that crosses us, but it's not mostly governments that we're dealing with. Even al Qaeda is not so much an identifiable organization at this point as just a cause, with bunches of small independent groups and- worse yet- unidentified individuals.
If all the king's horses and all the king's men can't protect him from one random crazy jackass, how can we protect ourselves from one or two guys intent on an ugly terrorist attack against US civilians? The US government has gotten pretty good at sniffing these things out, tapping phone calls between terrorists and such. But what if it's just one guy with some moderate technical expertise, and no co-conspirators to rat him out? How do you stop that?
Damned if I know. Besides, it's not like one lone guy could take out half of Manhattan. That would take a bunch of people and governments working together. I'm sure we'd get wind of it someway, and stop it.
posted by Al at 11/22/2003 12:48:00 AM
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