JFK - 50 years on
Brosnan_fan
Sydney, AustraliaPosts: 521MI6 Agent
So this Friday will be the 50th anniversary of the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. (Never should we forget.)
As someone who was not born when it happened, I would be much obliged if those here who are old enough to remember that time, would care to share their stories (How old you were, where you were and what you were doing, etc.). Most importantly, how much of an effect did it have on your life?
Many thanks if you share.
As someone who was not born when it happened, I would be much obliged if those here who are old enough to remember that time, would care to share their stories (How old you were, where you were and what you were doing, etc.). Most importantly, how much of an effect did it have on your life?
Many thanks if you share.
"Well, he certainly left with his tails between his legs."
Comments
* yes, he's really old 8-)
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
I was holding the F15 assault rifle, riding in the car behind JFK when I accidentally shot him !
Rather like when Farah Fawcett died.
She hardly got a mention...now should anyone like to tell us why?
and now History but still a Thriller.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
To say something useful, it screwed America. Not because things would have been great with JFK living. Many hated him at the time, as with Barack Obama, who in the last two weeks oddly (I must have missed the memo) is now exposed it seems as a lame duck with clay feet. Yet as he died, the US in some ways adopted a loser's mantra - if only. If only he had lived, it wouldn't have got into Vietnam to the same extent, wouldn't have been humiliated and so on. Rob Kennedy wouldn't have been killed, not maybe Chappaquiddick and all that stuff. It like the guy who looks back on his life and wonders, what if? What if my life had taken that other turn? How things would have been so much better. And that's a killer.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
"Rob Kennedy"?
I like to think he was a great man (im sure some of you will disagree) was he the great hope for the world again I like to think so
and I think we was robbed of a great man but we will never know, 2 coincedences for me 1 he was buried on my birthday and 2
the funeral march music (peril on the sea ) is the song we sing at our freemasons lodge
Kennedy and Oswald had copies of FRWL. Only The President had the hardback
and Oswald the paperback. Although it was a very popular book so I'm sure many
people had copies of it.
Er, it would help if you started somewhere... I might discern the source of your objection.
"Rob Kennedy" is Robert Kennedy, you know, younger brother of JFK, er got shot later in the decade...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy
Or was "Rob" too informal for you?
Roger Moore 1927-2017
No need for Rudeness Sir
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Hides a very deep respect.
As a kid My parents had a few Heroes ( We even had pictures on the hall wall of them ) who they would tell us about
to explain right and wrong etc and to hold up as examples of what you as a person should strive for.
One was Martin Luther King, and the civil rights movement. I find it amazing that some stood against Civil rights for
people. Then again Hate is very easy to sell to people, just blame one group for all the troubles of a country then sit
back and watch it Burn.
Ghandi, Showing how Non-Violent civil acts can bring down a governement or system, and lastly JFK .
I too was born after his murder, but have had an interest in it for years. Some Conspiracies don't hold water and fall
apart,But With the Kennedy Murder. I believe we'll never get the truth. Although I do believe there was more than one
assassin, and it did deeply hurt America.
Kennedy was pushing for equal rights and reducing America's footprint in Vietnam, It was through that terrible war
that Drugs became so powerful all through the USA. It's also sad to think that today would've been the birthday of his
son, John F. Kennedy Jr who died in a tragic plane crash
Along with the killing of Bobby Kennedy, the 60s saw the killing of many Great and Peacful men.
So maybe I was raised by a couple of Hippy types, but I think I'm the better for it. -{
Kennedy was killed by the Elite because he exposed there Plan.
To the point of substance, I personally don't buy the "America became a no-confidence loser" thesis in your original post -- it came across to me like a forced attempt to draw macro-level conclusions where there are none to be drawn, and to wrap the whole JFK legacy into a neat and tidy package. In my view, that is revisionist history rife with what-ifs.
To be sure, the President's assassination was horrific, tragic and completely wrong, whether it was the work of a lone nutjob or a conspiratorial cabal of some kind (and that's the thing -- no one ever describes who the conspirators actually are, other than "the elite" or "the entrenched interests" or "the mob"). But I do not buy the assumption that, in and of itself, JFK's death begat a radically different stance on Vietnam, assassinations of others (MLK or RFK), or the drug culture in America (now I am refuting TP more than you Nap). And Chappaquiddick -- are you serious? Ted Kennedy got drunk while womanizing and drove off a bridge because his brothers had been shot? Come on.
I will grant you that this country has collectively wondered for years what would have happened had JFK remained alive. But I would argue that such reflection has been done with far less collective certainty as to what the answer was than your post would suggest. Most people interpret history through their own biases, and the range of biases here is far wider than simple mourning for what might have been. Put another way, we have moved on -- never forgetting who he was or how unfairly his life and legacy were cut short, but also recognizing that the lens needed to be pointed forward.
Having an argument with a bloke who had several videos of beheadings on his
Phone and wanted to show me, he couldn't understand why I thought it was sick
and refused to look at them.
Well, it's fairly well established that if anything, Kennedy's death helped put his legal intentions in motion, as the more skilled negotiator LBJ used his muscle to pass Civil Rights legislation. In that sense, there are parallels with Obama who is not known for making nice with his Republican opponents (but fortunately has lived so we can see that, not implying it would be better if he'd taken a bullet and got someone else to put his legislation thru).
But as you have implied, I am talking about history as it is perceived. Yes, Kennedy might have got the US as embroiled in Vietnam as any other President, assuming he would have been reelected. But as fate intervened, many Americans feel that they could never know for sure. It's a bit like comparing the tragedy of Lennon's death at 40 to how it would have been in 1965. The actual death, well, tragic but does not really affect music's trajectory, his impact has been made. But in 1965? Different altogether.
So some Americans will feel that fate dealt them a curveball they've been trying to recover from ever since, that things just went bad and downhill for them and the Kennedy clan. It's the perception I am alluding to as much as what actually occurred. It's what sets the tone for the film JFK, and also the brilliant credits of Watchman; the idea that since that bullet the US has entered a parallel universe not of its own making.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
But enough from me -- I have said my piece and I think I understand where you're coming from, even if I disagree. As you know, we also disagree on how good OHMSS is. Other than that, we're usually simpatico. -{
Roger Moore 1927-2017
By accident by one of the secret service men in the following car. Explaining the
Difference in the caliber of the bullets etc.