Since this is Daily Kos, I know I don't have to remind you about what happened 50 years ago yesterday. I'm guessing as I write this Thursday that this won't be anywhere close to being the only diary that's written about this, but you understand why I have to write another one. This anniversary goes along with December 7, 1941 and September 11, 2001 as dates when people knew exactly where they were and what they were doing when they learned about an event. I know that all of us can talk about the second date. This one, I know most of you can't, but I d love to hear what those of you who CAN remember remember.
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So it's about remembering. The slide I've been presenting from clearly says November 22, but I suppose there's some cognitive dissonance somewhere. Anyhow, it has this image on it and I'm not sure anyone posted it yesterday. It's the cover of LIFE, with the photographic portrait of JFK by Yousuf Karsh on it.
So, my memory and my take on all this.
I was 14. I was in the 9th grade, and I was at school in a last-period Latin class. I know the teacher was there and I know that there were other students in the room, but I can't remember who and they aren't in the image I'm carrying around. The news of Kennedy's death came over the loudspeaker, and we were told to gather our things, get our coats and go home. I honestly don't remember interacting with anyone, although I must have, but I do remember walking home (1.3 miles, through Newtonville Square and past the high school) in a state of numbness. It was a cold day and it felt like there would be snow any minute, but it didn't snow. I recognize that state of numbness now, because the last time I felt it it was a little less than a year ago when Jim died. That, of course, went on longer.
And then there was television. NBC in my family. Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. I don't know why we didn't watch Walter Cronkite, but we didn't. There was no way to make sense of any of this. Okay, so the last time had been 63 years previously, with William McKinley, but that was the work of an anarchist and nobody knew anything about the shooter. Not as much conjecture as there is now. Jack Ruby wouldn't kill Lee Harvey Oswald until two days later so this was just pointless; it hadn't moved into the theater of the absurd yet. So we watched television. I don't remember anything my parents had to say about this either; I had stopped paying attention to them a year ago for good reasons: my mother suffered from mild depression for as long as I can remember (she was in therapy for it for over a decade) so you couldn't trust anything she said of an evaluative nature and my father -- it's complicated, but let's just say he was a bore.
I knew SOMETHING about the trajectory of the country had just changed. No, I didn't worry about my goals not being achieved; that happened after the Supreme Court announced Bush v Gore in December 2000. Thankfully, I was wrong about that. And as for all of you out in Kosland who have been fretting about what Lyndon Johnson did to the Kennedy program, stop it. Lyndon Johnson is the most liberal president we have EVER had as a nation, as is evident in the first two years of his presidency, and he was simply hobbled by Vietnam. As for the promise of Bobby Kennedy, I thought he was the worst kind of opportunist (both which senate seat he ran for and the timing of his entrance into the 1968 race), and the fact that he made a secret agreement to allow Ross Barnett, the governor of Mississippi, to arrest a group of Freedom Riders when they arrived in Jackson without any DOJ interference hasn't made me like him any better.
It would be a supremely interesting decade. I've written about some of it already and I'm sure I'll be writing more about it, but tonight, let's just remember JFK and what might have been. (Thanks, MB)
And now for the stuff that makes this Top Comments:
TOP COMMENTS, November 23, 2013: Thanks to tonight's Top Comments contributors! Let us hear from YOU when you find that proficient comment.
From BeninSC:
This comment by cjtjc (cj's first comment on Daily Kos!) gives a perspective of a charity administrator in this holiday season.
Another first-time commenter, Malcolm Kantzler, appears in a Thursday diary, with a very thoughtful, near diary-length comment on super-majority and the Constitution.
From
your intrepid diarist:
There were a lot of gems in BFSkinner's music diary last night, but here4tehbeer's contribution made me exclaim out loud in agreement.
TOP MOJO, November 22, 2013 (excluding Tip Jars and first comments):
1) They don't miss a trick, do they? by Crashing Vor — 153
2) Excellent work. by lgmcp — 138
3) Of course, you do understand that I've been... by bobswern — 121
4) Marcy is awesome with her analysis by TheMomCat — 107
5) And nobody in the group corrected him! by leevank — 104
6) It's difficult to quantify by DeadHead — 87
7) Dr. Mengele would be proud. n/t by commonmass — 75
8) Reefer madness will not die, apparently. by FogCityJohn — 75
9) great job; as Rush becomes more and more isolated by entlord — 74
10) The past is never the past by Vetwife — 71
11) Joe and Mike are MSNBC's version of HANNITY&Colmes by MinistryOfTruth — 70
12) Great minds... by ek hornbeck — 69
13) And in a very hostile environment. by ek hornbeck — 69
14) If only. by ek hornbeck — 66
15) This by Im a frayed knot — 64
16) The simple answer... by thomstark — 64
17) That's the basic problem with powerful... by bobswern — 63
18) I'm shocked by catnap1972 — 60
19) Right to work by War on Error — 59
20) You mean former Repulican Congressman Joe? by citizenx — 57
21) It's a good point but I think you err by jasonb — 57
22) the sadness of this situation by art ah zen — 56
23) Shot dead, handcuffed, back of a police car? by Bisbonian — 56
24) You cannot explain it to anyone.. by CanisMaximus — 54
25) Series: "Will The Circle Be Unbroken?" by HeyMikey — 52
26) Thank you, Senator by word is bond — 52
27) Marcy Wheeler by LeftHandedMan — 51
28) It's a well orchestrated operation, and they by David54 — 50
29) I too loathe those who "game the system by Uncle Cosmo — 50
30) It's insane by LeftHandedMan — 50
For an explanation of How Top Mojo Works, see
mik's
FAQing Top Mojo
TOP PHOTOS, November 22, 2013: Enjoy jotter's wonderful PictureQuilt below. Just click on the picture and it will magically take you to the comment that features that photo. Have fun, Kossacks!