George Will has a fascinating essay on the transformation of liberalism following the assassination of JFK.
George F. Will: When liberals became scolds
A must read. Will points out that liberals bizarrely used the assassination to beat up conservatives and ordinary Americans, introducing the trope that it was conservative America's penchant for violence that killed JFK.
An odd assertion, given that JFK was murdered by a leftist who hated America.
As a kid I remember the frequent assertions in the media that the JFK assassination was an indictment of ordinary Americans (read: conservatives) and their violent ways. Even then I though it odd: wasn't Kennedy killed by a communist, exactly the sort of person ordinary conservative Americans disdained and liberals incessantly excused or even defended?
A few years ago, I visited The Sixth Floor Museum while on a trip to Dallas with my youngest daughter. I was surprised, and annoyed, by the frequent displays in the museum about anti-Kennedy statements by conservative groups in the lead-up to the assassination. The fact is that none of these conservative protesters had anything whatsoever to do with the assassination, and it was a communist-- just the kind of guy who these protesters detested-- who killed Kennedy. Why weren't there displays about the Left's solicitude for communism, which allowed a traitor like Oswald to return to the U.S. from the Soviet Union and to act with impunity when he returned, hawking political viewpoints (e.g. support for Castro) that were fashionable in all the liberal salons?
One hallmark of the Left was expressed nicely in an aphorism by Rahm Emmanuel, the murderously incompetent Democratic mayor of Chicago. When he was Obama's chief of staff, he said, referring to the political uses of the economic meltdown, "never let a good crisis go to waste".
Even the murder of a president by a leftist is useful to the Left, as Will points out.
It's as true of leftists in general as of Clinton (both of them) or Obama in particular: "Are their lips moving? Then they're lying."
ReplyDeleteIn the wake of the Tucscon shootings, in which Gabrielle Giffords was horribly injured, Bobby Kennedy, junior remarked that much the same climate of right-wing hate killed his uncle. The problem is that right-wing "hate" inspired neither Lee Harvey Oswald nor Jared Loughner. It was, however, a chilling reminder of the extent "liberals" will go to just to chill speech. Every time we talk, some one dies. So what's the solution? We should just stop talking! And that's what they want.
ReplyDeleteThe right of the people to criticize their government is absolute. If JFK didn't receive a warm welcome from the people of Dallas, that's fine. It was their right to do so, just as it is our right to disagree with our current president or any other.
Joey
Will is correct in every detail about the utility of the Kennedy assassination for the left (and don't forget the myth of "Camelot", which turned out in retrospect to be nothing more than a sexual playground for a morally bankrupt, drug-addled President). JFK had a rapidly collapsing Administration (Bay of Pigs, Cuban missile crisis, Vietnam, anyone?) and his untimely death gave free rein to the hagiographers of the left to create a phantom President.
ReplyDeleteIntriguing new counter-factual novel:
ReplyDeleteSurrounded by Enemies: What if Kennedy Survived Dallas?
Let's see. What liberals have done for Americans: social security, medicare, voting rights, civil rights. Winning a couple of world wars - also for non-Americans I suppose.
ReplyDeleteWhat have conservatives ever done for Americans? Except maximizing misery, that is.
You should check your civil rights history and the actuarial solvency of SS/Medicare (see 2013 Chief Actuary report). You have it wrong.
DeleteI know, I know!
DeleteThey have been standing athwart history yelling stop!
Hoo
Your reliance on Buckley is touching. Unfortunately, you're a one-trick pony.
DeleteReading a dictionary has been beneficial for admiral. His long-term memory has been getting better. Short-term, not so much.
DeleteHoo
You would be better off if you read one occasionally. It would improve the lucidity of your comments and expand your limited vocabulary.
DeleteI'm doing the best I can, admiral. English isn't my native tongue.
DeleteHow many languages can you converse in fluently?
Hoo
One. I've never been interested in - or needed, despite my travels - other languages. Why waste my time?
DeleteIt's not a matter of pride, it's a matter of indifference. If it's a sign of being American, fine. I feel no compulsion to conceal my nationality.
DeleteJames W. Douglass, professor (emeritus) of religion at the University of Hawaii, suggests that JFK was slain for opposing the National Security State.
ReplyDeleteTo learn more:
- podcast
- transcript
- essay
- book
Egnor: "I was surprised, and annoyed, by the frequent displays in the museum about anti-Kennedy statements by conservative groups in the lead-up to the assassination."
ReplyDeleteThe statements were nonetheless real.
Hoo
Propaganda is rarely a complete lie. Recall the "Zimmerman tape" promoted by NBC. It contained real statements. But it was a lie.
DeleteGrains of truth may exist in a fabric of lies. It's still propaganda.
@Hoo:
Delete[The statements were nonetheless real.]
What was the relevance to the Kennedy assassination?
I point out that there were countless people spewing hate for Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul around the time that attempts were made on their lives.
Should historical references to their assassination attempts include those statements, although they had nothing whatsoever to do with the motives of Hinkley or Agca?
Egnor: "I point out that there were countless people spewing hate for Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul around the time that attempts were made on their lives."
DeleteWe're even then. What's your problem?
Hoo
Egnor: "As a kid I remember the frequent assertions in the media that the JFK assassination was an indictment of ordinary Americans (read: conservatives) and their violent ways."
ReplyDeleteHeh. Egnor twists "ordinary Americans" into "conservatives" and then cries that he is being unfairly maligned. What a pitiful wanker!
Hoo
@Hoo:
DeleteAmerica is a center-right country, even now, and it certainly was in 1963.
Liberals' invocation of American violence was certainly not an indictment of leftist violence, but an implication that conservatives were violent. That's why they included the completely irrelevent conservative protests against Kennedy in their assassination mythology.
No, that's the Netherlands (according to Troy). Everybody's happy, too. Particularly the tots.
DeleteNo, admiral, that line describes a different place. Very American, actually.
DeleteHoo
I know who Garrison Keillor is. And Lake Woebegone is a town in Government Radioland. A very Progressive place.
DeleteWell, now you do. Although to be precise, it's spelled Wobegon.
DeleteAs to "Government Radioland," if you had ever listened to A Prairie Home Companion, you would know that it has lots of commercial sponsors, not just Powdermilk Biscuits.
Hoo
It may surprise you to learn that ol' Garrison and his defunct radio show are pretty famous here in the US. Sort of like the Muppets, but not that famous, funny, or loveable. He hails from the same state that elected a failed radio host on Air America (also defunct) and former comedian to the US Senate. Need I say more?
DeleteDefunct? I don't think so.
DeleteHoo
Zombies. They're everywhere these days.
DeleteI'd go to a local production, but I've already seen "Night of the Living Dead". Seen one, you've seen them all.
Besides, as everyone will one day realize ... it was Jackie who authorized (*) the hits on *both* JFK and RFK; the first for pretty obvious reasons, the second for, from her point of view, the same reason -- they were cheating and "cheating" on her. As everyone knows, her husband was constantly cheating on her, so she had him offed. Then, after her husband's brother "consolled" her after her "loss", he had the nerve to go back to his actual wife ... so she had him offed for "cheating" on her.
ReplyDelete(*) She was working in partnership with men who wanted justice for Marilyn Monroe's "suicide".
I always suspected John-John. I think that "salute" was a put-on.
DeleteBest quote from Will's column: Liberalism would become the doctrine of grievance groups owed redress for cumulative inherited injuries inflicted by the nation’s tawdry history, toxic present and ominous future.
ReplyDeleteThat about nails it. That's what passes for liberalism today. It's about people who feel they are owed because of a grievance--which may be real or perceived--but who nonetheless extract their revenge from people who had nothing to do with it. And while the revanchist victim groups nearly always get what they want, their victimhood never tarnishes, not even for a moment. They are always innocent, and if any one suggests otherwise, they must be bigots, which is to say thought criminals.
Ben
I enjoy watching the struggles between victim groups for higher victimization.
DeleteFor example, in the T. Martin case, Martin's black victimhood outranked Zimmermans Latino/white/black victimhood. That's how Zimmerman got transformed into a "white Hispanic". In the 2008 Presidential campaign, Obama's black/white victimhood outranked Clinton's female victimhood.
And victimhood status can be negated or assigned by political views. For example, Clarence Thomas (a true American Dream story) is considered white, while Bill Clinton was "America's first black President" anointed by none other than Toni Morrison.
It's fascinating.
Yes, how dare the liberal victimhood scum demand affordable health care. If they can't accept they haven't been blessed by Jeebus - tough luck.
DeleteAt least the conservative Catholic politicians are trying to help out the real victims - by attempting to outlaw oral sex. Government should be small enough to fit in your underwear.
That was pretty random, even for you, Troi. Huff a popper?
DeleteSpeaking of healthcare, President Jeebus (almost like a god!) is being asked some hard questions:
DeleteThe administration’s handling of the implementation of Obamacare over the past three years has been a slow-moving train wreck: a mixture of embarrassing delays, hard-to-justify waivers, and assorted bad news about the unintended consequences of the law...
The crowning blunder came 10 days ago with the rollout of healthcare.gov website, the centerpiece of the administration’s effort to sign individuals up for coverage through the government-run health care exchanges that are at the heart of the legislation. To say this was vitally important to the overall success of the law is an understatement. It is the aspect of [Jeebus]care that the president himself has said is utterly essential—and backed up those words by letting the federal government shut down rather that give in to Republican demands to gut it. Nonetheless, its premiere was a giant flop...
--- RealClearPolitics
To say the Jeebuscare rollout has been a "flop" is like calling Hurricane Katrina a "rainstorm". President Jeebus himself tried to hide behind the first iPhone demo (note: demo), but if the iPhone had "flopped" like Jeebuscare, Apple would be trading at $10.
And Jeebus has only spent $600 million dollars for a load of junk code. More is on the way! Web developers are laughing at this two-legged dog coast-to-coast!
And wait until we start seeing the heart of the law as expressed in code... the inevitable logical impossibility that must lurk in any 2000 page law written by different people at different times and never read. Telecom switch engineers call it "feature interaction"The best is yet to come, I'll wager.
Even President Jeebus won't be able to pull a miracle out of his garrulous ass this time. There's no video to blame for this dead ambassador... oops, sorry; "bump in the road".
As I noted above, it's fascinating to watch.
Those victims crying out for affordable health care got nothing of the sort. They got Obamacare, which is crappier and way more expensive. It's a turd with a bow on it. Here you go, America.
DeleteIf it was affordable health care the aforementioned victim groups were in fact demanding, they would have tossed Obama out on his bottom in 2012. They would be his most ardent critics.
Ben
Troi: "millions who couldn't afford or were denied insurance because of pre-existing conditions happily signed up"
DeleteBWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA