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The Providence Journal recently published this op-ed piece from G. B. Arnold, the author of Conspiracy Theory in Film, Television & Politics.
Arnold doesn’t claim to know whether there was a conspiracy or not, but he does have something to say about the murky circumstances of the assassination leading many Americans to question the official reports.
A cynical legacy of JFK assassination
01:00 AM EST on Friday, November 21, 2008
BEVERLY, Mass.
WHAT DO THE ASSASSINATION of John F. Kennedy and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, have in common? For many Americans, the answer is that they are both the result of a conspiracy.
That is not surprising. Since the president’s murder, which took place on Nov. 22, 1963, 45 years ago tomorrow, Americans have increasingly turned to conspiracy theories as the explanations for a wide range of events….. Read the entire article at ProJo.com….
Article (c) The Providence Journal.
The assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963 was not only a seismic event in American political history, but also a major factor in the growth of conspiracy-theory thinking in the United States. People still bitterly disagree about whether Lee Harvey Oswald acted along (or was even involved) or whether a larger conspiracy was behind the president’s murder. Here’s an article that was published in Bread and Circus online magazine to mark the 45th anniversary of that dark day in American history.
The Continuing JFK Assassination Controversy — The Conspiracy Question Lingers
By G. B. Arnold
On a sunny day forty-five years ago, John F. Kennedy was assassinated as he rode in an open air limousine through the streets of Dallas, Texas. From that day until the horrific events of September 11, 2001, the president’s assassination stood unrivaled as the nation’s most widely shared and deeply felt national tragedy. If you were old enough to remember anything in 1963, you remember that. And you probably remember the exact circumstances in which you heard the shocking news.
The assassination was arguably the “crime of the century.” The alleged killer, a troubled man named Lee Harvey Oswald, was captured within hours of the shooting. But soon after, while he was in custody awaiting trial and as the police investigation went forward, Oswald was murdered.
Without a trial, there were many open questions. To address them, the federal government launched an official investigation under the auspices of the Warren Commission. In its final report, the Commission concluded that Oswald was the lone killer.
But not long after the Warren Commission issued its report, some people started questioning its judgment. Some people were especially skeptical of the Commission’s claim that Oswald had acted alone. They figured there must be more to the story, that there must have been a conspiracy to pull off such a shocking event.
Over the years, many official and unofficial investigations attempted to clear up the mystery. Many studies did not agree with the Warren Report. But conclusive evidence of a conspiracy — evidence about which all parties could agree — was not forthcoming. All these years later, despite Herculean efforts and massive investigations, people still disagree about whether Oswald acted alone or whether there was a conspiracy.
The possibility of a JFK conspiracy has prompted an avalanche of publications, films, and Inte
rnet sites. The multitude of theories presented includes a long list of potential conspirators, ranging from the mob, anti-Castro Cubans, pro-Castro Cubans, the Soviets, and officials in American government and industry. In the many theories that have been presented, the cast of possible conspirators sometimes appear in surprising combinations, with a wide range of possible motivations. Some of the theories seem much more plausible than others. Perhaps the most famous of all such theories appears in Oliver Stone’s 1991 movie JFK, which struck a chord with many viewers.
Public opinion polls show that a sizable number of Americans believe the Warren Commission’s findings were wrong and that there was probably a conspiracy involved. For those people seeking to refute such beliefs, it’s hard going. Skepticism about the original finding that Oswald was the lone killer runs high.
Last year, famed 
attorney Vincent Bugliosi entered the fray, issuing a massive tome with no less than 1,648 pages and so many citations that they are contained in an accompanying CD-ROM. The book, Reclaiming History (W.W. Norton, 2007) is a truly monumental work, in which Bugliosi tries to debunk as many of the conspiracy theories as possible.
Still, it is hard to disprove the theoretical possibility of a conspiracy. And it does not appear that he has persuaded many conspiracy theorists so far.
Whatever you think about the assassination — whether you think it was the work of one man or of a cabal — the shock of the president’s assassination and its murky circumstances still reverberate in our society. It’s an unsettled part of our national story that probably won’t go away anytime soon.
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Read about the rise of conspiracy theory as a major part of American pop culture and politics in Conspiracy Theory in Film, Television, and Politics from Praeger Publisher.
BOOK REVIEW NEWS
Check out the November 7, 2008 edition of the web-based Blogcritics Magazine for a review of Conspiracy Theory in Film, Television, and Politics. (Read the full review here.) The piece was written by Tim Gebhart, who operates th
e Progressive on the Prairie web-site.
Blogcritics is an online magazine, a community of writers and readers from around the globe. Originally founded by Eric Olsen in 2002, it is now part of Technorati.
