JFK , his life and legacy.

[Zingari]

I'm sure most of you realise that  next Friday is the 50th anniversary of one of the defining moments in history , in my lifetime at least ( and it's not the first episode of Doctor Who ). 

 

I've been quite a keen reader of JFK   conspiracy assassination stuff and I'd like to hear poster's thoughts about that . 

But I'd also like to hear   about some thoughts about his life , legacy , Camelot , handling of the Cuban missile crisis , his plans to pull out of Vietnam,  scandals, charisma , his seemingly cursed family etc etc. The deaths of Bobby , JFK jnr 

Did the world change at the moment of his death? Did a dream really die that day ? 

 Is he even relevant to the young generation now  ? 

Anything about JFK really. 

I realise that there may only be a few of us with actual memories of him and probably don't realise or can comprehend  the shock waves that reverberated around the world at his death.  

 

Fire away ( maybe not the best phrase to use here)

[Vacamion]

Top Shagger.

[The Year Of The Fox]

I was going to start a thread too though don't know enough to comment much. Some of the conspiracies sound more plausible than what supposedly happened. Why did the FBI take his brain away, allegedly hide evidence and doctor their own X-Rays?

[bovril]

Got the credit for the handling over the missile crisis when it was Kruschev and Castro who deserve more of the credit. And messed up the Bay of Pigs.

[Guest]

The conspiracy stuff always intrigues me to be honest. Wouldn't call myself a conspiracy nut but there's always something that I just can't get on board with under most explanations that I've seen.

Whilst it was my parents generation rather than mine it's interesting to see the effects of a moment that not only defined a generation but subsequent ones and the effects of his legacy.

[Webbo]

It's hard to know when all you've got to go is books and TV programmes when all of these are made/written by people with their own agenda. Some people say he was a great President others say he was style over substance.

 

As for the conspiracy theories they all make assumptions based on their own prejudices rather than any actual proof.

[Vacamion]

I appreciate entirely that here in the UK we are swimming in inherited power, rampant nepotism and an aristocracy, but I always found it bizarre that since JFK, anyone from the Kennedy family who is remotely photogenic, can move their lips in time to the music and hasn't yet killed someone or become a crack addict, gets put forward as a potential future President.

 

It paved the way for similar stuff from the Bush clan.

 

I thought they strove for independence to get away from that sort of stuff?

 

 

Not Kennedy's fault, but certainly his legacy...

[notnow john]

I don't know much about the Kennedys.

Thought Chapaquiddik was a payday loan company.

[davieG]

I was a naive teen having just left school and started my apprenticeship just a month before. I was supposed to be at night school but was bunking off at the cinema.

 

 I can't remember how much I knew about JFK but as I sat there in the cinema on my own watching The Longest Day re the DDay landings they actually stopped the film to announce he'd been shot/assassinated, how often has a film been stopped like that.

 

Well I was totally shocked and left the cinema and went home completely forgetting I was supposed to be at college which meant I had to make up some bull shit about why I was home early.

 

I just have recollections that in a world that seemed to be permanently on the brink of a nuclear war he came across as a young, even to me charismatic, honest, peace loving new age man, sorry for the clichés. Who had made a massive impression on me something no politician has done since. But then I'm no longer a naive teen but a cynical old git and I guess in the passage of time as his strengths and weaknesses have been exposed I guess he'd probably have a lower impact on me if he'd been around now as a USA President

[pSinatra]

I've never quite understood the Kennedy love-in?

 

He talked a good talk but what did he actually achieve, apart from taking the world as close as it has ever been to nuclear war?  His brother can take some of the credit for that too.  He has been viewed positively by some in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis, but that has more to do with American's irrational fear of Communism than the facts.  His disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion, exploding cigars, a whole catalogue of misguided attempts to topple communism in a country that he had no authority in.  What did he expect the Cubans to do?  Sit there & take it?  Nobody likes a bully

 

The Kennedy family's involvement in criminal activity & close associations with the Mafia.  His love for the ladies.  It's fair to say that US politics & corruption go hand in hand, but I've never understood why Kennedy is held in such high esteem?

 

He spoke well & had charisma.  For whatever reason, his term of office was cut short & we can only speculate on what could have been?  He seems to be viewed on the promise he showed rather than actual achievements.

[Mike Oxlong]

His missus was bangtidy.

[MC Prussian]

 

To the outside world, he was the knight in the shining armour, a figurehead for change and democracy, but in real life and personally, a real mess.

Allegedly, he was on a lot of painkillers, antibiotics and sleeping pills due to a permanent back problem (he was forced to sleep on the floor most of the time), he had liver problems, suffered from a form of Addison's disease (hence his "bronze" skin), became bloated after the constant use of cortisone and shagged every woman that was pretty and close enough.

 

I'm still wondering whether we'll ever find out who really shot JFK back in 1963...

 

Speaking of which, somebody recently re-assembled and stabilized the Zapruder film footage of Kennedy getting hit in Dallas:

[lavrentis]

Oswald - patsy

[johnny the fox]

He could of had the glass roof on the limo..but he ordered it to be removed.. thus putting his trust (and his life) in the hands of his fellow man. A fatal error, and that is a legacy WE all could learn from. don't trust anybody, its inevitable they will let you fookin down in the end. a tragic trueness of the human condition.

[foxfanazer]

Don't know enough about him to comment much but his assassination does intrigue me.

Also know he was meant to have links to the mafia. Wasn't he pally with Sinatra?

[Kitchandro]

It's hard to know when all you've got to go is books and TV programmes when all of these are made/written by people with their own agenda. Some people say he was a great President others say he was style over substance.

 

As for the conspiracy theories they all make assumptions based on their own prejudices rather than any actual proof.

 

The JFK assassination is one of those conspiracy theories where you look a crackpot if you don't believe it.

 

Clearly, he was not shot by one gunman, it did not happen how the authorities told it, and it's extremely unlikely Oswald was even in the vicinity at the time of the shooting.

 

And that is from actual proof, hard facts and evidence.

 

Who actually killed him and for what motive is up for debate. But a web of lies it most certainly is.

[OzFox]

The JFK assassination is one of those conspiracy theories where you look a crackpot if you don't believe it.

 

Clearly, he was not shot by one gunman, it did not happen how the authorities told it, and it's extremely unlikely Oswald was even in the vicinity at the time of the shooting.

 

And that is from actual proof, hard facts and evidence.

 

Who actually killed him and for what motive is up for debate. But a web of lies it most certainly is.

 

Such as? 50 years and not one of the conspiracy theories has been proven, and most are easily dismantled if you actually look at the "hard facts and evidence"

[johnny the fox]

The JFK assassination is one of those conspiracy theories where you look a crackpot if you don't believe it.

 

Clearly, he was not shot by one gunman, it did not happen how the authorities told it, and it's extremely unlikely Oswald was even in the vicinity at the time of the shooting.

 

And that is from actual proof, hard facts and evidence.

 

Who actually killed him and for what motive is up for debate. But a web of lies it most certainly is.

Its great  to be that adamant and that sure, but for that to be true the conspiracy would have to involve hundreds  if not thousands of people.,all who kept their gobs shut for 50 years. could happen I suppose.

[ADK]

The official explanation seems plausible enough.

[Kitchandro]

Its great  to be that adamant and that sure, but for that to be true the conspiracy would have to involve hundreds  if not thousands of people.,all who kept their gobs shut for 50 years. could happen I suppose.

 

Not necessarily. Only a few people would need to know the full story.

 

Besides, who's kept their mouth shut?  Plenty of witnesses to various things around the incident have come out with contradictory statements and things that don't add up. Officials, doctors, etc.

 

Loads of evidence has been hidden or destroyed, loads of things weren't done by the book.

 

The way the authorities said he was shot, by one gunman, and the trajectory of the bullets, is pretty much impossible.

 

Also, where Oswald was arrested doesn't add up with where he supposed to be when the shooting happened, and the aftermath.

 

Then he's just randomly shot by some mafia dude. Cos that just happens.....

 

And that's just the basics.

The official explanation seems plausible enough.

 

yeh right.

[Zingari]

Got the credit for the handling over the missile crisis when it was Kruschev and Castro who deserve more of the credit. And messed up the Bay of Pigs.

I think it's generally accepted that he knew absolutely nothing about the bay of pigs invasion until after it had started , but yes , he refused to send military aid to the operation that he believed was the clandestine work of the CIA .

That is why he sacked Dulles and vowed to smash the CIA into a thousand pieces.

He made two very serious enemies with that statement .( CIA and anti Castro Cubans)

 

Thanks for some interesting replies everyone

[Zingari]

Top Shagger.

quite so 

 

 

3 of his many dalliances 

 

 

he makes Clinton look like a feckin rank amateur 

[Zingari]

 

 

To the outside world, he was the knight in the shining armour, a figurehead for change and democracy, but in real life and personally, a real mess.

Allegedly, he was on a lot of painkillers, antibiotics and sleeping pills due to a permanent back problem (he was forced to sleep on the floor most of the time), he had liver problems, suffered from a form of Addison's disease (hence his "bronze" skin), became bloated after the constant use of cortisone and shagged every woman that was pretty and close enough.

 

I'm still wondering whether we'll ever find out who really shot JFK back in 1963...

 

Speaking of which, somebody recently re-assembled and stabilized the Zapruder film footage of Kennedy getting hit in Dallas:

 

how anyone can watch that ( frame 313)and insist he was shot from the rear is beyond me

[Zingari]

He could of had the glass roof on the limo..but he ordered it to be removed.. thus putting his trust (and his life) in the hands of his fellow man. A fatal error, and that is a legacy WE all could learn from. don't trust anybody, its inevitable they will let you fookin down in the end. a tragic trueness of the human condition.

i'm not sure if that is true , but did he also order his own bodyguards to stand down from the rear of the car ? 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6OWcujJSCU

[pSinatra]

So what's your theory Zing, on his assassination?  Have you come to an opinion or are you simply not buying the official story & keeping an open mind?

 

I've heard all sorts of theories & protagonists, but I've not come to any conclusions.  I would love to find out for sure one day though.  If someone who 100% knows the events of  that day was to step forward & give the definitive explanation for his death, I don't believe it would be accepted.  People would still look to pick holes & we would end up going around in circles again.

 

Was it the CIA, the Mafia, Castro, the Russians, LBJ, anti-Castro Cubans, an accidental shooting, the Federal Reserve Bank.......have I left anyone out?

 

Do you have a leaning towards one particular theory over any other?