An innocent post on Facebook noting the date—November 22, 1963—and asking people if they remember, and where they were, is getting a stunning reaction, as at least two articles published Monday still seek answers about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy at Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Tex.
Some weren’t even born, but most others recall the day with details about how they found out from teachers or school officials.
But questions still remain, despite the controversial Warren Report that placed the blame solely on Lee Harvey Oswald, the former Marine who went to Russia, came back with a wife, worked at the Texas School Book Depository from whence the fatal shots were fired. Oswald’s own demise on live television two days later, on Sunday, Nov. 24 by Dallas nightclub figure Jack Ruby only added to conspiracy theories that have lingered over the years.
Writing at the Miami Herald, author Jefferson Morley notes the release of the “last of the JFK documents” has been delayed yet, again until December 2022. The editor of the “JFK Facts” blog, Morley perhaps justifiably wonders why. After all, it’s been more than a half-century since Kennedy was declared dead at Parkland Hospital. Who could possibly still be alive to face prosecution? Or is there something more going on here, Morley wonders.
“The delay struck me — and University of Texas Professor James Galbraith, among others — as a smoking gun in itself,” he writes. “The CIA’s slow-walking tactics are not quite definitive proof of a JFK conspiracy. They do, however, demonstrate that the CIA does not intend to obey a law concerning the assassination of a sitting American president. The most plausible explanation of the CIA’s six-decade long history of deception, deceit and delay about assassination-related records is the desire to hide embarrassment or malfeasance. If nothing else, Biden’s order on the JFK files indicates that the CIA has a JFK problem: the clandestine service today cannot afford full disclosure about what happened in Dallas a long time ago.”
And Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone has also thrown down a gauntlet, writing at the Hollywood Reporter, “On the matter of openness about President John F. Kennedy’s assassination on Nov. 22, 1963, there is not much difference between former President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden… Most people thought that Biden would break with Trump and declassify everything immediately on the due date of Oct. 26. He didn’t. He has now given the CIA and FBI until Dec. 15, 2022, to comply with the law. Between Trump and Biden, the total delay will be more than five years. In other words, the public will have waited 59 years since Kennedy’s assassination for the declassification of the last of the JFK records.” Stone directed the 1991 film “JFK.”
The question remains: Why the stall?
JFK was a very popular president, challenging the nation, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” He was a decorated WWII hero, commander of the famed PT 109, had a gorgeous First Lady in Jacqueline Kennedy and was a shoe-in for re-election in 1964. He was a member of the National Rifle Association, the man who stared down Nikita Kruschev over nuclear missiles in Cuba, and some suspect that if he were running today, the current Democratic Party would have nothing to do with him.
Writing at The Washington Post, Louisiana State University Prof. Alecia P. Long delves into the nation’s continued fascination with the JFK assassination. It makes interesting reading, but reaches no conclusions.
Perhaps the fascination about Kennedy’s murder stems from the way the investigation was conducted to fit what seemed like preconceived notions about Oswald, the capabilities of his surplus Italian rifle—an odd choice for an assassin when so many better guns were available—and what many have considered almost from the get-go the government’s reluctance to release all the files.
So the public still does not have all the answers more than a half-century later, and those who want to know, possibly to vindicate their own suspicions, can only continue asking why?
