When JFK was killed I was in high school, just the right age to remember everything like it was yesterday. I remember the announcement -- I was in gym class and the PA system was scratchy and hard to hear but we got the message. Then I went to my World History class and probably heard some meaningful words from Miss Katie Keen who was an excellent teacher but I don't recall one word of that class. Then I remember the bus ride home, where so many of my friends cried for the whole trip. I didn't, but I was stunned and scared. I remember my father, especially my father, watching news non-stop that weekend. I remember on Saturday morning going to my parttime job at Lansburgh's Department Store in the women's dress department. That Saturday was cold and rainy in DC and there were very few customers. Everyone was in shock. Kennedy wasn't just our president. He was the guy who lived just down the street a few miles away, a neighbor.
As the years and decades rolled by the assassination was in the background of my mental life, way in the background, but always there. By the 90s I was probably among the many people who just didn't know if Oswald acted alone. But we sure had plenty of reason to assume that our government wasn't going to tell us what they knew and they lied to us pretty routinely about a lot of things.
Fast forward to 2023 and here I am, with Rob Reiner, convinced that Kennedy was killed by a number of people who had different, overlapping reasons for wanting him dead. Not only am I convinced, I'm a little obsessed with the subject. Reiner has released 7 of his 10 podcasts reviewing all the details. He says that when the final episode is aired, on January 10th I think, he'll name the likely shooters and their likely locations. He doesn't claim to have any new information; he's just collected all the massive details others have uncovered over the past 60 years. The podcasts are each about 30 minutes and he tells a thrilling, but very confusing story of how it all probably happened.
For anyone who wants to become fixated on old politics, as a relief from new (and frankly much scarier) current politics, you can find Reiner's podcasts here.
NOTE: the picture above shows the moment when Kennedy was hit in the shoulder and neck by a bullet from behind, probably from Oswald's gun. Kennedy reaches his hands up to his neck. But two seconds later (and I will not publish the photo although I could) you can see his head struck from the front, obviously not from Oswald's gun.
