22 November 1963

There's always more money to be made and there's always more people to kill. Any who might upset the apple cart, woe to them. Dwight Eisenhower warned of the influence of the Military Industrial Complex. John Kennedy thought to interrupt its erstwhile march. What'd he get? Head shot.

I never believed in the magic bullet, the Warren Commission's official explanation of the events leading up to and including 22 November 1963. It's like the tooth fairy and Santa Claus. Reassuring, but thoroughly irrational. In 1963, there was a single cameraman in Dallas that captured that radical shift in American history that was the moment Kennedy was shot. Assassination? Surely. Conspiracy? Certainly. Cubans and other Red Menaces? Hmm... not so clear cut. Crazed lone gunman? Sure, why not.

I never believed in the 9|11 Commission's official story either. Again, like the tooth fairy and Santa Claus, it's reassuring, but thoroughly irrational. In 44 years, nothing has changed. In 2001 there was a single cameraman that captured that radical shift in American history that was the moment that WTC2 was struck. Intentional strike on America? Surely. Conspiracy? Certainly. Al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein and other international terrorist menaces? Hmm... not so clear cut. Crazed 19 hijackers with box cutters? Sure, why not (I heard that at least seven of them are still alive).

There were those that never believed that the Reichstag fire was set by Communists. They were crushed in the rush for homeland security and other Fascist ideals. Is it any different now? Is it any different when the concept of withdrawal from Vietnam led to a Presidential assassination? Is the fear of withdrawal pitted against the fear of assassination by weapons manufacturers, oil companies, the federal reserve, the US military, and other war profiteers what is really driving G.W. Bush's administration? Sure, why not.

Remember John F. Kennedy today. There has been no force at the helm of America since him that stood against the darkest fears held by Eisenhower -- that economy and the men with guns could supersede "the pursuit of life, liberty, and justice for all." Except, maybe, Jimmy Carter. Certainly, all presidents have made the best of bad situations. Some have made better than others. Some have pimped the nation for all its worth.

There's less than a year until a new helmsman is chosen, and a little more than a year until he or she takes office, watch closely. Be informed. And, don't buy anything on Black Friday.