Wrote John Updike, republished today and originally published November 29, 1963, in The New Yorker, in "A Nation of Eyewitnesses to J.F.K.’s Assassination/How it feels—and what it means—to watch a President slain on TV."
Whether there was "any distinct idea of opposition or hope of gain" in any of the 4 assassinations, there was, in each case, a woeful and shocking exposure of the President to the shooting that killed him. There will always be somebody out there — somebody quiet... too quiet — thinking of killing the President. There needs to be good security, and it's been good enough for the last 60 years.
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What to do when the calls to eliminate the President come from inside the House…or one of the other government entities?
"There will always be somebody out there — somebody quiet... too quiet — thinking of killing the President. There needs to be good security, and it's been good enough for the last 60 years."
And maybe also because how even the crazy are realizing how little it matters. Even in the fevered schizophrenic dreams of a Hinkley-type madman there has to be a little devil voice reminding them that thinking killing a sitting POTUS will change anything might be too deluded, even for them.
No one who's seen 10 consecutive minutes of Biden in public could possibly conclude he's in charge of anything. The man's daily schedule would be underwhelming for a toddler. Doctah Jill has more control over America's affairs of state than he does.
"blind tides of criminality and insanity that make civilization precarious"
Blind tides that in JFK's case just happened blindly to push forward, of all people, a communist who had lived in the Soviet Union, insanity that just happened to take the form of communism.
Would any prog today mourn the assassination of Donald Trump? In the era of systemic racism and decolonization, is it even kosher to care about "civilization"?
and it's been good enough for the last 60 years....except John Hinckley managed to put a bullet in President Reagan. He didn't die, so that's "good enough" I guess.
'"They were sacrificed, rather, to the blind tides of criminality and insanity that make civilization precarious...."'
Or possible. The other option was the Kennedys screwed the Mafia, who never got him back, teaching the world nothing about American society's ethics. Now, we know, gangsters have better morals than politicians - and we act like it. Our heroes are gangsters, while the president sics the NSA on us, betrays our values overseas, and lies about almost everything. I always pick up when my gangster friends call, just as I always tune out when the president speaks, because I don't trust him, and that's Kennedy's legacy.
With a *little* help from Tricky Dick and Bill Clinton, of course.
Charlie Guiteau
Drew a crowd to his trial
Led them in prayer
Said, "I killed Garfield
I'll make no denial
I was just acting
For Someone up there
The Lord's my employer
And now He's my lawyer
So do what you dare"
Charlie said, "Hell
If I am guilty
Then God is as well"
But God was acquitted
And Charlie committed
Until he should hang
Still, he sang -
I am going to the Lordy
I am so glad
I am going to the Lordy
I am so glad
I am going to the Lordy
Glory Hallelujah
Glory Hallelujah
I am going to the Lordy
"Sic semper tyrannis" sounds to me like a distinct idea of opposition or hope of gain.
I saw the JFK limousine yesterday. I found it astounding that they did NOT take it out of service after the assassination. They refurbished it and was used through the Carter Administration.
What president would want to use it after the top of Kennedy's head was exploded and brains splattered all over the inside?
Thinking of Trump? The trick will be to find a motivated killer who has stayed "too quiet". The country is chock full of very loud potential killers. Hell, they appear regularly on television. It will be a David De Pape type weirdo who was already "known to authorities".
Donald Trump is risking assassination, far more so than Robert Kennedy, who never tires of reminding us of the murders of his father and his uncle. Hundreds of thousands of influential Democrats have sought to kill Trump politically for eight years, and now it seems their metaphorical murder plots will fail. It's highly probable at least some of those Trump "killers" are contemplating arranging his literal death. Given the pervasive corruption in Biden's Justice Department, it is not unseemly to suspect similar malfeasance in his Department of the Treasury, the parent organization of the Secret Service, Trump should use a more trustworthy team of bodyguards.
I recall the left obsessing about assassination when Obama was elected. Like they yearned for a martyr, or feared he wasn't up to the job of president.
Then they grew strangely quiet about assassination in 2016.
What does it mean?
I recall the left obsessing about assassination when Obama was elected. Like they yearned for a martyr, or feared he wasn't up to the job of president.
Then they grew strangely quiet about assassination in 2016.
What does it mean?
Good enough for the last 60 years?!
Reagan was shot at close range and almost killed.
“There needs to be good security, and it's been good enough for the last 60 years.”
I’d say 40 years. Reagan (and we) were lucky.
Following the ancient Rome theme of recent posts, the Praetorian Guard prevented, facilitated, or completed many assassinations of Emperors and those who got in their way. The CIA mucked about all across Latin America with exploding cigars and whatnot. And whatnot.
There's nothing new under the sun, nor nothing unique about hatred in the USA.
Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford might disagree on the 60 year suggestion.
Good enough that former President GHW Bush survived a Saddam Hussein car bomb assasination attempt only by the skillful work of Kuwaiti security. Good enough that President Reagan survived John Hinckley's shooting only because of excellent surgeons immediately operating on his gunshot wound. Good enough that President Ford survived Squeaky Fromme's assassination attempt only because she did not know how to operate a loaded single action semiautomatic 1911 pistol. Good enough that President Carter survived a swamp rabbit attack only because he had a canoe paddle available and used it for self defense.
A history of "good enough" US presidential protection sometimes depends on good work by others, preparation to survive failures, the inadequacy of one's enemies, or situational awareness allowing successful self defense by the intended victim.
A minor change in any of the above situations would have resulted in a dead president. Well, maybe not the swamp rabbit attack on Carter, although they are vicious, nasty rodents.
Bill Hicks on why Presidents are not assassinated since JFK
"There needs to be good security, and it's been good enough for the last 60 years."
Except for RFK jr. No need for him to have protection.
It's reassuring to know that Kennedy is relying on Gavin de Becker's team for security. There are none better. And I can't count the times I've bought a copy of his excellent book, the Gift of Fear, for a friend or acquaintance or client in a bad situation or relationship. Still it's far beyond disgraceful that Biden denied him government security.
I always understood that Booth's motive was spur a revitalization of the Confederate war effort and keep fighting the war. Restoration of the Confederacy was the ultimate goal.
But I'm no John Updike.
A great fear of mine is that Trump will be assassinated. Can you imagine the level of chaos that would unleash in America.
… there was, in each case, a woeful and shocking exposure of the President to the shooting that killed him.
Garfield and McKinley were shockingly exposed. Lincoln had a bodyguard who was in a nearby tavern drinking instead of in the stairwell outside the Presidential box at Ford’s theater. Kennedy, Ford, and Reagan were surrounded by Secret Service agents, and by preventing Squeaky Fromme from firing her Colt 1911 at President Ford and rushing President Reagan to the hospital two lives were saved.
(Yes, I know that Fromme’s gun did not have a round chambered. I also know that Secret Service agents are trained to put their hand on the back of a hammer-fired handgun — like the Colt 1911 semiauto and many revolvers — so that the hammer hits the web between the thumb and forefinger and not the primer of a live cartridge. I have read that the skin of this web on the hand of Secret Service agent Larry Buendorf was torn and bleeding after he disarmed Fromme, so this is evidence that she did pull the trigger expecting the gun to go off.)
"There needs to be good security, and it's been good enough for the last 60 years."
- Ann Althouse
"Don't underestimate Joe's ability to fuck things up."
- Barack Obama
Well, except. Kennedy was not "slain on TV". Updike may feel like he watched on TV while President Kennedy was shot, but he didn't. It was not televised. What we have seen, after the fact, is the Zapruder film, was was seized by the CIA and altered before it was publicly released.
Mark writes, "I saw the JFK limousine yesterday. I found it astounding that they did NOT take it out of service after the assassination. They refurbished it and was used through the Carter Administration."
The JFK limo is and has always been owned by the Ford Motor Company. The Secret Service leased the vehicle. After the Warren Commission completed its investigation, Ford reclaimed the limo and refurbished it, upgrading many of its features in the process. For example, the original removable plexiglass roof was replaced with a fixed armored roof. When it was upgraded for President Nixon, even more armor was added in light of the Chicago DNC riots and the shooting of George Wallace. The added protection included a retractable bullet-proof screen inspired by James Bond's Aston Martin DB5. The car on display today has been restored to resemble its condition in November 1963
When the S.S. sought another leased Lincoln limo, it is not clear anyone in the Johnson Administration knew they were to receive the assassination car.
"Good enough that President Ford survived Squeaky Fromme's assassination attempt only because she did not know how to operate a loaded single action semiautomatic 1911 pistol."
And good enough that a bystander grabbed Sarah Jane Moores arm deflecting her shot when she tried to assassinate President Ford. You forgot that that there were two attempts on Gerald Ford's life in September 1975.
"Good enough that President Ford survived Squeaky Fromme's assassination attempt only because she did not know how to operate a loaded single action semiautomatic 1911 pistol."
And good enough that a bystander grabbed Sara Jane Moores arm deflecting her shot when she tried to assassinate President Ford. You forgot that that there were two attempts on Gerald Ford's life in September 1975.
mikee, 9:10AM:
"Good enough that President Reagan survived John Hinckley's shooting only because of excellent surgeons immediately operating on his gunshot wound."
Yes, and because of SAC Jerry Parr recognizing that he had a lung puncture (he thought, mistakenly, from a cracked rib – both he and an annoyed Reagan thought he had broken the president's rib pushing him into the limo), and ordering the motorcade to GWU Hospital because it was the nearest. Ever mindful of the dignity of his office, Reagan upon arrival got out of the limo, straightened his suit, walked inside unassisted – and his knees buckled on the other side of the door.
"A minor change in any of the above situations would have resulted in a dead president. Well, maybe not the swamp rabbit attack on Carter, although they are vicious, nasty rodents."
They've got a vicious streak a mile wide!
Oswald wanted to Kill JFK to stop his attacks on castro. He was a communist. Somehow, people never want to accept that. Lincoln was shot in revenge for his perceived misdeeds against the South. McKinley's assassian was anarchist and putting their program of political assassinations into effect.
Of the 4, the only one that was truly senseless was Garfields.
IIRC it was Oliver Sipple who grabbed Sara Jane Moore' arm in '75. The ex-Marine was outted afterward by Harvey Milk.
At a campaign stop (in '40 maybe?) FDR was struck by a rubber knife thrown by a listener just a few feet away. A detail in the book "Night of the Assassins" by Howard Blum, an account of the German plan to get the Big Three at the Tehran Conference.
You're forgetting Reagan.
There was considerable effort to portray Oswald as anything other than the "dirty little communist" that he was. Latin American communism had lots of guys like that. Any assassin has got to be a little off, but he wasn't particularly crazy. Just communist.
It was also considered important to make it all Texas's fault somehow.
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